Crowds flock to celebrate the century-old Bun Festival in Hong Kong
The festivities began with a parade of children in costumes, called 'Piu Sik,' which translates as 'floating color.' Children dressed as legendary deities or historic characters are carried on stands above the gathered crowds, meandering through the island's narrow lanes.
The highlight of the festival comes at midnight with a 'bun-scrambling' competition, where climbers race up a tower covered with plastic buns. Whoever gets the most buns of greatest value wins the race. Buns near the top have higher value.
The competition was suspended for decades after an accident in 1978 when a bun tower collapsed and caused injuries. The tradition resumed in 2005.
Legend has it that the colorful custom began after a deadly plague devastated the island of Cheung Chau. Residents followed the local Taoist tradition of imploring the deities for help and used white steamed buns as offerings to drive away the evil spirits.
Nowadays, residents and visitors to the island eat the white steamed buns as part of the celebrations. They are called 'Ping On Bao' in Cantonese, meaning 'peace' buns, and are stamped with two red Chinese characters meaning 'peace' and 'safety.'
—
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
South Korean Supreme Court dismisses US composer's 'Baby Shark' copyright claim
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's Supreme Court rejected a 30 million won ($21,600) damage claim Thursday by an American composer who accused a South Korean kids content company of plagiarizing his version of ' Baby Shark,' ending a six-year legal battle over the globally popular tune known for its catchy ' doo doo doo doo doo doo ' hook. The top court upheld lower court rulings dating back to 2021 and 2023 that found no sufficient grounds to conclude Pinkfong infringed on Jonathan Wright's copyright. Wright, also known as Johnny Only, had recorded his version in 2011, four years before Pinkfong's, but both were based on a traditional melody popular for years at children's summer camps in the United States. The courts ruled that Wright's version did not differ enough from the original melody to qualify as an original creative work eligible for copyright protection, and that Pinkfong's song had clear differences from Wright's. The Supreme Court said its ruling reaffirms the established legal principle on existing folk tunes as derivative work. 'The Supreme Court accepts the lower court's finding that the plaintiff's song did not involve substantial modifications to the folk tune related to the case to the extent that it could be regarded, by common social standards, as a separate work,' it said in a statement. Wright's South Korean attorney and Pinkfong didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Pinkfong's 'Baby Shark' became a global phenomenon after it was released on YouTube in 2015, with the original 'Baby Shark Dance' video now exceeding 16 billion views and peaking at No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. Baby Shark remains a crucial product for Pinkfong, which earned 45.1 billion won ($32.6 million) in revenue in the first half of 2025, according to its regulatory filing. The company has turned the five-member shark family — Baby Shark, Mama Shark, Papa Shark, Grandma Shark, and Grandpa Shark — into TV and Netflix shows, movies, smartphone apps and globally-touring musicals.
Buzz Feed
11 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Trump Names Strait, Stallone, & Kiss For Kennedy Center Honors
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday named country music star George Strait, Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, the rock band Kiss, and actor-singer Michael Crawford among the first batch of Kennedy Center Honors nominees under his leadership as the center's chairman and said he'll host the awards program. Trump also said he'll 'fully renovate' the entire infrastructure of the Kennedy Center to make it a 'crown jewel' of arts and culture in the United States. 'We're going to bring it to a higher level than it ever hit,' the president said, adding the venue would be featured in next year's celebrations of America's 250th anniversary. Trump said he didn't want to host the program but was invited to do so and agreed. The Republican president avoided the Kennedy Center Honors awards program during his first term after artists said they wouldn't attend out of protest. This year, he has taken over as the Kennedy Center's new chairman and fired the board of trustees, which he replaced with loyalists. In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump teased a name change for the center, formally the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and said it would be restored to its past glory. 'GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS,' Trump wrote. He said work was being done on the site that would bring it 'back to the absolute TOP LEVEL of luxury, glamour, and entertainment.' 'It had fallen on hard times, physically, BUT WILL SOON BE MAKING A MAJOR COMEBACK!!!' he wrote. In a statement on its social media feed, the Kennedy Center said it was 'honored' to host Trump, who was visiting for the third time since January. 