We started off on our adventure early as we wanted to get to the island before the rush of people to the small island of 2.45 km². We knew it was going to a busy day; the Bun Festival is an annual event and is well known to Hong Kong residents and tourists. We met up with some of our exchange friends - Thomas, Thomas, Chris, Rasmus, Dan and Kevin and set off into the early morning to the ferry terminal downtown.
The ferries were incredibly busy already. We were lined up--actually no, bunched up in crowds--waiting for the gates to the ferry to open. Some people were quite pushy but seeing as we were a large group, we stood our ground and our place to ensure we can get on the ferry.
Forming a line and standing our ground!
Eventually, we were herded into the ferry and founds seats for our group. I spent the ferry ride talking to some of the guys since I didn't know them well - it was great to be able to get to know fellow exchange students better!
Soon, we were docking on at the Cheung Chau Ferry Terminal. The island of Cheung Chau has been described as a "hammer shaped" island. It looks like it has two main bodies/parts of the island connected by a isthmus. See my link to Google Maps for a good view of it!
There were many people already. We followed the mass of people who were walking inland, into the busy part of the island where there were hospitals, schools, police stations and many many stores. Areas of the island were gated off for preparation of the evening's activities and signs were placed strategically to inform walkers of where to go.
In one of the squares of Cheung Chau Island
We had started early in the morning and it has taken us a while to get here, so we knew we had to eat. After all, a main part of tourism is to enjoy the different types of food offered! So we wandered for a bit on the curvy paths of Cheung Chau and eventually settled into a small and cozy restaurant.
Munching on many Cantonese dishes. Yum!!
Then the madness began. The streets only became busier and busier as the day progressed and the annual parade was about to start soon. Many people chose a location and gathered on the side of the streets to anticipate the festivities trampling through. We, and many other festivity attenders alike, were trying to find a place to stand, but the streets were so crowded already!. We kept walking along the streets, bumping into people here and there and eventually found ourselves to be walking in the middle of the parade...
The crowded streets
Our photographers sacrificing themselves to take pictures of the crowded streets
The flag carriers
Showcasing some artifacts
Children standing on, (no, more like attached) to high wooden beams and planks
Some areas were taped off
Lion dancing of course! Jordan was riding the lion while taking the pic. Just kidding!
Rawr
Eventually, we broke free of the engulfing spectacle of people; we could breathe again! The road we took was the Cheung Chau Family Walk Road (長洲家樂徑)- a long, easy and scenic route for people to enjoy the view of the ocean, residential areas and vast forests on the island. And that was when the giant bun tower came into our view. It was magnificent and funny at the same time :P
The many boats of the residents of Cheung Chau.
The giant bun towers! These ones are for decoration and are made with plastic buns (shame, we wanted to steal some :P )
The MAIN bun tower that will be used later on the evening...for the bun tower climbing competition!
The bun tower amidst the tourists and residents.
Our group posing for a group shot!
We had a few hours before dinner time and the Bun Climbing competition, so we continued down the path to explore the Northern part of the island. The walk was quite easy and leisurely; we saw a few other large groups and families along the path as well, exploring the island and getting away from the crowds.
Walking along the trail and filming the talents of our group :)
Looking out onto the water and other portion of the island
A residential area
Jordan found a Pokemon card!
A peaceful stroll along the boardwalk.
Taking a break at the nearby shore.
We decided to stop and take a break at a rocky shore - the water looked nice and clear. We took of our shoes and immersed our sort-of sore feet in the cooling water and jumped from rock to rock. As we had many talented photographers among us, we took a few shots of people rock jumping.
The woosh - a big wave came upon the shore and splattered our knees and thighs. Then we realized - some of us left of belongings on a rock near the shore! Sadly, some of the guys shoes and socks were now soaked and sandy...it was a sacrifice we took when we decided we wanted to frolic and play by the water. But whether our shoes were squeaky and wet or unaffected and dry, we had to continue on. We had much more to explore!
The isthmus strip of land on the island, full of residential housing and shops.
Taking some photos with the beautiful island!
Balancing act against a darkening backdrop.
Heading down to steps to visit a lookout area and beach
Wandering on the meandering path
Jump!
The view onto a distant and wide Hong Kong.
A sad and litter filled beach. It's really disappointing that people would ruin a beautiful area such as this.
The walk was refreshing; the water was soothing. We had the chance to see the nature of Cheung Chau and its more hidden, tree-filled areas. Atop of its high peaks, we were able to catch a glance of distant shorelines and land and see the vast ocean opening out before us. It was definitely a nice break from the squishing and crowds of hundreds of people fitting into a small area.
However, we did come to this island to enjoy the festival - Cheung Chau Bun festival! So we made our way back to the busy downtown of the small island and found ourselves again amidst rushing people, vendors and random and awesome decorations.
