On the fifth day of Lunar New Year, Kaohsiung launched the annual Lantern Festival at Lotus Pond…
The Dragon and Tiger Pagodas during the Lunar New Year Lantern Festival. Photo: Zhen-Kang.
Last night I joined a new friend for my first Taiwanese lantern festival.
We caught a taxi to Lotus Pond, a man-made lake I’d visited in 2019. This is how its famous Dragon and Tiger Pagodas looked back then:
For good luck, you enter through the dragon’s mouth and exit through the tiger. In this photo, the pagodas were closed for the night, which is why the tiger appears to be eating a roller door.
For the 2023 Lunar New Year Lantern Festival, the pagodas featured in a light show that spanned the length of the lake.
Here are some phone pics from the event:
We arrived around half an hour before sunset. The characters on the large lantern have been written so they can be read two different ways: “inviting wealth and riches” and “pursuing freedom & democracy”.It got more crowded as we approached the lake. The inflatable rabbit on the left is based on a creation of digital artist YUKIJI (雪路), who makes rabbit stickers for LINE—the most popular messaging app in Taiwan. Note the American-style TV news van at right.One of the first installations we saw was this field of illuminated reeds.Further along was a second inflatable rabbit, this time resting on an inflatable moon. In the distance, you can see the 72-meter-tall statue of the Taoist god Xuanwu (sometimes known as the Black Emperor).We went upstairs to the balcony of this watersports pavilion.It was a pretty good spot for the sunset……And for the light show, which started with Xuanwu (the Black Emperor)……before moving along the lake to the Wuli Pavilion and the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, lit like a disco possessed.As the music died, everyone’s focus was drawn to a surprise fireworks display from behind Xuanwu (he’s in there somewhere). A genuine wow moment.After the show, we continued around the edge of the lake. The Dragon and Tiger Pagodas were illuminated in pink.Depending on how you count them, there are up to 15 temples, palaces, and pagodas around the lake……And at the moment, a similar number of inflatable rabbits.And rabbit ears.Near the head of the lake, this temple was surrounded by rainbow-colored lights.Although this is the Year of the Rabbit, “As one of four symbolic mythical creatures, the turtle is said to bring peace and prosperity. This installation is created as a new twist on the tradition and has incorporated local spiritual elements.”The turtle was facing this temple wall.The light show repeated on a 15-minute cycle, sans fireworks.It was even more impressive up-close.The Dragon and Tiger Pagodas were very glam……And the nearby lotus leaves looked surreal in pink.In the other direction, a statue of Guanyin riding a dragon……With some people sitting in its mouth.Xuanwu was next door. When I came here in 2019, I wrote a wish on a wooden card which I hung on a tree below the statue. Per custom, when I returned to the temple last night, I made a follow-up donation.The bridge to the Emperor was watched over by many smaller statues.This night market ran the length of the lake (around 1.5km). I bought some fresh green onion bread and iced lemon juice. It was a cool evening (under 20ºC), so I was the one of the only people wearing shorts.The night market stretched past this temple. The black and yellow car parts at the center-bottom are from a Transformers Bumblebee costume, worn by a street performer strategically cropped out of frame because he was charging NT$300 (NZ$15) per photo.We circled back to the large lantern we’d seen earlier. On this side, the characters were written so they could be read as “Kaohsiung” or “dazzling dance“.At the end of the night, we took one final look at the rabbit. Then it was time to bounce.
