In the past week, my social media channels has been flooded with photos of mystical rabbits popping up at Kwai Chai Hong for the Mid Autumn Festival. The Hops and Dreams installation is in town until 4 Oct 2020 at the historical and instagrammable Kwai Chai Hong lane, Chinatown.
The installation celebrates the Jade Rabbit, a well known tale of the hare which lives on the moon with the goddess Chang’e. The story goes: The ‘Jade Emperor’ disguised as a starving old man came into the forest where the monkey, otter, jackal and rabbit live. As the Monkey offers the man fruits from the trees he climbs, the Otter gathered fish from the water he swims in while the Jackal got a lizard and a pot of milk curd. However, the rabbit only being able to offer grass, which would be dietarily insufficient to the man offers itself by throwing its body to the fire the man had made. Here, rabbit realising he did not burn, the man reveals his true form, moved by the rabbit’s gesture and sacrifice grants the rabbit immortality.
In celebration for the Mid-Autumn Festival on 1 October, eight local artists displayed their own interpretation of the Jade Rabbit story in their own way. Kwai Chai Hong lane opens at 9am and just for this event, will keep its gates open until 12 midnight for a special night time light up and the appearance of a giant rabbit.
The daytime viewing was nice but the evening light up was really something else. I would recommend joining around 5pm to catch golden hour in the area, grab dinner in one of the many cafes and restaurants around and then head back to Kwai Chai Hong for the night light up.
And oh, go during the weekdays to avoid the crowd as I heard there can be a queue on weekends. Enjoy!
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