The Japanese Doll Festival

Hinamatsuri, the Japanese Doll Festival, is a celebration for Japan’s girls. At first, it was held in Mar. 3rd , the lunar calendar, but after Meiji Restoration, it became Mar. 3rd , the solar calendar.
At this day, parents will set up a display stage to put Japanese dolls dressed in kimokos. Though Hinamatsuri is not a national holiday, families will get together to bless their daughters. The display stages can divide into seven stages. First is the king and queen, and then servants, orchestra, vehicles and so on.
During spring, it is the time of peach blossom; therefore, visitors will bring peaches and dolls if the host has daughters. Besides Hinamatsuri, the dragon boat festival is regarded as the boys’ festival. I think Japan is a country that put much emphasis on children’s culture and education, or they won’t have these children festivals.

Songkran Festival

Songkran Festival is Thailand’s New Year, and the festival is held in April. Several religious worships and celebrations will be held all over Thailand. Thais consider that water is a symbol of purity, the origin of life, and the god of all creatures.
The custom of Songkran Festival is to bathe our bodies with clean water, and it means to cleanse all bad lucks in last year and the new beginning of the next year.
The Thai people celebrate this festival with water. Everyone gets soaking wet and since it is the hottest season of the year, the custom is quite refreshing. Songkran is a Public Spring Cleaning Day, supported by the religious belief that anything old and useless must be thrown away or it will bring bad luck to the owner. During the afternoon of April 13th, Buddha images are bathed as part of the ceremony. Young people pour scented water into the hands of elders and parents as a mark of respect while seeking the blessing of the older people. In ancient days, old people were actually given a bath and clothed in new apparel presented by the young folks as a token of respect for the New Year. Where to celebrate Songkran Festival: in Banbkok and Chiang Mai, you can find the traditional celebrations!!

New Semester,New Beginning

This semester my topic is "Festival", and I am going to talk about different kinds of festivals like Chinese New Year,Valentine's Day, Halloween, Chritmas and so on. Including western and eastern countries, from ancient to the modern society, here are some pictures of all kinds of festivals.

Podking Restaurant

Podking Restaurant is famous in Taichung. The first store is opened in 忠孝night market in 1991, and the shop keeper, Mr. Chen, worked very hard and he soon discovered a new flavor that guests liked a lot. Therefore, it became well-known and it opened many branches in a short time
Its soup is made of many Chinese herbal medicines and it is warm and suitable especially in winter. Besides, its spice is unique, spicy but not greasy so that lots of people will taste it because of its special soup and sauce.
Though it is famous for spicy soup, there is another soup you can choose if you don’t like spice. The degree of spice is divided into three levels; usually I can eat the third level. The first level is the most spice, and I haven’t challenged it yet. There are various kinds of ingredients you can choose and they are fresh and delicious. Many people are willing to wait in line in order to taste it.
Hot pots are everywhere but it is not easy to become well-known. Podking Restaurant is successful to catch people’s eyes and stomachs.

ChungHsing Lake

There are lots of famous shopping districts in Taichung and people’s first impression toward Taichung City is its various foods and products. However, there are also some nature sceneries such as Taichung Metropolitan Park, 大坑 mountain, and so on. And here is a green place in downtown so that many people will do exercise or have a picnic here; it is ChungHsing University.
Located in southern Taichung, it is like a green diamond, because there are many buildings around it and it’s the only place people can do outdoor activities in southern part of Taichung. The measure of area is fifty- three hectares and you can see trees all over the campus. There is a forest called the Dark Forest; every morning people will do exercise and I think they can absorb much phytoncide while exercising. Whenever I pass by, they are full of energy; I think they must treasure that they have a place to exercise.
In addition, ChungHsing is famous for the lake. It is special- designed; the shape of main lake is like China and tow small lakes stand for Taiwan and 海南 Island. Not only students but also people from the neighborhood will have a picnic or enjoy the sunshine and little children will have excursions here. Since the campus is large, it is suitable for people to take a walk.
Also, lots of people will take photos because the beautiful scenery; it is a great place for city people to relax.

Yizhong Street

Yizhong Street is one of the important shopping centers in Taichung. It is named after Taichung First Senior High. Because of near school, products there are cheap and I often can have a good bargain. Besides Taichung First Senior High, there are also other schools like 中技and 台體; therefore, students will stop by with their friends so that it will become bustling in the afternoon. There are almost all kinds of stores, thus, I can hang around there whole day. Also, traffic is convenient and it is not far from our school so that it is the first shopping center that I visited in Taichung.

There are many tiny lanes but once you visit, you will be surprised and find many treasures. Since there are a lot of delicious foods and special products, I would like to introduce something. Yizhong fried chicken is famous in Taiwan and it is originated from Yizhong Street. Not only students but also adults like it very much. In addition, usually you have to wait in line for 5-10 minutes. Hence, next time if you want to try, you can go there early in order not to wait for a long time.

Chungyo Department Store

The famous department store in Taichung is Chungyo Department Store. The building is large and it combines section A, B, and C; it is one of the large scale department stores in the world. Located in downtown Taichung, it is convenient for people to go there; many office ladies and students would like to stop by after work and school.

The most interesting and specialist are restrooms. They are theme restrooms and each floor has its unique subject. For example, there are subjects like fairy tales, secret gardens, baroque, rococo, pop, and so on. Many people will visit Chungyo just because they want to take a look at its restrooms.