Imagine that every year the gods are obliged to "go out on patrol." They come out of the temples, walk the alleys and stroll down the main streets of town to sweep away any lingering misfortune or evil, and to spread peace, prosperity and generosity. Here in Beitou 北投, they do it for real. We just happened to stumble upon it!
About mid-morning, we hurried out because we heard drums, cymbals and wailing horns in our neighborhood. We got to the corner in time to see a small procession including a beautiful pink dragon and two lions coming up DaTun Rd 大屯路. The traffic cop said it would be even bigger later. Cool!
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Imagine half a city block
covered with firecrackers. |
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They walked right over the firecrackers,
some of which went off unexpectedly! |
That afternoon, we went out on an errand and found ourselves in the middle of everything! A great conflagration of firecrackers announced the arrival of one of the gods. Fireworks went off every time a god arrived...and there were
lots of gods out on patrol.
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Two happy grandmas in a van, calling
out to everyone: "Come get some
free peanuts and dragon eyes 龍眼!" |
Taiwanese people are notoriously generous. It was especially obvious to us that day. People walked the parade route with baskets of goodies, handing out candies and crackers to anyone within reach. The man standing next to us in the crowd rooted through his bag to find anything he could give us--some candies, special cards--and whenever a little god passed by, he ran up to get some blessing strips, making sure he picked up one for us, too. (Turns out that he lives not far from our house!) Mark passed through the crowd and was stopped by a woman who wanted just to hand him a cookie she'd received.
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| Our neighbor and Ping. |
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| Blessing strip and goodies |
Some of the gods were in little shrines, either hand carried on a litter or chauffeured on the back of a flower-festooned little blue truck. Some walked right down the street, towering over everyone, their great arms swinging by their sides, their benevolent and sometimes fierce-looking faces turning this way and that.
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To gain access, the god (R) has to
dance acceptably to please the three
guardians of the gate (L). |
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"Money" flew everywhere
when this guy appeared. |
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| This god wears Nike Air! |
We did eventually get the errand done, went home for dinner, and came back out to see if we could catch the Taiwanese Opera someone had said was playing after dark. It wasn't, but we saw the grand procession and more fireworks than we have ever seen--including the jaw-dropping, up-close-and-personal finale--from the temporary shrine set up across from the Xinbeitou MRT station 新北投捷運站.
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| The orange dragon pays its respects. |
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Firecrackers announce an arrival.
(Note Starbucks and McDonald's!) |
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Each box contains 6-16 rockets.
About 200 boxes were lit
simultaneously for the finale! Buses,
scooters and people passed by while it
was going off. |
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Everyone was very nice. Ping said the staff at the shrine were kind and polite, gently saying: "Sorry to trouble you, if you could move back a bit, we have another god coming through." People stepped back without complaint. Mark noted that anyone who wanted to be up front was allowed; eventually someone else would move forward to take the best spot. It was a relaxed, easy flow. While shooting a movie, Ping discovered she had been blocking the view of a lady who said nothing, merely craning her neck a bit to see better. Mark easily worked his way through the crowd to take pictures, never getting a nasty look, an elbow or a cold shoulder. People bumped each other a bit but no one minded. This is typical Taiwanese behavior; we see it all the time. It was just particularly obvious in this crowded situation.
We were standing within a few feet of one of the tall gods when the
team had to do a quick personnel change; the young man inside was
relieved by a buddy who continued on the route. It occurred to us later that
this was a perfect metaphor. Yes, the gods are on patrol. They
wipe away evil and bring peace, prosperity and hope, but who are they, really? After all, it is we, the everyday people, who bring peace, prosperity, kindness and
hope to each other here on earth. It takes all of us blessing each other, respecting each other, and giving to each other to make this
happen. We got to see it on parade. Our ears are still ringing, and our hearts are still full.
(By the way, we will post "Awesome Day - Parts 2 and 3." We just had to get this one in while it was still fresh! Stay tuned!)
We were standing within a few feet of one of the tall gods when the
team had to do a quick personnel change; the young man inside was
relieved by a buddy who continued on the route. It occurred to us later that
this was a perfect metaphor. Yes, the gods are on patrol. They
wipe away evil and bring peace, prosperity and hope, but who are they, really? After all, it is we, the everyday people, who bring peace, prosperity, kindness and
hope to each other here on earth. It takes all of us blessing each other, respecting each other, and giving to each other to make this
happen. We got to see it on parade. Our ears are still ringing, and our hearts are still full.
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