Bastille's Story｜HKSYU's Metaverse Initiative: Bringing Digital Rebirth to the Centuries‑Old Cheung Chau Jiao Festival

The Cheung Chau Jiao Festival, a century‑old traditional event, remains deeply rooted in the hearts of Hong Kong people. Given its significant cultural value, Hong Kong Shue Yan University (HKSYU) has created a virtual-reality version of the festival, preserving this intangible cultural heritage in the digital world. During the five‑day, four‑night festival, the project research team took over 7,000 photos and hundreds of short videos, launching the project “Metaversing Intangible Cultural Heritage: Documenting, Transmitting and Promoting the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival in Hong Kong.”

Professor Selina Chan, Photo by Bastille Post

Led by Professor Selina Chan, Academic Vice President of HKSYU, the project utilizes technologies including Mixed Reality (MR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) to provide the public with an immersive and interactive experience of the vibrant atmosphere of the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival.

In an interview with Bastille Post, Professor Chan stated that the project is not only a technological attempt to explore the integration of humanities and technology, but also provides a voice for the community, presenting a multi‑dimensional portrait of the festival.

Reimagining Intangible Cultural Heritage Through Metaverse

Originating in the 19th century as a religious ceremony conducted by island residents to ward off plague, the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival has been held annually for over a century. Through a series of rituals, including offering thanks to the gods, bun scrambling, and the Piu Sik (floating colours) parade, the festival has become a distinctive component of Hong Kong's intangible cultural heritage, attracting numerous citizens and tourists to the island each year.

The Cheung Chau Jiao Festival, Photo source: Screenshot of the project's MR platform

Though Hong Kong's academia has undertaken considerable documentation and research to trace the historical development of the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival, most studies have adhered to conventional humanities perspectives, focusing on textual records, photographs, and visual documentation, while paying limited attention to innovative recording methodologies. Professor Chan pointed out that the constraint motivated her to investigate how technological approaches could rejuvenate the festival.

“I wanted to explore whether emerging technologies could bring a digital rebirth to the festival,” she said. In her view, the transmission of intangible cultural heritage goes beyond traditional documentation. Through meticulous digital recreation of ritual details, traditional folk activities can be presented in a more contemporary and immersive manner, fostering greater public interest in Hong Kong's cultural traditions.

The Cheung Chau Jiao Festival, Photo source: Screenshot of the project's MR platform

In 2022, the research team at HKSYU successfully employed digital technology to create a virtual Yu Lan Festival museum, the first of its kind in Hong Kong. Drawing on this achievement, Professor Chan sought to replicate the approach for the recording of the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival. Subsequently, she and her team initiated the project “Metaversing Intangible Cultural Heritage: Documenting, Transmitting and Promoting the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival in Hong Kong,” adopting the 2025 Cheung Chau Jiao Festival as a model.

The virtual Yu Lan Festival museum, Photo by Bastille Post

Immersed in Island Life: Building a Rich Documentary Archive

To capture the festival in all its richness, Professor Chan and her team engaged closely with the local community on Cheung Chau, sharing meals and chatting with residents while observing and recording various aspects of the celebrations through field research. She explained that she aimed to capture not only the ceremonial highlights, but also the evolving experiences of the islanders throughout the festival period.

Focusing exclusively on the festival celebrations, she noted, would provide only a partial view of the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival. By listening to the personal narratives of islanders, a more nuanced and comprehensive recording of the festival's atmosphere and cultural practices can be achieved.

To capture the festival in all its richness, Professor Chan and her team engaged closely with the local community on Cheung Chau to record various aspects of the celebrations through field research. Photo source: Offered by the interviewee

Professor Chan and her team had in‑depth exchanges with Cheung Chau residents. Photo source: Offered by the interviewee

Professor Chan and her team had in‑depth exchanges with Cheung Chau residents. Photo source: Offered by the interviewee

During the five days and four nights of the festival, the team took over 7,000 photographs, including those of the bamboo scaffolding for bun towers, the bamboo theatre, the rite of deliverance for lonely souls, and the water ritual outside the Pak Tai Temple. Moreover, they also collected hundreds of 360° panoramic and 2D videos, which were then integrated with MR, VR, and AR technologies to create 3D models and construct virtual scenes of the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival.

Tech Experts Unite to Revive the Festival Digitally

Professor Chan's research team combines experts in digital cultural heritage, immersive technology, digital modelling, and augmented reality. Utilizing multimodal recording, the team members have built digital archives, integrating 3D models, 360° panoramic videos, audio recordings, 2D videos, and old photographs. This allows the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival to transcend the limitations of physical space and time, enabling revisiting and interaction at any time, thus transforming it into a sustainable digital cultural asset.

In April this year, the project team held the “Cheung Chau Jiao Festival Mixed Reality Tour and Public Launch” at HKSYU, showcasing the project's outcomes to date. Photo source: HKSYU

In April this year, the project team held the “Cheung Chau Jiao Festival Mixed Reality Tour and Public Launch” at HKSYU, showcasing the project's outcomes to date, which include a dual‑version MR platform (for computer desktop and VR glasses), a VR Cave, and themed AR cards featuring 3D models.

Participants wear VR glasses to experience the MR platform. Photo source: HKSYU

Participants can also experience the MR platform through a computer. Photo source: HKSYU

The visual presentation of the MR platform, Photo source: Screenshot of the MR platform

The visual presentation of the MR platform, Photo source: Screenshot of the MR platform

The visual presentation of the MR platform, Photo source: Screenshot of the MR platform

In the MR platform experience, participants can choose between two modes. They can wear VR glasses and use a remote control to explore every detail of the festival celebration up close. Alternatively, they can sit at a computer and navigate the festival's digital world in an interactive map format. Immersed in festive scenes, participants can access relevant information about the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival with just a click. Without setting foot on Cheung Chau, every ritual and the cultural stories behind it are all at fingertips.

