Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival: Adorable Panda Cub Sky Lanterns Soar on Lantern Festival

By MOOK Travel Life Net / Chen Guanxin, compiled and reported

 

The "2014 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival" will see the highly awaited 15-foot-tall giant panda cub "Yuan Zai" sky lantern make its debut. The New Taipei City Tourism Bureau stated that the "Yuan Zai Sky Lantern" will be launched on February 14, Valentine’s Day and the Lantern Festival, at Pingxi Shifen Square.

 

Chen Kuo-chun, Director of the New Taipei City Tourism Bureau, said the giant panda "Yuan Zai" sky lantern stands 4.5 meters tall, with a head width of 2 meters and waist width of 3.5 meters. Its design is inspired by the immensely popular and healing "cute" icon—Yuan Zai. This represents a groundbreaking innovation in sky lantern design and production. Due to its large size and unique shape, unlike the traditional sky lantern modeled after the Kongming lantern, the internal structure of the "Yuan Zai Sky Lantern" had to be specially reinforced to maintain symmetry and balance. Especially since it had to be entirely handmade, it posed a high challenge for the sky lantern craftsmen. On the evening of February 14, this giant panda "Yuan Zai" sky lantern will ascend gracefully from Shifen Square.

 

The Tourism Bureau stated that the first blessing lantern event concluded successfully on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year (February 3). Two more major sky lantern events are scheduled—one this Saturday (February 8) and another on the Lantern Festival (February 14). The second event, themed "Lighting Hope · Touching the World," will feature 6-foot-tall sky lanterns printed with images of eight protected Taiwanese animals: the Taiwan blue magpie, Formosan black bear, sika deer, black-faced spoonbill, Formosan macaque, green sea turtle, Formosan landlocked salmon, and great purple emperor butterfly. It will also include a massive 20-foot "Wish Collage Sky Lantern." This oversized lantern incorporates well-wishes written in various languages from around the world, including a romantic marriage proposal written by someone, making it both touching and amusing.

 

The third event, "Hand in Hand for Reunion · Love Takes Flight," coincides with the Lantern Festival and Valentine’s Day. The Tourism Bureau said that in addition to the "Yuan Zai" sky lantern, 200 heart-shaped lanterns will also be released, along with 1,314 warm chocolate gifts for attendees to share.

 

To ensure smooth access for the public to the "2014 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival" venues, full traffic control will be implemented from 9:00 AM to midnight on both event days. During the control period, all vehicles (including motorcycles) are prohibited from entering. Please do not drive yourself. Traffic control points include the intersection of Provincial Highway 106 and 106B at Shuangxi Kou, the area in front of the Shuangxi Kou Shihding Bao Tunnel on Highway 106B, Zhuangjing Bridge, the entrance and exit of Shifen Scenic Area, the entrance in front of Ping-Shuang Tunnel (entrance to Shuangxi Manoa Resort), and the intersection of Ruiping Highway and Dingping Highway (Ruifang Industrial Area).

 

It is recommended that the public use public transportation or shuttle buses to reach the event venues. Shuttle buses will depart from Taipei Zoo Muzha and Ruifang Railway Station. Service begins at 9:00 AM on the event day, with uphill buses running until 7:00 PM and downhill buses until 11:30 PM, operating in continuous round trips. Alternatively, you can take the Pingxi Branch Line train and get off at the event station, then walk about 10 minutes to reach the venue. Detailed shuttle bus stops and train schedules can be found on the official event website "2014 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival."

 

To allow more people to share the sense of peace and happiness brought by sky lanterns, the "New Taipei Travelers" Facebook fan page is holding a "Together Forever, Wishing to Soar – Hope to Fly" lantern wish campaign. From now until February 23, fans who post their lifelong wishes on the "New Taipei Travelers" fan page will have a chance to win a NT$10,000 wish fulfillment grant or a small blessing sky lantern charm (200 winners). Those who make a wish before February 7 will also be entered into a draw for VIP lantern release seats at the February 14 Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival (10 spots).

 

 

●  Related Reading:

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival Unveils "Treasure Sky Lantern"; "Wishing Sky Lantern" Launches at Pingxi Junior High

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