Taiwan: Shaped Lanterns Bring People Blessings at the Lantern Festival in Jinmen

To celebrate the Lantern Festival of 2006, from February 12th, the County Government of Jinmen hosted a three day Lantern Exhibition in a historical resort-- the office building of the Commander-in-chief of the region. Lunar January 15th, the Lantern Festival, also known as the Yuanxiao Festival, is one of the most important holidays to Chinese people. It is the last day of the New Year holiday season and is also called Minor New Year's Day. According to tradition, besides eating Yuanxiao [round dumplings with sweet fillings and the wrap made out of sticky rice flour] to pray for harmony, people also display lanterns with profound riddles. The way of celebrating this special day is really entertaining and educational, and also reflects five thousand years of inheritance of Chinese culture and wisdom.

A ship shaped lantern created by practitioners from Jinmen appeared very unique and attractive.

Seeing the ever-rotating Falun, a boy came and shouted surprisingly "Look, ferris wheel !"

Accompanied by the Music "Pudu"and "Jishi" the rotating lotus flower drew many people to take pictures

On February 12th, people came in for the exhibition, making the quiet building crowded and noisy. In addition to the lanterns, practitioners from Jinmen also distributed nine-day-lecture session fliers, Falun Dafa introductory materials, and balloons. They also set up a big screen for videos and adapted the environment to introduce the facts with wisdom.

Local people stand in queue, waiting to get a balloon printed with "Falun Dafa is Great"

Right next to the entrance, practitioners set up the big screen. Videos were played one after another. People who came to watch learned of the rapidly increasing population of Falun Dafa and the inhumane persecution in China.

The first night after the opening of the Festival, a practitioner got a call from a middle school teacher. He expressed his interest in Falun Gong, and requested information about the nine-day-lecture session. After receiving the fliers, a middle aged lady said that Falun Gong was very good, and that her little sister is practising it. Seeing the Falun Dafa materials on the desk, many would come up and ask for them.

Local people happily receive the fliers

Mr. Lin has practised Falun Dafa for only one year, but when many of his friends come to the show and see him, they can tell that he's growing younger. According to Mr. Lin, Mrs. Lin told him that he had fewer wrinkles on his forehead. Mr. Lin shared some experiences of his practise with them.

The head of Jinmen County and his wife happily take a picture with a practitioner

The head of Jinmen County, Mr. Li Zhufeng gave a speech at the opening ceremony. In response to his comments on protecting human rights, practitioners addressed his concerns about the persecution of Falun Gong in mainland China.

During the three days of the festival, practitioners testified that "Falun Dafa is great" with their behaviour, and the facts of the persecution took root in more local people's hearts.