2012 Taiwan Lantern Festival Set to Light up Changhua

CHANGHUA, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 23^rd annual Taiwan Lantern Festival will be held from Feb. 6^th to 19^th in Changhua County’s Lukang Township. This year’s event will feature a dragon-motif lantern, Soaring Dragon in Radiant Skies, to symbolize Taiwan’s prosperity and peace. The organizers, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau and Changhua County Government, wholeheartedly welcome everyone to attend the event and up to 80,000 smaller dragon lanterns will be handed out for free. Local delicacies will also be provided in the venue for everyone to take a delicacy journey at the same time.

According to the organizers, the main theme lantern, Soaring Dragon in Radiant Skies, will appear as if it is flying towards the sky with a pearl held in one of its claws, portraying the image of courage as well as a vision for prosperity and harmony. This lantern, made with more than 200,000 LEDs and 2,500 electrical circuits, is 20m long and weighs 40 metric tonnes, making it the largest theme lantern ever since the festival was held. This gigantic lantern will officially be lit at 7pm on the Lantern Festival Day, Feb. 6.

This event will be occupying the Lukang Old Street next to Tienhou Temple and Zhongshan Street. In addition to the Lukang Sports Stadium where the theme lantern is located, the main street in Lukang and other tourist attractions will be decorated with lanterns as well. The entire town of Lukang will be beaming during the 14-day festival.

Moreover, since Changhua is famous for its flower production and delicacies, visitors can enjoy not only fabulous lanterns, but also experience local culture and delicacies. There will be 340 stalls in total in the venue where participants can savor delicacies, admiring the beauty of lanterns and taking a delicacy journey at the same time.

The Festival is expected to attract over six million domestic visitors and tens of thousands of overseas tourists. The Changhua County Government has provided a total of 31,000 parking spaces outside the town, as cars will be banned from entering the downtown area during the festival. To get to the festival, visitors are advised to take advantage of the shuttle buses arranged by the Changhua County Festival, available at the high-speed railway station in Greater Taichung, as well as the Taiwan Railway Administration Changhua City and Yuanlin stations.

For more information, visit http://2012taiwanlantern.net/ or dial [phone](Chinese).