Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

Went to the Sky Lantern Festival in Pingxi, a small town about an hour east of Taipei, on Thursday night. Pingxi is normally a quiet place, but on the 15th day of the lunar new year, thousands of people descend on the town to release lanterns. The lanterns are about 3 feet tall with a combustible square of cardboard suspended in the bottom. You write your wishes for the year on the lantern, light the cardboard, wait for the lantern to fill with hot air, then release it into the sky. In addition to all the individual lanterns, a giant lantern was sent off at the end of the night. It was about 30 feet tall and very cool to watch as it disappeared into the sky. There were tons of fireworks going off all over the town so between those and all the smoke from the lanterns it was an asthmatic's nightmare, but a very cool event.