Type:Physical Object

Subject:Bamboo tower
Ping On Bun
Cheung Chau Bun Festival

Description:The centrepiece of the festival is at Pak Tai Temple where the "Bun Mountains" or "Bun Towers"(包山) stand. These are three giant 60-feet bamboo towers covered with buns. It is these bun-covered towers that give the festival its name. From the 1800s, real Ping On buns were used to cover the towers. However, after 2005, plastic Ping On buns are replacing real buns every year. [show more]

Type:Physical Object

Subject:Banner
Entrance

Description:Flower plaques are a type of traditional Chinese craft made to be a temporary banner and usually serves as an entrance to areas of celebration. It is built as a sign of prosperity, luck and happiness to celebrate festivals, weddings and inaugurations. In the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, they are used to express gratitude to the gods for the ongoing peace, and to pray for good weather in the fishing island. They are decorated using bamboo, paper, fabric and plastic in red and fluorescent colours. It is said that flower plaques are derived from traditional arched gateways (牌坊) as a temporary set up. [show more]

Type:Physical Object

Subject:Bungalow
Holiday Resort

Description:The Bela Vista Villa are a series of bungalows gathered near the Tung Wan beach in central Cheung Chau. It has been said to be haunted after a woman with marital problems killed his son and proceeded to hang herself wearing Chinese traditional clothes in 1989. Since then, there were repeated sightings of her ghost around the area, and more than 20 cases of suicides occurred within the resort. Of these cases, many were linked to burning charcoal, hence its nickname "the Resort of Charcoal Suicide". However, to this day, it is still a popular dwelling location for visitors, with rentals especially soaring during the most famous festival on the island. [show more]

Type:Event

Subject:Ceremony
God-worshipping
Praying

Description:After the end of the parade, the visitors begin to leave but the residents taking part in Da Jiu begin their busy preparations for the climax of the festival. They will move the King of Ghosts to an open space beside the shore, and place 36 tables of vegetarian banquet in front for the feasting of the wandering spirits. The Taoist Priests chant invocations to assuage the spirits and the residents come to give offerings. At around 11 pm, the King of Ghosts is cremated with the implication that it will bring the wandering ghosts as it leaves the world of men, leaving the community in peace. The 3-day Da Jiu comes to an end, and the period of abstinence ends. [show more]

Type:Food

Subject:Cheung Chau Buns shop
Cheung Chau Bun Festival

Description:This 40-year-old bakery supplies Ping On Bao (peace and prosperity buns), the round white buns with a lucky red stamp, for the Bun Festival. You can get the fresh-from-the-steamer buns, traditionally filled with sesame paste, lotus-seed paste or red-bean paste, at 2pm every day. The shop supplies about 60000 buns every festival. It produces 20 buns a minute by using a HK$400,000 machine, manufactured by Rheon of Japan, which is double the rate of making buns by hand. [show more]

Type:Event

Subject:Chinese Opera in Cheung Chau Bun Festival

Description:In the past, the Opera is divided into male and female audience regions, where male seats are at the left and females at the right. The seats requires a ticket while the empty space in the middle is free of charge. Anyone can watch while standing. The opera is built at a 20 degree angle so the audience can watch easily. [show more]

Type:Event

Subject:Competition

Description:Three conical 60-feet bamboo towers covered in Ping On steamed buns would be erected outside of Pak Tai Temple. This competition consists of participants scrambling up a bun tower and trying to grab as many buns into their bags as possible within the 3-minute time limit. The higher-up the buns, the more points they are worth. Relay races were added in 2006. Held on the last day of the weeklong festival, is the highlight of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival. [show more]

Type:Physical object

Subject:Cushion
Ping On Bun
Souvenir

Description:Ping On cushion is one of the souvenirs being sold in Cheung Chau. It is using the iconic Ping On Bun which represents the Cheung Chau Bun Festival to create a gimmick to attract buyers. It is shaped and coloured like a real ping on bun. There are different sizes of cushions designed. [show more]

Type:Event

Subject:dance
traditional performance

Description:Brave troops dance is a traditional folk dance popular in Meilongtou, Wuchuan City, Zhanjiang, Guangdong. During the Chinese New Year or festive day, the local people must dance, or cooperate with the national martial arts team and various colors to perform parade together, for the hope for peace and luck in the year. [show more]

Type:Performance

Subject:Dance

Description:Dragon dance is very similar to Lion dance. It is also a traditional Chinese dance. The difference is that the lion costume is replaced by a long flexible figure of dragon. A team of performers use long poles to control the dragon model and mimic the imagined movement of dragons. [show more]