The main festivals in Taiwan

Taiwanese festivals are associated with the traditional lunar calendar.The lunar festivals developed from the customs of China's past, and to the celebrants, these occasions are a time for recalling one's cultural origins and remembering the wisdom of early ages. Such festivals include the Chinese New Year Festival, and Lantern Festival, all symbolic of discarding the old and ushering in the new; the Dragon Boat Festival etc.

Chinese New Year Festival

The bustle and clamor at the markets selling colorful spring couplets and other New Year's decorations . . . Beginning in mid-December, families all around China start preparing for Chinese New Year, creating an atmosphere of joy and renewal.

Chinese New Year is the largest and most important celebration in the year for Chinese people In China, there is a public holiday of at least 7 days. Everything shuts down completely for the first few days - major corporations, schools, buses, malls, restaurants, etc. Factories usually shut down for around a week or two due to most of factory workers living in factory dormitories and Chinese New Year being the only time they can return home and visit their families.   

A time of gratitude and family togetherness, New Year's Eve is spent by bidding farewell to the old year and thanking one's ancestors and the gods for their blessing and protection. Children who have left their hometowns return on this day  to share New Year's Eve Dinner with their families, and for those unable to make the journey, a table setting is placed to symbolize their presence in spirit if not in body. At the end of dinner,  the parents and older generation give New Year's money to the children, who have been waiting with growing anticipation for this moment to arrive. Finally, to watch the old year out and bring in the new year, families stay up until the wee hours of New Year's Day.

When Married Women Visit their Natal Home 

Long a custom of the New Year season, married women traditionally go home to visit their parents on the second day on the first lunar month. The second day is chosen since it is believed that if a daughter returns home on the first day poverty will strike in the family.  When visiting, daughters must prepare gifts for her family, a custom called poan-chhiu or tan-lo in Taiwanese.

Though the customary festivities held on Chinese New Year have been handed down for millennia, they still retain tremendous significance today. The cleaning and arrangement of one's living environment improves household sanitation and symbolizes a new beginning; the worship of ancestors and deities reflects the Chinese emphasis on filial piety and family ethics, and serves as an expression of gratitude; sitting around the hearth symbolizes unity and the value of spending important occasions together with family; and the customs of making New Year's visits and returning home to one's parents after marriage helps to maintain important social bonds between friends and families.

Enjoy Chinese new year song!!

Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival, also known as Shang Yuan Festival, takes place on the fifteenth day of the first moon. Last in a series of springtime celebrations, this "second New Year" is widely celebrated by families all around Taiwan.

On the night of the festival, decorative lanterns depicting birds, beasts, historical figures, and any one of a number of different themes are carried by children or adorn temples. To highlight these glowing works of art, competitions are held . The Taipei Lantern Festival, held annually at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Plaza and the largest and most famous of these competitions, is attended every year by thousands of lantern-watchers. The Lantern Festival is further enriched by the customary lantern riddle parties that are held on this night.

For more Information: Please click Lantern Festival.