Birthday of Buddha

Lord Buddha's birthday is another springtime festival. It is observed on the eighth day of the Fourth Moon. Legend has it that at the moment of Buddha's birth, nine dragons spat on the water. Buddha is the sacred name given to a man called Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of the Buddhist religion. He is called Buddha by his followers, which means "The Enlightened One".

Buddha lived about 2,500 years ago. Although the facts of his life are scarce, his followers recorded his teachings. He believed in the search for one's self. The Four Noble Truths are the core of his teachings. First is the noble truth of unhappyness in life, then the truth of the cause of unhappyness, and the noble truth of the way to stop unhappyness, and finally, the noble truth of that which leads to the end of unhappyness. Compassion is the significant base of Buddhist life.

There are many Buddhists in Hong Kong and many temples and shrines. On the birthday of Buddha, also called the Festival of Ten Thousand Buddhas, his religious followers pray for the washing away of sin and the attainment of wisdom and peace.

Cheng Chau Festival (Festival of the Bun Hills)

The Cheung Chau Festival begins on the eighth day of the Fourth Moon and lasts for four days. It is one of the most unusual and dangerous of all Chinese festivals. Four days of religious rites, Chinese operas and the burning of paper clothing as gifts, is supposed to make ghosts and edgy spirits happy. Hong Kong takes on a party like atmosphere, with processions and celebrations at every turn.

Huge structures towering in the sky have been built and covered to the top with bread buns. In the past, a signal was given and the young scrambled up the towers, picking as many buns as they could hold. It is believed the more buns you grabbed, the more good luck blessings you received. The date and time of this unique ceremony are announced a week before.

The processions and parades held during this time are spectacles of colour. People dress up as legendary figures, ride on flowered floats and walk on stilts. The young play a major role in the processions with children perched above the crowd in makeup and costumes. They almost seem suspended in air.