About the TalkSince the United Nations adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage there has been increasing interest in documenting and studying local traditions and customs such as festivals and rituals. In 2009, Hong Kong selected four festivals to be included on the UNs list of intangible cultural heritage. The Library also hosted Celebrating Traditional Festivals - An Exhibition of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Hong Kong in early spring 2010.In this talk, Professor Liu discussed two of the four listed festivals: the Tai O (大澳) Dragon Boat Water Parade and the Tai Hang (大坑) Fire Dragon Dance. He used these festivals illustrate what is intangible cultural heritage (ICH), and how it relates to Hong Kong people and their collective memory. Intangible cultural heritage and local communities in East Asia [streaming video]The book, 非物質文化遺產與東亞地方社會 / 廖迪生主編 = Intangible cultural heritage and local communities in East Asia,is available in the Library.  About the SpeakerProfessor Liu is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in the South China and Hong Kong region. He received his Bachelor of Social Science in Anthropology and Diploma of Education from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and his PhD in Anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh. He has been a faculty member of HKUST since 1993.His research interests include: popular religion in Hong Kong and South China; fishing communities along the mouth of the Pearl River; shamanic activities Hong Kongs intangible cultural heritage; the catching, trading, and consumption of seafood in Hong Kong; and lobster fishing and local communities in Maine, USA.In addition to his duties as Associate Professor in the Division of Humanities here, he is also the Director of the South China Research Center at HKUST, which was commissioned by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to conduct a "Territory-wide Survey of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Hong Kong". He is also the Director of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Research Station at HKUSTs Fok Ying Tung Graduate School in Nansha.For enquiry, please contact Victoria Caplan at 2358-6786.