New year celebrations over it’s now on to Lantern Festival for the next couple of weeks. A riot of colour in various places around the city and the island, and a time when you are likely tosee a flood of the sky-lanterns (4 foot columns of paper launched with a petrolium ring aflame in its base. Typically though the lanterns take on the shape of the astrological animal of the new ear – in this instance the Rat (bye bye piggy).
We visited the Sun Yat Sen centre on Saturday 16 Feb where the celebrations kicked off here in Taipei. Sun Yat Sen is a community centre very close to Taipei 101 (still the tallest completed building in the world – even if Dubai has now passed this height in construction) – seen above with the signature lantern which is a “Wedding of the Mice” ball where the story is in the jumble of all the stuff you can see (maybe) in the colour of the ball.
Of course, the first “rat”we came across was quite a famous character.
Out with the Pig,and in with the Rat,
– – – – and CleopRATra?
Lion and Dragon Dance rats – – – – – – – – – – – – and the OrchestRATra
Interesting eh?
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