Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) The sky lantern tradition will once again light up the night sky of Taiwan in February's Lantern Festival, including some bearing wishes in foreign languages.
The hot-air lanterns are being made in a cultural class by foreigners at the Youth Language Study Activity Program in National Taiwan Normal University. The students in the six-week program come from different countries including South Korea, Panama, Brazil and El
Salvador.
"The cultural class gives them a glimpse of Taiwanese traditions and culture. They learn calligraphy, Chinese knots and so on in addition to Chinese lessons, " said Shi Chi-yu, the teacher who taught about 60 foreign students how to make sky lanterns Tuesday.
Students had a 20-minute introduction by Shi on the history of sky lanterns, one of the most popular traditional activities in recent years, before starting a hands-on experience.
"This is cool. We don't have anything like this in my country, " said Joan Martinez, a Panamanian entering her second week in Taiwan.
The lanterns will be launched in Hsinchu Feb. 8.
The Sky Lantern Festival is a tradition that developed in Pingshi, Taipei County, on the fifteenth day of the first moon in the Lunar calendar. People release lanterns bearing wishful messages in the hope that their wishes will be granted by the gods in the coming year.
The construction of sky lanterns consists of a main body and a frame. The body is made either from thin or oiled paper and the frame from bamboo strips. A rag soaked in kerosene is placed inside a basket that hangs below the lantern and lit, so that the heat from the flame fills the lantern and causes the lantern to ascend into the night sky.