Latest news with #NeZha
The Independent
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Setting the story of Nezha to music
Since its domestic debut on 29 January, Ne Zha 2 — loosely inspired by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods) — has quickly shattered global box office records, becoming the fifth highest-grossing movie in global cinema history. Born to an unfair fate, Nezha is destined to die at the age of 3 as a result of a heavenly punishment caused by a curse. However, with the help of his close friend Ao Bing — the son of a dragon king who guards thousands of imprisoned monsters in the roaring sea — he bravely defies his doom. The movie's character theme song Ne Zha is also attracting a legion of fans. To best show the spirit of Nezha, the song's singer and songwriter Tang Hanxiao mixed the sounds of Chinese traditional instruments, especially that of suona (a traditional Chinese woodwind instrument). Watch this video to find out more.
Observer
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Traditional culture, fancy dress meet at Hong Kong's raucous bun festival
Kids dressed as real and fantasy heroes, drummers pounding a beat and sweet treats offered to powerful gods -- thousands of visitors poured onto a small island in Hong Kong for its annual Bun Festival on Monday. Held on the Chinese city's outlying Cheung Chau, the raucous five-day festival transforms the usually quiet fishing community into an explosion of colour and noise that blends Cantonese traditions with modern culture and draws locals and tourists alike. Monday's three-hour parade -- known as "Piu Sik", meaning floating colours -- traditionally saw locals march through town with statues of local gods. These days, local children dress up as both real and imaginary figures, including Olympic fencing champion Cheung Ka Long, Ne Zha from a recent Chinese blockbuster animation, and the legendary Monkey King, Sun Wukong. The five-day Bun Festival is said to date back to the 1800s, when fisherfolk drove away pirates and the plague by parading a statue of Taoist sea deity Pak Tai. "It's my first time to visit the island and this showed me a new Hong Kong, completely different from downtown," Cedric Linet, a 49-year-old French banker, told AFP. The buns represent good fortune, holding sweet bean paste in a crumbly pastry marked with Chinese characters for "peace" and "safety". Crowds queued all day to get hold of the buns, used to make offerings to traditional deities and sacrifices to the souls of the dead. The climax of the festival comes at midnight, when contestants climb a 14-metre high tower covered in buns -- hoping to be crowned "King of Kings" or "Queen of Queens". Among those gathered were tourists from Communist Party-ruled mainland China, keen to get a glimpse of traditional Chinese culture not often seen back home. Chinese students studying in Hong Kong, Gao Yidan and Cheng Qi, said they learnt about the festival on Xiaohongshu, an app similar to Instagram. "The atmosphere of traditional culture is very strong here," Gao told AFP. Another visitor from China's southwestern Sichuan province said she appreciated Hong Kong's celebrations of Buddha's birthday, which fell on Monday. "We love the crowded atmosphere here, even though today's very hot," Huang Dan, a 42-year-old housewife, told AFP. —AFP
France 24
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
Traditional culture, fancy dress meet at Hong Kong's raucous bun festival
Held on the Chinese city's outlying Cheung Chau, the raucous five-day festival transforms the usually quiet fishing community into an explosion of colour and noise that blends Cantonese traditions with modern culture and draws locals and tourists alike. Monday's three-hour parade -- known as "Piu Sik", meaning floating colours -- traditionally saw locals march through town with statues of local gods. These days, local children dress up as both real and imaginary figures, including Olympic fencing champion Cheung Ka Long, Ne Zha from a recent Chinese blockbuster animation, and the legendary Monkey King, Sun Wukong. The five-day Bun Festival is said to date back to the 1800s, when fisherfolk drove away pirates and the plague by parading a statue of Taoist sea deity Pak Tai. "It's my first time to visit the island and this showed me a new Hong Kong, completely different from downtown," Cedric Linet, a 49-year-old French banker, told AFP. The buns represent good fortune, holding sweet bean paste in a crumbly pastry marked with Chinese characters for "peace" and "safety". Crowds queued all day to get hold of the buns, used to make offerings to traditional deities and sacrifices to the souls of the dead. The climax of the festival comes at midnight, when contestants climb a 14-metre high tower covered in buns -- hoping to be crowned "King of Kings" or "Queen of Queens". Among those gathered were tourists from Communist Party-ruled mainland China, keen to get a glimpse of traditional Chinese culture not often seen back home. Chinese students studying in Hong Kong, Gao Yidan and Cheng Qi, said they learnt about the festival on Xiaohongshu, an app similar to Instagram. "The atmosphere of traditional culture is very strong here," Gao told AFP. Another visitor from China's southwestern Sichuan province said she appreciated Hong Kong's celebrations of Buddha's birthday, which fell on Monday. "We love the crowded atmosphere here, even though today's very hot," Huang Dan, a 42-year-old housewife, told AFP.
