Hey angels, If you ever have a chance to travel or fly by Hong Kong during the month of April / May, please do check out the Cheung Chau Festival which has been celebrated on the Buddha's birthday each year (Also a Public Holiday in Hong Kong).
The story behind the Cheung Chau Bun Festival begins with a plague that devastated Cheung Chau in the late Qing dynasty, the islanders built an altar and paraded statues of deities to drive evil spirits off their island. The Cheung Chau Bun Festival is then celebrated for the end of the plague after the performance of the taoist rituals.
As a "local" Hong Konger, this was my very first time to join this festival and to experience those traditions and rituals. I was totally fascinated about the parade, taoist ceremonies, lion dances with drum beating and the most exciting Bun Scrambling competition.
After I had my relaxing yoga session in the city, we took a ferry at the pier in central and got there around four in the afternoon (although it sounds pretty late, but yoga is definitely a must do thing to start my day as usual :P) The ferry comes and goes every thirty minutes, so don't panic if you found out that you have just missed the ferry! Whenever and wherever I go on a ferry, window seats are always my favourite spot. Do you have this same feeling? Staring at the ocean, hearing the sound of the waves, the colour is like no other and the smell is so refreshing, you suddenly feel so calm and peaceful like there's no tomorrow. Thirty minutes flies by and we have arrived.
Four in the afternoon was around the end of the parade, the parade started at two, but glad that we did have a glance on the last bit :P The parade was a major part of the Festival which runs from Pak Tai temple around the village and returns to the temple. You can hear plentiful gongs and drums marching down the street; you can see the traditional lion dances leading their way, and of course the most important part the tiny children dressed as mythological figures doing what appears to be an impossible balancing act, with one child standing on the outstretched hand of another, hovering over the heads of the crowd. They called them the "Floating children".
Also, don't miss out the lion dancers that comes from different martial art school, it's a part of the Chinese tradition.The parading Lions run along the streets to bring goodwill and luck to everyone they meet. They visit stores, restaurants and businesses. Once you see the lion dancer visit a store, the owner will put whatever they have on the chair, it may be bottles of beers or food to eat with red packets at the bottom. The lion finishes the food or drinks on the chair while performing the lion dances. Businesses, will hang from the ceiling a head of lettuce or some greens with the red packet or some people say the red envelope with money inside. They "eat" the money and spit out the greens, scattering the fresh leaves around to "spread" out the good luck and also to symbolize a "fresh start" for the new year. This is supposed to bring good luck and fortune and is considered a donation for the martial arts school setting up the performance.
One thing that I HAVE TO MENTION, is EVERYTHING IS VEGETERIAN! Okay, perhaps in the morning only (Although I really wish it's meat free for the entire planet, because animals are our friends) But anything about vegetarian/vegan/raw vegan/fruitarian just makes me excited! Being a vegetarian in Hong Kong is not difficult, but ain't easy either. Even the local McDonalds serves only a "veggie burger" through out the day and you can only find it in "Cheung Chau" on this particular day! McDonald's has definitely been a huge part of my childhood memory, and I haven't had a single burger from McDonald for years.
While waiting for the bun tower competition at midnight, there're still plenty hours to burn. I highly recommended you to rent a bike, whether with your friends or family, to cruise around. You can easily find a rental store anywhere along the street, it costs you around 20 HKD for an hour and 100 HKD deposit, they also give you a lock to lock your bike if you want to leave your bike somewhere for a short break. You can ride around the island, along those tiny streets and alleys lined with cafes, traditional shops and souvenir shops. If you head east from the Pier and ride through the island to the opposite side you find Tun Wan Beach. This is the place that you definitely want to be in a hot summer day. Or you can head to the south for the scenic route, you can see the pavillions and stunning views of the sea and the other islands beyond. Also, on the south west corner, you can find the Cheung Po Tsai Cave. It's a popular cave, where a pirate used to store his treasure. I think it's really romantic to take your lover with you to hike down the cave together and enjoy the gorgeous view once you are out of the cave. I think it's quite romantic to me.
Lastly, after a wonderful dinner. You should start queuing up for the Bun Snatching Competition around 9:30-10pm to get the free entry ticket early because the number of tickets are limited. The competition starts at 11:30pm, but trust me, it's WORTH IT. Historically, the “Bun snatching” was a race between young men who would race up the tower to get hold of the buns; the higher the bun, the better fortune it was supposed to bring to the holder's family. I always feel so delighted when I see any country, city, town or even village keeping their culture, traditions and rituals alive. It’s a part of their identity and it’s absolutely beautiful. The bun snatching festival nowadays is a bit more professional, there are 12 atheletes, most of them rock climbers, being selected during the selection progress before the competition. Scoring is based on a points system where the higher buns score more points and the winner will be the person who gets the most points in a limited time. I don’t think you can see a scene of 12 monkey-like humans climbing as fast as a rocket and snatching buns into their basket, as silly and crazy as it may sound, anywhere in the entire planet. Just don’t miss out!