SHIRLEY.ZHAO@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Saturday, 14 May, 2016, 1:09pm
Visitor queue up for ‘lucky buns’ in Cheung Chau. Photo: Edward Wong
Businesses in Cheung Chau are expecting better sales during the famed bun festival this year, with tens of thousands of people taking advantage of fine weather to flock to the island today.
By 10am this morning, more than 100 people were already queuing up outside one of the bakeries on Pak She Street to buy the famous “lucky buns”, symbol of the bun festival.
Watch: How Cheung Chau prepares for the Piu Sik parade
Kwok Yu-tim, son of Kwok Kam Kee Cake Shop owner Kwok Kam-chuen, said he was expecting to sell about 60,000 buns this year – about the same as last year – but he had already seen better sales in the morning.
To speed up the bun-making process, the shop has finally introduced a food processor – doubling production to 20 buns a minute.
“We were too slow in the past and we felt sorry for the customers, so this year we wanted to speed up the process,” said Kwok, 34.
Friends Kristy Chung Hiu-ying, 20, and Dora Lam Hiu-ting, 21, arrived on the island at 9am but still needed to wait in line for half an hour to buy the buns.
“It is our first time to join the festival this year,” said Chung. “The festival atmosphere is really good here, and you can’t feel the same elsewhere in Hong Kong.”
Ho Yau, 82, arrived at Cheung Chau from Yau Ma Tei at 9.30am and spent almost an hour queuing.
Ho said he came to offer his worship to Pak Tai, the festival’s main deity, and buy buns, which symbolise peace and safety – but would leave early to avoid the crowds for this afternoon’s Piu Sik “floating colours” parade.
A parade winds through Cheung Chau’s streets. Photo: Edward Wong
The parade, from 2pm to 4pm, features young children dressed in colourful costumes to resemble deities or modern celebrities, carried shoulder-high on metal structures or floats to appease wandering ghosts.
The parade is then followed by the Bun Scrambling Competition, which begins at 11.30pm.
Fatima Lo, owner of souvenir shop Fubo Selection, which had been operating on Pak She Praya Road for 17 years, said she expected up to 30 per cent more sales this year.
“It was raining last year so the business wasn’t very good,” said Lo.
Visitor stock up on souvenirs in Cheung Chau, with businesses expecting brisk sales after last year’s rain-soaked festival. Photo: Edward Wong
Kwan Woon-ching, who operates a guesthouse on the same road, expected business to pick up by as much as 40 per cent this year.
The week-long festival began on May 11.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1944743/business-booming-bumper-crowds-flock-cheung-chau
