The Beehive Rocket Festival is two-night event where an estimated six million bottle rockets are fired into the crowd of brave and/or foolhardy participants, Yan Shui, Taiwan.

By Judith Fein
Photos by Paul Ross

It may be the most macho adventure in the world. The running of the bulls in Pamplona is the most famous, but what are the odds of getting gored by a bull? At the Beehive Bottle Rocket Festival in Taiwan, you will definitely get hit….by bottle rockets. It’s guaranteed.

The event takes place every year on Taiwan, a thriving East Asian island nation of 26 million people, where passionate democracy is practiced. Lawmakers actually get into fist fights during legislative sessions.  Women even get into the fray. But they don’t launch bottle rockets.

That is reserved for l5 days after Chinese New Year, during the Lantern Festival.  The entire small town of Yan Shui, in Tainan County, literally explodes into an extreme sport. Anyone is welcome, but you participate at your own risk. It’s free, it’s insane, and it actually has a spiritual basis.

An illuminated statue of Guan Yu —a god of War and Wealth— towers over visitors at the New Year celebrations in Yan Shui, Taiwan.

In 1885, the inhabitants of Yan Shui were battling the dual horrors of plague and cholera. There were no hospitals or effective medical treatments for the suffering, so locals turned to the God of War to help them. They set off firecrackers to honor him and, it is presumed, his divine intervention gradually arrested the two diseases and blessed the town.

The firecrackers became a tradition, and visitors began to gravitate to Yan Shui for the excitement. Today, millions of bottle rockets are set off in a single night and tourists are advised to bring their own protection in the form of clothes.

For starters, you’ll want a helmet and goggles so you leave with your head and eyes intact. A dust mask or bandana over your mouth is a good idea, so you don’t ingest any bottle rocket debris or fry your gums.  Around your neck, drape a wet towel, so the rockets don’t creep in under your helmet and explode your brains.

Moving down, you definitely need a protective jacket or coat, gloves, a thick pair of cotton pants (synthetics will burn faster that you can ask, “Am I nuts to be doing this?”) or two thin pairs of cotton pants, socks, closed shoes and a large dollop of faith.

As the moment of ignition approaches, the brave gather in a

The island nation of Taiwan offers tourists many opportunities to experience scenic beauty.

large arena where large launch-frames stacked with hundreds of thousands of bottle rockets loom ominously. An announcer whips up the crowd and you don’t have to understand Chinese to know it’s foreplay to danger.

Suddenly, there is a crackling noise, rockets buzz through the air like angry bees, and they are aimed directly at the several hundred participants who have not run away in terror. The brave ones hide their cameras because a single bottle rocket can ruin a really fine lens.

If you are dressed to the nines in protective gear, you will most likely leave the event intact and wander through the town for food, festivities, a visit to a temple and a lot more rockets (although these are not necessarily aimed at you).

What will undoubtedly strike you is how friendly Taiwanese people are. They are, so to speak, the opposite of the beehive bottle rockets.

Wherever you go on the island, folks greet you in English, Chinese or Taiwanese, bidding you welcome or just saying “hello.” In Taipei, the capital, there are plenty of tourists, but once you get outside the city into the country, westerners are rare. That’s what makes Taiwan such an appealing and emerging destination. It’s safe, (except for the Beehive Bottle Rocket festival), affordable, offers great walks and hikes in spectacular countryside,

The island nation of Taiwan offers tourists many opportunities to experience scenic beauty.

features finger-licking food from dim sum to banquets with ten courses, has rapid trains and busses for easy transport, and it’s unlikely that anyone on your block will have been there before you.

After you visit Taiwan, it’s a great launching pad for further travel adventures in Asia.

Recommendations if you go:
Taiwan Tourism Board is very helpful with information about the festival, transport and other attractions and sites on the island.
http://www.go2taiwan.net

EVA Airways has direct flights to Taiwan and many other Asian destinations. The airline is favored by Asians for its punctuality, friendly service and new B777 planes.

Our favorite guidebook is the Rough Guide to Taiwan. It offers comprehensive historical and background material and has much more meat than many other go-there-do-this guides.

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