People attempt bun tower climbing in Cheung Chau

A climbing carnival took place at Cheung Chau on Sunday, ahead of the island's traditional bun-scrambling competition on Buddha's Birthday. The 14-metre-high bun tower frame is already in place for the competition on May 15, and carnival-goers were given the chance to see whether they could climb it. Ms Chung said her son had managed the feat. "We've tried bun scrambling over the years. When my son was young, he couldn't reach the top. Last time we came, he was able to get there at a slow pace with the help of his dad. But this time, he was able to do it all by himself very quickly," she said. "I was so happy to see him achieve that because yesterday it was raining really hard so I thought there wouldn't be a chance. Luckily the weather is beautiful. It's a lot of fun." Ms Chung's 13-year-old son has now climbed the tower at least four times. He gave his advice on the best way to approach the climb. "There isn't a specific technique to climbing. You just have to grasp the bamboo tightly and watch your footing. I love experiencing Hong Kong culture. I want to preserve and pass on Hong Kong culture like bun scrambling so more people know about it," he said. "I personally love eating lucky buns and watching bun scrambling on television, so I really wanted to see if it is actually that exhilarating in person, and see if it's really that easy or difficult." Another visitor, Ms Lok, said she brought her friends from overseas to the carnival, so they could experience a bit of Hong Kong culture. "We were shaking while climbing because the gaps are so small, but we had a lot of fun. Huge respect to those who can climb up so quickly. I think this is a great tradition to preserve, and I love the meaning behind it," she said. "We can pass peace to anyone, even if you aren't Chinese. My friends wanted to experience something quite traditional and this definitely checks the box." Meanwhile, workers have been working hard to reconstruct the three traditional giant bun towers for display ahead of next week's festivities, after Saturday's heavy winds caused the bamboo scaffolding to collapse. Yung Chi-ming, chairman of the Hong Kong Cheung Chau Bun Festival Committee, said it would take one to two days to complete, but progress was going well. "We have never experienced the collapse of the bun tower scaffolding before. It was because the heavy winds hit it down. It is quite a rare incident. The latest situation is quite ideal. We thought it would take three to four days, but they've sent more people to help so the speed has increased significantly," he said. "I arrived at eight in the morning and everything has already been dismantled, and ready for reconstruction. I think everything can be restored in one to two days. I believe it will be reinforced this time around." Yung also said the incident had incurred a cost, but he had not yet calculated how much money was involved. He added it was most important the Bun Festival runs smoothly next week.