I stepped out of my comfort zone with these pictures. I normally photo ...
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![Cheung Chau/ Hong Kong : Cheung Chau's Bun Festival, which draws tens of thousands of local and overseas tourists every year, is staged to mark the Eighth day of the Fourth Moon, in the Chinese calendar (this is usually in early May). It coincides with the local celebration of Buddha's Birthday.
The Cheung Chau Bun Festival began as a fun and exciting ritual for fishing communities to pray for safety from pirates. Today this religious origin has largely been forgotten, and the festival has mainly become a showcase of traditional Chinese culture.
For three days the entire island goes vegetarian; most of the island's famous seafood restaurants adhere to this tradition. The local McDonald's also takes meat off the menu and instead sells burgers made of mushrooms.
In addition to traditional lion dances and dragon dances, children dressed as legendary and modern heroes are suspended above the crowd on the tips of swords and paper fans (飘风）. They form the parade-in-the-air and are all secured within steel frames, though they appear to glide through the air. Parents consider it a great honour for their offspring to be part of the parade.
This fascinating procession is accompanied by the bedlam of musicians loudly beating gongs and drums to scare away evil spirits. It is led by a spectacular image of Pak Tai, the God of Water and Spirit of the North, to whom the island's Temple of the Jade Vacuity is dedicated.
Bun snatching
Steamed buns for the "Bun Mountain", being stamped the crimson characters of the respective district (北社, "Northern Society" shown in a combined way) on the island.The centrepiece of the festival is at Pak Tai Temple where are the "Bun Mountains" or "Bun Towers"(包山), three giant 60-feet bamboo towers covered with buns. It is those bun-covered towers that give the festival its name. Historically, young men would race up the tower to get hold of the buns; the higher the bun, the better fortune it was supposed to bring to the holder's family; the race was known as "Bun-snatching" (搶包山).[1] However, during a race in 1978 one of the towers collapsed, injuring more than 100 people. In subsequent years, three designated climbers (one climber to each tower) raced up their respective towers and having cleared the top buns proceeded to strip the towers of their buns as they descended.
In 2005, a single tower climbing event in the adjacent sports ground was revived as a race -- with extra safety precautions including proper mountain-climbing tools as well as tutorials for participants (which now include women). A teamwork version of the event was added in 2006.The revised version of "Bun-snatching" as well as the traditional three "Bun Mountains" still have their buns removed from the towers at midnight of the Festival.
In February 2007, it was further announced that the buns on the single-tower construct will henceforth be made of plastic. During the festival, Chinese operas, lion dances, and religious services also take place on the island.](http://izabela.smugmug.com/Events/Bun-Festival-2010/i-7zmtpXR/3/Ti/The%20Flags%202-Ti.jpg)
Cheung Chau's Bun Festival, which draws tens of thousands of local and ...
Updated: Sep 15, 2011 1:08am PST
![2011.07.26 圆明园荷花 : 圆明园的荷花区域多，分布广，总体感觉比北海的好，可惜都离岸较远，镜头焦距不够长，取景困难，很多只能裁剪。
暴晒，连灌三瓶水。
<b>[<font color=red>Canon</font> EOS 60D, 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS]</b>
<b>[<font color=red>Canon</font> IXUS 310 HS]</b>](http://jxing.smugmug.com/Flowers/20110726/i-26nnFkK/0/Ti/IMG_0681-Ti.jpg)
![2011.07.14 - TianAnMen Square : 桑拿天去天安门广场捏片，上午10点挤1号线地铁，出了一身臭汗，每人几十块吃个半饱。只为活动筋骨，试试新机。
DPP裁剪，定制picture style。
<b>[<font color=red>Canon</font> IXUS 310 HS]</b>
<b>[<font color=red>Canon</font> EOS 60D, 85mm f/1.8 USM, 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS]</b>](http://jxing.smugmug.com/Events/20110714/i-STvqdpt/0/Ti/IMG_0387-Ti.jpg)
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