The 2014 Taipei Lantern Festival Kicks Off with a Spectacular Display of Galloping Horses

In the Fine Arts Park, there are family-friendly zones including the “Dreamland Lantern Zone” and the “Nostalgic Toys Lantern Zone,” both starring Taipei’s most beloved cute panda cub, Yuanyuan. The “Dreamland Lantern Zone” blends elements of children’s playgrounds and cartoon characters, featuring an 8-meter-tall, super-cool robot ridden by Yuanyuan at its center, guarding a beautiful fantasy world. The “Nostalgic Toys Lantern Zone” is filled with old-school toys, with Yuanyuan playing with bamboo dragonflies, spinning tops, diabolos, iron hoops, rocking horses, and hand drums, taking everyone on a nostalgic trip to childhood and showcasing the charm of traditional play. Nearby the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Pavilion, the “Time Corridor Lantern Zone” showcases early Taiwanese civilian life, with themes such as weddings, one-year-old celebrations, plowing fields, harvests, Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and family gatherings around the hot pot—lifelike figures bring the old days vividly back to life. Finally, the zodiac star of the year, the “Galloping Stallion Trail Lantern Zone,” draws inspiration from the classic Chinese painting “Eight Steeds,” using traditional lantern installations to depict colorful horses soaring through clouds, galloping through the night, and flying with wings, blending with the Fine Arts Park landscape to make the horses appear as if stepping out of traditional ink paintings to roam the Flower Expo Park together with visitors. The “Yuanshan Fine Arts Park Landscape Lantern Zone” decorates the park’s existing features, with stunning and colorful lights adorning trees and grassy areas.