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| Lantern Festival in Taipei lights up the night |
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| Monday, March 5, 2007 |
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| Taipei, Taiwan — The Taipei City Lantern Festival was off to a bright start on Saturday Night as hundreds of thousands of people crowded onto the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial near downtown Taipei to witness city mayor Hau Lung-bin and other dignitaries ceremoniously flip the switch to light hundreds of colorful lantern scenes in and around the 240,000 square meter memorial park. |
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| The centerpiece of this rock concert-like performance is a 15 meter high rotating pig equipped with a fog machine, laser light show and theme music. |
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| The theme of this years lantern festival revolves around the 12 year Chinese zodiac cycles year of the pig. |
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| Its round shape symbolizes wealth and good fortune and is believed to bring good luck. |
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| Started in 1990, the Taipei lantern festival continues a 2000 year old tradition of light related festivals marking the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. |
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| This particular event grows in popularity every year. |
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| Last Year over 4 million visitors attended the event and this year the city expects about 6 million visitors according to the event website. |
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| Colorful lantern scenes not only fill the central square but also the surrounding 2 km circumference of the memorial. |
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| Each section has a theme. |
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| One side of the memorial is scenes made by student groups while other areas represent the counties of Taiwan. |
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| There is even a section of lanterns sponsored by foreign countries. |
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| The Malaysia Tourism board was quite prominent at the main entrance to the grounds. |
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| As with all new year celebrations in Taiwan, the lantern festival is crowded. |
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| People flock to see the lantern scenes and enjoy the festival atmosphere as they carry lanterns, given away by the city and bought from street vendors at the event. |
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| The many light toys such a swords, devil ears, and lanterns turn the milling crowd into a unique light show that can be observed by climbing the steps of the 70 meter memorial hall on the grounds. |
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| Local public transportation hubs are often swamped by the event. |
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| The station staff at Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall Station do an excellent job of crowd control but lines for the subway can still be hours long and very exhausting. |
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| A sudden rain storm on Sunday night (March 4) caused a mass exodus of people to head for the station prompting lines that backed up into the street. |
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| The commuting crowds can be avoided however by walking from NTU Hospital Station or Shandao Station. |
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| Both of these stops are only about a 20 minute walk from the event and have no crowds at all. |
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| If you really want to avoid the crowds, definitely avoid the weekends. |
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| Wait until the fourth or fifth day of the festival when the crowds will have dwindled. |
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| I visited the festival on Saturday night, the opening night, and there was a sea of people in the square. |
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| I went back the next Tuesday night and there was almost no one there, just a few stray photographers taking advantage of the unimpeded views of the lanterns. |
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| The festival runs through March 11 this year. |