The 2015 Yanshui Beehive Rockets Festival kicks off on March 5th in full swing. Ranked among the world’s top three folk festivals, the Yanshui Beehive Rockets is an experience every Taiwanese should try at least once in their lifetime. Before the Lantern Festival, the 2015 rockets were displayed as lanterns for public viewing at the Wu Temple Museum, but on the night of the Lantern Festival, they transform into towering main rocket towers, firing thousands of rockets to usher in good fortune for the new year.

The origins of the “Yanshui Beehive Rockets” are said to date back to July or August of the 11th year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty, when cholera and plague swept through Yanshui Street. At that time, due to underdeveloped medical care, the death toll rose daily, causing panic among residents, who prayed to the God of Guan Yu for disaster relief. On the night of the Lantern Festival, Guan Yu ordered General Zhou Cang to lead the way, with the divine palanquin of the God of Guan Yu bringing up the rear, while worshippers followed, setting off firecrackers along the way as they paraded through the streets and alleys until dawn, sweeping away the plague. Since then, descendants have continued the tradition of welcoming the God of Guan Yu for his annual Lantern Festival parade.

The event includes suburban processions, with fully armored palanquins and bearers pushing the sacred palanquin through the town’s streets; nighttime parades, where groups of armed palanquins, surrounded by thousands of locals and tourists, slowly advance through the major streets and alleys; and when the palanquins reach the entrances of shops or residences, the owners will bring out large or small rocket towers (also known as rocket forts) to the road, then light the fuses. The Yanshui Beehive Rockets unleash a barrage of rockets, with earsplitting buzzing sounds and flames darting everywhere, creating a thrilling and intense spectacle that attracts numerous domestic and international tourists each year to “rush the rockets”! People believe that being baptized by the rockets can ward off disasters, cleanse bad luck, and bring increasing prosperity in the coming year.