Paper Windmill concludes Pingtung leg of 368-town arts tour for children

Taipei, June 17 (CNA) Sunday marked the conclusion of the Pingtung leg of an ongoing grand tour of free shows for children organized by the Paper Windmill Arts and Educational Foundation, the foundation said in a statement released that day.

It took 11 years for Paper Windmill to bring free shows to all 33 townships and township-level cities in Pingtung County, with the performances in Wutai and Chunrih townships on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, according to the statement.

At the show in Chunrih, a woman surnamed Chung (鍾) told CNA that she had never seen such performances with spectacular visual effects, especially when an inflated dragon from Paper Windmill's play "Don Quixote" was taken through the audience.

Chung said she very much hoped her 4-year-old and 8-year-old children would be inspired by the sensational performance.

Meanwhile, Paper Windmill CEO Chang Min-yi (張敏宜) said "it is not an end when we conclude the tour in a county or a city, but a start for the (foundation's) third tour."

"We all know that we live in a troubled world, but many problems could be solved with creativity," Chang spoke about the plan to launch a third nationwide tour later this year.

"Paper Windmill hopes that children can learn creative ways to solve various problems and the courage to face the future," Chang said.

Paper Windmill started in 2006 the first tour to all of the 319 townships and township-level cities and districts around Taiwan, and then in 2013 the current tour to 368 towns because of changes to the administrative areas over the intervening years.

Chang Meng-wei (張孟偉), who works at Jiadung Township Office, said the county government also booked two tour buses to bring more than 80 residents in Jiadung to neighboring Chunrih for Sunday's performance.

The Jiadung Township official, who helped raise funds for Paper Windmill's performance on the current tour in his town 10 years ago, and four other audience members brought a heart-shaped light donated for the show a decade ago to mark the occasion.

According to Paper Windmill, the foundation has performed 388 shows in 359 townships or township-level cities and districts, including the two in Pingtung over the weekend.

Eight shows have been announced for the next four weekends -- in the townships of Wanrung (June 22) and Shoufeng (June 23) in Hualien County, Dalin Township in Chiayi County on June 29, Taipei's 228 Memorial Park on June 30, Yilan City on July 6, Yilan's Sanshing Township on July 7, followed by Nanzhuang Township (July 12) and Tongluo Township (July 13) in Miaoli County, according to Paper Windmill's website.