Lantern Festival

The 15th day of the lunar new year is lantern festival. There are festivals all over the Taiwan mostly consisting of a large collection of handmade lanterns on display. There are however a few more elaborate festivals, ranging from one in Tainan where they shoot fireworks directly at you (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auiIxZgGh_s&feature=related) to the one I went to north of Taipei where they set lanterns off into the sky. The festival was in a town called Pingxi in the mountains, and it was supposed to be about 2 hours by train from where I live. After two legs of train travel we boarded the train in Rueifang ready to head for Pingxi. This is where we first encountered the mob of people we were about to spend the rest of the day with. The train platform was packed, and when the train pulled in there was a full on stampede to board. This was one of those moments I was thankful to be tall and able to breath over the crowd.

Miraculously we were able to get seats on the train, but once it was totally filled with people it then sat still for an entire hour. As we were unable to understand the Chinese announcements I was confused, but there was no way I was moving out of my seat. Finally the train left and after a few stops we pulled into Pingxi. Getting off the train I was forced to follow the crowd even though we were going against the exit signs. It was then that I understood why our train had been unable to move and got my first view of the sky lanterns. People were climbing off the platform and walking along the tracks, and they were setting off fireworks from the train station. There were vendor stalls right up against the tracks where people were buying giant paper lanterns. After writing their wishes on the lanterns, they lit paper money to create a kind of hot air balloon, and then let it off into the sky. If the lantern flies away it is good luck, but if the lantern catches on fire or crashes into something I'm pretty sure you are cursed for the year. One of the first lanterns I saw launched directly into a telephone pole and went up into flames. I was concerned that no one seemed concerned over this.

As we walked along the tracks and then continued on the tiny winding streets we saw the usual street food mixed in with stalls selling these lanterns. At the end of the road we came to a big arena with a stage where they would let off hundreds of the lanterns at a time. It was really beautiful to see them all in the sky, but I'm pretty sure Smokey the bear would not have been happy. In addition to the lanterns there were fireworks from all directions, and a lot of the time I could feel the ash falling on my head. After we checked out the festival we bought our own lantern. There were two young girls running the stall who thankfully showed us how to light the lantern, and it flew off without a hitch!

On the way home we decided to take the shuttle bus, thinking it would be faster. Unfortunately I think every single person at the festival had the same idea, and we ended up waiting in line for over 2 hours to catch a bus back to Taipei.

Sign off the train platform. This rule apparently did not apply.

Lantern stuck on the telephone pole in flames

People letting off a lantern on the train tracks

People on the street decorating their lanterns.

Lanterns in the sky

My wishes for the future. They include a job that makes lots of money, a dog, and lots of travel. And of course some time at the beach.

Giving love luck for the year. Since my lantern did not catch on fire, none of these people need to break up. You can thank me later.

Our lantern before the fire

Our lantern blown up and ready to fly. It was actually really hot to hold onto.

Lanterns being released together

Lanterns in the sky

Formosa, a beautiful island

When the Dutch arrived in Taiwan back in the day, they named it Formosa, which means ‘beautiful island’. My first two months in Taiwan were spent exclusively in the North, in the Jhongli and Taipei area never leaving the city. So I questioned this name, and thought all of Taiwan was as populated and urban as my lovely home. That is until Chinese New Year when Mommy came to visit, and we ventured down South. What I saw was a gorgeous country with a rugged and varied landscape. We had a wonderful 10 days of travel and I took a billion pictures, but I’m too lazy to write about that all now. You can check out my pictures on facebook, and I will soon update the blog.

Ever since Chinese New Year the sun has been shining and the weather has been warm (sorry Mom!). Today I did not have to work, so I took a trip to Yangmingshan, the national park north of Taipei. I took the train to Taipei, the subway a few stops north, and then following the advice of my trusty Lonely Planet hopped on a bus towards the park. I was decked out with my running shoes and a backpack full of snacks and water bottles (because I never go hiking without food, even if it is just Mount Nittany), and was ready for a good long hike.

Yesterday I read an article about a hiker in Oregon who got lost alone in the woods, and it made me paranoid about being by myself. But as I have learned so far, the Taiwanese do not love exercise, and they don’t like to sweat, so I was thinking I would get to the park and it would consist of some simple paved roads filled with packs of tourist. When I got off the bus I saw what I have found to be standard wherever you go in Taiwan – several booths setup selling street food, including the necessary stinky tofu. I wandered past this area and about half a kilometer up the road and found a visitor center. Outside there were a few bride and groom couples taking pictures with the nice background. I found a really helpful man in the visitor’s center who spoke English, and gave me a map and directions on how to go about my hike.

