Taiwan Lantern Festival to feature giant tree-themed main lantern

Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) The centerpiece of the 2020 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taichung next month will be a huge tree-themed lantern inspired by folklore, the Tourism Bureau said Monday.

The main display, Tree of Light, will be 15-meter-tall lantern against a backdrop of real trees and flowers in an interactive setting at Taichung Houli Flora Expo Site, the bureau said.

The "root" of the tree lantern will spread out in 22 directions, symbolizing Taiwan's 22 municipalities, the bureau said.

Its decorations will also include 368 smaller lanterns in the shape of flowers, signifying the 368 townships and districts in the country, and 2,359 leaf-like light installations, representing the national population of 23.59 million, according to the bureau.

Visitors will be able to walk into the giant display, in keeping with the "Mysterious Forest" theme of the lantern festival, the bureau said.

Another feature of the main display will be handheld lanterns modeled on cartoon rats and depicting the Year of the Rat in the Chinese zodiac, the bureau said.

Some of the characters in the cartoons are a family in which the daughter gets married on the third day of the Lunar New Year, according to a local folktale.

The paper used to make the lanterns has images of the bride on one side and the groom on the other, allowing people to choose which of the two characters they wish to identify with, the bureau said.

The 2020 Taiwan Lantern Festival will be held Feb. 8-23 in the central city of Taichung.

Detailed information about the festival can be found at https://2020taiwanlantern.tw/en