By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS
IN the 20 to 30 minutes that I was in the midst of the teeming crowd in Wuri Railway Station in Taichung, Taiwan last Saturday, I gained insights about the Taiwanese and in way, in their relations with mainland China, more than what I have learned in my readings in the past.
Thousands and thousands of people of all ages – babies, children, elderly, even the handicapped, filled every inch of the train station. Organizers said there were 1.5 million visitors that night, a record attendance.
As I flowed with the crowd, I thought of the stampede in Shanghai last New year’s eve where 36 people died and for some fleeting moments, it was scary.
But the amazing thing was, the crowd was moving orderly. There was no pushing or elbowing out each other. It was discipline at its most awesome.
The crowd was predominantly Chinese. Although the biggest number of tourists in Taiwan come from mainland China, the visitors of the Lantern Festival were mostly Taiwanese, said Vanessa Y.P. Shih, vice minister of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Last Saturday’s Wuri Railway Station scene, made me understand the reason behind the policy of Taiwan limiting the daily number of visitors from mainland China to 5,000 groups and 4,000 individuals.
“We don’t have capacity to welcome everybody all at the same time, “Shih said.
Indeed, unregulated, the People’s Republic of China which has one billion population can easily overwhelm the 23 million people Taiwanese (Republic of China) in their 36,193 square- kilometer island.
Peaceful co-existence between mainland China and Taiwan is being maintained by cross straits agreements between the Beijing and Taipei governments.
It’s unique situation. Both governments agree that there should only be One China. The Beijing government considers Taiwan a renegade province but respects the latter’s “no unification, no independence, and no use of force” policy.
The Lantern Festival visit was part of the program arranged by the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a group of women journalists from different parts of the world that coincided with International Women’s month.
Taichung City is 168 kilometers from the capital Taipei and 58 minutes by high speed train. (Riding Taiwan’s high speed train, I couldn’t help but think of our MRT and I felt like crying.)
Held on first full-moon night of the lunar year, the 2015 Taiwan Lantern Festival opened last March 3 and will last up to March 15. Every year, a different city of Taiwan hosts the event.
This year’s Lantern festival in Taichung covers 20 hectares. It’s a sprawling visual delight but the main feature is the 23.4 meter high goat-shaped lantern.
An online search on the origin of the Chinese Lantern festival yielded several versions.
One version was about the Jade Emperor whose favorite crane flew down to Earth and was subsequently hunted and killed. Furious, the Jade Emperor wanted to punish people of the village with firestorm.
The Emperor’s daughter, however, took pity on the villagers and warned them of her father’s plan.
The villagers thought of ways to protect themselves from the firestorm.
A wise man suggested that they hang red lanterns outside their homes, make bonfires, and light firecrackers for three days. The plan worked because on Revenge day, the Jade Emperor came to burn the village, he saw from afar that it was ablaze and he thought his men had done his order to burn it.
The lantern trick worked and the village was saved. And peace prevailed.