Hong Kong
TRADITIONAL
Article by Chensong
here are cities in the world. And then there is Hong Kong. The
only one. Yeah, there’s no city in the world like this one. You don’t
believe me? Fine- name one in which you can come out off an
all glassy mall selling the top most branded stuff and climb a
hill- right away. Yeah. That’s Hong Kong.
Cheung Chau
Bun Festival
Sleepy fishing village
Cheung Chau comes
to life during its annual
bun festival, held on
Buddha’s Birthday
– the fifth to the
ninth days of the
fourth lunar month,
usually around the
Western calendar
month of May.
Marked to honour
the Taoist god Pak
Tai, the centuries-
old celebration is
famous for sweet
buns, with the
event culminating
with a Bun
Scrambling
Competition,
involving the
climbing of 60-
foot bamboo
towers. The
other highlight
of the festival
is the Piu Sik
(Floating
Colours)
Parade where
local school
children in
billowing
costumes
on floats parade through the
island’s streets. This is the
highlight for many of the annual
Chinese festivals.
In 1978, the bun tower made of
bamboo collapsed and caused
a lot of injuries. Therefore, it was
suspended for 27 years. In 1995,
the game was reintroduced with
better architecture and stronger
materials. Also, the real buns have
been replaced by plastic buns for
hygiene reasons.
Dragon Boat Festival
The main highlights of this festival
are the fierce looking dragon
boats, racing in a lively, colourful
spectacle. It is usually held on the
fifth day of the fifth lunar month.
Head over to Victoria Harbour and
you will get to see different teams,
racing to the beat of the drums.
The special boats, which measure
over 10 meters have ornately
carved and painted dragon heads
and tails.
Each boat can carry up to
23 paddlers at one time. The
paddlers row with all their energy
to the finish line, accompanied
by the loud cheering crowd
and pounding drums. It is very
interesting to see both the
Bun Scrambling Competition at Cheung Chau Island
(Photo by Chensong)
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