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The enthusiastically celebrated Cheung Chau Bun Festival is one of Hong Kong’s most joyously celebrated festivals. As its name indicates the event is centred in the island of Cheung Chau and many people of the island who work elsewhere return to the island for this celebration. The origin of this occasion is rooted in Taoist tradition and it is considered to be one of the customary Taoist Da Jiu celebrations.
The Bun Festival draws many thousands of tourists from local areas as well as overseas to the island. The event is dated according to the traditional Chinese calendar and usually falls in the early part of May. This date coincides with the celebrations for the birthday of the Buddha. The Bun Festival originated as a ritual performed by the local fisher folk intended to pray to the heavenly powers for protection from seafaring pirates. Today however this religious aspect of the celebrations has for the most part been phased out and instead the fiesta has become a vibrant display of Chinese cultural traditions.
Many interesting customs and observances are associated with this unique event. The festivities extend for an entire week and for three days of this period the whole island practices vegetarianism. Even the local McDonald’s prepares vegetarian burgers at this time.
Numerous dragon dances as well as lion dances are organized, and there are also parades in which young children attired as modern and legendary heroes take to the streets. A number of local deities are venerated in the festivities including Pak Tai, the god of seafarers; Tin Hau, the goddess of the oceans; Hung Hsing, the God of the Southern regions; and Kuan Yin, the deity of mercy.
The focus of the festivities is the Pak Tai shrine, where the well-known mountains of buns are set up. Thousands of buns are used for this custom and in former years a race was organized where young men would rush to grab buns from the mountains of buns. Visitors will be able to witness these colourful traditions.
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