Travel

Taiwan Travel | Flying Lantern at Shifen Old Street

January 8, 2018 Ruth Dela Cruz

Taiwan Travel | Flying Lantern at Shifen Old Street

Flying a lantern is one of the must-do things when visiting Taiwan. We included this in our itinerary despite the fact that it is quite impossible to squeeze all activities on our last day.

From Jiufen, we took a bus going to Pingxi Line, and rode a train that took us to an old Shifen Street.

When we arrived, it was like seeing a different side of Taiwan. It was dark, the railway is old, there are shanty houses and stores around. Most of the stores were closing but there were still a few that offer us to fly a lantern (with free photo and video). They knew why we were there – to fly a lantern and make a wish.

Rodel wanted just to fly one color, but I insisted that we chose 4. Hehe The colors represent different aspects of one’s life.

Lantern Colors

Red for good fortune

Purple for idealism

Blue for hope

White for health

Yellow for success

Pink for romance

Orange for money

Peach-Red for decisions and opportunities

Green for growth

Flying a lantern costs NTS 100 (1 color) to 200 (4 colors). That is around USD $4 to USD $8.

I had a fun time writing down my wishes. We just drew some fun art and wishfully think that the forces of the universe will listen. I do not usually believe in these practices or ceremonies, but we did it anyway.

We wandered around the streets and checked out the other stores.

The train passed and I was worried as shit when Rodel walked nearer to it to take a photo. I always get paranoid crossing railways. We didn’t realize that it was the same train that would take us back to the city. Must be the reason why the locals were inaudibly pointing us the train. We missed it.

The stores were closing down, and there was no one in the train station to ask help to. The signages were in Chinese and the place was starting to get darker and creepier.

We waited for an hour, but no train arrived. At 9 pm, we saw the train parked in the railway (I have no idea how it got there, maybe it came from the opposite side). We were the only people who boarded the train. It was a long commute back to the hotel but we made it safe and sound.

One of the things that I have been praying and working hard for (note: not just wishing) happened. I felt like flying. Will tell you more about it on the next travel series.