Hong Kong is a place where the majority of the population is atheist, but not a few believe in mystical things, feng shui, worshipping the spirits of the dead, and so on. Especially in the northern areas of Hong Kong, including Yuen Long, some of the schoolchildren's games in Hong Kong are also associated with mysticism.

Allow students to bring toys to school after the semester exam is over

There was a tradition at my elementary school in Yuen Long that all students were allowed to bring toys and play in class all day for a few days after finishing their semester exams. Usually, some close friends and I at school bring toys such as robots, portable games, chess, and so on to play together.

The most popular portable game of the early 1980s. [Photo: Internet]

One of the most often played games with elementary school friends is Monopoly. [Photo: Internet]

One of the robot toys I bring to school the most [Photo: Internet].

Spirit Summoning (Jelangkung) became a favorite game for elementary school friends in Yuen Long

In addition to normal children's games, some schoolmates like bowl games. Friends who don't play also like to see them play jelangkung, and every time the bowl starts moving on its own, we all run in fear while screaming.

Piercing Leeches with Skewers

In one of the sports fields inside the school, there was an open drainage ditch. Whenever it finished raining, dozens of large leeches would often emerge from it. My school friends would then rush to buy snacks that came with wooden skewers. After eating, we would compete to pierce the leeches and see who could spear the most.

While doing these sorts of things is highly discouraged, those are just a few examples of the unusual games Yuen Long kids played back when I was in elementary school.