Int'l Business Times
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Int'l Business Times
Traditional Culture, Fancy Dress Meet At Hong Kong's Raucous Bun Festival
Kids dressed as real and fantasy heroes, drummers pounding a beat and sweet treats offered to powerful gods -- thousands of visitors poured onto a small island in Hong Kong for its annual Bun Festival on Monday. Held on the Chinese city's outlying Cheung Chau, the raucous five-day festival transforms the usually quiet fishing community into an explosion of colour and noise that blends Cantonese traditions with modern culture and draws locals and tourists alike. Monday's three-hour parade -- known as "Piu Sik", meaning floating colours -- traditionally saw locals march through town with statues of local gods. These days, local children dress up as both real and imaginary figures, including Olympic fencing champion Cheung Ka Long, Ne Zha from a recent Chinese blockbuster animation, and the legendary Monkey King, Sun Wukong. The five-day Bun Festival is said to date back to the 1800s, when fisherfolk drove away pirates and the plague by parading a statue of Taoist sea deity Pak Tai. "It's my first time to visit the island and this showed me a new Hong Kong, completely different from downtown," Cedric Linet, a 49-year-old French banker, told AFP. The buns represent good fortune, holding sweet bean paste in a crumbly pastry marked with Chinese characters for "peace" and "safety". Crowds queued all day to get hold of the buns, used to make offerings to traditional deities and sacrifices to the souls of the dead. The climax of the festival comes at midnight, when contestants climb a 14-metre high tower covered in buns -- hoping to be crowned "King of Kings" or "Queen of Queens". Among those gathered were tourists from Communist Party-ruled mainland China, keen to get a glimpse of traditional Chinese culture not often seen back home. Chinese students studying in Hong Kong, Gao Yidan and Cheng Qi, said they learnt about the festival on Xiaohongshu, an app similar to Instagram. "The atmosphere of traditional culture is very strong here," Gao told AFP. Another visitor from China's southwestern Sichuan province said she appreciated Hong Kong's celebrations of Buddha's birthday, which fell on Monday. "We love the crowded atmosphere here, even though today's very hot," Huang Dan, a 42-year-old housewife, told AFP. A child participates in the "Piu Sik" parade on the island of Cheung Chau during its annual Bun festival in Hong Kong AFP Tourists from Communist Party-ruled mainland China visited Hong Kong to experience traditional Chinese culture not often seen back home AFP
RTHK
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTHK
Olympians, Ne Zha feature in Cheung Chau bun fest
Olympians, Ne Zha feature in Cheung Chau bun fest Children dressed up as various characters, including Ne Zha, in this year's Piu Sik parade. Photo: AFP Tens of thousands of people on Monday flocked to Cheung Chau for the annual bun festival, as well as a parade where children dressed up as top athletes, movie characters and even government officials. To get the best spot, many of them had already arrived on the island hours before the Piu Sik parade – featuring about 20 floats – kicked off at 1.30pm. Children, who were held up on stilts and paraded through the Cheung Chau streets, dressed up as prominent figures ranging from Financial Secretary Paul Chan to snooker star Ronnie O'Sullivan – who recently become a Hong Kong resident. Ahead of the National Games in November, the young performers also personified diving queen Quan Hongchan and local fencing sensation Edgar Cheung. A child was also dressed up as Ne Zha, the titular character from the mainland blockbuster animation Ne Zha 2. Jakub, who moved to Hong Kong from the Middle East last August, was one of many who travelled to the outlying island for the parade. "We like the festival, we like old traditions, and it's quite [a] famous festival, so we would like to see it. It's amazing. It's great but the weather is too hot today. But it's great," he told RTHK. Earlier before noon, queues had already formed outside bakeries offering lucky buns stamped with peace messages. A shopkeeper told RTHK that business at his bakery, which sells the white lucky buns with pink lettering, surged 10 percent compared to last year, exceeding his expectations. "As we work in the retail and catering industries, we knew that consumption is weak," he said. "So we didn't expect sales to be as good as last year." But he noted that there were not many mainland tourists visiting the island for the festival despite the Labour Day Golden Week. He said they had only bought a couple of buns. A woman surnamed Zhou and her friend took the 8am ferry to Cheung Chau from Central to experience the bun festival. The pair came from Hangzhou to Hong Kong for work more than six months ago. "We heard that this cultural activity in Cheung Chau is very unique, and it's an intangible cultural heritage. So we want to experience this very local and traditional event in Hong Kong very much." Officiating the parade, Undersecretary for Home and Youth Affairs Clarence Leung said the annual bun festival can attract tourists to explore Hong Kong's unique culture. "This year's festival coincides with the Golden Week, which allows more tourists to see Cheung Chau during the long holiday and experience the bun festival," he said. Tourism minister Rosanna Law will officiate the traditional bun-scrambling competition at midnight. As of noon, about 12,300 people had travelled to Cheung Chau from Central, according to ferry operator Sun Ferry. That represents a fall of 10 percent compared to last year, it added. The company has arranged more than double the number of Cheung Chau-bound ferries, with up to five boats running every hour.
