2008 Pinghsi Lantern Festival (平溪天燈)

What a beautiful night to check out the Pinghsi Lantern Festival (平溪天燈).

I ended up following a large group of new exchange students to Pinghsi. First, we took the MRT to the end of the Muzha line (the Taipei Zoo) and subsequently got on a bus to Pinghsi.

A comment on the systematic bus system: cool!

To get on the bus going to Pinghsi or back to Taipei, you can either stand or get a seat. There are two lines for this. Obviously, the line to get a seat is much longer. The ride to Pinghsi take 1.5 hours. The flat rate there and back is 150 NTD

At Pinghsi, it is much like a night market, except that this ‘night market’ centres itself around railway tracks, is in a mountainous area and has bajillions of firecrackers, fireworks and sky lanterns setting off into the night air. It all makes for a loud, noisy, and charming view.

A concert of sorts

On this night, you can buy a sky lantern, paint it full of hopes and wishes for the future and then send it off into the sky. It reminds me of New Year resolutions, but not quite so doomed to failure.

Also, there was some sort of concert in an adjoining area of the ‘night market’ area. I was only able to catch a teensy bit of it, but it looked nice. Actually, more that it looked cool and dangerous. I saw a bit of fire tossing. Flash, flash, flash!

One a closing note: Where do all these lanterns end up the next day?