Protecting the practitioners

The revival of interest in Hong Kong heritage ought to be good news for the city's tourism sector. However, at least one of the city's facilitators of intangible cultural heritage-based events sounds skeptical about the impact of packaging heritage for popular consumption.

Chao points out that most intangible cultural heritage practitioners are grassroots people, often quite old and set in their traditional ways. Hence, it's "not correct" for producers of such events "to impose too many of their own ideas" on the performers, he says. "We must be mindful that we don't push them to a point of discomfort."

According to Anthony Fung, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong's School of Journalism and Communication, many Hong Kong people who enjoy and participate in the enactment of local rituals do not seem to mind the commodification of their heritage and traditions.

He points out that trying to make a commercial enterprise out of local culture and history is part of the city's cultural fabric. "For example, while the Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kowloon is primarily a religious space, today it's also a popular spot for tourists and general socializing."