The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival features the super-cute "Roundy the Panda Lantern" ascending on Lantern Festival

By MOOK Travel Life Network, reported by Chen Guanxin

 

The "2014 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival" features the 15TN-tall giant panda Roundy the Panda lantern, which, as the Tourism Bureau of New Taipei City Government announced, will be launched on February 14th, "Lantern Festival/Valentine’s Day," at Pingxi Shifen Square.

 

Chen Kuo-chun, Director of the New Taipei City Tourism Bureau, said that the giant panda "Roundy the Panda lantern" stands 4.5 meters tall, with a head width of 2 meters and waist width of 3.5 meters. Its design is inspired by the ultra-popular, healing "cute" icon—Roundy. This marks a groundbreaking innovation in sky lantern design and production. Due to its large size and unique shape, differing from the traditional sky lantern's Kongming lantern form, the internal structure of "Roundy the Panda lantern" required special reinforcement to maintain symmetry and balance. The production process had to be entirely handmade, presenting a high-level challenge for lantern makers. On the evening of the festival on February 14th, this giant panda "Roundy the Panda lantern" will ascend into the sky from Shifen Square.

 

The Tourism Bureau stated that the first blessing lantern event successfully concluded on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year (February 3rd), and there are two more major lantern events to come—one this Saturday (February 8th) and another on Lantern Festival (February 14th). The second event, themed "Lighting Hope, Touching the World," will feature six 6TN-tall lanterns printed with images of eight protected Taiwanese animals: the Taiwan blue magpie, Formosan black bear, sika deer, black-faced spoonbill, Formosan macaque, green sea turtle, cherry salmon, and great purple emperor butterfly. Additionally, there will be one massive 20TN "Wish Collage Lantern." This oversized lantern incorporates blessings written in various languages from around the world, including a romantic marriage proposal message, making it both touching and amusing.

 

The third event, "Hand in Hand for Reunion. Love Takes Flight," coincides with both Lantern Festival and Valentine’s Day. The Tourism Bureau said that aside from the "Roundy the Panda lantern," 200 heart-shaped lanterns will also be launched, along with 1,314 warm chocolate treats for attendees to enjoy.

 

To ensure smooth access to the "2014 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival" venues, comprehensive traffic control will be enforced from 9:00 AM to midnight on both event days. During these hours, 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 Shuangxi Kou Shihding Fort Tunnel on Highway 106B, Zhuangjing Bridge, the entrance/exit of Shifen Scenic Area, the entrance in front of the Ping-Shuang Tunnel (entrance to Shuangxi Mana Villa), and the intersection of Ruiping Highway and Dingping Highway (Ruifang Industrial Area).

 

The public is advised to use public transportation or shuttle buses to reach the festival venues. Shuttle buses will depart from Taipei Zoo Muzha and Ruifang Railway Station, starting at 9:00 AM on the event day. Buses heading up the mountain will run until 7:00 PM, and those heading down until 11:30 PM, operating in continuous round trips. 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 visit the official event website "2014 New Taipei City Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival."

 

To allow more people to share the sense of peace and happiness brought by the sky lanterns, the "New Taipei Travelers" Facebook fan page is hosting a "Love That Lasts Forever – Hope to Fly" wish campaign. From now until February 23rd, fans who post their lifelong wishes on the "New Taipei Travelers" fan page will have a chance to win a NT$10,000 wish fulfillment grant or a small blessing lantern keychain (200 winners). Those who make a wish before February 7th will also be entered into a draw for VIP launch seats at the February 14th Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival (10 winners).

 

 

●   Further Reading:

The Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival unveils the "Treasure Lantern," while the "Wish Lantern" event kicks off at Pingxi Junior High School

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