Lukang is famous for it's old section of town and several temples that honor the god (goddess?) Matsu. We were fortunate to see a parade/festival at the Matsu temple, which included enormous figures of the gods, and men beating themselves and dancing. We saw several other parades throughout the day, including man in drag on stilts. Getting shimmied at from four feet above by a Taiwanese man in makeup and silk is an experience to remember!
We spent the afternoon wandering around buying trinkets and looking at some very interesting foods. We found an old man painting beautiful pictures, so I asked if he could paint the Mikado Pheasant (the national bird). A crowd of people gathered as I tried to explain this bird, until i took out a 1000 bill and showed them the bird on the back. The man (a famous Taiwanese painter I am told) had to use the bill to paint the bird. When I told them the female was brown, the woman helping him told me it would be more beautiful if it was blue...I asked that it be brown so I got a part brown/blue female. The most amazing part was the throng of people that gathered as soon as I stepped over to the artist...both when I ordered the painting and when I came back to pick it up. Where noone had been...tens of people stood...
A good day in a new town!
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