I know everyone talks so much about the Chinese new year and how different it is from the western. And just before I get on to this article, I have to say that I am very excited about it too, but it is as different as being at another "date" than the western one, so you'll still have to wait for about another two months before I will be able to write you something about it here. Sadly.
But that doesn't mean there's nothing up about the western new year here. That one is celebrated too, actually. Of course not as much. Chinese new year is like Christmas here, while western new year is just a "few" minutes of big explosions and some excuse for literally millions of people to meet up at one place and put an enormous stress to the infrastructure.
People do get off from school on the first three days of the new year, but apart from that, they'll have to wait a bit more for the Chinese new year to get their winter vacations.
One thing that's famous around these parts are Taipei 101 and it's fireworks. First off, it's the tallest building in the world, and it probably also has the biggest fireworks show in Taiwan. I doubt if it has much of a chance to compete with other countries in the region still, as China is probably not happy about being beaten at fireworks shows. Well.. I don't know, but it seems they're giving it all they've got here in Taipei, that's for sure.
Enjoy a few pics. One of the other days I will post a little more about what happened that day (those two days.):
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I finished a more covering article already. You can find the article with this link: Western New Year in Taipei part 1