Special Features of the Bamboo Theatre

The bamboo theatre built for “shengongxi” (thanksgiving opera performance) of the Chun Kwan Festival on Tsing Yi Island. It was in the “Dragon Boat Shed” style with double collars. The ridge and the entrance of a “Dragon Boat Shed” style bamboo theatre form a vertical extension. It looks like a temporary bamboo shed used for storing dragon boats in the past. The ridge and the entrance of a “Big Golden Bell” style bamboo theatre form a horizontal extension. The name reflects how it is built to resemble the shape of a bronze bell. The bamboo theatre used for “shengongxi” (thanksgiving opera performance) of the Tin Hau Festival on Po Toi Island is built on a cliff. Bamboo theatre for the Yu Lan Festival at Moreton Terrace, Causeway Bay.

The bamboo theatre on Po Toi Island is built on a cliff. Scaffolding masters must first build a steady foundation platform before making other building structure on the top. Reconstruction of a bamboo theatre in "The Oral Legacies Series II: The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong" Exhibition, reconstructed by Master Chan Yuk Kwong. Awl is used for piercing holes on metal sheets, which are then fastened to the bamboo structure with iron wires. Bamboo ties were used to fasten bamboo poles and fir in the past. They are now replaced by nylon ties. The bamboo shed theatre is built with fir foundation and is supported by a stabilising structure made of bamboo poles.

Nylon ties tighten the connecting points between bamboo poles. A scaffolding master is in charge of inspecting the foundation structure of the bamboo theatre to ensure levelness. At the middle axis of the bamboo theatre, a scaffolding master instructs how to fix the fir and bamboo poles at the top. A scaffolding master is creating four "canopies" at the top of the bamboo theatre. Scaffolding masters joining up to create the pyramid shape top of the bamboo theatre.