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

DH responds to enquiries regarding Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme

In response to media enquiries regarding the Hong Kong Childhood Immunisation Programme (HKCIP), the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (August 11) emphasised that all public health policies and medical recommendations must be based on scientific evidence. Vaccination schedules should not be altered arbitrarily without reliable scientific data or medical research supporting such changes, in order to avoid posing significant and irreversible public health risks to children. Since delaying vaccinations reduces protection against relevant infectious diseases, the CHP reminds parents to arrange for their children to receive vaccinations in accordance with the HKCIP to ensure comprehensive and timely protection.

Hong Kong has implemented the HKCIP since the 1960s, providing immunisation services to children through the DH's Maternal and Child Health Centres (MCHCs) and School Immunisation Teams. Currently, based on the recommendations of the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases (SCVPD) under the CHP, infants from birth to students of Primary Six should receive multiple vaccines and booster doses under the HKCIP to prevent tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, pneumococcal infection, chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella (also known as "German Measles"). Besides, the HKCIP provides the human papillomavirus vaccinations to eligible Primary schoolgirls to prevent cervical cancer. In addition to immunising children, the Government also provides vaccination services to high-risk groups against seasonal influenza, pneumococcal infection and COVID-19 infection.

"The Government has consistently promoted childhood vaccinations on all fronts. The SCVPD under the CHP makes recommendations on the HKCIP from a public health perspective. Thanks to the trust and support of parents, schools and the healthcare professionals towards the HKCIP over the years, immunisation coverage has remained extremely high, successfully keeping the incidence of related childhood infectious diseases in Hong Kong at extremely low levels. With the help of vaccines, smallpox was eradicated globally in 1980, and poliomyelitis was eliminated in Hong Kong in 2000. Measles and rubella were successful eliminated in Hong Kong in 2016 and 2021 respectively," the Controller of the CHP, Dr Edwin Tsui, said.

Combined Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine

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Under the HKCIP, children receive the combined MMR vaccine at 12 months, followed by the Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella (MMRV) vaccine at 18 months. All of the currently used vaccines are combination vaccines. Extensive international and local scientific data confirm that both types of combination vaccines are safe and effective, providing sufficient protection against the infectious diseases they cover. In addition, combination vaccines have the advantage of reducing the number of injections children need to receive and significantly lowering the risk of missed doses. These combination vaccines are currently widely used around the world. Since 1990, Hong Kong has provided the combined MMR vaccine to all one-year-old children and introduced a two-dose MMR vaccination schedule in 1996, resulting in a significant decline in the number of related disease cases. According to immunisation coverage rates among primary school students and regular territory-wide immunisation coverage surveys conducted by the DH, the MMR and MMRV vaccination coverage has remained well above 95 per cent, while the local seroprevalence rates of measles antibodies reflect that the vast majority of the public in Hong Kong are immune to measles.

Measles remains endemic in many parts of the world. Over the past two years, a substantial upward trend has been observed in the number of measles cases in multiple regions, with large-scale outbreaks persisting due to the relatively low vaccination rate. This has led to a resurgence of community transmission in some countries that had previously eliminated measles, serving as a wake-up call that we must continue to maintain high overall vaccination rates to ensure herd immunity. Overseas cases mainly affected people who were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status, underscoring the importance of keeping up a high vaccination rate and herd immunity. As Hong Kong's vaccination coverage has consistently remained at a high level, the number of imported cases recorded in the city over the past two years has not risen significantly as a result, and the city has successfully maintained its measles-eliminated status to date.

Hepatitis B vaccine

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According to the World Health Organization's recommendations, receiving the hepatitis B vaccine at birth and completing the three-dose series as scheduled are crucial measures for preventing infection and reducing the public health burden of hepatitis B.

Hong Kong's current hepatitis B vaccination coverage rate among pre-school children stands at 99 per cent. According to the Population Health Survey 2020-22, prevalence of hepatitis B among those born after the introduction of the universal childhood hepatitis B immunisation programme in 1988 has dropped to below one per cent, reflecting Hong Kong's successful progress towards realising the goal of "hepatitis B-free generation". The provision of hepatitis B vaccination to newborns has been instrumental in this achievement.

COVID-19 and seasonal influenza vaccines

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Scientific evidence shows that vaccination is one of the most effective means to prevent severe cases of seasonal influenza and COVID-19 as well as their complications. The vaccines can significantly reduce the risks of in-patient admission and mortality. Therefore, the CHP urged members of the public, particularly high-risk groups such as the elderly, children, and adults with underlying illnesses or immunosuppression, to receive vaccination timely to protect their personal health and reduce the risk of serious complications and death from infection.

Parents of preschool children who have not yet received the age-appropriate vaccines are urged to make an appointment at their registered MCHCs as soon as possible, or consult their family doctors to arrange vaccination. New immigrants to Hong Kong or those recently arrived in Hong Kong, as well as their children, who are unsure of their immunisation status or have not completed their vaccination series, are advised to complete any missing doses before arrival to prevent infectious diseases such as measles, chickenpox, and hepatitis B.

The DH will continue to work with the SCVPD to monitor the situation regarding various vaccine-preventable diseases and scientific developments regarding new vaccines. Experts will be consulted as needed to review and update the vaccines recommendations in a timely manner.

Source: AI-found images