Associated Press

Hong Kong, May 14:

A fishing village on an outlying Hong Kong island is reviving a bizarre way of celebrating

the Buddha’s birthday tomorrow — a tradition that has been banned for 26 years because it was deemed to be too dangerous.

For more than a century, residents on Cheung Chau island erected tall bamboo towers covered with white steamed buns.

People would scramble up the structures that looked like inverted ice cream cones and snatch the buns — offerings for wandering ghosts that locals believe will bring peace.

But the ritual was banned after a bun tower toppled over in 1978, injuring 100 people.

Despite the accident, islanders have fond memories of the spectacular scramble and the government agreed to relaunch it at midnight tomorrow.

To ensure safety, bun-snatchers had to undergo mountaineering training.

Officials built a sturdier 14 metre steel tower. Padding was installed at the structure’s bottom.

The tower was covered with a bamboo scaffolding and about 8,000 buns were tied to the outer surface to retain its traditional look.

With safety ropes on, the 12 finalists who passed a preliminary competition will scale the bun tower at midnight and grab as many buns as they can. The buns will carry different points and the higher ones are worth more.

Chan Ka-foon, one of the finalists, says bun-snatching used to be rather violent, as many participants were members of triad gangs and some would break the bamboo strips that bound the tower together while they grabbed the buns.

But the 26-year-old civil servant complains the new measures have made the game a little too safe. “It’s more like rock-climbing,” Chan said. “In the past, many swarmed the mountain during the scramble. Now with just 12 people, the atmosphere just can’t compare. It’s good to be safe, but there are too few participants.”

Chan said he is keen to join this year’s competition because both his grandfather and his father were former bun-snatchers. His 89-year-old grandpa was a master builder of bun towers.

Organisers defend the safety measures as a necessity.

“We can’t go back to the old way. We need to move ahead with times,” said Yung Chi-ming, chairman of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival Committee. “For us to be able to relaunch the tradition, it must be safe.”

Yung said tomorrow’s festival is expected to draw 40,000 to 50,000 visitors to Cheung Chau and will be a great boost to businesses on the otherwise tranquil island village.

The event also includes lion dances and a parade of traditional floats, ridden by children wearing colourful costumes with made-up faces.

As part of the ritual, islanders also practice the Buddhist tradition of going vegetarian for three days. Even McDonald’s will be selling special “veggie burgers” to meet the demand.

“We want to show our piety during Buddha’s birthday,” Yung said.