Cheung Chau Bun Festival returns as children enjoy cosplay during Piu Sik parade

It could be a bit confusing but take a closer look and you can tell the difference – The Cheung Chau Bun Festival, or the Jiao Festival, finally returned after three years of Covid-19 pandemic, so did children wearing cute and funny costumes, and turning into prominent figures during the Piu Sik parade. 

The parade, which started at 2 pm on Friday, rewinded the calendar back to the Zhou Dynasty as Wu Zetien – the first female monarch of China – made her entrance while holding a portable electric fan in her hands. 

A girl dressed as the Guanyin – the bodhisattva of infinite compassion and mercy in Chinese Buddhism – made a brief visit to the lands of the mortal today, also the Buddha’s Birthday. 

Back to the modern day, two kids dressed as Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po and Executive Council convener Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee. 

A kid wearing thick glasses and a black suit could be seen carrying a huge cheque addressed to the Hongkong Electric Company, mocking that the power firm could still be rewarded despite a recent outage affecting Hong Kong Island. 

Some children dressed as Olympians, including fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long and swimmer Siobhan Haughey, while others in firefighter costumes paid their respect to local heroes who traveled to Turkey for a rescue mission following the quakes in February. 

Some others put on uniforms of medics and janitors to extend gratitude towards their services when fighting Covid. 

Despite the scorching weather, many citizens flocked to Cheung Chau early this morning to grab their front-row seats for the parade. Some even said they had arrived on the island last night already to feel the electric festivity atmosphere. 

Shops that sell buns printed with the Chinese characters “ping on” – which means safety – said people had been waiting in long lines since this morning and expected business to increase by 30 to 40 percent compared to last year. 

Sun Ferry says about 32,000 are headed to Cheung Chau from the Central pier as of 5 pm. 

The number of passengers marked a 40 percent jump compared with last year when the city was still fighting Covid, but still 16 percent down when compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019. 

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