Cheung Chau Bun Festival Draws Over 18,000 Visitors

Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Bun Festival had drawn more than 18,000 visitors by 5pm on Sunday, including tourists who had travelled specifically to watch the parade featuring “floating” children dressed this year as Middle Eastern oil moguls and judges.

Visitors to the outlying island also splurged on frozen pineapples, watermelon juice and frozen mango mochi as the mercury hit 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit).

In the day, the island stages the Piu Sik Parade, featuring children held aloft on steel frames and carried through the narrow lanes while dressed as deities or figures dominating news headlines.

At night, crowds gather to watch the famed bun scrambling competition. Contestants race up a steel tower and grab as many imitation buns as possible.

This year’s parade themes included rising oil prices, the HK$2 (25 US cents) transport subsidy and bid-rigging. Two children dressed as judges from the TVB court drama Themis were among the highlights.

Katelynn Wong, age 5½, took part in the float themed on rising oil prices. Holding a petrol gun and dressed in denim overalls with a Shell logo, Katelynn was partnered with a boy standing next to a jerrycan dressed as a Middle Eastern oil mogul.

Her father, Daniel Wong, said that this was Katelynn’s second year taking part in the parade, but her first time as one of the main characters.