It might sound like the title of a bad movie, but the "Gong Fight" is actually a 40-year-old tradition between Lady Ho Tung Hall and Ricci Hall. The gong is one of the most treasured items of Lady Ho Tung Hall. It was used to summon the girls for meals when LHT still had a canteen providing food for its residents. One day some of the cheeky Ricci boys decided to steal the gong to use it in their own canteen. The gong was quickly returned to LHT, but this was the beginning of the somewhat special tradition.
Every year around 15 Ricci boys try to steal the gong from Lady Ho Tung. The gong is tied to a rope high above the ground and the goal is for the Ricci boys to take it back to their hall. This is not an easy task as the Lady Ho Tung's freshmen have prepared thousands of water bombs in order to protect it.
The girls started making the water bombs around 10am and stopped at 7.30pm. This picture is taken around 1pm. A lot of work went into this.
The precious gong.
The first video clip shows the beginning of the gong fight. The second video clip is from about 30 minutes later when the Ricci boys are given a break to provide them with a chance of actually getting the gong down.
Needless to say there was quite a bit to clean up afterwards. Luckily that was the responsibility of the first years. Ah, you just gotta love tradition.
2 comments:
ah yes. the timely art of water balloons. how i miss those days. although i must say, those balloons look quite weird compared with the bombs i am use to. sounds like lots of fun, id love to try and grab that gong!!
minner litt om russefeiring, mangler bare egg og mel:)
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