"ilha formosa": Lunar New Year Celebrations

The Lunar New Year in Taiwan has been an extraordinary time for us. Thanks to a social work student and the generosity of her extended family, we were able to stay with her family in Nantou county. We spent two days and an evening with her. It was amazing. They are great people. The elders of the family are her grandparents who are 88 and 89 years old. Both are retired teachers from Taipei who loved the Nantou area and purchased property and build a two story house in an intesive truck farming area. We went down on Thursday and came back Friday evening. It was great to be with a family! We ate delicious food and learned the fundamentals of Majhong.

Taipei Night Market

Many traditional foods are for sale in preparation for the Lunar New Year. Also, special fruits and baked goods are an important part of honoring the gods and the ancestors. There are many complicated rituals for the family to perform. Many families will visit many shrines - some as many as five - dedicated to different gods who are responsible for taking care of many things such as the earth, the kitchen, prosperity, etc. Even a Buddhist temple may have an altar to a local god who is important to the community. The Catholic Church also had decorations for the Lunar New Year - fire crackers and calligraphy couplets for a good new year.

Nantou Family Celebrations

Outside Taipei, the weather was warm and sunny. When we arrived in Nantou, we were delighted to feel the warmth of the sun. We visited a friend of our student's father. He served tea and accompanied us to visit a large Buddhist Shrine. This is the second largest sect in Taiwan. The complex has an elementary school and high school as well as a monastery and hotel for people
who would like to stay.

After that we had traditional
food for the new year.

Nantou is famous for tea and bamboo and we were forturnate to visit several tea plantations and bamboo factories. In the last few weeks, we have learned more about tea -- especially that most fragrant of teas from Taiwan -- Oolong. We feel like we had no idea what we were drinking. There are definite, subtle differences among all the teas we have sampled and the repeated tasting allows for a leisurely time with friends and family.