Cheung Chau Bun Festival
During the fourth moon in the lunar calendar, Cheung Chau (Long Island) is transformed by the week-long Bun Festival.
From the Hong Kong Tourism Board:
The Cheung Chau Bun Festival is mainly a religious event to appease the spirits of people believed to have been murdered by pirates or who were victims of a devastating typhoon that swept the island many years ago. The religious rites of Tai Chiu are presided over by Taoist priests and three deities, whose effigies are placed in the temple. These gods are Shang Shan, the red-faced God of Earth and Mountains; Do Dei Gang, a household deity; and Dei Ching Wong, Ruler of the Underworld. Prayers are said to appease any unhappy spirits that may be roaming the island. During the festival, the islanders eat only vegetarian meals.
The week's activities include lion dances and elaborate presentations of Chinese opera at a huge temporary theatre situated at one end of the island, close to the Pak Tai temple where the main ceremonies are held. The most prominent feature of the festival, however, are three 16-meter (50-foot) high towers of buns. These huge, conical bun towers are made of bamboo and completely covered with buns that have been blessed for good luck. In past years, eager participants scaled the bun towers in a midnight scramble on the last day of the festival to grab these buns with their special pink markings. This practice has, however, been discontinued, and the buns are now taken down and distributed among the islanders on the fifth day the festival.
The highlight of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival is the street procession of the gods, whose images are carried in sedan chairs from the temple along designated routes on the island, including the waterfront. The procession is unique in that many of the participants are costumed children under six years of age who are held aloft by cleverly concealed frames and wires so that they appear to be balancing on the point of a sword or the spout of a teapot, etc. The costumes are fanciful and imaginative, with the children often dressed as figures from history, literature or fables, or as characters inspired by the more modern odysseys to outer space.
Organisers have been trying to convince the government to allow them to reinstitute the bun tower climbing, albeit with limited numbers of climbers.
Despite increased safety precautions, the government is leery. Its refusal to compromise threatens the future of the festival.
The sight of an 81-year-old man toiling away amid the strenuous work might look odd, but Chan Lam, the island's authority in the art of bun-tower construction, plays a vital role in the success of the annual festival, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the small island.
Mr Chan has been in charge of the construction of three bun towers, up to 16 metres high, every year for almost five decades. But the job was made even harder this year as festival organisers tried to get permission to allow climbers to race to the top of the towers, a tradition which has been banned for 26 years on safety grounds.
"Of course, I want to see the game revived. It will bring much more fun to the festival and attract more tourists," Mr Chan said.
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"I have taken additional precautionary measures this year. In the old days, the three bun towers only stood on the ground. But this time, they will be firmly secured in holes we have specifically drilled," Mr Chan said.
Stacks of mattresses will also be placed at the base of the towers in case participants fall.
"The towers will not collapse. Besides, the organisers planned to let only about 20 people climb on each of them," Mr Chan said.
No one wants to see an accident, but the government's prudence has become overbearing. The festival committee has shown its concern and sense of responsibility.
It's time to revive the Climbing of the Bun Tower.
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