On May 15, the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the festive atmosphere of the "Taiping Jiao" series of folk customs activities that lasted for several days was pushed to a climax on Cheung Chau Island in Hong Kong.
Cheung Chau Jiao Festival is a unique folk event in Hong Kong, held from the 5th to the 9th day of the fourth lunar month every year. In 2011, it was included in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. Legend has it that in the late Qing Dynasty, there was a plague raging in Cheung Chau, and the islanders worshiped and prayed to the Northern Emperor in order to eliminate the disaster and relieve the misfortune, and paraded through the streets with the statue of the Northern Emperor, which really quelled the plague. Since then, the islanders have held the Tai Ping Jiao Festival every year to reward the grace of the Northern Emperor and pray for the safety of Cheung Chau.
At 1:30 p.m., the sun was shining on Cheung Chau Island and the sea breeze was blowing. With the sound of gongs and drums, the highlight of Cheung Chau Taiping Jiao Festival, the "Parade of Floating Colors", began. A number of community parade teams from inside and outside Cheung Chau Island set off from the Pak Tai Temple Playground and walked through the streets and alleys. Several strong men carried huge flags to open the way in front, and the majestic and mighty unicorn dance, lion dance, and even the strange water spray dance elephant attracted the audience to press the shutter in the middle of the road; Children dressed in various themed costumes stood on an iron stand about 2 meters high and "floated in the air", escorted by the gong and drum team and the honor guard in the middle of the parade, and frequently waved and interacted with citizens and tourists.
On both sides of the street, many shops are selling Cheung Chau's local characteristics of Ping An Bao, attracting many citizens and tourists to queue up to buy them. In the Jiao field in front of the Pak Tai Temple, the three "Bao Mountains" are full of physical safety bag offerings, which have become check-in points for tourists.
The much-anticipated "Grab the Bun Mountain" competition is the finale of Cheung Chau Taiping Jiao. At 0:00 a.m. on May 16th, the final of the "Grab the Bun Mountain" individual competition started with the countdown cheers of thousands of spectators - 12 contestants (9 men and 3 women) who stood out after layers of selection bravely climbed to the 14.42-meter-high and 9,000 simulated buns hanging on the Baoshan Frame, competing for the "Ping An Bag" with different scores in different areas at the top of the Baoshan, and the contestants must pick up the highest possible score within 3 minutes and land in time. In the end, Ye Jianwen and Gong Zishan won the championships of "Baoshan King" and "Baoshan Queen" respectively in the men's and women's individual competitions.
In the subsequent "Bun Grab Relay Invitational Competition", the organizers invited three teams of climbers from Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Macao in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to compete with seven local teams in Cheung Chau, and the Shenzhen Mountaineering and Outdoor Sports Association team won the championship.
The fireworks in the sky burst into flames, and the activities such as grabbing buns ended successfully in the night.
Visitors returning home by boat take away the joy of the day and the hope for peace.
Photo丨Reporter Cai Jiahongwen丨Reporter Wang Manqi