Types of Leisure Programmes

 Festivals

Taiwanese people celebrate many different festivals and occasions. The Chinese society followed a lunar calendar to determine several festival occasions and seasonal holidays while they followed the western calendar for their daily life. The coexistence of these two different calendar systems is generally well accepted by Taiwanese.

Chinese New Year

I’m sure most of you know what Chinese New year is, especially if you’re a Chinese yourself! If not, I shall briefly describe this major festival...

Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is undoubtedly the biggest and most significant festival in Taiwan! Just like Singapore and everywhere else in the Chinese world! This festival marks the beginning of the spring and also the beginning of a new year.

A few weeks before Chinese New Year, families will start to clean up their houses and decorate their house with New Year’s decorations and spring couplets (preferably in red as it is an auspicious colour) to create an atmosphere of joy and renewal.

On New Year’s Eve, families gather at home to have their reunion dinner. After the dinner, the parents and older generation give New Year’s money in red envelopes called “Hong Pao” to the children. Then, everyone in the family stays up and waits for the arrival of New Year’s Day.

During New Year’s Day, life is renewed and families are celebrating with firecrackers. The Chinese begin to worship their ancestors first, after which they visit their friends and relatives to exchange good wishes of “Gong Xi Fa Cai” which means “congratulations and prosperity”. Also, Dragon dancing, lion dancing and other folk activities can be seen during Chinese New Year.

Lantern Festival

Two weeks after Chinese New Year, it is time to officially end the New Year season with the celebration of Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first moon. Lantern Festival is also known as Shang Yuan Festival which is celebrated by families across Taiwan. Lanterns and lights are lit up and can be seen almost everywhere in the cities such as streets, temples and parks. In addition, decorative lanterns with different themes are carried by the children during the night. Beside displaying and appreciating the arts of lanterns, “tang yuan” is also eaten during the festival and this is an important custom as it symbolizes the unity of family.

During the festival, several competitions are held in Taiwan to highlight the arts of lanterns. The most famous one is the Taipei Lantern Festival which is held annually at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Plaza. Every year, the zodiac animal of the year will be the theme for the festival.

Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival is one of the three major Chinese holidays (together with Chinese New year and Mid-Autumn Festival) in Taiwan. This festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month to ward off evil spirits, diseases, and also to find peace in one’s life as diseases usually spread easily during summer. During this festival, there would be dragon boat race in which competing teams will drive their boats as fast as possible and synchronise with the rhythm of the drums.

Other festivals that are celebrated by the Taiwanese people include Farmer’s Day, Ghost Festival, Mid Autumn Festival and Double Ninth Day

 

Sports

The most popular sports in Taiwan are basketball, table tennis, football and baseball. These sports are played by children, youths and adults. Golf and tennis are growing in popularity in Taiwan and many Taiwanese people start to take up these sports too.

(Chinese Professional Baseball League)

(Chinese Taipei National Football Team)

 KTV Entertainment

KTV stands for Karaoke Television which is a form of interactive entertainment where people sing along with pre-recorded music videos using a microphone. This is a popular activity for socializing in Taiwan and also in other countries such as Japan. Today, there are many KTVs in Taiwan and it is frequently visited by the young people and adults. 

Shopping and Attractions

There are many shopping centres in Taiwan, especially in Taipei. The shopping malls at Taipei are always flooded with people. Furthermore, there are also night markets and the largest one in Taipei is called the Shilin Night Market.

There are also lots of attractions and amusement parks in Taiwan. For example, Leofoo Village theme park and National Palace Museum etc.

(National Palace Museum)