I decided to climb Mt. Cising, the highest mountain in the park at 1120 meters, and the highest extinct volcano in Taiwan. The entire path was paved with a stone staircase, but ended up being a super intense hike. It was basically 1.8km up a mountain with over a 500meter vertical gain. There were enough people on the path that I didn't get lonely, but few enough that I was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery. When I got to the top I made friends with a nice woman who gave me an orange. If I translated her gestures correctly, she grew it herself.

I then went down the other side of the mountain to an area where there are sulfur fumaroles, which are basically cracks in the rocks that leak sulfur gas. They occur in areas of ex volcanic activity, which is also the reason for all the hot springs in Taiwan. There was a faint smell of rotten egg, but it was really cool to see the streams of gas that seemed to be magically rising from the mountain walls. As I was walking down, a fog descended on the valley giving it an eerie feel. At some points I couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of my face, and I could hear people before I could see them. Overall it was a beautiful hike, and I’m sure I will be very sore tomorrow.

Bride and groom taking pictures outside the visitor's center.

Some nice inspiring words for my hike.

So you are telling me if it doesn't spoil the scenery I can build a tomb?

The never ending stairs up the mountain.

One of the peaks on Cising Mountain (seven star mountain). Notice the stairs I had to climb.

Self portrait at the top of Cising

Highest point in the park.

On the way down I walked on this path through a bamboo forest. The sign said that these bamboo shoots live for 60 years. They only bloom once, and when they do it is a sign that it is the end of their lives. It reminded me of walking through a corn field.

Here you can kind of see one of the fumeroles. It was hard to get a good picture, but you can see the gas coming out of the rock.

Taiwanese Michael Jordan

Yesterday I went to a Taiwanese professional basketball game. The game took place in what looked like a big high school gym. Each team was allowed to have one foreign player, so they each had one black guy who scored a good majority of the points. There were actually some pretty tall and buff Taiwanese guys, and it was an exciting game. My roommates friend plays on one of the teams (well actually he plays the bench), so we cheered for them. We were the only ones in the stadium making any noise, and probably because of us, after double overtime our team won! Because Taiwan is so small, instead of having a team for each city, a team is sponsored by a specific company. We watched Taiwan Beer play against some kind of liquor. Another team is sponsored by a cell phone company.

Action shot at the game

Me and my roommate Tiffany

After the game we headed out to one of the few local bars in Jhongli. Taiwan doesn't have a big drinking culture, so the bars are general populated by foreigners, aka English teachers galore.

My roommate Tiffany, Ally (a Taiwanese teacher), Amanda (works in the head office), and me at the River

The bathroom at the bar. Squatting after a few beers is a pretty big challenge.

Another Gloria teacher Brad with the random cat that was hanging out in the bar with us.

'Nobody' is a Korean song that they play over and over and over and over here. Walking through the night market once I counted and heard it 7 times in 5 minutes. There is a little dance for the chorus and everyone knows it. At halftime at the game the team mascot came out and did the nobody dance with some mad skills. Check out the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFjP-OJ7Bh4

Chinese New Year Banquet

Last night we had our work banquet for Chinese New Year at a fancy restaurant in Taoyuan City. The dinner was served family style, with plate after plate of mystery food arriving constantly at our table. It was very traditional Chinese food, and most of it was quite delicious. We were able to identify a lot of the treats, including a rice dish with eel on top, sashimi, duck, a seafood stew, a chicken stew (with whole chicken heads floating inside), an entire foot long fish complete with his face, a veggie plate with mushrooms and bamboo, ribs, and shrimp cakes. There were also a few questionable plates that all had a fishy flavor and a strange consistency.

For Chinese New Year it is traditional for parents to give their kids money in a red envelope. So to make the celebration complete they had a raffle of red envelopes, but just like the receipt lottery I had zero luck. After dinner and the raffle, all the Taiwanese teachers ran around snapping pictures. I would say a good 90% of these pictures included a peace sign up against the face in true Asian style. Another thing the Asians love is karaoke. They have these places called KTV here, where you basically rent a private room, bring in your own drinks, and sing until the sun comes up. I have not yet experienced the joy of off pitch Taiwanese love ballads, but at the end of the party someone decided to turn the microphone into a mini-karaoke party, and I got a preview. Overall it was a tasty and entertaining feast!

mmmm.....chicken head

mmmm.....fish head