This is a festival deep in the mountains of New Taipei City in northern Taiwan. It is a celebration linked to the Chinese Lantern Festival. We went to the small mountain town of Pingxi, where we enjoyed food markets, live performances, and a beautiful night sky full of lanterns. The main event at the Lantern Festival is to write goals, well wishes and other messages on traditional Chinese lanterns before lighting them and sending them up into the sky. It was stunning to see dozens of glowing red lanterns float off into the evening sky over the mountains.
For my degree in political economy, I’m taking a course this semester on political philosophy. We’re reading some of the original works of great economists and political philosophers, from Adam Smith to Karl Marx. To take a break, I’ve also been reading some manga. Delicious in Dungeon is my current favorite.
I’m planning to run my first half-marathon this May with some other friends in the Fulbright program. Last week, I finally bought my first pair of specialized running shoes and I’ve been hitting the school track and treadmill.
