The Lantern Festival and So Much More
It was a warm and balmy February 28, sunny and 80 degrees when I arrived at Taipei’s International Airport, and I had just escaped the blizzard of the century back in New York. I was here in Taiwan for the country’s annual Lantern Festival, a spectacular event spanning eight days with a different location every year. Today was the opening day, just 15 days after Chinese New Year, and I was changing into short-sleeves.
This year the festivities were being held in the century-old Chiayi Park in Chiayi, a Southwestern city of about a quarter million people, three hours from Taipei. Mayor Huang Min-hui had promised that it would be the biggest event in 300 years, beginning with speeches then followed by the great lantern illumination at 7 pm. Joining a group of fellow Americans, we meandered through dense crowds, into a sea of lanterns created by school children, corporations, tourism companies, even foreign governments. Mainland China’s lantern was a magnificent replica of the Confucius temple in Nanjing. At first glance I thought these lanterns were made of paper but on closer inspection I realized it was actually a stretch fabric over wire designed in intricate shapes and enclosing electrical lights.
There was so much to take in but we were rushing to the introductory performance – the lighting of the main lantern entitled Blessing Arrives in the Treasure Island. Since 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, this lantern was an enormous, revolving tiger leaping ing over a rainbow-like bridge. In celebration of this animal, which the Chinese consider a symbol of an auspicious and courageous spirit, a backdrop of music and fireworks accompanied the lighting. It was all wonderfully dramatic and only the beginning of my amazing eight-day journey around the “Ihla Formosa,” as the Portuguese sailors called Taiwan.
Struck by Natural Beauty
After the introduction to Taiwan’s “beauty in light,” we drove further along the southwestern coast exploring the various landmarks that have enriched the island’s history and culture. From the city of Kaohsiung we caught a flight to Hualien, along the Pacific Ocean in east-central Taiwan. Our destination was the magnificent 3,000 feet high marble cliffs of Taroko Gorge, a short drive northeast of the city through the mountains and across the Taroko Bridge into Taroko National Park, one of six in the country.
Taroko Gorge is a geological phenomenon that today captivates visitors from around the world. In the 1950’s, some 6,000 workers cut a road into the gorge with hand axes building what is today part of the Central Cross Island Highway connecting the east and west coasts. A short distance into the park above a waterfall is the Eternal Spring Shrine, a memorial to the men who lost their lives in the process. The serpentine drive through the Gorge takes visitors along swift-rushing streams, past waterfalls, and up and down dramatic hills of the mountains where the diversity of lush vegetation is astounding, varying from subtropical trumpet llilies, crocus, and azaleas at lower altitudes to hemlocks, spruces and firs at the higher. At its narrowest point, the part of the road called the Tunnel of Nine Turns is pressed so tightly between sheer cliffs that only a slice of sky is visible above. Well-marked trails offer hiking opportunities that range from easy to difficult and there is also a 20 kilometer bike route from the village of Tianxiang down through the Gorge that lets riders bear witness to Taiwan’s natural glories. We were fortunate to spend one evening at the luxurious Silks Place Taroko, where massive guest rooms offered sweeping mountain views. It was all difficult to leave behind.
From the Taroko area it was a two-hour express train back to Taipei where our tryst with “beauty in nature” continued with numerous day trips to other Taiwanese natural wonders. One day we visited Yang Ming Shan National Park with its dormant Mt. Datun volcano and its geothermal natural hot spring baths. The next we drove to Yehliu Geopark, a cape on the northern coast between Wanli town and Keelung City renowned for its sea erosion landscape. The Yehliu Promontory stretches slightly more than one mile into the ocean and the area is scattered with exotic stones and eerie rock formations. These are fun to touch, walk around and even through – especially those that form an archway. Some have names like The Fairy Shoe, The Bee Hive, The Ginger Rocks and The Sea Candles while others are yet unnamed leading visitors to submit their suggested appelation.
Urban Pursuits
I immersed myself the last few days in Taiwan’s “beauty in culture”, visiting museums and monuments. I found the National Palace Museum an absolute marvel. With a collection of more than 650,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts, and artwork that spans more than 8,000 years it is one of the largest museums in the world. Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Government brought the collection from the Palace Museum in Beijing to Taiwan in order to protect it from China’s cultural revolution. The most famous piece is a Qing dynasty jadeite carving of a cabbage hiding a large and small grasshopper within its leaves. The carving embodies a perfect three-in-one union of intrinsic nature, human creativity, and symbolic significance. It also claims the unique provenance of having been a special gift to the king from his concubine’s father. So revered, this image is reproduced in hundreds of items in the museum gift shop, from dolls to pillows to everything in between.
