Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau Director Pan Heng-hsu (潘恆旭) yesterday said the name for this year’s Kaohsiung Lantern Festival, the Golden Milky Way (金銀河), was inspired by Su Huan-chen (素還真), a character from Pili Budaixi (霹靂布袋戲) — a TV series based on traditional Taiwanese puppet theater — after the name was criticized as “tacky.”
The name is meant to invoke the vibrancy of puppetry, and describes the way the lanterns and the Milky Way reflect in the Love River (愛河), Pan said.
“Golden” is also a reference to fortune, implying that the city would grow more prosperous, he said.
Photo taken from Facebook
The festival’s name sparked heated debate among netizens, many of whom disapproved of it.
Some said it was “extremely tacky,” while others said it evoked an image of an “old and poor” city.
The event, which is to run from Feb. 9 to Feb. 24 along the river, has Su Huan-chen and pop singer Amber An (安心亞) as its ambassadors.
The city values the younger generations and would invite more “heavyweight, young pop idols” as tourism ambassadors, Pan said.
The municipal government’s tourism strategies would focus on marketing “a city of love known for its Love River,” as well as “a city of health known for Shoushan” (壽山, which means mountain of longevity), he said.
The strategy is to target retirees with savings and free time looking for a weekday getaway, he said.
The city also plans to invite former TV show host Yvette Tsui (崔麗心), who lives in Singapore, to promote tourism in Kaohsiung when officials visit the nation for a tourism expo, Pan said, adding that Tsui has expressed willingness to discuss a collaboration.
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