Torres de dulce

At midnight, on Sunday 15th May, the island of Cheung Chau witnessed its first Bun Scramble since 1978.

Chris Hogg reported live from the event:

The tower of steamed buns, some eighteen metres high, which has been blessed by Taoist monks, is now being assaulted on all sides by climbers hauling themselves up on ropes. They're grabbing the buns and thrusting them into sacks.

This is a sight not seen in Hong Kong since the late 1970s. In the old days, this was a much more raucous affair, with anyone free to try to scramble up, climbing over each other and fighting for the best buns; the luckiest ones at the top. But after the towers collapsed in 1978, injuring more than a hundred people, the practice was stopped.

This event is more strictly controlled. There are even crash mats below for those who fall. But it hasn't dented the enthusiasm of those climbing up the sides or those cheering them on. The traditionalists complain the whole thing has been over-sanitised; safety concerns have robbed it of excitement but the crowd here seem to be loving it.

hauling themselves up
escalando la torre sin ayuda alguna

grabbing
agarrando

thrusting them into sacks
arrojándolos con mucha energía en costales

the old days
los viejos tiempos, el pasado

raucous affair
un evento ruidoso, con algarabía

crash mats
tapetes que suavizan la caída

dented
reducir

over-sanitised
demasiado seguro, demasiado cuidado

robbed it of excitement
despojó parte del encanto