Little bun towers! I wanted to take one home. Not a bun, but the entire bun tower.
Jordan and Nigel like buns too
Unfortunately, some of the guys we came with had to leave the island, as they had other plans in the evening. But we were lucky that we met up with our good friends Nigel, Cindy and her sister Kitty to enjoy the rest of the evening. We walked around the few blocks were most of the festivities happens and got to see some interesting and unique sights.
Cantonese opera
One of my favorite pictures - us om nom-ing on some buns!
And oh my gosh - AMAZING GIANT CURRY FISH BALLS!!
While dropping some of our friends off at the ferry terminal, we decided to check out a temple nearby - Tin Hau Temple. Jordan and I made a mistake in thinking that Tin Hau Temple is one famous temple in Hong Kong, but we were wrong. There are many, many, MANY Tin Hau Temples scattered all over Hong Kong. Tin Hau 天后 means "Goddess of the Sky" or "Empress of the Heaven" and is very famous in Hong Kong as a protector of the land and people. The Wikipedia page shows all the different Tin Hau Temples in Hong Kong.
The Tin Hau temple in Sai Wan, Cheung Chau.
Walking around and sweating all day left us quite tired and dehydrated. So, we went on a search for some food! As with many other islands in Hong Kong, we heard the seafood was very delicious. So we settled in a restaurant to fill our rumbling stomachs.
Of course, we got some beer :P
We ordered many awesome dishes - clams, fried pork, spicy and salty squid and pissing shrimp. Yes, pissing shrimp. Let me explain...they are a special type of shrimp that have really hard and sharp shells. If you are not careful enough, the spikes on the shells may just poke a hole in your epithelia layer. It was...interesting to eat. I think I would prefer regular, less dangerous and evil shrimp, but these were kinda cool to try.
Pissing shrimp is also known as the mantis shrimp, which is a proper and better known name for it. If I thought it was dangerous while its dead, it's about a thousand times more dangerous when it's alive. To scare away predators many times its size, the shrimp swings their sharp claws at their predator. Because they swing it so fast, cavitation bubbles form and eventually collapse to hit their prey. The cavitation bubbles produces great force that pretty much knocks their prey away. In addition, something called sonoluminescence happens - this is when there is a really quick and short emission of light and high temperatures from the collapsing bubble. Here is the Wiki page about the shrimp and also an awesome, hilarious video.
The sun soon set. A few of felt a bit tired, but we had to keep going - the bun competition was late at night, so we needed to keep our energy up. After all, that is why we came to this island on this day...to witness the crazy fun bun competition.
The group of us chilling at a nearby beach and see the distant Hong Kong Island.
We went to an incredible dessert place! Jordan wrote a blog post about it - see it here
Tofu dessert - 豆腐花
Mango tapioca!
If you want to check out this place, it's called 允升甜品 (Google Maps link here)
I know I've mentioned it before, but this festival is pretty famous in Hong Kong. We realized this all over again when we decided to head to where the Bun Climbing competition was being held....and there was a HUUUUGE line-up. And apparently, not everyone will be able to get in. The event coordinators and volunteers were handing out papers that had numbers on it...the closed off area for the competition had limited standing area. Well, there was nothing we can really do but to stand and wait and hope that our mission to this island was for something!We eventually MADE IT IN! We were given goodies such as a frisbee/fan that sported the well wishes: 平安 (peace).
A group shot with the majestic bun tower!
Many people waiting for the show and snapping pictures.
Everyone's phones and cameras are out!!
The show is beginning....!!
And there they are!
The goal of this competition is stuff your bag with as many plastic buns as possible while climbing up and down. The competitors strategy was to ascend to the highest point, stuff their bags, make their way down while continuing to stuff their bags. Each person was secured by a rope of course.
Bun scavenging.
Many competitors used both hands to stuff their bag
Soon enough, they made their way down.
It was quite entertaining to watch. Perhaps we should try to enlist this sport in the Olympics? :P The crowd was loud and excited; it was a fun and...different sight to see. I actually didn't get to hear what the winner of this competition would get - aside from bragging rights, would they get a big batch of buns to take home? If so, this would definitely entice me to train and join more...:P
It was kind of hard to see, but I believe there was about at least 12 competitors at one time in each race. The winner was a young Cantonese girl from Hong Kong. She looked extremely happy; perhaps it was the thought about the many buns that she would get to enjoy afterwards.
The show was over; we were slightly exhausted and incredibly warm. And it was nearly 1am. We started to line up for the ferries to take us home so we can snooze. The event planners had the system planned quite well; the line for the ferries were long but the ferries were large and frequent enough so that we didn't have to wait long at all. We were all wiped out on the ferry ride home. It was a long, eventful, munchie-filled day; we were exhausted but very, very happy :)
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