Temple Fairs, the Chinese version of a festive carnival, have been among the most attractive highlights of Spring Festival for thousands of years. It provides so many things for you to watch, play and of course, taste.
Two-octaves of brass gongs sound the welcome for visitors from both Taiwan and the mainland. But there are far more works on exhibition: porcelain wares, wood sculptures, and lacquer wares are all displayed according to Taiwan?s typical layout.
Bamboo weaving used to be very common in Taiwan and the southern Chinese mainland. At the temple fair, weaving masters are invited to teach visitors the dying handicraft.
A visitor said, "Children like it very much. By making it themselves, they can learn how things were made before there were machines."
Shi Zhenyang, director of Taiwan Traditional Artisan Assn., said, "Traditional art has to return to life to remain alive, for that?s the stage to pass it on."
Besides Taiwan folk art, artists from Hunan and Shaanxi provinces also present their wood carving and embroidery works.
No Temple Fair would be complete without performances. On stage are traditional dancing and plays from Shaanxi Province. Among the audience members, there is an old man who seems very interested. His name is Wang Bo and he has been in Taiwan for 63 years. Yet his home town is Shaanxi.
Wang Bo said, "It brings back memories when I was sitting in the yard and watching performances, like Shaanxi local plays and shadow plays."
The 82-year-old man has been a soldier, a student and a college teacher. After all these years away from home town, his accent hasn?t changed much. And he still loves all these Shaanxi snacks. He used to cook some himself when he was young.
Performances and food from home town have inspired Wang?s New Year wish. He says he plans to come back home to Shaanxi this year.
