Chinese New Year is one of the largest public holidays in Taiwan. The date changes each year and it is celebrated on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar. It is a time to celebrate with your family and eat lots of yummy food. There are so many festivals all over the country that include dragon and lion dances, feasts and lantern festivals.
I had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate Chinese New Year's Eve by singing karaoke for the first time. I also collected many red envelopes that night. Red envelopes are given out on special holidays and often have money inside.
For the official Chinese New Year's Day, I took a high-speed train to Miaoli to spend a couple of days with my classmate and his family. We went to visit the temple in his town, had a wonderful home-cooked Taiwanese meal, shot off some fireworks and then I played mahjong with his family members.
After traveling to Miaoli, I took another high-speed train to Kaohsiung in Southern Taiwan. I went there to see the Lantern Festival. I visited the Lotus Pond to see a special light show and also spent the day at the Fo Guang Shan Monastery to see another festival and light show.
