About Geography of Taiwan
1.island in East Asia
2.lies between the Philippines and Japan
3.close to mainland China
4.Taiwan and China are separated by the Taiwan Strait,only 130 km at its narrowest point.
5.Taiwan measures 36000 square km.
6.made up of one main island and several other smaller islands,such as the Penghu Islands,Orchid Island,and Green Island.
7.has many mountains ,divided by Central Mountain Range
340km length. .it’s very important,it effect Taiwan’s climate which I’ll mantion later.
8.Yushan(Mt Jade) is 3952m tall,making it the highest mountain in Northeast Asia.
About Climate of Taiwan
1.Hot and rainy, rain a lot on Taiwan every year.
2.The Tropic of Cancer crosses central Taiwan,which makes Taiwan’s climate half tropical and half subtropical.
3.very hot in summer,temperature can reach as high as 38 degrees and humid.
4.From July to October is the typhoon season. Several typhoons hit Taiwan during this time of year.
5.Typhons cause great damage(archicultal fruit drop …and ..die fish.. expensive food……),strong wind and heavy rain.
6.The Plum Rain Season come in mid-May until June. rainy season.there are often havy showers in the afternoon but they don’t last very long.
7. During winter time, the weather is around 22 degree, which is not to cold. However, if there’s a cold current reaches Taiwan, the weather might drop down to 15 degree for a couple of days. It happens quite often during winter season.
About Tung Blossom Festival
每年春夏交替之際，臺灣嘉義以北山區、東部的花蓮、臺東，到處都可以欣賞到油桐花滿山遍布的雪白美景，尤其是桃園、新竹、苗栗一帶客家庄四、五月更是白雪紛飛，形成臺灣最美的風景。
客家人經歷兩、三百年「開山打林」的歷史，滿山遍野的油桐樹，曾是客家人早年重要的經濟作物，所以油桐樹與客家人的淵源相當深厚。
油桐生命力強，也被用來描述性格節儉、堅毅的客家人。隨著時代變遷，油桐樹的經濟價值不復存在，但是強勁的生命力，仍在山林間隨春日時節花開花落，為客家庄的經濟變遷做最好的見證。也如同歷經多次遷徙的客家民族，在面對不同環境的淬煉中，總是堅守根本、堅持創新。
臺灣客家桐花的嘉年華會，在春夏交替之際，桐花滿山遍野綻放，一朵朵白皙嬌柔的油桐花繽紛盛開在樹上，為翠綠的山區添上新裝。沿著臺3線、北二高，我們看見白靄靄的山頭，會驚訝如此的美景，卻未曾駐足欣賞，但是透過客家桐花祭的舉辦，桐花的花開花落有了不同的意義。
桐花祭以雪白桐花為意象，傳遞客家人敬天地、重山林之傳統，更以桐花、山林之美為表，客家文化、歷史人文為核心，展現客家絕代風華。油桐強韌的生命力，恰如客家人的硬頸精神。每年桐花盛開之際，期待「客家桐花祭」與您開一扇「任意門」，共下來尞。
he inspiration of the Tung Blossom Festival comes from the Hakka people, who live a hard working and simple life nurtured by wisdom that has come down from their original integration into the Taiwanese local culture.
The Tung Trees that cover the hills and fields were an important cash crop for the Hakka. They also brought many economic opportunities to the local economy. Tung trees were widely planted in the nearby mountains of the Hakka area. Tung seed can be used to extract tung tree oil, and its wood is a basic material in the production of consumer goods at that time, when the economy was much more local, the Tung tree wood’s economic value was an important resource in helping many Hakka families make ends meet, and helped Hakka communities purchase food. That is the main reason that the Hakka have deep feelings and heartfelt gratitude towards the Tung tree, the mountains, and nature in general.
During The Tung Blossom Festival, in addition to inviting people to enjoy the flowers and tour around the Hakka village, the Council for Hakka Affairs has the honor of conducting a grand ceremony to worship the three Mountain Gods, the guardian spirits of the Hakka. The ceremony will not only offer thanksgiving and respect to the mountains and forests, but also bring encouragement to the Hakka decedents, extolling them to respect the law, to be solemn and the holy, to be devout in prayers, and to cherish the roots of their culture. Today, although people’s livelihood no longer rely on the economic value of tung tree, the modern Tung Tree Festival has been a great economy success. The Tung Blossom Festival hosted by Hakka Affairs Council is not only a sacrifice to the guardian spirits on the behalf of the people, but also an offering to the people on the behalf of the flowers.
The Tung tree has very different stages in its appearance throughout the four Seasons. Around April or May the flowers will blossom, and are a beautiful snow white; in summer, green leaves sprout from the branches; in autumn all the leaves turn yellow and blow away with the wind; and during the winter tung tree looks withered and dead. The Hakka people’s history has often mimicked these seasons. Several times the Hakka have been forced to migrate, and have faced extreme difficulty. However, they have always stuck to their traditional roots, and been innovative in their methods.
Hakka Culture and Lei-Cha
1.客家話
2.節儉勤奮
3.藍衫(易於工作.耐髒耐洗)
4.桐花季(April~May,tung blossom festival, tung tree oil important for economic value)
5.客家菜(very salty, 保存久,可配飯)
6.擂茶(花生芝麻茶葉磨,加入熱水及小米)
保生文化祭
Every March, there is an very important
event in Taipei, DaTong District.
It is called: Bao Sheng Cultural Festival
The event is to celebrate the birthday of Bao Sheng God.
People from all over Taiwan will come to join this big festival.
There will be parades, many people walking on the street to celebrate.
There will be a stove of fire placed on the ground, if you cross the fire, all
of your bad luck will gone!
If you really want to have children, you can also ask and pray to this God, the
Bao Sheng God will answer your prayer and give you a baby..
鷹揚八卦
Every year during March to April, a special
event in Ba Gua Mt. will attract many people to come.
It is called : Flying eagles all around!
The government holds this event to protect the eagles from being hunted by
people.
(Lots of birds die because of the hunters.)
There will be more than thousands of eagles gather and rest in Ba Gua Mountain
during this season.
The eagles will fly up with the special rising current, and they circled around
the mountain in a big group.(手比下往上氣流)
This is very unusual to see that many eagles flying at the same time!
Therefore that has become a famous attraction in Taiwan.
高雄戲獅甲
The Lion Dance Festival is the most
important event in Kaoshong every November.
There are many people from the all over the world to join the contest.
This is one the 3rd biggest international lion dance event other
than Malaysia and Macau.The dancers will stand on the tall pillars, and holding
a lion head over their heads. (舉獅頭動作)
They have to move very carefully between the pillars, and finish the dance in
10 minutes.
In order to win, the dancers must show their skill to perform the happy lion,
the angry lion, and the sad lion in many different ways.
Many different teams will try to do their best to win the goal.
Only if none of your team members fall down, and move nicely between the
pillars, then you have the chance to win!