In Pics: Ex-lovers, Unfriendly Colleagues Or Horrible Bosses; Hong Kong Ritual Bashes All

Villain hitting, da siu yan, demon exorcising, or petty person beating, is a folk sorcery popular in the Guangdong area of China and Hong Kong—primarily associated with Cantonese.

People holding a grudge have also found a way to release it in Hong Kong’s “villain hitting” ritual.

To relieve themselves from a bad mood, customers pay ritual practitioners who work underneath the Canal Road Flyover in Causeway Bay, one of the city’s shopping districts.

They then watched the practitioners bash an image of their target with a shoe. It could be anyone — rival lovers and unfriendly colleagues, or horrible bosses and unlikeable public figures.

A pedestrian passes lines of customer waiting to receive a "villain hitting" ceremony on the day of "ging zat," as pronounced in Cantonese, under the Canal Road Flyover in Hong Kong on March 6, 2023.

Police officers and a plainclothes police officer inspect a "villain hitting" booth during a routine patrol under the Canal Road Flyover in Hong Kong on March 5, 2023.

The ritual is particularly popular in March because some people believe that the best day to perform it falls on “ging zat,” as pronounced in Cantonese. 

“Ging zat,” is the day on the Chinese lunar calendar that literally means “awakening of insects.”

This year, “ging zat” fell on March 6. The tradition, mostly run by elderly women, attracted crowds of customers after the lifting of major COVID-19 restrictions, including the mask mandate.

A practitioner waits for customers at a "villain hitting" booth under the Canal Road Flyover in Hong Kong.

Customers watch the "villain hitting" ceremony on the day of "ging zat," as pronounced in Cantonese.

“I’m hoping to cut out all the gossip around me and wish that the bad people would stay away from me,” tourist Edison Chan, who traveled from neighboring Guangdong province told AP.

Ho Pan-yong, one of the practitioners, said she wanted to help her customers whack the bad people away from their lives.

Ho charges 50 Hong Kong dollars ($6.4) for the five-minute act, which includes lighting incense offering to gods followed by whacking the target and concludes by ritual blessing.

"The ritual, which does not hurt anyone physically, could help bring hope to those who are distressed," Dr. Beatrice Ng-Kessler, a registered clinical psychologist in Hong Kong and in the UK told AP.