The 18th Birthday of the Yellow Butterfly Festival — Special "Citizen No. 1" Check-in Shuttle Tour

▲ The Meinong Yellow Butterfly Festival kicks off, with a Middle Eastern belly dance performance by the Qimei Community as the opening act. (Photo / From the Meinong Yellow Butterfly Festival Facebook page)

Tourism Center / Reported from Taipei

The Meinong Yellow Butterfly Festival has finally reached “18 years old” (its 18th edition)! This year, themed around an “coming-of-age ceremony,” it will launch the “Citizen No. 1” tour around Kaohsiung city in late June. To attract more young people to participate, a special “Yellow Butterfly · Check-in · Effect” has been created — collect points through games and receive a free Meinong travel guidebook. In addition, the Meinong Hometown Advancement Association has introduced four in-depth travel routes in Meinong, using the event to help the public learn about the yellow butterfly ecology and promote local tourism in the small town.

The famous Yellow Butterfly Valley is an extremely rare ecological butterfly valley, and the Shuangxi Tropical Mother Tree Forest at its entrance is Taiwan’s only tropical rainforest. Every May and June, the Yellow Butterfly Valley experiences its peak season when 50 million yellow butterflies flutter together at the mouth of Shuangxi Valley. This rich ecological area is located in Meinong Town, Kaohsiung, which is also famous for its oil-paper umbrellas.

To celebrate the 18th anniversary of the Meinong Yellow Butterfly Festival, special two-day-one-night or two-day-two-night in-depth tours to the Yellow Butterfly Valley have been planned this year, with a total of four different itineraries to choose from. Nature lovers can opt for “Butterflies Dancing, Birds Singing on the Mountain”; thrill-seekers can join a stream-trekking adventure; those interested in history can explore Meinong’s old stories and historic sites; or families can enjoy a DIY oil-paper umbrella workshop with their children.

The Meinong Hometown Advancement Association has also integrated local culture by gathering local filmmakers to host the “Village Film Festival.” With Meinong as the central theme, they use imagery and emotion to tell small stories and highlight ordinary people, narrating local life from the perspective of storytellers. Other activities include the Twilight Market, Milelong Parade, Youth Sing-Along Music Festival, Valley Adventure Challenge, Yellow Butterfly Tribute, and Water Bridge Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

To attract young participants, a local youth team has designed creative, youthful itineraries paired with Facebook check-in promotions. In late June, they will first launch the “Yellow Butterfly · Check-in · Effect” to warm up for the festival. The highlight is the check-in shuttle “Citizen No. 1” — this specially modified promotional vehicle will tour locations such as Kaohsiung’s Big City Mall, Cultural Center, and Art Museum starting on the 28th. Through interactive games focused on ecological issues, it will introduce participants to the ecology of the Meinong Yellow Butterfly Valley.

%That is, the “Citizen No. 1” will start touring around Kaohsiung city from the 8th. (Photo / From the Meinong Yellow Butterfly Festival Facebook page)