Participants engage in an immersive experience of the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival through the VR Cave. Photo source: HKSYU

The playback quality of the VR Cave videos, Photo by Bastille Post

The playback quality of the VR Cave videos, Photo by Bastille Post

In the interactive VR Cave, participants can step into a 270° immersive virtual environment and watch panoramic videos recording the festival celebration, experiencing the lively atmosphere as though standing in the heart of the ceremony. In the videos, the striking moments of the rituals and every movement of the islanders are brought into sharp focus, offering a comprehensive view of the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival from every angle.

Participants simply scan the QR code on the card with their mobile phone or tablet. After aligning with the cover, a series of 3D models of representative festival architectures will emerge in front of their eyes. Photo source: HKSYU

The 3D model presentation via AR card, Photo by Bastille Post

Themed AR cards for the Cheung Chau Jiao Festival, Photo by Bastille Post

As for AR cards, participants simply scan the QR code on the card with their mobile phone or tablet. After aligning with the cover, a series of 3D models of representative festival architectures will emerge in front of the eyes, including the bamboo scaffolding for bun towers, the bamboo theatre, and the temporary shrines. Each model is crafted with meticulous accuracy, evoking the tactile sensation of the woven bamboo and timber textures.

Reflecting on the research process, Professor Chan stated that although it has cost a great deal of effort, it was worthwhile. The team members not only utilized digital technology to open a new chapter of cross‑disciplinary integration for the preservation of Hong Kong's intangible cultural heritage, but also brought the human warmth and community stories beyond the rituals of the festival to the public, ensuring that “the voices of the island's residents can be spread and the community warmth of the festival can be preserved.”

The Cheung Chau Jiao Festival, Photo source: Screenshot of the project's MR platform

Looking to the future, Professor Chan hopes that the team will have the opportunity to facilitate collaborations with museums, universities, and technology corporations in the Chinese Mainland or overseas, bringing the research outcomes of “Metaversing Intangible Cultural Heritage” to a broader stage. As a cultural inheritor in the new era, she will continue to explore more possibilities for the digitalization of intangible cultural heritage, using the power of digital technology to revitalize the glamour of Hong Kong's folk customs.

Professor Selina Chan together with the team members, Photo source: HKSYU

FEHD actively follows up on pest and rodent issues and promotes community-wide efforts to control them at source

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has noted recent social media posts concerning pest and rodent problems at various food premises and private premises. It is highly concerned about the situation and has initiated investigations and follow-up actions according to the nature of individual cases. The FEHD stressed that the presence of rodent infestation at licensed food premises is an offence. It will take the matter seriously and take enforcement action.

Regarding the rodent infestation incident at a supermarket in Luk Yeung Galleria, the FEHD has deployed staff to conduct an inspection. During the inspection, the food room was found to be in an unsatisfactory state of cleanliness. Prosecution has been instituted against the person responsible under the Food Business Regulation (Cap. 132X), and a Notice of Elimination of Vermin has also been issued to the person responsible for the premises, requiring the necessary improvement measures to be taken.

As for the incident involving suspected foreign object found in takeaway food from a food premises in Tsing Yi, the department has arranged an inspection and has also attempted to contact the complainant, and to understand the process of food preparation, packaging and delivery. The department will objectively investigate the circumstances of the incident and follow up in accordance with the law.

In addition, regarding a rodent infestation complaint concerning a fitness centre in Festival Walk, the FEHD deployed staff on the same day to inspect the centre concerned and the shopping mall. Although no signs of rodents were found inside the shop, potential pest and rodent infestation risks were identified in the shopping mall. A Notice of Elimination of Vermin was issued to the shopping mall's property management company, requiring it to take improvement measures. The FEHD also provided the persons responsible with advice on rodent prevention and eradication.

The FEHD adopts a risk-based inspection and enforcement strategy. It has also recently taken the initiative to conduct blitz inspections targeting major supermarket chains. Food business operators have a responsibility to ensure food safety and the hygiene of their premises, and to continuously implement effective measures to prevent pest and rodent infestation and food contamination. Government inspections and enforcement cannot replace operators' responsibility for day-to-day hygiene management.

Rodent control requires corresponding measures to be taken according to the management responsibility for different types of premises. The FEHD is mainly responsible for rodent prevention and eradication in public places within its areas of responsibility. Other government departments are responsible for rodent prevention and eradication at the premises they manage. The FEHD will provide professional technical support and collaborate with the relevant departments as necessary. As for private premises, including shopping malls, fitness centres and residential premises, day-to-day environmental hygiene and rodent-control work is primarily the responsibility of owners, persons responsible for the premises and property management companies. The FEHD will provide professional advice in response to complaints and specific risk situations, and will take action in accordance with the law where necessary.

To encourage private premises to participate proactively in rodent control, the FEHD has extended the Anti-Rodent Charter to shopping malls, encouraging owners, operators and property management companies to conduct regular inspections, manage the environment properly and carry out rodent-prevention work. According to figures released earlier by the department, as of September this year, about 130 shopping mall organisations and groups had joined the initiative, covering about 8 200 shops. The FEHD will also provide technical support to help participating organisations continuously improve their rodent prevention work.

Rodent control relies on the joint participation of the Government, the trade, property management companies and members of the public. All parties must address the three basic elements of rodent survival - food, harbourage and access routes - by cutting off food sources, eliminating hiding places and blocking access routes. By reducing the risk of rodent infestations at source, we can work together to safeguard environmental hygiene.

Source: AI-found images