Cheung Chau Island -- a place to retrace Chinese traditions and folk stories in Hong Kong
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Huge towers of 'lucky' buns. [Photo: Global Times] |
![Huge towers of 'lucky' buns. [Photo: Global Times]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100805/000d87ad3cdd0dc496e616.jpg "Huge towers of 'lucky' buns. [Photo: Global Times]")
Highlight scenes
Tourists cannot miss the fantastic parade of children during the festival. The procession features the images of old and much venerated gods played by heavily made-up young children of five or six years old who glide by above slow-moving floats. Hidden inside their costumes are steel rods holding them aloft. Leading the parade are a host of celestial beings including Pak Tai, Tin Hau, Kwun Yum and Kwan Tai accompanied by lion dancers loudly beating drums and gongs. It is full of Chinese traditional flavors.
On the day of Bun Scrambling Competition, villagers erect giant towers studded with sweet white buns and colorful giant papier-mâché replicas of various deities at the Pak Tai Temple on the island, built in 1783 to commemorate Pak Tai, the Taoist God of the Sea. The lucky bun tower is located right near the Pak Tai Temple.
During the competition that begins at the stroke of midnight on the final day of the festival, athletes scramble up a steel tower covered in 'lucky' plastic buns vying to collect as many as possible. The finalist who grabs the largest number of buns within a three-minute time limit is the winner. The lucky buns are usually distributed to the public at the end of the festival.
Festive foods for shopping
The leading role during the Cheung Chau Bun Festival must be the 'lucky' bun. It features a white steamed bun with the Chinese Characters for peace (“平安”) stamped on it. It is these buns that decorate the bun tower and handed out to the public at the end of the festival. And it is believed that families that get a bun will enjoy good health in the coming year.
Nowadays it is also possible to buy the buns from local bakeries after the festival. Meanwhile, some bun souvenirs like the cell phone accessories are also available on the local butcher shops. It is meaningful to buy it for families.
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