> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.taiwanquest.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Ducks and dinners in the Year of the Dragon - URL: https://www.taiwanquest.com/year-of-the-dragon/ - Published: 2024-02-16T12:47:15.000Z - Updated: 2025-07-15T10:11:51.000Z - Description: Now, I get it, 100%… - Author: Zhen-Kang [My first lunar new year in Taiwan](https://www.taiwanquest.com/lunar-new-year-in-taiwan/) was three weeks after I arrived, and only a few days after I moved into my apartment. I was far from lonely, but I was technically alone. Since then, a lot changed during the Year of the Rabbit. Now, as I enter the Year of the Dragon, my life couldn’t be richer. For my first 12 months in Taiwan, I said “yes” to almost every social opportunity. It feels sinister to say I was strategic about building friendships—perhaps *more open than my introverted tendencies usually allow* is a better way to put it—and it’s paid off. A year ago, I knew no one in Taiwan. Now, I have friends in Kaohsiung and across the country. (Many are technically ‘acquaintances’, but I choose to round up.) [During my 11-day scooter ride around Taiwan](https://www.taiwanquest.com/huandao-kaohsiung-to-kenting/), I saw friends in Taitung, Yilan, New Taipei City, Hsinchu, and Tainan. Then, for lunar new year, I was invited to: - Join friends’ New Year’s Eve family dinners (家族聚餐) in Kaohsiung and Pingtung - Shop for decorations at Sanfengzhong Street (三鳳中街) - Play mahjong (麻將) and the scratch card lottery (刮刮樂) - Exchange red envelopes (紅包) - Eat more and more delicious food Prevously, I understood lunar new year was special but I didn’t *feel* it. Now, I get it, 100%. --- ![Sanfonzon Street entrance. Lots of scooters are parked outside small, crowded shops at night.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/sanfonzon-street-kaohsiung.jpg) Here’s the eastern entrance to Sanfengzhong Street (三鳳中街), one of the oldest-feeling streets in Kaohsiung. Ordinarily it’s a dry-food market, but this time of year it’s the place to go for lunar new year decorations. There are many new year pop-up stalls, alongside established vendors who offer nuts, candy, and dried seafood snacks. ![A diamond-shaped piece of paper decorated with a dragon head, the year ‘2024”, and three Chinese characters, affixed to a door.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/2024-new-year-chunlian.jpg) I bought a hanging decoration to give my friend’s mom (whose New Year’s Eve dinner I attended), plus this hand-painted chunian (春聯) for my office door. These characters represent **golden treasure, money, and wealth*. I’m in! ![A diamond-shaped piece of paper with a large Chinese character in the middle, affixed to a stainless steel refrigerator by magnets.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/spring-couplet-on-fridge.jpg) This chunian, also hand-painted, means **rich and full*. Appropriate for a kitchen. ![A tall, narrow, piece of paper affixed to a metal door with magnets. The paper includes many Chinese characters, written vertically, plus a cartoon mayor and Formosan black bear.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/new-year-message-from-kaohsiung-mayor.jpg) This one, on the inside of my front door, was given to me by a friend. It’s a message from my local political crush, the mayor of Kaohsiung, Chen Chi-Mai (陳其邁). Here you can see him in cartoon form, waving a dragon alongside a Formosan black bear. (I can’t imagine New Zealand politicians handing out posters like these, let alone their constituents wanting a cartoon of the mayor on their door.) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/taiwan-new-years-eve-dinner.jpg) At my friend’s mom’s house, I enjoyed an excellent and extremely-filling New Year’s Eve dinner. There was a mix of Taiwanese and Western food, with green tea and vegetarian options. Then, after dinner… ![Four people playing mahjong. Their faces are obscured by sheep, dog, dragon, and monkey emoji.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/animals-playing-mahjong.jpg) …A sheep, a dog, a dragon, and a monkey walk into a game of mahjong… ![Six people sratching lottery tickets on a small square table. Their faces are not visible. One person’s face is obscured by a sheep emoji.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/taiwan-lottery-scratch-card-game.jpg) …Before trying their luck with the scratch card lottery. The cards were a surprise from my friend, born in the Year of the Sheep. I won NT$200 (NZ$10)! ![A roadside poster promoting Kaohsiung Wonderland, featuring the words ‘I’m back’.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/kaohsiung-wonderland-sign.jpg) Elsewhere in the city, Kaohsiung Wonderland is a month-long yellow duck-themed festival. Coinciding with the lunar new year, it celebrates the completion of a 4km-long stretch of harborside public spaces. “I’m back” refers to this being the duck’s second visit. ![A metal sculpture of a yellow duck, approximately 1.5 or 2 meters tall.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/hanshin-arena-yellow-duck.jpg) Yellow ducks are popping up everywhere in Kaohsiung. This one’s outside a department store, 7km inland. ![Supermarket shelves covered in yellow duck-themed items, such as liquid soap dispensers, bubble machines, cameras, rubber slippers, and carry bags.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/supermarket-rubber-duck-section.jpg) The city’s gone ducking mad: My local supermarket now has a yellow duck section. ![Supermarket shelves covered in yellow duck-themed items, such as liquid soap dispensers, bubble machines, cameras, rubber slippers, and carry bags.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/carrefour-yellow-ducks.jpg) There’s an even larger yellow duck section at Carrefour Love River. ![Yellow duck-shaped cakes in packs of three.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/yellow-duck-bread-at-kaohsiung-bakery.jpg) There are yellow ducks in the bakery (3 for NT$59 / NZ$3). ![A tram in Kaohsiung decorated in yellow ducks and ‘Kaohsiung Wonderland’ branding.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/kaohsiung-lrt-yellow-duck-tram.jpg) There’s a yellow duck tram. ![A yellow duck-shaped hand soap dispenser.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/yellow-duck-hand-soap.jpg) There’s even yellow duck soap in my bathroom. (Wait, what?) ![A large yellow duck floating on Kaohsiung Harbor just before sunset.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/kaohsiung-harbor-yellow-duck-2024.jpg) There are two ducks in the harbor. Here’s the first one, moored near the mouth of Love River. ![Night view of two large yellow ducks floating on Kaohsiung Harbor.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/giant-yellow-ducks-at-night.jpg) Here it is at night, with its buddy on the right. ![Night view of two large rubber ducks floating on Kaohsiung Harbor with a laser light show projecting dozens of multicolor beams of light into the dark sky.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/kaohsiung-wonderland-light-show.jpg) A two-minute light show plays every hour, synced to carnival music. ![Frontal view of a large rubber duck moored on Kaohsiung Harbor at night, with hundreds of people silhouetted in the foreground. The duck towers over them, may stories tall.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2024/02/yellow-rubber-duck-at-kaohsiung-wonderland-night-2024-1.jpg) The ducks are huge, and the crowds are huge too: In 2014, one duck attracted [3.9 million people and NT$1 billion (NZ$50 million) of tourist spending](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/5086230). Based on the number of people I have to squeeze around during my nightly walks, I suspect the visitor stats may be similar in 2024\. With a probable spike on Valentine’s Day, when—I kid you not—[the yellow ducks kissed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agrwKQ4Ad3M). --- These ducks aren’t a normal feature of the new year. Which is a good thing, as I couldn’t handle this much yellow on an annual basis. If you want to learn more about the standard, duck-free lunar new year—including why it came nearly three weeks later this time—I recommend reading [*Happy Year of the Dragon!*](https://thecultureshack.blog/2024/02/08/happy-year-of-the-dragon/) by Taiwan-based writer John Groot. And may you, too, have good fortune in the Year of the Duck Dragon! ---