Hongkongers will have to see in the Lunar New Year without the traditional lighting of incense at  Wong Tai Sin Temple for the first time in a century due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The festive event will be livestreamed on the Taoist temple’s Facebook page and broadcast live via public broadcaster RTHK, the management said on Monday.

Lighting the inaugural incense at midnight of the first day of Lunar New Year is one of Hong Kong’s most important traditions. In previous years, hundreds of worshippers would begin to line up in the afternoon of the Lunar New Year’s Eve to be among the first to offer incense to the deity Wong Tai Sin as the clock struck midnight. The act is believed to bring worshippers good luck and fortune in the new year.

However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the government’s decision to extend social distancing measures to Feb. 17, temple operator Sik Sik Yuen decided to cancel the event. Wong Tai Sin Temple will be closed to the public at 4:30 p.m. on Lunar New Year’s Eve (Feb. 11). The Lunar New Year inaugural incense lighting ceremony will still be held at midnight but it will be led by the temple’s abbot and masters.

Lee Yiu-fai, Taoism abbot of Sik Sik Yuen, noted that dedicated worshippers would be disappointed by the news, but the decision was made because of the pandemic. He advised worshippers who still wished to pay respect to Wong Tai Sin to light their inaugural incense at home at midnight, chanting the sacred name of the deity and facing the Lion Rock.

Former actress Lana Wong, best known for standing at the front of the queue every year, told Apple Daily that she was disappointed by the cancellation of the event. But she still plans to pray at the temple on the first day of Lunar New Year and follow her iconic tradition of dressing up for the occasion according to the Chinese zodiac of the new year, which will be Ox.

Wong Tai Sin Temple will open to the public during the Lunar New Year holiday, but visitors will be required to register by scanning the LeaveHomeSafe QR code or their Octopus stored-value cards together with their telephone numbers, or register their names and telephone numbers with the temple’s staff.

The temple can accommodate up to 1,000 visitors at any given time. Visitors are also advised not to bring offerings. Each visitor will be given three pieces of skinny incense and they will be lit by the temple’s staff. There will be no space for worshippers who wish to kneel on the ground and pray, the temple said.

Che Kung Temple in Shatin will also remain open during the Lunar New Year holidays but its capacity will be reduced by half. Representatives of the Shatin rural committee will carry on their tradition to draw the fortune stick on the second day of Lunar New Year on Feb. 13 but it will not be open to the public. Visitors are also required to scan the LeaveHomeSafe QR code in order to leave a record of their visits for contact tracing.

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