This year's Taipei Lantern Festival will begin on Feb. 6 in the Xinyi business district, with more than 100 lanterns in nine different lantern theme zones featured in the weeklong festival.
The festival, which will run through Feb. 15, will feature various lantern designs based on the theme of the Year of the Ox at different places in the district, including the Sun Yat-sen Memorial, Taipei City Hall and Renai Circle (仁愛圓環).
Unveiling the city's handheld lantern design yesterday, Taipei City's Department of Civil Affairs invited the public to participate in the annual festival — a major part of the Lunar New Year celebrations.
PHOTO: CNA
Huang Lu Ching-ru (黃呂錦茹), commissioner of the department, said that this year's budget of more than NT$80 million (US$2.3 million) was the highest ever.
The department expects the festival to attract more than 5 million visitors this year.
A total of 80,000 free handheld lanterns will be given out at the main entrance of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall on Renai Road starting at 2pm from Feb. 5 to Feb. 9, and at the main entrance of Taipei City Hall starting at the same time on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8. More information is available online at www.taipei-festival.com.
The handheld lantern is designed in the shape of a small bull sporting a leaf-shaped hat. Lantern designer Lin Chia-wei (林佳葦) said the Chinese character for ox (牛) is inscribed at the bottom of the lantern, with the character being reflected on the ground when the lantern is lit.
In related news, the Taipei City Government is encouraging the public to take advantage of its free bus service to the Dihua Street Lunar New Year market in Datong District (大同).
The market around Dihua Street is a major shopping hub for Taipei residents preparing for the Lunar New Year holidays. The street is one of the city's oldest and most traditional shopping hubs selling Chinese medicine, traditional snacks and dry goods.
Taipei City Commerce Office director Liu Chia-chun (劉佳均) said the free buses would run from 12pm to 10pm everyday through Jan. 25, with stops at Dihua Street, Wanhua Municipal Sports Center, Zhongshan MRT station and Mackay Memorial Hospital.
For those planning extravagant banquets during the holidays, Liu said Taipei's Binjiang Market was a good option for finding top-notch cooking ingredients from fresh seafood to exotic imports. From this Saturday to Jan. 25, Binjiang Market will be open between 6am and 5pm to allow ample time for holiday shopping.
The office also recommended Huayin Street — which is filled with stores selling leather accessories and high-quality clothing — for holiday shoppers.
For tasty snacks, it recommended Ningxia Night Market, and for electronic goods and other gifts, the MRT's Underground Mall and the streets behind Taipei Railway Station, a commercial district packed with shops offering products ranging from toys to suitcases.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
RSS