2014 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival – Adorable Panda Cub “Roundie” Lanterns Make Their Grand Debut on Lantern Festival

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

At the press conference for the “2014 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival,” the 15 TN-tall giant panda cub “Roundie” sky lantern made its long-awaited appearance, delighting the crowd with its super cute and amusing look. The New Taipei City Government Tourism Bureau announced that the “Roundie Lantern” will be launched on February 14, coinciding with both the Lantern Festival and Valentine’s Day, and invited everyone to join in the festivities at Pingxi Shifen Square.

▲The New Taipei Travel Fans Group has specially launched the “Together Forever, Wishing for Happiness – Hope to Fly” wish-making campaign. Simply visitthe fan pageto make a wish, and you could win a cash prize of NT$10,000. Don’t miss out, interested members of the public!(Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Government)

New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Hou Yu-yi said that this year the New Taipei City Government specially created this “Roundie Lantern” to symbolize a new milestone in tourism cooperation between New Taipei City and Taipei City. Since New Taipei City was upgraded to a special municipality, the Greater Taipei area has continued to collaborate in areas such as transportation, industry, education, culture, creativity, and tourism under the concept of a “community of shared life,” achieving some commendable results. Nowadays, many tourists plan one-day trips to Shilin and Pingxi, following the itinerary “See Roundie in Shilin, eat tofu in Shenkeng, release sky lanterns in Pingxi.” The entire Greater Taipei tourism environment has become more complete and diverse thanks to the close policy collaboration between New Taipei City and Taipei City.

The giant panda “Roundie Lantern” stands 4.5 meters tall, with a head width of 2 meters and a waist width of 3.5 meters. Its design is inspired by the ultra-popular, healing “cute” icon—Roundie. This marks a groundbreaking innovation in sky lantern design and production. Due to its large size and unique shape, differing from the traditional paper lantern style, the internal structure of the “Roundie Lantern” had to be specially reinforced to maintain symmetry and balance. In particular, the crafting process had to be done entirely by hand, presenting a high level of difficulty for the lantern makers. On the evening of the festival on February 14, this giant panda “Roundie Lantern” will ascend gracefully from Shifen Square.

▲As the event coincides with both the Lantern Festival and Valentine’s Day, 200 heart-shaped lanterns will be released, along with 1,314 sets of warm, happiness-filled chocolates for attendees. (Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Tourism Bureau)

The Tourism Bureau stated that the first prayer lantern event was successfully held on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year (February 3), and there are two more major sky lantern events to come—one on February 8 and another on the Lantern Festival (February 14). The second event, themed “Lighting Hope, Touching the World,” will feature 6 TN sky lanterns printed with images of eight protected Taiwanese animal species—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—as well as a massive 20 TN “Wishing Collage Lantern.” This oversized lantern features blessings written in various languages from around the world, including a romantic marriage proposal message penned by someone, making it both touching and amusing.

The third event, “Hand in Hand for Reunion, Love Soaring High,” also coincides with the Lantern Festival and Valentine’s Day. The Tourism Bureau noted that in addition to the “Roundie Lantern,” 200 heart-shaped lanterns will be released, and 1,314 sets of warm, happiness-filled chocolates will be given to attendees. This rich array of activities is designed to ensure that every visitor—whether single or married—can enjoy double the happiness on this special “Lantern Festival / Valentine’s Day.”

▲The fully handcrafted, oversized “Roundie Lantern” will ascend from Shifen Square on February 14. (Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Tourism Bureau)

To help the public travel smoothly to the “2014 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival” venues, the organizers remind everyone that comprehensive traffic control will be in place from 9:00 AM to 12:00 AM on both event days. During these times, 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 Shihui Bao Tunnel on Provincial Highway 106B at Shuangxi Kou, Zhuangjing Bridge, the entrance and exit of Shifen Scenic Area, the entrance before Ping-Shuang Tunnel (entrance to Shuangxi Mana Villa), 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 and Ruifang Railway Station, starting at 9:00 AM on the day of the event. Upward-bound buses will run until 7:00 PM, while downward-bound buses will operate until 11:30 PM, running in a continuous loop. 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. For detailed shuttle bus stops and train schedules, please visitthe event official websitefor more information.

Additionally, to allow more people to share in the sense of peace and happiness brought by sky lanterns,the 【New Taipei Travel】Facebook fan page has launched the “Together Forever, Wishing for Happiness – Hope to Fly” wish-making campaign. From now until February 23, fans who visit the【New Taipei Travel】fan page to share a lifelong wish they hope to fulfill may have the chance to win a wish fulfillment fund of NT$10,000 or a small prayer lantern keychain (200 winners). Those who make a wish before February 7 will also be entered into a draw to win a VIP lantern-releasing seat at the February 14 Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival (10 spots). Don’t miss out, interested individuals!(Photo / Provided by New Taipei City Government)

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