On another day we were just on time for the changing of the guards. The svelte stone-faced guards performed their synchronized march, foot balance, and rifle spinning ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. This hall prominently features a large, bronze seated statue of the former president, who ruled from 1949 until his death in 1975. The Main Hall can be accessed by either of two sets of white stairs, each with 89 steps, representing Chiang’s age at the time of his passing. A park surrounds the monument and stands at the east end of the main gate titled, The Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness. The National Theater and Concert Hall frame the building on the north and south, and the entire plaza is located within sight of the Presidential Office Building. We were lucky to have caught sight of this spectacular ceremony when we did, but had we not during this trip, surely we could have seen it some other time. After all, they perform hourly from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., and until 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Speaking of time, Taipei 101 is open until 10 pm. Formerly the tallest building in the world – Dubai’s Burj Khalifa trumped its height in 2007 – it offers an opportunity to view the sprawl of Taipei city from the clouds. The building’s modern design clearly incorporates traditional Chinese culture, as both its interiors and exteriors borrow their design from the pagoda form and the shape of bamboo flowers. The lucky number eight, which symbolizes blooming or success, is represented by the eight “cup-like” sections or “flowers” on the exterior of the building. At a speed of more than 55 feet per second, the world’s fastest elevator whisks visitors to the 89th floor observatory in less than a minute. Here you can view a vast array of art, including both permanent installations as well as a changing exhibition that highlighted contemporary Taiwanese ceramics during my visit.
Final Moments
Before arriving at the Taoyuan Airport for our return flight, we made a couple of small stops in the outlying regions of Taipei County. These moments are fixed in my memory as final glimpses of an island that more than lives up to its moniker, Ilha Formosa, Beautiful Island. While my experience was brief, it was not without significance as it was also for some of the lantern creators who penned their hopes and dreams on the lanterns. When they were launched in the sky it was said that the higher the lantern went, the closer it came to God and the better the chances that the wish would come true.
Facts about Taiwan
Taiwan, home to 23 million people, is an Asian hub where you can fly to anywhere in Asia in less than four hours.
For more information on traveling to Taiwan, contact the Taiwan Tourism Bureau at
tbrocnyc@gmail.com, tel. 212-867-1632 or visit them online at www.go2taiwan.net
The international area code for Taiwan is 866.
Where to Sleep:
The Jafusun Prince Hotel is located in the resort town of Koo-Kung Hsiang, adjacent to one of Taiwan’s largest amusement parks and just 20 minutes from Chiayi City, where the 2010 Lantern festival was held. 67-8 Ta-Hu-Kou, Yong-Kwang Village, Koo-Kung Hsiang, Yunclin, Hsien, Taiwan; (5) 582-8111; www.princehotels.co.jp/janfusun-e
Silks Place Taroko – located within Taroko National Park. Guest rooms are immense, with sweeping views of the mountains, king-sized poster beds, and expansive bathrooms with deep soaking tubs. During the lunar New Year, guests may assist the staff in lighting fire-powered lanterns and releasing them into the night sky. www.silksplace-taroko.com.tw
The Grand Formosa Regent Taipei – sophisticated and service oriented. 41 Chung Shan N. Rd, Section 2, Taipei; (2) 2583-8000; www.grandformosa.com.tw
Where to Eat:
Ding Tai Fong Dumpling House – simple, but authentic. Taipei’s food call to fame, it is consistently voted among the ten best restaurants in the world. Multiple locations. www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/index.asp
Wistaria Tea House – a bastion of tea culture and a former literary and artistic gathering place. Oolong tea picked fresh from the mountains of Taiwan. 1 New South Rd, Lane 16; (2) 2363-7375; www.wistariahouse.com
Sit-Fun Shih Tang – quiet, family-run establishment serving health conscious dishes to locals and celebrities. Decorated in Japanese Colonial style. www.sit-fun.com.tw (in Chinese)
Kunohe Restaurant – located in the mountain village of Jiufen, 30 minutes outside Taipei. Sweeping vistas of hills and valleys. Menu includes whole grilled fish, thick crab soup and spicy chicken with peanuts. 9th light, Taipei County Rd. 300, Rueifang Township; 2406-3388; www.kunohe.com.tw
What to See & Do:
Night Market at Shilin – near the Jiantan metro station. A food frenzy and a not-to-miss tourist spot. The fried chicken stand near the Yang Ming movie theatre draws an especially large crowd. www.nightmarketsintaiwan.com