The Pingxi Lantern Festival in New Taipei has some of the most popular attractions in Northern Taiwan, and is known as one of the best festivals in the world. Thousands of lanterns are set off during the festival, to celebrate the traditional Chinese Spring Lantern Festival Holiday. It is definitely worth experience if you are in Taiwan during Lantern Festival.
Background: The practice of lighting off sky lanterns in Taiwan began in Shifen, when during the Qing Dynasty local villagers would flee into the mountains during raids from bandits. Once the bandits had left, the remaining villagers sent sky lanterns into the air to let the fleeing villagers know that it was safe to come down from the mountains. The people of Shifen send off sky lanterns as a symbol of peace, and celebrate every year during Lantern Festival (元宵節), a Chinese holiday. Setting off sky lanterns as a tourist attraction began in the 1990's and you can find people lighting off lanterns every day from Shifen. Since 1990 the Lantern Festival has been held every year (expect 2021 due to COVID-19). The Pingxi Lantern Festival is part of larger festivities around Taiwan at the time, known as the Taiwan Lantern Festival. Because of the hundreds of sky lanterns set off every day, this creates an environmental problem with lantern trash piling around the forests and mountains of Pingxi District. The local people and volunteers help to clean up, but because of the tourism allure associated with lighting off the sky lanterns, it seems that this practice is not going away anytime soon. Hours: The Lantern Festival is usually held for the entire week that Lantern Festival falls on, which is the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar New Year. Setting off hundreds of lanterns at night is usually done during the evenings. In 2023 the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival will be held Sunday February 5th from 6 PM to 8:30 PM. 
Website:
https://2023skylantern.ntpc.gov.tw/#/info Price: Free How to get there: By Train: Take the TRA to Ruifang Station, buy the Pingxi Railway line one day pass, and then switch to the Pingxi Railway line. Get off at any station! The main lantern setting is done at Shifen Square, which is right next to the Shifen Waterfall parking lot. By Car/Scooter: Take provincial highway 2 east toward Pinglin, then get off the main highway once you reach Shifen. You can drive right or left to reach all of the stations on the Pingxi Railway line. But please know there is limited car parking around the stations. Map: Please see below:
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The Dragon Boat Festival (aka Double Fifth Festival) is a special time of year, during which Taiwan gets a major holiday vacation and there are Dragon Boat Races. During this time, people also must eat Zongzi. We have created this guide for you to see the official dragon boat races all around Taiwan and understand more about this special cultural festival.
Historical Background: Originally Dragon Boat Festival may have started during the Qin Dynasty as a day to remove evil spirits and bad luck that were thought to appear on the fifth day of the fifth month. The best known origin story for the Dragon Boast Festival is that it commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a famous poet and official of the Chu Dynasty during the Warring States Period. He opposed the Chu Dynasty joining an alliance with the Qin, and therefore was banished. When the Qin Dynasty finally took over the Chu Dynasty, he committed suicide by entering the Miluo River (汨羅江 Mìluójiāng) and drowning himself. It was said that the local people went looking for him by rowing dragon shaped canoes, and threw sticky rice balls into the water so that the fish would eat the rice and not Qu Yuan's body. Because of this, during Dragon Boat Festival everyone eats stick rice, or Zongzi, and holds dragon boat races to commemorate Qu Yuan's memory. Another tradition is for people to balance eggs, which is thought to bring good luck during the "unlucky" holiday. Dragon Boat races usually involve a team rowing together, while someone beats a drum to keep rhythm and someone else stands at the front of the boat to catch the flag. Dragon Boat Festival is an official holiday in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, China, and is celebrated by Chinese heritage communities throughout Asia and the world. When is Dragon Boat Festival? The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. 2022: June 3rd 2023: June 22nd 2024: June 10th 2025: May 31st 2025: June 19th 2026: June 9th When are Dragon Boat Races in Taiwan? Training starts about a month before Dragon Boat Festival The actual races begin a few days before or on Dragon Boat Festival, and can last a few days after as well. Races usually last the whole day. Where are Dragon Boat Races in Taiwan? Taipei International Dragon Boat Championships: 國際龍舟錦標賽 Dates: (June 3-June 6 2022) Location: Dajie Riverside Park 大佳河濱公園 (under Dazhi Bridge going to Neihu near the airport along the Keelung River. There is parking at the riverside park, but it can get very crowded late in the day). Keelung Dragon Boat Festival 基隆龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 3 2022) Held at Badouzi Harbor 八斗子 Hsinchu County Dragon Boat Festival 新竹縣縣長盃龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 3 2022) Held at No. 156 Chifu Road Hsinfeng Township, at the pond in front of Chihe Temple. 新豐鄉新豐村十五鄰池府路一五六號池和宮前池和湖舉行 Miaoli Dragon Boat Races 苗栗龍舟賽 Dates: (June 3 2022) Held at dragon boat ferry dock along the Zhonggang River in Zhunan. 竹南鎮港墘里中港溪畔的龍舟碼頭 Changhua Taiwan International Dragon Boat Races 台灣國際競技龍舟錦標賽 Dates: (June 1-June 3 2022) Location: Lukang, along the FuLu River near Lukang Old Street (彰化福鹿溪水域) Yunlin Dragon Boat Races 雲林龍舟賽 Dates: (June 3, 11-12 PM 2022) Location: Kouhu Township, Yiwu Wet Pond at the north pond (本縣口湖鄉宜梧滯洪池北池) Chiayi Dragon Boat Races 嘉義龍舟比賽 Dates: (closed in 2022 due to COVID) Location: Dongshi Harbor 東石漁港 Tainan International Dragon Boat Championships: 台南市國際龍舟賽 Dates: (closed in 2022 due to COVID) Location: Yunhe River in Tainan Between Anyi Bridge and Chengtian Bridge, near Anping Old Street 臺南市運河（安億橋至承天橋河段） Kaohsiung Love River Dragon Boat Festival: 高雄愛河端午龍舟嘉年華 Dates: (June 3-June 5 2022) Location: The Love River between Kaohsiung Bridge and Zhongzheng Bridge (愛河， 高雄橋-中正橋). Pingtung County Dragon Boat Race 屏東縣端午龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 2- June 3 2022) Location: Underneath Donggang Great Bridge in Donggang (東港大橋). Yilan County Dragon Boat Race 宜蘭縣端午龍舟競賽 Dates: (closed in 2022 due to COVID) Location: Dongshi Harbor 東石漁港 Along the Yilan River near Qinghe Bridge 宜蘭河慶和橋 Hualien County Dragon Boat Race 花蓮縣端午龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 3 - June 4 2022) Location: Liyu Lake 鯉魚潭 Penghu County Dragon Boat Festival 澎湖縣龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 3 2022) Location: Makung No. 3 Harbor (澎湖縣馬公第3漁港). Kinmen County Dragon Boat Festival 金門縣龍舟競賽 Dates: (June 3 2022) Location: Guningtou Shuangli Lake (金門縣金寧鄉古寧頭雙鯉湖). Map: Please see below for a map of dragon boat racing locations. |
Author 作家We are US Expats that have extensive experience living, working, and travelling in Taiwan. In our day, we had to learn many things about Taiwan the hard way. But we have come to learn that Taiwan is one of the best places in the world for Foreigners to live. Our blog does not represent the opinions of every foreigner in Taiwan. We are just trying to help others learn more about this beautiful country. Archives 檔案
March 2023
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