Taipei Lantern Festival is here！The mini lantern “Xi Mei” welcomes the New Year with joy

By / MOOK Travel & Lifestyle Network Editorial Team

The 2015 Taipei Lantern Festival officially began on February 14, with the “Love? Embrace the Lantern Sea” display on Section 2-3 of Zhongshan North Road lighting up first. The main exhibition site took place from February 27 to March 8 at the Flower Expo Yuanshan Park, offering a 10-day lantern art extravaganza.The most anticipated mini lanterns for both kids and adults were officially unveiled in Taipei City on the 28th. The adorable little sheep named “Xi Mei,” with its mysterious night-sky-colored big eyes, gentle and cute smile, and nimble limbs, will make appearances across 12 districts of Taipei City from 1 PM on March 1 to March 2. For the first time, Yuanshan Park at the Flower Expo will extend the distribution period to five days, handing out lanterns from March 1 to 5 at the Long Corridor Plaza. Wishing everyone a year full of joy and cheer.

This year’s Taipei Lantern Festival mini lantern “Xi Mei” features an overall magical and vibrant pink-purple color scheme that evokes the feeling of the night sky. Its most distinctive feature is the overall structure of the lantern. Designer Teacher Hong Xinfu and his team put their creative minds to work, applying the traditional folk puppet-making technique to paper art. They created the first-ever mini lantern with flexibly moving limbs. With a swing of the handle, it becomes a lively, running, and leaping adorable sheepling. Beyond its unimaginably dynamic movement, the linked-joint design greatly enriches the variety of poses the mini lantern can take. “Xi Mei” can stand, sit, do a handstand, or even gallop—breaking the limitation of traditional zodiac lanterns that only have one pose. Kids can choose their favorite “Xi Mei” according to their mood and preference to celebrate the New Year together.