The Island Of Cheung Chau.

The town on the island was interesting to walk through.  Granted, we were there during the busiest weekend of the year, so we did not get an accurate representation of the town, but it was quaint and a typical seaside village in Hong Kong. There were narrow streets with no high rise apartment buildings, but village houses with three levels. There is so much culture all around us here in Hong Kong and especially in these little villages that aren't as westernized.

Cheung Chau Beach.

We had made plans to visit the beach with our friends and their two kids, but with the torrential rains Hong Kong had been having, I really didn't plan on being able to swim. I was very wrong! The weather was gorgeous on Monday, and we found our way down by the ocean with our toes in the sand. The sun was beating down on us, but we were able to claim a spot underneath some trees, which provided us with plenty of shade. The kids had fun digging around in the sand and putting their legs in the ocean water. 

Cheung Chau Bun Festival Parades.

As we were sitting down eating a late lunch on Monday, in Cheung Chau, a parade walked through the streets. There were plenty of parades throughout Cheung Chau during the day for the Bun Festival.

One of the famous parades is known as the "Floating Parade". It is a great honor to be asked to be one of the children are dressed as a legendary or modern hero. The children are attached to steel frames in the air, which give off the illusion that they are floating above the crowd.

Since we are in Hong Kong, and this was a festival, there were also plenty of dragon dances that took part in parades throughout the island. All the parades were accompanied with drumming and loud gongs to scare away the evil spirits.

Cheung Chau Bun Festival - Street Food.

Aside from the one bun we purchased and sampled at the Bun Festival, we also enjoyed walking through Cheung Chau and trying different street food items. When you think of fair food back in the United States, images of corndogs and funnel cakes come to mind. Not here in Hong Kong. Festival street food was naturally a bit different from what you get in North America.

Street food is delicious and made even more so when it's served to you on a stick! My daughter ordered a gigantic cookie the size of her head, my husband ordered a potato that was deep fried on a stick {it tasted more like potato chips}, fish balls that you eat with a long wooden skewer, and plenty of other tasty foods.

One of my favorite food purchases that we sampled, was a Taiwanese shaved ice. You could pick your flavor(s) and then they poured a topping of your choice on top. I chose a coconut ice with a condensed milk topping. My husband also wanted to sample a snow cone he had seen people walking around with. The cool treats were perfect for the hot and humid day we were experiencing!

Cheung Chau Bun Festival.

We made our way on foot towards the massive bun structures by following the direction that the crowds were walking. There was a thick crowd of people, but it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated from reports we had received from other friends who had been there in the past. We could smell the buns rotting in the heat of sun after having been rained on the previous three days. The structure had many buns missing from it and the buns were molding.

The majority of the festival was located near the Pak Tai Temple. There were several colorful structures built up and many different places that a person could offer up a prayer. We did not make it to the actual temple, but stayed out on the courtyard in front where there were several bamboo structures with bun towers and statue like characters.

Cheung Chau Bun Festival - The Buns.

Monday, May 25th we celebrated Buddha's birthday here in Hong Kong. Well, we as a family didn't so much celebrate it, but it was a holiday, so the kids and my husband had the day off from work and school. We met some friends down at the pier in Central and headed over to Cheung Chau after a short ferry ride to see the Bun Festival. 

The whole weekend leading up to Monday, Hong Kong had seen torrential downpours so the handmade buns up on the huge bamboo mountains had begun to mold and fall off by the time Monday came around. You could smell the stench of rotting buns, when you were up close to the towers.

As soon as we got off the ferry in Cheung Chau, there were vendors lined up along the street with fresh buns set out for sale. There were so many fresh buns for sale, they were piled up in woven baskets on the floor, ready for the crowds. There were also plenty of tourist items with the iconic bun symbol for sale as well. Wouldn't you like to sleep on a bun pillow or a have a bun keychain?

The buns were soft and had different flavorings inside of them. I'm personally not a big fan of the steamed bun, so we just purchased one bun and split it among the four of us. The bun we sampled was had a sesame paste filling. There is a thick layer of bread and then the paste in the middle of the bun was very sweet. Some of the other fillings included red bean which typically my husband loves, but did not try that day.