That would be the Bun Festival on Cheung Chau Island. Since the 18th century, this festival for the Taoist god Pak Tai has been exclusive to this one tiny outlying island. Supposedly, the fishing villages on the island were constantly harassed by pirates. Eventually, the villagers paraded the statue of the god, Pak Tai, around the island and disguised themselves as Taoist gods as well. The pirates were so frightened (and superstitious) that they never returned. So, since then the villagers have continued the festival in pretty much the same way. As for the part about steamed Chinese buns...well, there's no telling where that came from.
Originally, Magda and Su were going to come with me. Late last night, I got a message from Su saying that something had come up at the last minute and she couldn't go. Shortly thereafter, Magda messaged me to say that, although she thought it would be all right before, she really needed to focus on studying today (she has an exam tomorrow morning, May 11th). Long story short, I ended up going solo this time around.
There are benefits to traveling alone, though, as long as it's just around Hong Kong. I worked entirely on my own schedule, waking up a little later and heading out to the island when I felt like it. Getting to the island itself isn't the most convenient thing, but it's not too bad either. I spent about 1 hour on the MTR, changing lines twice, and then walked to Central Pier 5 on Hong Kong Island. From there, I took a 1-hour ferry to Cheung Chau Island. Two things I love about taking ferries around Hong Kong: (1) You can use your octopus card, and (2) it costs around US$2. It's amazing how much more expensive it is to go from Hong Kong to Macau, or to Zhuhai, by ferry for the same amount of time.
The view from Central Pier 5:
And, 1 hour later, the view of Cheung Chau Island from the ferry:
The island's villagers were extremely well-prepared for tourists. The tourism police were out and about, with quite a few Western faces in the crowd (this is a necessity during events that draw Western tourists, since the local police don't always speak English very well). They were also nice enough to put up this sign for the navigationally-challenged:
Street hawkers also adjusted for the occasion by providing specialty merchandise. These are pillows that look exactly like the special "lucky buns" made for the bun festival. The characters say ping an in Mandarin (don't know the Cantonese pronunciation), and it roughly means "luck," although it isn't like "we got off lucky" or "it's my lucky day." It's more like "lucky that we live in harmony and safety."
Naturally, my first destination was the infamous bun-tower. Considering that the actual bun-snatching competition takes place at midnight and there would be only one ferry at that time to take back way too many tourists, I decided to play it safe and miss the night-time events. Take a look at this thing, though, and use the buildings in the background for reference. This evening, 12 "finalists" are going to scale that thing (with harnesses!) and compete to see who can rip off the most buns. Future Olympic event? Check out an animated movie called My Life as McDull. Free Chinese buns for anyone who can sit through the whole thing.
And here's a close-up:
Outside of Pak Tai Temple, tourists and devout Taoists alike left offerings of incense:
More buns:
And even more food:
Maybe it's a good thing Magda didn't come. She hates to see food go to waste, and that was practically the theme of this whole festival:
Pak Tai, and two other deities important to the island:
And the tourists. So many tourists. I actually think this was the most crowded place I've ever been.
Pak Tai Temple. Like most temples, it's actually quite small, but that didn't stop tons of people from trying to cram into it at one time.
Chinese culture fun-fact: myth has it that dragons and tigers are eternal rivals. The dragon is associated with "heaven" (the mind) and the tiger is associated with "earth" (the body). Thus, in martial arts, there is dragon-style, which focuses on understanding movement; and there is tiger-style, which focuses on brute strength. It's important to have a balance of "heaven" and "earth" within each person. Thus, a person who lacks physical strength would say a prayer at this tiger shrine:
And a person who lacks mental strength would pray at this dragon shrine:
Next, I set out to find lunch. It was already 1:00pm and things were getting way too crowded. It seemed that if I waited much longer, I wouldn't be able to find a seat anywhere. So, I began on a quest. Along the way, I caught sight of the villagers preparing for the "Floating Colors" Parade, which is an annual event in the afternoon before the bun-snatching competition:
In accordance with legend, the villagers will dress some children as Taoist deities and parade them through the streets. This girl is having her costume put on and her make-up done:
In order to look like a real "god," the villagers use special stands that make it look like the children are floating through the air. There is a metal rod running through the sculpture under her feet. The rod runs up her dress and is attached to a corset-like harness around her torso:
Musicians preparing for the dragon and lion dances:
"Floating" children:
Since the villagers were making their preparations, the tourism police herded all the tourists to the sides of the street.
Luckily, I found myself herded directly into a local restaurant, where I had lunch around 2:00pm.
Since 2:00pm marked the official start of the parade, everyone on the island was essentially stranded where they were. For me, that meant being stranded in the restaurant, but the view wasn't bad and there was a fan. All of us there pulled up chairs to watch the procession from the entrance.
It was actually very hot and very humid today (32 degrees Celsius). It was so hot, in fact, that one of the guys doing the dragon dance--but not this guy--actually passed out! The dragon head was bobbing up and down and shaking like normal and then just plunged. The parade stopped for about a minute while the police checked on the guy and made sure he came to. Another guy stepped in to take his place and the original guy watched from the sidelines. Seems it was dehydration and over-heating. Yikes!
Another interesting note about the hot weather. Below is a small statue of Pak Tai and, although you can't see it here, there was a guy fanning the statue! Now that's love.
Finally, came the part that everyone wanted to see: the "floating" children!
And their own personal bands to announce their arrivals:
I had a fun time today, but it was incredibly crowded. If you're in Hong Kong during the bun festival, I still recommend that you go, but one time should be enough. I don't think I'll return to Cheung Chau Island for Bun Festival 2013, my senior year. It's just too chaotic.
As for upcoming travels, I will be in Guangdong Province starting tomorrow after lunch until late May 15th. I'm also not bringing my computer with me, although the hostel we're looking to stay in is supposed to have an internet cafe nearby. Even so, as I mentioned before, reaching me through more "traditional" means won't work. Instead, use my USC school email: milesra@email.sc.edu. Don't expect any replies until the 15th or even 16th, though, since I doubt we'll have much time for internet with our jam-packed schedule. Please wish luck to both Magda and me as we head out on our whirlwind adventure through Dongguan, Guangzhou, Foshan, and Kaiping!
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