Shifen Sky Lanterns @ Shifen Old Street at Taipei taiwan

Although it has neither the traditional buildings found on Pingxi Old Street nor the wave of nostalgia of Jingtong Old Street, the Shifen Old Street showcases the one and only scene of “trains passing right in front of residents’ doors” in Taiwan. Houses and shops are separated from the railway tracks only by a narrow old street without the protection of high fences or railings. As a result, Shifen is a Mecca for railway enthusiasts and photography aficionados

Oh this was what we came for! We had decided on Shifen as we thought Pingxi which is the most famous sky lantern town might be crowded with tourists.

If you are interested, once a year they have a massive sky lantern festival on the 15th Feb. of the lunar calendar. This day officially marks the end of roughly a two-week period of new year celebrations, and as the festival coincides with the first full moon of the Chinese lunar calendar. This is when they release masses of sky lanterns at the same time

Depending on what you would like to wish for you can get 2 colours or 4 colours. We chose a Red and White sky lantern for Health, Safety and a bright future

The fun thing about releasing sky lanterns here was that we got to do it in the middle of the train tracks! Releasing sky lanterns is fun in itself but doing it at the train tracks just adds another level of fun