{"id":54426,"date":"2026-05-22T15:53:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=54426"},"modified":"2026-05-22T15:53:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:53:36","slug":"origin-of-hong-kongs-peace-buns-cheung-chau-bun-festivals-iconic-snack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=54426","title":{"rendered":"Origin of Hong Kong\u2019s \u2018peace buns\u2019, Cheung Chau Bun Festival\u2019s iconic snack"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">For a few days every spring, crowds of people jump on ferries taking them to Hong Kong\u2019s outlying island of Cheung Chau, drawn by the Taoist spectacle that blends religious devotion, carnival parade and athletic competition: the Cheung Chau Bun Festival.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Also known as the Da Jiu festival, the event \u2013 which this year runs from May 21 to 25 \u2013 coincides with Buddha\u2019s Birthday on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, falling on May 24 in 2026.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The festival\u2019s highlights include the Piu Sik parade, where children dressed as deities are carried through the streets on steel frames, and the bun scrambling competition, which has become one of the most iconic traditional events in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Amid the bamboo structures and vibrant processions, a big part of the festival rests on something small and sweet: the <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">ping on bao (<\/em>\u201cpeace bun\u201d), a steamed bun with a red or pink stamp on the surface denoting the Chinese characters for peace. Not just a popular holiday snack, it is also a living artefact of Hong Kong\u2019s maritime history.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-1qeofuq e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-bjn8wh e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Villagers make buns in preparation for the upcoming Cheung Chau Bun Festival. Photo: Sam Tsang\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/05\/21\/8df92131-16b8-4735-bce1-b07b79226f4b_04663141.jpg\" title=\"Villagers make buns in preparation for the upcoming Cheung Chau Bun Festival. Photo: Sam Tsang\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1bj5zno e1gf69pb1\">Villagers make buns in preparation for the upcoming Cheung Chau Bun Festival. Photo: Sam Tsang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The reverence for the <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">ping on bao<\/em> \u2013 and the origins of the festival itself \u2013 dates back to the late Qing dynasty. Local lore tells of a devastating plague and fierce pirate raids that ravaged the 18th century fishing community of Cheung Chau.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/chinese-culture\/article\/3354361\/origin-hong-kongs-peace-buns-cheung-chau-bun-festivals-iconic-snack?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For a few days every spring, crowds of people jump on ferries taking them to Hong Kong\u2019s outlying island of Cheung Chau, drawn by the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[9974,9972,12902,1828,14570,3569,6541,5010,9856,2143,18703],"class_list":["post-54426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-bun","tag-buns","tag-chau","tag-cheung","tag-festivals","tag-hong","tag-iconic","tag-kongs","tag-origin","tag-peace","tag-snack","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}