Hi everyone! Even though it’s freezing outside, that’s no excuse to stay locked up in your home. Today, I will be introducing to you all one of Taiwan’s most important festivals, the Taiwan Lantern Festival, also known as 元宵節 (yuán xiāo jié). This festival is the last event of the Spring Festival and is celebrated on the 15th of first lunar month. This event not only has intriguing history leading up to it, but it also is a huge tourist attraction. Even the U.S. Discovery Channel complimented this event in one of its segments on the “Fantastic Festivals of the World.”
This year, Taiwan is celebrating the Year of the Monkey with its tunnels of ornate and bright red lanterns lighting up the path for visitors and the releasing of thousands of beautiful glowing paper lanterns. However, like previous years, in order to celebrate the twelve zodiac animals, this year’s theme will be “Golden Monkey Offering Peaches.” The attractions include the Fairytale Kingdom Lantern Area, Diverse Exchange Lantern Area, New Peach Blossom Spring Lantern Area, and much more!
The 2016 Taiwan Lantern Festival will take place from February 22nd to March 6th in Taoyuan in the Taoyuan High Speed Rail Station Front Square to Qingtang Park. Also, click here to check out a video from last year’s lantern festival celebrating the year of the goat!
Make sure to visit if you can and you will not regret it! I hope today’s post was helpful and remember to check back next week for more!
今年的阳历2月8日是农历大年初一，元宵节就是十五，也就是表示年过完了。在每年的这一天，家家户户都会吃元宵或是汤圆来庆祝。元宵的做法和汤圆不同，元宵是用馅沾水再用糯米粉滚出来的，汤圆则是用手把馅用糯米皮包起来。两者各有不同的风味！孩子们还会提灯笼，非常有趣！