Hong Kong families choose casual meals over banquets for Mother's Day

Traditional banquet restaurants in Hong Kong reported weaker Mother's Day trade than last year, with families opting for lunch, afternoon tea or hotpot meals instead.

Busy areas such as Causeway Bay were bustling with families on Sunday, as residents flocked to restaurants and shopping malls to celebrate, some carrying flowers and cards.

A 56-year-old housewife, who only gave her surname Wong, said she was having lunch with her daughter at a dim sum restaurant on Leighton Hill Road. She did not want to do a very big dinner this year because everywhere is crowded on Mother's Day.

Kelvin Cheung, 29, who works in the IT industry, said his family had moved away from the traditional Chinese restaurant celebrations they used to have when he was younger. This year it is just six of them doing hotpot together after shopping.

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Illustration depicting massive passenger travel during China's Qingming Festival, with crowded highways, family tomb visits, busy trains, and tourists amid spring blooms.
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China logs 845 million trips during Qingming Festival holiday

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China recorded an estimated 845.38 million passenger trips during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday, up 6 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Transport. Memorial services saw nearly 19.29 million visits, while tourism revenue surged in multiple provinces. The overlap with school spring breaks fueled long-distance family travel.

Hong Kong residents flocked to Shenzhen on the first day of the Labour Day 'golden week' holiday, attracted by better restaurant service, lower costs and family-friendly attractions. Families budgeted about HK$1,000 (US$128) for a full day covering dining, dental clinics, indoor amusement parks and ice-skating rinks. Crowds packed border stations like Lok Ma Chau and Lo Wu.

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More than 50 restaurants and shops in Hong Kong's Central district have joined a 'tourism everywhere' initiative to promote local delicacies and goods while offering discounts to residents and tourists. The programme, announced by the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association on Friday, runs from May 1 to the end of June, overlapping with mainland China's Labour Day golden week. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah said it would draw more visitors and boost spending.

A 50-year-old Australian man has been fined and given a suspended jail term by a Hong Kong court for leaving restaurants without paying on four occasions.

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Hong Kong authorities have ramped up publicity with mainland Chinese media ahead of a ban on possessing alternative smoking products, including e-cigarettes, in public places starting April 30. Director of Health Ronald Lam Man-kin reported over 11,000 inspections and about 2,200 fixed penalty notices of HK$3,000 this year. Officials anticipate minimal impact on tourists during the Labour Day golden week.

Hong Kong cinemas earned HK$25.93 million (US$3.31 million) over the first four days of Easter—from Good Friday to Monday—doubling the HK$12.75 million from the same period in 2025, despite a resident exodus. The Immigration Department reported 2.13 million outbound trips and 1.81 million inbound trips during that time, for a net outflow of 319,173. Hong Kong Box Office Limited attributed the surge to critically acclaimed films drawing families.

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Celebrities across Hollywood marked Mother's Day with public messages and tributes to their mothers.

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