First of all, I didn't realize that Pingxi was, like, another town way outside of Taipei; I thought we were going to a different neighborhood in the city, like we'd been doing this whole time. We took a train, then a bus, then another (REALLY CROWDED) train, which, all totaled, took about 2 1/2 hours. We left campus at 2:30, and it was dark by the time we got to Pingxi.
Let me just start with the bus ride though. It was so stunning! The skyline opened up as we drove northeast out of the city, and we went deeper into the lush green mountains. We passed over rivers and through rolling hills...uh! If you know anything about me, you know how much I love nature (and comparatively speaking, this was nature)!
Really neat old building
I think this is a lock/dam? It was MASSIVE.
A closeup of one of the tombs that families build for their ancestors--it's a tiny house, for your dead relatives to live in in the afterlife
We boarded a train in a town called Songshan (just how it looks), where a lot of clothing is sold at a discounted rate. I bought a nice fleece hoodie for $9 (I didn't think to bring a jacket, because I didn't realize we were leaving the city and going into the mountains). This train was an older style, and crazy-crowded.
We found Bugles in Songshan...but they're not called Bugles
Finally, after 40 minutes of being packed like sardines, we arrived in Pingxi, and this is what we saw:
Those little light specs in the sky are lanterns. Hundreds, if not thousands of lanterns.
You buy a paper lantern (US$5)--each color has a different meaning (pink to fall in love, red for luck, green for health/general good things, orange for love and pregnancy--you want a son, yellow for money, etc, and you can buy multi-colored ones)
And then you paint a message on them with calligraphy brushes. This guy wants to become "a Swiss popstar, big & rich!!!!" Good luck to him (and why Swiss?)!
And then you light the sticky paper in the bottom and release your wishes into the sky!
Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out, like this one, which caught on the telephone wires and crashed and burned. Shine informed us that's a very bad omen, but you can just buy another one and try again (I like the way these guys think, haha)!
If you're wondering what happens to all of these flaming lanterns, I'm told it's this: The lanterns with successful flight patterns burn up in the sky, but the wire bases fall to the ground and the government pays crews to clean up what they can. However, some of them fall into the rivers and can be a real problem. There is a movement to find biodegradable versions, because this fun tradition isn't going away. Also, all the local surrounding firemen are on standby all night, in case a lantern lands on somebody's house, or starts a small forest fire (eep)! Things you can't do in the States, #37! :/
It was a very popular event. And where there's a crowd...
There's food! Like corn dogs (I broke down and got one)--most delicious.
...Or blood tofu, tofu made from congealed blood. I did not get this.
...And candy-coated strawberries--I totally got two of these!
...Or giant penis shaped waffles. I did not get these either because eww. I hope they are filled with whip cream though, because since they're already on the track, they might as well go the extra mile.
Finally, after a tour de gastric delights, we bought ourselves some lanterns!
First up were our new American friends, Tessa and Rachel, who latched onto our group (since we had Chinese-interpreters). They were teaching English for a year in a small town in Southern Taiwan.
Then went Emily and Sweta, asking the universe for general well-being for their loved ones and themselves
Then Jim sent up his yellow lantern (money) for him and Pedro
And Shine's pink lantern; she wants to "Meet a nice man"!
And Nellie and mine, asking for "Prosperity, Security, Health & Love (green side), Luck for all of those I love (red side), Happy art fools, please send money! (yellow side)", and...
"True love will find you in the end--but sooner is better than later!" on the pink side! I don't think the universe thought that was very funny, though, because we had a dramatic moment when our lantern bumped into the wires--but TOTALLY made it! *phew! We think it's telling us that it'll be rough, but we'll get there. ;)
After our thrilling lantern adventure, we had some real dinner at a little restaurant:
Steamed white rice, bamboo shoots (the only kind pandas eat--sorry pandas, I see why you like them so much!), water spinach, cabbage, "bacon", fried tofu, pork soup, beef and sour vegetables, some kickass fried squid (yes, for you NPR listeners, real squid), and "digestive" tea, to help you eat more, haha!
Fireworks for dessert!
And sparklers! (and ice cream!)
Seriously--fireworks, sparklers, corn dogs, and ice cream? It's like the 4th of July! But with wish lanterns! Can we please do that in the US this year?
We walked over to the rope bridge...
Where a bunch of young guys (hired by the government???) were lighting off the fireworks and running away before they exploded!
This was the amazing view from the bridge.
It was a truly magical night! Regardless of anything else, there's something so beautiful about releasing your hopes and wishes up into the sky! We had a great time, and a mellow, but long train ride home. Good night Taipei!
*Side note: there were a lot of foreigners at the Pingxi lantern festival, and a lot of them were Americans. Can I just say, MY GOD WE ARE A RUDE PEOPLE. I was disgusted at how stupidly awful some of these people were. The things they were (loudly) saying just pissed me off, and I wanted to turn to them and say, "you do realize that 90% of the people around you speak English, so you just look like an American asshole, right? Please go home if you can't be nice, especially during this important holiday." Dummies.
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