Beijing Cultural Temple Fair Debuts in Taiwan with Models Wearing Modern Cheongsams in Fashion Show

▲The main light display of the Beijing Cultural Temple Fair is a 6-meter-tall Temple of Heaven. (Photo / Reporter Chen Rui-zhong, the same below)

Reporter Chen Rui-zhong / Taipei Reporting

Following its first appearance in Taiwan last year, this year’s Beijing Ditan Cultural Temple Fair has moved to the Taipei Taipei Expo Park’s Butterfly Pavilion at Yuanshan, and has been expanded to include the Changdian Temple Fair, featuring over 70 booths offering specialty products and authentic Beijing snacks, as well as multiple intangible cultural heritage stalls displaying exquisite and unique Beijing crafts.

▲Exquisite paper-cutting art and various intangible cultural heritage items can be seen in the exhibition hall.

This year’s event runs from February 27 to March 8. The exhibition hall combines elements of Beijing culture, the Lantern Festival, and traditional New Year imagery, and features the famous “Beijing Temple of Heaven” relocated to the venue as a 6-meter-tall signature main light. Paired with surrounding large red lanterns and LED lights, it complements the Taipei Lantern Festival across the street, creating a vibrant and colorful temple fair atmosphere.

▲Fashion show performance by models wearing modern cheongsams(Photo / Reporter Zhou Chen-geng)

At the opening ceremony today (February 27), the organizers specially arranged performances including blessings by the Five Wealth Gods, a cheongsam fashion model show, and the Dragon Pearl Catching act, kicking off the 10-day event. When the elegantly dressed models in modern cheongsams took to the stage, the audience below eagerly took photos and videos.

▲At the Beijing Cultural Temple Fair, you can enjoy freshly made knife-cut noodles and a variety of snacks.

Compared to last year’s event, this year’s Beijing Cultural Temple Fair has added more interactive elements. Visitors can purchase and sample local specialties such as Huoguo Temple Snacks, crispy fried cakes, Jianbing Guozi, cheap donkey rolling cakes and red bean cakes from Cheap Fang, Qingfeng buns, Shanxi one-strand noodles, and classic Beijing Muslim snacks, among other iconic Beijing dishes.

▲Blowing sugar performance inside the exhibition hall.

In addition, the exquisite performances of intangible cultural heritage within the exhibition hall are also a highlight of this temple fair. Whether it’s handcrafted snuff bottles, exquisitely colored dough figurines, hairy-faced clay figures, joyful paper-cutting art, or renowned old Beijing handicrafts such as Beijing gold-lacquered inlay work, Beijing glassware, ink portraits, kites, and magpie kings—all can be viewed up close and purchased on-site. During the event, the stage will also feature acrobatics, crosstalk, performances by masters of intangible cultural heritage, cheongsam dance, and performances of Jingyun Drum, allowing visitors to experience a unique charm of Beijing while enjoying the Taipei Lantern Festival.