Procession
Firecrackers exploding in the street got my attention. A colorful procession was forming. I was, of course, curious, and had no plans for the night beyond wandering Taipei.
This is the first of ten posts from my November 2023 trip to Taiwan.
At the front were these special cars, playing a song on repeat. I have questions about the cars. Are they specifically for playing in processions? Can you rent them for one of your own?
After the singing cars came the cylindrical standard, then the palanquin, and finally a gaggle of spectators. I joined in with them at the back, and off we went through the evening bustle of Taipei. We hurried across intersections and squeezed along sidewalks, the hypnotic music accompanied by traffic whistles, firecrackers, and scooter engines.
We arrived outside a temple and a queue formed to get blessings from a priest. When the queue depleted and the crowd thinned, other spectators started trying to talk to me, but my Mandarin was limited to "hello" and "thank you". Word for a translator went out, and after a few minutes a kind woman who studied in the US invited me to join in and be blessed.
Most people received one blessing on the front, across their chest. However, the sturdy man in front of me got blessed on both the front and back; my translator explained he was a soldier and needed extra blessing. To my surprise, I was motioned to turn around for a double blessing too. And I'll always wonder: did the priest read that off of me?
