Traditional prayers, fireworks and fairs yesterday marked the Lunar New Year — alongside 21st-century humanoid robots.
The activities ushered in the Year of the Horse, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, succeeding the Year of the Snake.
The solemn peal of a temple bell rang out 108 times — an auspicious number — as people flocked to Baoan Temple (保安宮) in Taipei yesterday morning to pray for happiness and success in the coming year.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA
They lit incense sticks, bowed their heads and left offerings of colorful flower bouquets on outdoor tables on the temple grounds.
In Taiwan, many follow the custom of zou chun (走春), or “spring walk,” by visiting temples, scenic spots or making courtesy calls to relatives and friends.
Meanwhile, politicians visited temples, prayed for prosperity and well-being while handing out red envelopes to temple-goers.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA
Lunar New Year’s Day travel also brought widespread congestion across Taiwan, with freeway traffic up an estimated 30.5 percent, the Freeway Bureau said.
The Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday in Taiwan and other East Asian nations, and is celebrated outside the region, too.
In Beijing, thousands of people jammed into the former Temple of Earth to buy snacks, toys and trinkets from stalls.
Photo: Reuters
Sun Jing, who brought her parents to the capital for the holiday, said the atmosphere was as lively as in her childhood.
“I haven’t felt such a strong sense of Lunar New Year festivity in a very, very long time,” she said.
China celebrated the Lunar New Year on Monday night with a TV show that once again featured humanoid robots.
Photo: Reuters
One of the highlights of the China Central Television Spring Festival gala was a martial arts performance by children and robots. For several minutes, humanoids from Hangzhou Yushu Technology Co (杭州宇樹科技), better known as Unitree Robotics, showed different sequences and even brandished swords.
Viewers applauded the robots, with one saying they give good guidance and direction for young people.
However, one man said that while China’s advances in robotics are great, they detracted from his experience.
Photo: AP
“It lacks a bit of the New Year atmosphere,” Li Bo said. “It’s not as enjoyable as when I was little watching the gala.”
In Hong Kong, incense smoke wafted into the air at a temple where people line up every year to make wishes for the new year at midnight.
Holding up a cluster of incense sticks, many bowed their heads several times before planting the sticks in containers placed in front of a temple hall.
Photo: Reuters
Entertainers in Vietnam sang at an outdoor countdown event before multiple fireworks shows at several cities in the Southeast Asian nation, where the festival is called Tet.
Light shows lit up bridges and skyscrapers as the fireworks went off and crowds clapped in rhythm to live pop music performances.
Additional reporting by CNA
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
RSS