By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Where
- Pak Tai Temple Playground
- Tickets
- Free
- Time of year
- May
- Dates
- Move each year with the lunar calendar
Buddha’s Birthday is a gazetted public holiday, and the parade and final have been held on it in recent years. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Festival Committee publish the programme a few weeks ahead, so this is the established pattern and not yet the announced schedule. The final runs into the early hours of the next day.
The Cheung Chau Bun Festival is a Taoist rite on a small car-free island, an hour by ordinary ferry from Central, and it is the strangest good day out in Hong Kong. Children dressed as gods appear to float above the Piu Sik parade in the afternoon, and near midnight trained climbers race up a tower to grab plastic buns. Go early, eat vegetarian, and decide before you leave whether you are staying for the race.
What Cheung Chau Bun Festival actually is
The festival is the Jiao of Cheung Chau, a rite to placate spirits that the island’s people trace to a plague in the Qing dynasty. It is on China’s national list of intangible heritage, and for several days much of the island gives up meat.
The Piu Sik is the part most visitors come for. Young children in costume, posed as gods and historic figures, are held in the air on hidden steel frames and carried through the lanes. Nowadays the floats often carry a satirical nod to the year’s news.
The race began as a free-for-all up towers of real buns, until a collapse stopped it in the seventies. It came back in 2005 as a sport, with harnesses, a purpose-built steel tower and plastic buns. Selected finalists have three minutes to fill a bag, and buns near the top are worth the most.
Where to watch Cheung Chau Bun Festival
- The lanes between Pak Tai Temple and the waterfront, for the Piu Sik. It began at about 2pm at the last festival. Find a spot by noon, and expect to stand.
- Pak Tai Temple Playground, for the race. The final takes place on the soccer pitch, and viewing is split into four zones holding about 1,650 people.
- Any bakery on the island, for the buns. The stamped ping on bao are the souvenir.
Tickets and what it costs
The parade is free. Passes for the final are free too, but scarce: at the last festival they were handed out from 10pm on the island, one to each person, first come first served, at Pak She First Lane and along Ping Chong Road. Plan on a long queue.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department also runs a Climbing Carnival in the weeks before the final, on the same tower, for the public to try.
Official information and booking: www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/bun/
Getting there
Ferries run from Central Pier 5, about an hour on the ordinary boat and half an hour on the fast one, with holiday fares of about HK$25 and HK$48. The operator adds sailings on the day. Aim to land by noon at the latest.
Getting home is the hard part. If you leave after the parade, join the queue by mid-afternoon or expect a long wait. If you stay for the race, the operator ran a special sailing at about 1.15am at the last festival; confirm it before you commit.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Arriving in the afternoon
By the time the parade starts the lanes are full and the ferry queues at Central are long. A late start usually means seeing it over someone’s shoulder, or not at all.
Expecting to eat a burger
Much of the island turns vegetarian for the festival, and that can include the fast-food chains. Treat it as part of the day, not as a problem.
Counting on a pass
Fewer than 2,000 people get in to watch the final, on an island that receives tens of thousands. If you do not get one, leave after the parade and watch the race reported the next day.
Ignoring the weather
May is thundery and wet, and the rain may arrive at any time. Bring a light waterproof, and check the Observatory before setting off.
Other Hong Kong events
Frequently asked questions
When is the Cheung Chau Bun Festival?
The parade and final have been held on Buddha’s Birthday, a public holiday in late April or May, in recent years. The dates card above has this edition, and the organisers publish the programme a few weeks ahead.
What is the Piu Sik parade?
A procession through Cheung Chau’s lanes in which young children, dressed as gods and historic figures, seem to float in the air on concealed frames. It takes place in the afternoon and is free to watch.
How do you get tickets to the Bun Scrambling final?
Passes are free and were given out on the island from 10pm at the last festival, one each, first come first served. There were about 1,650 of them, so join the queue early.
How do you get to Cheung Chau?
By ferry from Central Pier 5, in about an hour on the ordinary boat or half that on the fast one. The operator adds sailings on the day, but queues in both directions are long.
Are the buns real?
The buns on the race tower are plastic, for safety and hygiene, while the ones on sale in the bakeries are real: soft, sweet and stamped in red with the word for peace.
Sources
- Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Bun Carnival
- news.gov.hk, Cheung Chau set for bun finale
- GovHK, general holidays
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.