A Regular Thursday Night

A former colleague of mine told me that Chinese New Year in Neihu, where I currently reside, is wild. "The whole city lights up with fireworks," he would tell me. Excited about spending the week in Neihu, I was was less than thrilled with the firework display. The best I saw were a few fire crackers here and there and some shot off the rooftops. Although they were very noisy, they didn't really "light up" Neihu.

Thursday night, however, Neihu lit up- and with good reason too. Thursday was the lantern festival in Taiwan and this means, for Neihu residents, setting off as many fireworks in the streets as possible.

The event started at approximately 6:30 during a Parent's Presentation day in my class. As my students were presenting, they were competing with very loud explosions right outside our window. The noise subsided and I inquired as to what the ruckus was about. My boss told me that tonight was the "Lantern Festival" and to celebrate they travel the streets between two temples and set off loads of fireworks. Luckily, our school happened to be on that route.

Well my next class went fine- and thank goodness as it was their final test. But then my 8:30 lesson showed up and with him, all the noise and fireworks one could imagine. It was so loud, we were literally shouting at each other in the school so that we could be heard!

Then, suddenly, a giant explosion set the building shaking! Screams came howling from outside as people were running in all directions. I asked my boss what was going on and she said there was a giant fireball. "Well, this sounds extremely dangerous," I remarked.

"It is!" chimed in my student, "last year a house set on fire and someone almost died!" Well, it looked like part two of the catastrophe as ambulances were rolling in to the scene. Concentration in my lesson proved to be fruitless against the ruckus outside so I let my student out five minutes early and I took to the streets with my camera and newly purchased tripod to get some photos of this lantern festival to the extreme. What I got was more than I bargained for.

The party wasn't difficult to find- you just had to follow the loud explosions and screams of people. Well, I turned a corner and ran into thousands of people lining the streets to celebrate the fireworks. Essentially, a group of firemen, dressed in bright yellow, were going down the street collecting donations from shops to put on their truck. Once they got enough firecrackers, they set them all off at once producing an enormous fireball into the sky. Here is a video of one of those fireballs below.

At one point during my shooting, I got a bit too close to the show. I was setting up my camera on its tripod when I heard a loud pop and a small firework below me went off shooting into my leg. A little nervous I checked my pant legs and fortunately, nothing was on fire. A little rattled, I positioned my camera up at the sky with a number of large fireworks going off. It was then that I noticed I had a really good shot- no one was in my way. I was really surprised by this but took advantage of the situation and continued to shoot.

No one was in my way because everyone was getting out of the way of the fireworks about to go off three inches in front of me. I didn't notice this, of course, because I was so enthralled by the fireworks up in the sky. Fortunately, I wasn't hurt by this event and I managed to get it all on tape.

I continued to follow the street party getting as many photographs and videos as possible of this exciting and dangerous display. As I made my way through this labyrinth of people and exploding TNT, it occurred to me just how stupid and dangerous it was to be there. The only conclusion I could come up with was this- these folks are crazy and dangerous. Here is further documentation to substantiate my claim.

The evening turned out to be very exciting, as the videos prove. To get a true sense of what the event was like, I suggest playing each video at once. The noise and confusion of doing so mimics the evening perfectly.

As I made my way to the end where the temple was, I got to meet some of the brave (foolish?) men in charge of setting off the fireworks. Normally, you got a bunch of smiling happy firemen like the following.


And why were they so happy? Well, it was probably the lobster dinner that was prepared for them afterwards!


I am sure my parents are thinking- Michael, this is so dangerous! Why did you go there? Well, mom, dad, don't worry, it's a family event. As I walked around, I saw plenty of parents with their children enjoying the display (although their vantage point was from a safe distance). I admit, I got a bit closer than they did, but hey, at least I didn't get as close as this guy...


So until next time, from your bombs bursting in air paladin of Nehuian culture, Michael.