Dough! Cheung Chau Bun Festival
标题中的dough，一直只知道是面团的意思，doughnut 甜甜圈；而美式俚语中，音似dollar，也指金钱，如：I loaned him a ton of dough.
① The traditions of the five-day celebration, which starts today, are said to stretch back to the 18th century.
② When the small island south-west of Hong Kong fell victim to plague and pirates, villagers assumed the guise of deities to drive off malevolent spirits.
③ These days it is children parading through the streets dressed as gods and political figures.
④ Visitors can also enjoy Chinese opera performances, dragon dances and martial arts.
⑤ But the highlight is the bun scrambling competition, wherein participants climb a 14-metre tower snatching as many as possible in three minutes.
⑥ After a bamboo tower collapsed in 1978, injuring more than 100 people, the structure is now made of steel.
⑦ And competition buns, once fluffy, are now plastic.
⑧ But fear not: in recent years a food-processing machine has helped to speed up production of the 60,000 real buns munched at each festival.
⑨ Tradition, with a helping hand from modernity.
▍Words & Expressions
1.stretch/date back to:
stretch:time/series, to continue over a period of time or in a series, or to make something do this
stretch into/on/over etc.
eg.Berg's career as a government official stretched over 20 years.
2.fall victim to disaster/massacre
/plague/hunger etc.
to be badly affected or destroyed by a situation
eg.Many small businesses have fallen victim to the recession.
3.plague /pleɪɡ/: n. 瘟疫；鼠疫
4. assume the guise /ɡʌɪz/of
the way someone or something appears to be, which hides the truth or is only temporary
in/under the guise of something
eg.They operated a drug-smuggling business under the guise of an employment agency.
It's the same idea in a different guise.
5.deity /ˈdiːəti/: n. 神仙
6.drive somebody off, to force a person or animal to go away from you.
eg.We keep dogs in the yard to drive off intruders.
7.malevolent /məˈlɛv(ə)l(ə)nt/: adj. 邪恶的
8. fluffy, very light and soft to touch
eg. a fluffy little kitten/fluffy towels
fluffy clouds look soft and light
有位脱口秀演员曾经说过类似的话：I’m not fat. I’m fluffy. 经典！
9. wherein, in which place or part eg.Wherein lies the difference between conservatism and liberalism
the cave in which they live = the cave wherein they live
10. snatch=grab, to quickly get something, especially sleep or rest, because you do not have very much time eg. I managed to snatch an hour's sleep on the train.
▍补充
parade /pəˈreɪd/: vi. 游行
Chinese opera performance中国戏曲表演
dragon dance: 舞龙
martial art(s): 武术
Background:
5月22日，香港独有的传统节庆活动——长洲太平清醮在长洲岛举行。而这次太平清醮的重头戏“抢包山”比赛也于5月23日零时在长洲岛举行，十余名参赛选手需在指定时间内爬上一座14米高的塔来摘取平安包，顶端的平安包分数最高，得分最多者获胜。“抢包山”活动历史悠久，早在18世纪清朝时期，长洲就已经有了这项活动。相传，当时长洲岛上发生瘟疫，横尸遍野，后来得到北帝的指引，瘟疫才得已制止。岛上居民为了酬谢神恩，便扮成神祇在大街上游行驱赶瘟神，其后每年举行并流传至今。在太平清醮期间，长洲北帝庙前会有三个挂满包子的包山，作为供奉北帝的祭品。同时，“抢包山”在太平清醮最后一晚举行，按照传统说法，摘得平安包越多，福气越旺。