The 2015 Yanshui Beehive Rockets make a dazzling debut on March 5th！Recognized as one of the world’s top three folk festivals, experiencing the Yanshui Beehive Rockets is a must-do for anyone in Taiwan at least once in their lifetime！Before the Lantern Festival, the 2015 Yanshui Beehive Rockets were displayed as lanterns in the Wu Temple Cultural Museum for public enjoyment, but on the night of the Lantern Festival, they transform into towering main rocket towers that unleash thousands of fireworks to usher in good fortune for the new year！

The “Yanshui Beehive Rockets” tradition is said to date back to the summer months of July and August in the 11th year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign during the Qing Dynasty, when an outbreak of cholera and plague swept through Yanshui Street. With limited medical resources at the time, fatalities were rising daily, causing panic among residents who prayed to the God of Martial Virtue, Guan Yu, for deliverance from disaster. On the night of the Lantern Festival, Guan Yu commanded General Zhou Cang to lead the procession, with the deity’s palanquin bringing up the rear. Followers ignited firecrackers along the way as the parade wound through every street and alley until dawn, successfully dispelling the plague. Since then, descendants have continued the tradition, welcoming the God of Martial Virtue for his annual Lantern Festival night patrol.

The event includes suburban processions, with fully geared palanquins and bearers pushing the sacred sedan through the town’s streets; nighttime parades where elaborately armed palanquin teams, surrounded by thousands of locals and tourists, slowly advance through major and minor streets; and when the palanquins reach the doorsteps of shops and residences, the owners set up large rocket towers (also known as beehive rockets) on the road before lighting the fuses. The Yanshui Beehive Rockets unleash a storm of fireworks with earsplitting buzzing sounds that drown out the surroundings, as fiery sparks fly everywhere. The earth-shaking power and thrilling excitement of the mass firing annually draw many domestic and international tourists to come and “dare the rockets”! People believe that being baptized by the rockets can ward off disasters, cleanse bad luck, and bring increasing prosperity in the coming year.