TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tainan City on Wednesday (Dec. 3) unveiled the centerpiece of its Lantern Festival as well as the small hand-held lanterns carried around by children.
The Feb. 24 festival marks the end of the Lunar New Year period and the 15th day of the new year. Tainan won the right to host the event because the city also celebrates its 400th anniversary in 2024.
The Anping Lantern Area will open on Feb. 3 and welcome visitors until March 10, with one exception, a one-day closure on Feb. 9, Lunar New Year’s Eve. At the heart of the area will be the effigy of a dragon, which was presented to the media at Taipei City’s Grand Hotel Wednesday, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported.
The names of the dragon also bore a special significance. If the name of the main lantern, “The Dragon Comes to Taiwan” (龍來台灣), is read in Taiwanese, it can be understood as “Everybody, Come to Taiwan” (攏來台灣), encouraging visitors to travel to the country. The small lanterns distributed to the public and popular with children will be known as “xiao longbao” (小龍包), which sounds the same as the name for Taiwan’s famous soup dumplings.
Officials encouraged travelers to plan a visit to the annual international orchid show that Tainan will host in February and March. Tourists can admire orchids during the day and look at the lanterns in the evening, officials said.