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Taiwan’s annual lantern festival features celebrations across the country, including lantern displays, beehive fireworks and a firecracker tradition known as “bombarding Lord Han Dan”. People believe these events will bring them luck and prosperity in the upcoming year.
Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou lit up a giant rabbit themed lantern, as the annual Lantern Festival celebrations kicked off on Thursday across the island.
The Lantern Festival is held on the first full-moon night of the first lunar month. It’s one of the most important events marking the end of Chinese New Year celebrations.
Taiwanese celebrate the new year of the rabbit with century-old traditions.
In the eastern Taitung County, men volunteered to be showered with fireworks.
It’s considered as a stroke of good luck, a tradition known as “bombarding Lord Han Dan.”
The custom involves a man who would dress up as Han Dan, the god of wealth. He would allow people to throw firecrackers at him.
Volunteering men choose to endure the pain to get rid of evil spirits and change their luck for the year ahead.
The men would let themselves get burned to show strength and bring prosperity to the local merchants who hired them.
Each fire blasting show costs about 70 thousand New Taiwan dollars, equivalent to some 21 hundred U.S. dollars.
This covers the costs of the fireworks and the gold medals awarded to the wounded volunteers.
All the men were “bombarded” for about two minutes each as onlookers applauded.
Despite the risks, Taitung County has allowed the ritual to be held for the past 50 years, and also promoted it as a tourist attraction.
Another famous event celebrated on the lantern festival is the Yanshui beehive firecrackers in Tainan County.
Large towers, called beehives, disperse firecrackers that shoot in all directions and twirl – like swarming bees.
