Okay, so I have finally finished with the Thailand posts. I left out the last two days of the trip…maybe I’ll revisit that later.
I was super happy to back in Taiwan. I had a great time in Thailand, but I was missing a bit of familiarity. I spent some time unpacking and doing laundry in Miaoli, visited a friend in Hsinchu, and then headed to Taipei.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2016
Every year, around Chinese New Year, my grandfather’s side of the family has a luncheon. This luncheon includes EVERYONE on that side of the family. My family has never been able to attend because of work and school in the U.S. I was going to meet a lot of extended family and I didn’t know what to expect. Would they like me? Would I be able to communicate with them?
My adorable grandfather even made a family tree. He was extremely excited to introduce me to the family. When we got there, I met a lot of people, but it was hard to remember their names and distinguish their names when they are all in Chinese. Overall, it turned out well. My Chinese needs some work, but it was quality time with family nonetheless.
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| Me and my grandma |
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
Miaoli Bombing of the Dragon
It’s the first week back from break and I am exhausted. I’m a little tired from traveling and my body just wants to sleep all the time.
My co worker, RJ, has been talking and talking about the Bombing of the Dragon event in Miaoli.
There’s advertisements almost everywhere for this event and RJ has mentioned it at least once a day. Every person we saw that week, he would ask them, “Are you going to the bombing of the dragon?” Their answer would always be no, despite RJ’s claims that this is an internationally well known event.
The entire week leading up to the big event, “dragons” dance through streets, businesses, home compounds and Miaoli people set off firecrackers to greet the dragon. They do this to beckon the spirituality of the dragon and to attract good fortune and welcome a prosperous new year. My friends and I were at a restaurant when they came around. It definitely made dinner interesting.
They had little things like an opening ceremony earlier in the week, but the big event was on Friday and Saturday. The information desk lady was very nice and she found all the information about the event in English!
Friday comes around and RJ is sick. The guy who has been looking forward to this event for an entire week can’t go. He decided to stay home and rest up so that he can go on Saturday.
I got off work and was walking past the information booth like I do everyday and the lady asked me if I was going to the Bombing of the Dragon. I said, “well, no because RJ is sick and I don’t really want to go alone.”
Her response: “You should go! This is once a year event. If you don’t go today, you’ll have to wait an entire year to see it.”
Being the impressionable person that I am, I thought about her words and let it sink in. I had other plans for Saturday, so I could only go Friday. No regrets, right? I wasn’t doing anything else, so I hopped on the bus and went to Miaoli Bombing of the Dragon.
Getting Around
There are two routes to the event. One bus departs from Miaoli High Speed Rail Station and the other bus departs from Miaoli Train Station. They have more than one bus on the routes, but I would say there’s one every 30 min. The event wasn’t far, so the bus ride was a short 10 to 15 minute ride from the HSR. The bus also runs pretty late. It doesn’t stop running until everyone gets where they need to go, so no worries about catching the last bus. The event was held at Riverside Park, Jingguo Road, Miaoli City. This service is free of charge. Driving there is also in option, and there’s a parking lot across the street.
I stepped up off the bus and there’s quite a few people already there. I can hear the firecrackers popping from a distance and everyone was very welcoming. I was impressed by this huge dragon kite. The energy there was exciting. These “dragon runners” are literally running through firecrackers. It’s somewhat dangerous, which adds to the excitement of the event.
Activities
I’m walking around and I read from the information that people could participate as a “dragon runner”. They had a separate roped off area, where you could run as a part of the dragon but without the fireworks. They gave me a complimentary head band and a robe to wear. Because I was only one person, they needed more people in order for me to run as a dragon. After 5 minutes, they found 5 other event volunteers to run in the dragon with me. It was so much fun!
My friends, RJ, Rebecca, Tracy, and William went on Saturday and they ran as the dragon with people throwing firecrackers at them. They were given protective eye wear and gloves. From what they told me, they enjoyed the experience. I recommend bringing a scrubs mask because the smoke from the firecrackers really bothered RJ.
How it works
The dragon itself consists of 6 runners, each holding a stick that is connected to a section of the dragon’s body. There is one person who holds a “ball,” also connected to a stick. This person is like the “leader.” This person moves the ball all around, up, down, left, right, turns it around, and the head of the dragon follows the movement of the ball. Everyone else follows the movement of the person in front of them. It’s similar to doing the wave at a baseball game, but a lot of running involved, and the more skilled ones I saw, were jumping over the dragon’s body. It can get really intricate and you have to be careful because the slightest resistance, and you could break the paper dragon.
Food
Don’t eat before you go to the event. I did not know what to expect, so I ate at the HSR at Mos Burger. I wish I hadn’t because they had a long line of vendors selling Taiwanese food. It’s the kind of food that you would find at a night market. I did indulge myself and I bought a cup of yummy sweet popcorn.
Performances
The performances at this event was incredible. I to the park sometime between 6 and 7, so I missed some of it, but when I had gotten there, there were a group of people performing a fan dance. I really enjoyed their performance and wished I was up on that stage with them.
At one point, the bombing of the dragon stopped. They stopped running and they stopped throwing firecrackers and began cleaning up the space. Instead everyone was sitting on these steps and facing the stage. The area in front of the stage turned into a performance space. There were performances with Chinese yo-yos and other dragon dance performances.
Houlong Elementary School is actually well known for their Chinese yo-yo skills, and I have to say they were AMAZING!!!! The performance kind of blew my mind.
