Hong Kong traditional climbing competition to be held on May 17

After the selection contest, the annual Cheung Chau Bun Scrambling competition will be held on May 17 at 12am sharp, as part of the besieged island's traditional activity Taiping qingjiao.

Cheung Yuk-king, chief leisure manager of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong government, said that there were 220 applicants enrolling in the Bun Scrambling Competition this year, refreshing the record of participants since the resume of the event in 2005, with an increase of 11 applications compared to 2012.

After the selection contest for the competition on Sunday, 12 participants beat the rest and went through to the final on May 17, including three-time King of Buns, Cheung Chau indigenous resident Kwok Ka-ming and two-time Queen of Buns Lisa Cheng. Climbers from Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macau took part in the event for the first time.

The competitions of male and female groups will be held together. In the course of the competition, competitors stand poised at the bottom of an enormous bamboo tower studded with imitation buns. On the signal, they scramble up it and try to collect as many buns as possible.

The bun tower is divided into three parts. There are 900 none-score buns at the topmost area, 1700 three-score buns in the middle and 6400 one-score buns near the bottom of the of the tower. The one who scores the most will be the winner.

For the competitors to better plan their strategies, one more prize known as the "Full Pockets of Luck Buns" is added this year to reward the one who nips the most lucky buns, regardless of the scores they worth or the gender of the winner. As such, competitors can choose to climb up the tip of the tower and go for high score buns to fight for the titles of the King or Queen of Buns, or simply stay at the lower areas to snatch as many buns as possible for the newly established award.

There are also eight teams taking part in the team event. Each team comprises of three members. They will take turn to grab the lucky bun placed at the top of the bun tower, and then return to the ground. The team spending the fewest time to complete will be the winner.

Yuen Wing-cheong, senior transport officer at the Transport Department of the Hong Kong government, expects about 30,000 people to visit the outlying island on that day.

Special transportation arrangements will also be made: The New World Ferry Service will provide a special ferry service at 1:15am of May 18 to carry the passengers from Cheung Chau to Central. Bus route 104R from the pier in Central to Mong Kok will be available from 1:10am to 2:30am. Overnight bus routes N8X, N90, N182 and N619 will pass by the Central pier.

Chief leisure manager Cheung said that the site where the competition is held can accommodate about 1650 people. The entry tickets of the competition will be distributed in that evening at 10pm at Pak She First Lane, next door to the Cheung Chau Fire Station on a first come first serve basis.

The Bun Scrambling Competition is held once a year, as part of the Taoist ritual of Taiping qingjiao, or "the Purest Sacrifice Celebrated for Great Peace", to pray for the peace of the residents of Cheung Chau.

This festive event is not only found in Hong Kong, but also elsewhere in Southern China provinces such as Sichuan, Fujian and Guangdong.

The competition was prohibited by the citys government in 1978. More than 300 people swarmed to the bun tower in the competition in that year, which eventually collapsed, causing severe injuries of 24 people. It was resumed under the strong demand by Cheung Chau indigenous residents in 2005.