Ping Hsi / Ping Xi Lantern Festival 2009
Last Saturday I visited Ping Xi for their annual Lantern Festival, which comes every year right after the Chinese New Year. For 1 day, this old coal mining town in the mountains turns into a tourist trap, and everyone is lighting off lanterns with new years wishes written on them. There is also a ton of street food to be had, and if you’ve ever visited Taiwan, that goes without saying! From what I’ve seen and read this is one of the most famous happenings in Taiwan, so it was something I wanted to see while I live here.
There is a main stage at the local high school that is sectioned off for special events during the festival. This year, the President of Taiwan, Ma Ying Jeau, was there lighting off lanterns with different people. I was lucky enough to go with my chinese school, Shi Da MTC, and all of us went into the main stage and lit off lanterns with the President. It was super cool to be a part of and even with the rain it was fun.
I gotta give some props to the MTC for the field trip there. They got us in and out and took care of us the whole day, all for free. THANK YOU!!!
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Hey Jered,
These kind of things often do turn into tourist traps. But it seemed like fun. It reminded me of my honeymoon in Thailand. A really nice couple bought a lantern from town and brought it back to the hotel as a wedding gift for us. It was a very thoughtful gift and we really appreciated it.