Crowds flock to celebrate the century-old Bun Festival

Participants collect buns from a tower covered with plastic buns during the Bun Festival in Cheung Chau Island yesterday

Crowds flocked to the outlying Cheung Chau Island in Hong Kong to celebrate the Bun Festival, held each year in a century-old tradition to ward off evil and pray for peace and blessings.

The festivities began with a parade of children in costumes, called “Piu Sik,” which translates as “floating color.” Children dressed as legendary deities or historic characters are carried on stands above the gathered crowds, meandering through the island’s narrow lanes.

The highlight of the festival comes at midnight with a “bun-scrambling” competition, where climbers race up a tower covered with plastic buns. Whoever gets the most buns of greatest value wins the race. Buns near the top have higher value.

The competition was suspended for decades after an accident in 1978 when a bun tower collapsed and caused injuries. The tradition resumed in 2005.

Legend has it that the colorful custom began after a deadly plague devastated the island of Cheung Chau. Residents followed the local Taoist tradition of imploring the deities for help and used white steamed buns as offerings to drive away the evil spirits.

Nowadays, residents and visitors to the island eat the white steamed buns as part of the celebrations. They are called “Ping On Bao” in Cantonese, meaning “peace” buns, and are stamped with two red Chinese characters meaning “peace” and “safety.” CHAN LONG HEI & ALICE FUNG, HONG KONG, MDT/AP