Andy Vogel's Taiwan Pages

Chinese New Year Celebrations
The Lantern Festival is held on the last night of the celebrations (15th day of Lunar New Year). As the legend goes, celestial spirits can be seen on this night, so people carry lanterns and make prayers for the future. We went to one place where people send off "heavenly lanterns", which are essentially mini hot air balloons with your prayers written on them. It was one of the most beautiful things that I've seen in Taiwan.
This shows us preparing a lantern. Ghost money soaked in kerosene is tied to the metal frame under the base....
after you write your wishes, then you light the paper and hold the lantern open, as it heats up.....
until it lifts up and flies away into the night sky.
See a short (but sideways) video here, to get an idea how spectacular this is in person:
Last Updated: 5/30/05