Tainan, with its rich cultural history spanning back to the Ming Dynasty, will celebrate this year's lantern festival in the spirit of contemporary environmentalism. Tens of thousands of recycled objects have been transformed into more than 50 lanterns to remind the public of the importance of recycling.
This year's celebrations in Tainan will be held at Anping Port, one of the city's historical tourist attractions, from tomorrow until March 6. Hundreds of lanterns will be lit up simultaneously tomorrow evening. During the festival, a three-minute light show will be held every half hour.
PHOTO: TSAI WEN-JU, TAIPEI TIMES
According to the Tainan City Government, of the roughly 900 lanterns on display, more than 50 were produced from recycled materials.
Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) head Chang Juu-en (
"I believe that the environmental spirit of recycling will influence millions of tourists at the lantern festival. The EPA aims to build a zero-waste society in Taiwan. Effective recycling will be our first step to reduce the amount of household waste," Chang said.
The 8m-high main recycled lantern, called "Phoenix Spreads its Wings," was made from 100,000 recycled bottles. Environmental officials said that the phoenix was chosen because it represents rebirth. According to local authorities, the used bottles were collected by city residents working together since last October.
Environmental officials said that the lanterns were made from a total of 110,000 used bottles, 1,200 CDs, 120kg of waste paper and advertising fliers, 50kg of metal cans and other materials, including oyster shells, dried driftwood and unwanted furniture.
Chang said that a recycling network connecting residents, local environmental bureaus, recycling retailers and the EPA was established in January, 1997. Currently, the network recycles bottles, metal cans, tires, batteries, abandoned vehicles and other materials.
However, Chang said that consumers should do more to promote recycling, as mixing recyclable materials with regular household waste places an unnecessary burden on waste incinerators and sometimes leaks toxic chemicals into the environment.
The Tainan City Government estimates that 3 million tourists will visit this year's Lantern Festival. The city's environmental bureau has arranged an environmental team composed of 175 workers to keep the environment clean during the festival.
During the festival, a folk street fair will be held on main streets in Anping, which has been decorated with blessing lanterns. Officials said that tourists will be able to participate in traditional folk activities by playing with traditional toys or observing master craftsmen producing handicrafts.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all