Island Bumping

I remember fondly of all the times our island bumped into others and we would have visitors. This would be the time to meet new people, and hear new stories.

— Wei Chen

The island bumping tradition is one of the oldest in Feidao. When the island moves against each others, often the island would bump into each others. When that happens, the islanders tend to visit each others, sharing food, gossip, and stories with each others. This has also historically been the only way to visit other regions in Feidao, at least from our current knowledge.

Normally, the islanders can guess how much time they have until their island moves away again. When looking at the Cloudy Sea, they can often guess how fast the clouds are moving, and therefore how fast the islands moves. If islanders want to stay for a longer period, they have island hooks. A heavy chain with a hook that can hold the islands together, though often it need several island hooks to stay hooked to each others.
To avoid damaging islands, properties, and people, every island has fenders made of rope and linen that hangs on every side of the island. When the visit ends, the islanders unhook the islands, and float of wherever the sky current brings them.

When an island bumping is happening, people often stand ready with bridges on each side. These bridges are often made of wood and with pegs to keep them in place.

It is sad the larger islands such as Zhengzhidao 政治岛 looks down onto these traditions, since they are considered dangerous, people could fall off the bridges. But they tend to forget that they did this exact same tradition before the invention of hot air balloons.