By MOOK Travel & Living Chen Guanxin, compiled and reported
The annual year-end flower event in Nantou, the “Nantou Flower Carnival,” will officially kick off on December 29 at the Chidi Ding Farm in Puli. In addition to the main venue, which features a vast 20-hectare floral park designed to offer visitors a fulfilling flower-viewing experience in Nantou, characteristic flowers from various townships will also bloom in succession.
The 2013 Nantou Flower Carnival will debut on December 29. (Image source / from the official website of the 2013 Nantou Flower Carnival)
This year’s Nantou Flower Carnival main venue is planned by Taiyi Eco-Resort Farm, which has set up five themed exhibition areas across its expansive farmland. The most anticipated feature is the creation of a strip-style flower sea reminiscent of Furano. Additionally, the biggest highlight of the Nantou Flower Carnival is the county-wide relay of blooming floral landscapes and the distribution of natural flower-viewing hidden gems across various townships. From the end of the year through the Lunar New Year, characteristic flowers from each township—including plum blossoms, cherry blossoms, peach blossoms, and peonies—will bloom in succession. As the weather changes, there will always be flowers in full bloom across Nantou worth visiting. Moreover, the Flower Information Station has officially launched, heralding the start of Nantou’s flower-viewing season. Five major flower-viewing spots, including the remote Chidi Ding Farm in Puli, Ren’ai Huzhu Elementary School, Lugu Phoenix Valley, and the highly popular Xinyi Liujia Plum Garden and Caopingtou, allow real-time flower condition updates via the event’s official website. After the Lunar New Year, the Taiwan Lantern Festival will also be held in Zhongxing New Village. Everyone is welcome to enjoy daytime flower viewing and nighttime lantern displays in Nantou.
This year, the organizers have introduced, for the first time, a “Flower Goddess Outdoor Photo Shoot” itinerary. They have invited currently the most popular female models to plan outdoor photo sessions, taking participants into Nantou’s hidden flower-viewing spots. Not only will they capture floral scenery, but the presence of professional female models will also enhance the beauty of the photos. Three highly capable female models, each with their own strengths, are part of the campaign: DenKa, the hottest player in Taiwan’s Cosplay scene with a 90% resemblance to Zhou Xun; Lala, who boasts perfectly proportioned legs and was the first-place winner of the Kaohsiung leg of the Taiwan City Miss Beauty Pageant; and Yuqing, a shutterbug magnet known for being both sweet and sexy. These three female models, each with over 100,000 Facebook followers, are the stars of the Flower Goddess Outdoor Photo Group, promoting the event enthusiastically. Registration for the three photo shoot groups begins today. Participants only need to pay NT$800 to enjoy a one-day outdoor photo session, visiting flower-viewing hidden gems in Lugu, Ren’ai, and Puli to shoot various flowers such as cherry blossoms and plum blossoms, along with the Flower Goddesses.
This year’s event invites Lala, Denka, and Yuqing to serve as Flower Goddesses, leading photography enthusiasts in the “Flower Goddess Outdoor Photo Shoot.” (Image provided / Nantou County Government Tourism Bureau)
During this year’s event period, those traveling to Nantou for accommodation also have the chance to win grand prizes such as a pair of Hokkaido flower-viewing trips or accommodation vouchers. Additionally, the public is invited to become “special agents” by uploading flower conditions from various parts of Nantou, with cash rewards given out weekly. The main venue will also host a grand picnic event when the cherry blossoms bloom in January. Limited reservations are available for local Puli specialty food lunch boxes. For more details on related activities, please visit the event’s official website or the Love Travel Nantou fan page.
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