Hong Kong retains island traditions alive: Cheung Chau attracts vacationers to vibrant Bun Competition | Journey khabarmasala24.com

Sporting costumes starting from Cinderella clothes to Dragon Ball Z outfits, kids had been hoisted onto metallic poles as unofficial mascots of a boisterous parade as Hong Kong celebrated its annual bun pageant on Wednesday.

Hundreds of tourists flocked to Hong Kong’s outlying of island of Cheung Chau to look at the “Piu Sik” or floating colors parade, which was carried out with statues of deities earlier than costumed children changed them.

The elaborately dressed younger kids had been raised above the crowds for the long-lasting spectacle on the island, which is steeped in cultural traditions and a preferred vacationer vacation spot. Temperatures soared to 29 levels Celsius (84 levels Fahrenheit) through the parade.

“Final 12 months I used to be a firefighter… I’ve at all times needed to be a cop,” mentioned Wu, 9, who was dressed as a police officer — full with sun shades and a baton. “It is cool.”

Legend has it that within the 1800s, Cheung Chau’s fisherfolk drove away pirates and the plague by parading a statue of Taoist sea deity Pak Tai, inspiring right this moment’s five-day bun pageant.

A well-liked native bakery noticed lengthy queues of festivalgoers desirous to pattern the island’s favorite candy buns, that are stamped with the Chinese language character for “peace and security”.

“We have at all times had a queue for our ‘ping on’ buns,” mentioned second-generation retailer proprietor Martin Kwok, including that the shop made greater than 60,000 buns every day within the previous week.

Kwok mentioned he stop a high-paying finance job to hold the torch on the household enterprise, over his father’s objections.

“I actually need to preserve the custom of creating buns and to maintain the spirit of the bun pageant alive,” Kwok advised AFP.

In a close-by playground, a 14-metre-high (45-feet-high) tower lined with imitation steamed buns loomed over the group, the positioning of a midnight contest the place 12 athletes will speed-climb their method to the highest.

Janet Kung, a former winner who’s competing once more this 12 months, mentioned the bun scrambling competitors has a “sense of grandeur” given its lengthy custom and reside viewers.

“The most important problem for bun scrambling is the best way to recover from the stress from the group, in addition to from my very own expectations,” mentioned the 30-year-old, who works as a nurse.

A retiree in her 50s surnamed Chan mentioned she appreciated the bun pageant’s cultural legacy in addition to the charms of Cheung Chau, a distinction to the hectic tempo of metropolis life.

“It is the atmosphere of previous Hong Kong, the alleys and the small retailers… I feel this was how my father and mom lived.”