Types of leisure programmes

Festivals

• Beigang Matsu Festival
  
  

It is held once a year on the goddess Matsu’s Birthday in April/May of the lunar calendar at her principle temple in Beigang. Devotees from all over the island will bear their local gods on palanquins(enclose litters borne on the shoulders) as spiritual ambassadors to participate in the celebration of the birthday of their liege (Bates, Bates, 2008.). Firecrackers are set off to scare off the evil spirits and when night falls, dangki (trance mediums) will go into trances and flagellate themselves with swords and nail-encrusted wooden rods.

Confucius birthday

On 28 September, festivals will be held to celebrate Confucius’ birthday. At Confucian temples, special and solemn rites are held in traditional costume and with traditional music.

• Lantern Festivals
  
  

This festivals is celebrate on the 15^th day on the first lunar month to mark the ending of the Chinese New Year. Youngsters will carry lanterns, either traditional ones or battery-operated one, and walk around with it. Traditional lantern contests are still held in temples such as the Guandu Temple.

Entertainment

• Hot spring
  
  

As Taiwan is situated along the Pacific Ring of Fire, more than 100 hot springs have been found in the country. Taiwan’s hot spring has been famous for a century and one could find such in resorts and traditional hillside bathhouses. These hot spring are located in different geographical areas such as mountains and plains. The highest concentration of hot springs can be found in northern Taiwan, where the Tatun Volcano is located, while along both sides of the central mountain range, covering an area that to the north is bordered by Yilan and to the south by Pingtung, the largest number of hot springs can be found. The hot springs in Taiwan are located in fantastic scenic areas, thus one can get relief stress from the hectic busy city life and also enjoy the magnificent scenery. It is also a perfect destination for tourists.
Further reading : Hot Springs in Taiwan

• Cinemas

Movies theatres are found all over the country. Xi Men Ding, the time square of Taipei, there are over 10 theatres clustered in that area. This shows how popular movies are in Taiwan. Warner Bros has also recently built a new complex beside Taipei 101 called Warner Village where youngster would gather there for the latest movies. Modern theatres nowadays will have online booking systems, but older theatre still practise the older ticket selling system. Movie tickets are only allow to purchase an hour before the movie starts and a person could only buy a maximum number of tickets. The seats in the cinema are also divided left and right into odd and even numbers. Commercial and movie previews are screen before the movie starts. Most importantly, smoking is prohibited in the theatres.

• KTV
  
  

KTV stands for Karaoke Television, it is a sing-along system. KTV shops could be easily found along the street of Taiwan. One can book a private room, order songs to sing out loud in a soundproof room while eating snacks. They lyrics will appear on the screen, along with a video to go with the music.(Bates, Bates, 2008.). In the system, there will be usually English, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Korean and Japanese song for one to choose.

References:

• Welcome to Taiwan, Hot Springs. Retrieve on 13 December,2010 from http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/pda/m1.aspx?sNo=0002035
• Bates, C., Bates, L.L., (2008) CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette, Taiwan, pp 206, pp176-179, 186-189.