Warm-up to unique bun festival gets thumbs-up from mainland visitors

Tourists said the bun climbing carnival in Cheung Chau yesterday was amazing and that Hong Kong should promote more traditional cultural events.

The carnival, a warm-up to the Cheung Chau Bun Festival on May 15, featured stall games, handicraft workshops and a bun tower for the public to climb.

Shan, from Shenzhen, said she came to Hong Kong specifically for the event after learning about it from mainland social media Xiaohongshu.

"The event is very unique and is well worth the government to promote vigorously," Shan said.

A mainland couple who brought their young sons said it was a good opportunity for their children to learn about Hong Kong culture. The mother, Chen, said: "Activities are interesting and the experience is very good."

Two expatriates who have lived in Hong Kong for over eight years said they would recommend the event to their families and friends overseas.

They also said the government should devote more resources to promoting Hong Kong's Chinese heritage, such as temples and cultural events, rather than major events. The city's culture, they added, "is not something that can be copied anywhere else."

The government was also urged to provide subsidies for the Piu Sik Parade, which will be held on the day of the bun festival, as merchants on the island have seen their business worsen than expected and found it hard to donate to support the parade.

"Most of the teams volunteer to participate in the parade and would even spend their own money to buy props," said Piu Sik designer Wong Shing-chau.

Wong hoped the government could directly allocate funds to teams participating in the parade instead of first providing them to the festival's organizing committee.

Meanwhile, three bamboo towers prepared for displaying buns at the Pak Tai Temple playground collapsed on Saturday due to strong winds and rains.

But the 14-meter tower for the climbing carnival yesterday remained stable, said bun festival organizing committee chairman Yung Chi-ming.

Yung said the collapse was a "once-in-a-century" incident, and the towers had been reinforced during the reconstruction.

"Reconstruction went surprisingly smoothly," he added.

The bun scrambling final will be held from 11.30pm on May 15.

ayra.wang@singtaonewscorp.com