Temple-goers in central Taiwan have kicked off the Lunar New Year with a recent tradition, where participants rush to be the first to present incense. This year's winner is the younger brother of last year's champion.
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00:00Five, four, three, two, one.
00:05Kicking off the Lunar New Year,
00:06temple-goers at the Fuxing Temple in central Taiwan
00:09race to be the first to release incense.
00:12Customarily, it's used to pray to the gods for good luck.
00:15And at this temple, that would be the sea goddess Mazu.
00:18But this rush to be first has morphed
00:20into its own unique tradition.
00:22This year's winner says he gave it his all
00:25to come out on top.
00:26I don't want to regret it when I'm old, so I came.
00:30When I'm young and have the strength, I can rush.
00:35Gao Mengxuan is following in his older brother's footsteps,
00:38who won the same race last year.
00:40Hoping to continue their family's reign
00:42as incense race champions,
00:44they said they returned to this year's event,
00:46hoping to also walk away with good fortune.
00:49Last year, I won.
00:50This year, I came to see if I could win with my brother.
00:54Or if I could win again this year.
00:58Last year, I told Mazu that I wanted to have a baby dragon.
01:03He said, last week was the full moon,
01:06so I was very happy.
01:07And this year, I won with my brother.
01:12This temple has held this grand lunar new year celebration
01:15for the last six years.
01:17Organizers say it includes the wider community.
01:19Outside of the temple, on Fuxing Road,
01:23we've actually set up nearly 4,000 lanterns.
01:26They were presented by the children
01:28from nearly 80 schools
01:29on both sides of the river,
01:30in Yunlin and Zhanghua.
01:34They presented their works in Mazu Temple.
01:39This event at Fuxing Temple
01:41is an example of a new tradition
01:43to join the many ways lunar new year
01:45is celebrated in Taiwan,
01:47as people across the country
01:48ring in the year of the stink,
01:50with family, friends, food, and fun.
01:53Dong-Fen Chen and Wesley Lewis for Taiwan Plus.