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Every year the tiny island of Cheung Chau, which is just a short ferry ride from a city, becomes the centre of a colourful week-long national celebration. A long time ago the festival began as a fun ritual for local fishing communities that prayed for safety from pirates. Nowadays this religious origin has largely been forgotten and the festival has mainly become a showcase of traditional Chinese culture.
Tens of thousands of locals and tourists come to see dragon dances, floats, parades, and, of course, huge bamboo towers covered with handmade buns. The highlight of the festival is the "bun scrambling" which takes place at midnight of the last day near the Pak Tai Temple—the oldest in town.
