Last week, our group members went to Hong Kong museum of history. Before I came to this cosmopolitan city, all I could think of was related to shopping and various theme parks. And I even regarded the comment that Hong Kong is a culture desert as sensible. It seems that all workaholics turn into shopaholics once stepping onto this fantastic land. It was not until I became a student here that i changed my idea. Thus it’s obvious that if you really would catch a glimpse of the essence of a city, you should at least study or work there for a period of time. Simply traveling around sometimes may just render you fragments of memory or traces of so-called culture belonging to a specific city.
There was a great exhibition—The Story of Hong Kong in the underground floors. Walking through the galleries, exhibits displayed altogether make up a culture landscape, relating the history of Hong Kong traced back to the remote ancient times. Our group focused on the folk culture of Hong Kong this time. And my part is about the annual festive event of Cheung Chau.
Mentioning Cheung Chau, it is always a place of quietness and peacefulness. No vehicles or skyscrapers could you find here. Hardly could you experience congestion or rush in this wonderland. And the only means for you to get there is through ferry. A raft of westerners are attracted to buy houses in Cheung Chau to keep themselves away from pressure and annoying workloads. I even went there to see the beauty exclusive for Cheung Chau on 1st of October this year. There I came across a local teacher who graduated from the University of Hong Kong. She grew up here and chose to work here. She said Cheung Chau is such a place where you are likely to find the source of happiness.
There is just an occasion that Cheung Chau will be surrounded by bustling crowds. That is during the bun festival of Cheung Chau in the fourth lunar month each year. Cheung Chau is an island with the population of about 23,000. While during the festival, the number is not just doubled. It’s an ideal way for people to show their worship towards deities. And meat and slaughter are not allowed in the midst of celebrating. A lot of westerners choose to conform to this rule, even they admit they cannot live without meat. And there are various forms to observe in the three days, including lion dance, the Cantonese opera etc. All the people are immersed in merry atmosphere. And one foreigner told me what he enjoys most is to scramble for a lucky bun for its implication of peacefulness. For me, I am most interested in the parade, where you can find cute floating fairies acted by local children.
This festival is another typical example to illustrate that Hong Kong is such a city combining Asian beauty with exotic elegance. The cultural signals in its nature are intangible cultural heritage, calling for cherish, preservation and continuation.
The Story of Hong Kong 