A bundle of laughs at Hong Kong bun festival
HONG KONG: A dozen climbers in Hong Kong scrambled up a 18m hight tower covered with plastic buns in an annual contest won by the first man and woman to reach the top with the most buns plucked off the column in their ascent.
Nearly 50,000 people flocked to Cheung Chau island on Wednesday, the final day of a week-long bun festival, where they watched a “floating colours” parade that featured traditional music and lion dancing.
“I was actually quite relaxed,” men’s champion Kwok Ka-ming told Reuters. “If I’m calm I find that I can perform better. If I’m worried about not winning, then I find that I don’t do so well.”
Children dressed as gods and politicians, such as Chief Executive-elect Carrie Lam were wheeled around on pedestals as if they were floating above the crowd.
The festival, which coincides with the birthday of Buddha, commemorates the sea deity, Pak Tai, who is credited with stopping a plague on the island.
Buns sold during the festival are filled with sweet paste made of ingredients, such as lotus seed, sesame and red bean, and stamped with Chinese characters that symbolise peace, health and prosperity. Reuters