Margareth, Mitzuris, Michelle and Lizeth, students from Panama and Indonesia release their flying lantern painted and handwritten with their wishes. There are wishes about studies, traveling together, working out, enjoying different cuisines, relationships and happiness. YUNJIE LIAO/AL JAZEERA
Paper-carving artist Johan Cheng uses needle and strings to fix her cloth carving installation that was damaged by the crowd. The lantern-shaped, tunnel-like installation 'Back To The Times That We Hold Hand Lanterns' was made by Cheng and her seven students as felons in Taipei Prison. 'In a class where I asked them to carve anything on paper while imaging having their last month in life, everyone carved pictures relating with their family,' Cheng said. Having grown up in Taipei and having sweet memories of lantern festivals and carnivals with her grandmother, she contributed her two works to Taipei Lantern Festival for the first time. YUNJIE LIAO/AL JAZEERA
A Dalmatian dog lantern, lit by LED lights, jumps up among many other dog lanterns in front of the Reception Gate of the Taiwan Lantern Festival. It is made by elementary school children in Chiayi which is hosting this year’s main fairs and carnivals. Inspired by the 'hundred-flower' decorative graphic of the National Palace Museum, the shape of trunks features the divine giant trees in Ali Mountain in the county reaching out their branches. The patterns of blossoms symbolise local flowers of Chiayi. YUNJIE LIAO/AL JAZEERA
Children sit and play in one lantern shaped as 'Tatala', the boat made by the Tao, an indigenous group that lives on the Taiwanese island of Lanyu in the Pacific Ocean. This year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival features a main lantern that depicts an indigenous, smiling child being accompanied by his loyal Taiwanese dog, while they stand atop Ali Mountain overlooking a sea of clouds. YUNJIE LIAO/AL JAZEERA
People walk under several traditional ball-shaped lanterns hanging on the intertwined branches of trees lit with modern lighting and design. Inspired by hand-dyed Indian tapestry art from the National Palace Museum’s collection, 'Tree of Life' suggests the festival’s vigour and growth each year. YUNJIE LIAO/AL JAZEERA
"Fortune and honour come with blooming flowers" is written on bucket-sized lanterns hanging on the walls. Traditional lanterns are commonly seen in special zones for temples and shrines that participate in the fairs and carnivals. YUNJIE LIAO/AL JAZEERA
A girl casts traditional moon blocks on the floor, waiting to see if she gets good luck. In this small corner of Taiwan Lantern Festival, people cast such moon blocks. The more times one has positive answers from the moon blocks, the bigger gifts he or she can get from this temple. Aside from this creative game, casting moon blocks is a traditional religious method in Taiwan to ask questions and receive answers from gods. YUNJIE LIAO/AL JAZEERA
The 92-year-old lantern craft master, Zai Gan Hsiao, still remembers the days when people used to put oil lamps carefully into traditional lanterns, and when lantern-making was suppressed and banned along with other Taiwanese cultures by martial laws. His studio is full of groundbreaking and award-winning early works which he and his daughter called 'small ones'. His wife and four children used to help him with huge lanterns for different fairs and carnivals every year. 'Due to the amount of work, we would postpone our New Year’s Eve family reunion dinner until after the lantern festival,' his daughter said. Peacocks, dragons, phoenixes, dragon fish and lions are among his most favourite works. YUNJIE LIAO/AL JAZEERA
'Laser shows are new for me but they are amazing,' Zai Gan Hsiao said, adding that he will keep making traditional lanterns regardless of his age. He emphasised that 'life has just started'. Hsiao would keep lanterns at home if he was unable to finish them on time. These four tiger lanterns, made eight years ago, were ornamented with witty questions that represent his beliefs, and stand on four chairs in his studio at all times.
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