'Thanks to his advocacy, our beautiful building will undergo renovations to restore its prestige and grandeur,' the venue said. Trump complained during a March visit that the building is in a state of 'tremendous disrepair.' Trump, who had indicated he wanted a more active role in the selection process, said he was 'about 98% involved' in choosing the honorees. He said he 'turned down plenty' of names, saying those individuals were 'too woke,' or too liberal. He described the artists he announced on Wednesday, including several of his favorites, as 'great people.' Historically, a bipartisan advisory committee selects the recipients, who over the years have ranged from George Balanchine and Tom Hanks to Aretha Franklin and Stephen Sondheim. A message sent to the Kennedy Center press office asking how this year's honorees were selected wasn't returned Tuesday. In the past, Trump has floated the idea of granting Kennedy Center Honors status to singer-songwriter Paul Anka and Stallone, one of three actors Trump named as Hollywood ambassadors earlier this year. Anka was supposed to perform 'My Way' at Trump's first inaugural and backed out at the last moment. The Kennedy Center Honors were established in 1978 and have been given to a broad range of artists. Until Trump's first term, presidents of both major political parties traditionally attended the annual ceremony, even when they disagreed politically with a given recipient. Prominent liberals such as Barbra Streisand and Warren Beatty were honored during the administration of Republican George W. Bush, and a leading conservative, Charlton Heston, was fêted during the administration of Democrat Bill Clinton. In 2017, after honoree Norman Lear declared he wouldn't attend a White House celebration in protest of Trump's proposed cuts to federal arts funding, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump decided to skip the Kennedy Center event and remained away throughout his first term. Honorees during that time included such Trump critics as Cher, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Sally Field. Since returning to office, Trump has taken a more forceful stance on the Kennedy Center and inserted himself into its governance. Besides naming himself chairman and remaking the board, he has indicated he'd take over decisions regarding programming at the center and vowed to end events featuring performers in drag. The steps have drawn further criticism from some artists. In March, the producers of Hamilton pulled out of staging the Broadway hit musical in 2026, citing Trump's aggressive takeover of the institution's leadership. House Republicans added an amendment to a spending bill Trump signed into law in July to rename the Kennedy Center's Opera House after Melania Trump, but that venue has yet to be renamed. Maria Shriver, a niece of the late President Kennedy, a Democrat, has criticized as 'insane' a separate House proposal to rename the entire center after Trump.
14 hours ago
Weinstein could be sentenced next month, if no retrial on unresolved rape charge
NEW YORK -- NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein faces sentencing and a possible retrial in his New York City sex crimes case, but when they'll happen — and whether he'll be back in front of another jury — is still up in the air. Manhattan Judge Curtis Farber said Wednesday he could sentence Weinstein on Sept. 30 — but only if there's no retrial on a rape charge that the last jury failed to reach a verdict on. Weinstein, 73, was convicted in June of forcing oral sex on TV and movie production assistant and producer Miriam Haley in 2006. The charge carries a possible sentence of up to 25 years in prison. At the same time, the jury acquitted him of forcing oral sex on another woman, one-time model Kaja Sokola, but couldn't decide a charge that he raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in 2013. Manhattan prosecutors told Farber that they're ready to take Weinstein to trial for a third time on the rape charge, which is punishable by up to four years in prison. That's less time than Weinstein has already served. Mann is on board to testify again, they said. Prosecutors requested a January trial date, citing witness availability and their own caseload. Farber balked at that, saying a January date is too far away and conflicts with another, unrelated trial he's already scheduled. He proposed having the trial in the fall. 'The case needs to be tried this year,' Farber said. Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala agreed, telling Farber he'd prefer a trial at 'the earliest the court can accommodate us.' Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said she would ask Mann and other witnesses about their availability for a trial in the fall. If a fall trial happens, it would likely put Weinstein's high-profile #MeToo case back in court as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is in the final throes of his reelection bid. Bragg, a first-term Democrat who made prosecuting sex crimes cases a priority, has expressed satisfaction with Weinstein's conviction on a criminal sex act charge in the Haley assault and has been resolute in wanting the Oscar-winning studio boss retried on the Mann rape charge. 'The jury was not able to reach a conclusion as to Ms. Mann, and she deserves that,' Bragg said in June. 'This work, first and foremost, is about the survivors and that's why we're prepared to go forward.' Aidala told reporters outside court that, in his view, it's on prosecutors to resolve the rape charge — either by dropping it and clearing the way for sentencing, or promptly taking it to trial again. Weinstein sat in court in a wheelchair while wearing a blue suit and black-rimmed glasses. The 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Shakespeare in Love' producer is committed to fighting the rape charge at another trial, Aidala said, though the lawyer didn't rule out the possibility of reaching a deal with prosecutors to end the case. For now, the trial date remains unresolved, leaving Weinstein's possible Sept. 30 sentencing in limbo. At Weinstein's first trial in 2020, jurors convicted him of raping Mann and forcing oral sex on production assistant and producer Miriam Haley. Then an appeals court overturned those convictions and sent the case back for retrial because of legal issues involving other women's testimony. This spring, a new jury convicted him again of sexually assaulting Haley and acquitted him of doing the same to another woman who wasn't part of the first trial. But amid fractious deliberations, the majority-female jury got stuck on the charge related to Mann. Mann has testified that she also had a consensual, on-and-off relationship with the then-married Weinstein, but that she told him 'I don't want to do this' as he cornered her in the hotel room. She said he persevered with advances and demands until she 'just gave up.'
