Group members:

No. 8,14,16,20,22,32,38

Cheung Chau Bun Festival is a traditional Chinese festival on the island of Cheung Chau in Hong Kong. Being held annually, and with therefore the most public exposure, it is by far the most famous of such Da Jiu festivals, with Jiu being a Taoist sacrificial ceremony. Such events are held by mostly rural communities in Hong Kong, either annually or at a set intervalof years ranging all the way up to once every 60 years (i.e. the same year in the Chinese astrological calendar). Other places that may share the folk custom include Taiwan, Sichuan, Fujian and Guangdong.

One story of the origin of the festival is that in the 18th Century the island of Cheung Chau was devastated by a plague and infiltratedby pirates until local fishermen brought an image of the god Pak Tai to the island. Paraded through the village lanes, the deity drove away evil spirits. Villagers also disguised themselves as different deities and walked around the island to drive away the evil spirits.

Bun Scrambling

Parade-in-the-air

Dragon Dances

Lion Dances Burning of paper effigies

Bun Scrambling is the main activity of Cheung Chau Bun Festival. Another one is the Parade-in-the-air .

When Eighth day in the lunar, three giant 60-feet bamboo towers covered with buns are built in the space in front of the Pak Tai Temple. Historically, young men would race up the tower to get hold of the buns; the higher the bun, the better fortune it was supposed to bring to the holder's family. The race was known as "Bun-snatching”.However, during a race in 1978 one of the towers collapsed, injuring more than 100 people. In 2005, a single tower climbing event in the adjacent sports ground was revived as a race -- with extra safety precautions including proper mountain-climbing tools as well as tutorials for participants .

•http://hk.video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=%E6%90%B6%E5%8C%85%E5%B1%B1&ei=UTF-8&meta=rst%3Dhk&fr=FP-tab-web-t&fr2=tab-web&vid=0001863527313

We went to Cheung Chau to have a site visit in the 26th of December. We carried out a survey and we interviewed eight people.We totally asked ten questions.

We find most of Cheung Chau residents note the Bun Festival. And we know ,in the past,the date of Bun Festival is uncertain. It is determined by the cups Bu.But now,the festival is determined in the eighth day in thelunar.They tell us the significance of the festival is for celebrating the expulsion of plague. They think the feature of Bun Festival is it has national sentiment. Moreover,they think the festival boost the economy of Cheung Chau.And it make there are more visitors come to Cheung Chau.

We find that

- All of the respondents are note the Bun Festival.

- Three quarter of the respondents think Bun Scrambling is safe .And only two people think it is dangerous.

- Five respondents are dissatisfied about the present Bun Scrambling .Only three people think it is still good.

- All of the respondents want continue to organize the Bun Festival.

• Cheung Chau Bun festival is a joyful event.

• It is a traditional Chinese festival on the island of Cheung Chau in Hong Kong.

• It is the most popular festival on the island of Cheung Chau and almost all the residents on the island are note the Bun Festival.

• Bun festival is the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage.

• The main activity are bun scrambling and it has national sentiment.

• Almost all of the public on the island want to continue organize the bun festival.

• We think the Bun Festival is a customary festival and we should treasure it and reserve this culture.