2013/02/14 21:37:52
Taipei, Feb. 14 (CNA) Six hundred sky lanterns were set off in Pingxi in New Taipei Thursday to celebrate Valentine's Day and mark the beginning of the 2013 Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival.
Thursday's event, at which 120 "sky lanterns of love" ascended into the sky, was called "For Lovers Only" by the New Taipei government, which organized the 11-day Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival.
On the special occasion, 120 couples were invited to set free the special heart-shaped lanterns, the first time in the festival's long history that such lanterns were sent into the sky, the organizer said.
The other 480 sky lanterns carried people's wishes for the new year.
Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Hao Lung-bin opened a Valentine's Day celebration at Q Square on Zhongshan North Road the same day.
Thirty couples were invited to show their love for each other by engaging in several challenges designed by the Taipei government, including a kissing endurance test.
Earlier in the day, President Ma Ying-jeou posted a photo featuring him and his wife Chow Mei-ching on his Facebook page to mark the special day.
Noting that he has kept the photo at his office for several years, Ma wrote, "I think this is happiness."
The photo features the president with his mouth open wide trying to eat a red-bean cake -- his favorite Taiwanese dessert -- with the first lady glaring at him.
The photo carries a footnote saying "how could I marry this kind of person!"
Ma wrote that in the Chinese language, the word "partner" means that a couple is whole, and each member of the duo is half of the other person.
"Because of Mei-ching, my life is whole," he wrote.
(By Cheng Ching-wen and Elizabeth Hsu)
Taipei, Feb. 14 (CNA) Six hundred sky lanterns were set off in Pingxi in New Taipei Thursday to celebrate Valentine's Day and mark the beginning of the 2013 Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival.
Thursday's event, at which 120 "sky lanterns of love" ascended into the sky, was called "For Lovers Only" by the New Taipei government, which organized the 11-day Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival.
On the special occasion, 120 couples were invited to set free the special heart-shaped lanterns, the first time in the festival's long history that such lanterns were sent into the sky, the organizer said.
The other 480 sky lanterns carried people's wishes for the new year.
Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Hao Lung-bin opened a Valentine's Day celebration at Q Square on Zhongshan North Road the same day.
Thirty couples were invited to show their love for each other by engaging in several challenges designed by the Taipei government, including a kissing endurance test.
Earlier in the day, President Ma Ying-jeou posted a photo featuring him and his wife Chow Mei-ching on his Facebook page to mark the special day.
Noting that he has kept the photo at his office for several years, Ma wrote, "I think this is happiness."
The photo features the president with his mouth open wide trying to eat a red-bean cake -- his favorite Taiwanese dessert -- with the first lady glaring at him.
The photo carries a footnote saying "how could I marry this kind of person!"
Ma wrote that in the Chinese language, the word "partner" means that a couple is whole, and each member of the duo is half of the other person.
"Because of Mei-ching, my life is whole," he wrote.
(By Cheng Ching-wen and Elizabeth Hsu)
