Fear Factor in Formosa

GoNomad's team of professional photographers are covering the country of Taiwan with a fine-tooth lens right now. It's just Paul and me but from the southern harbor town of Kaohsiung scaling northward to the metropolitan Capital of Taipei, there's not been time for even a power nap. That suits me fine. Between the night markets, lantern festival, fireworks display and last night's Beehive Rockets Festival, the adrenaline rush from hot burning amber singeing my clothes is priceless.

The Beehive Rockets was the most unforgettable experience I survived to blog about. Just 5 hours ago, in the sleepy town of Yanshuei, an explosion of low-flying dynamite sticks took place. It filled the air with rancid smoke and ear-splitting noise. It set off car alarms and fire departments. It dirtied the ground with 3 inches of shells and soot. It was the epitome of fun for a photog.

As I understand it, the tradition started over 100 years ago in the prosperous town of Yanshuei. It was nearly destroyed by a pestilence and the God of War intervened with a remedy to rid the evil spirits using gun smoke. A large wooden box was built to house countless pounds of TNT and then set fire to envelope the city in plume of smoke. The antiseptic worked and nobody was the wiser for saving civilization using an ancient Chinese method.

But today, somehow that tradition has evolved into a free-for-all masochistic rite of passage for the slightly maladjusted. Thousands of thrill seekers donn helmets and thick clothing, some even without any protection and stand directly in firing range of the rockets. The wick is lit and rocket shrapnel starts flying everywhere. All the colors of a traditional fireworks festival but seen from the ground. Masses of Taiwanese go running for cover except the fool-hardy. They absorb a beating of a lifetime from pelting whizzing bottle rockets. Truly, it's unbelievable. The detonation lasts only a minute and then the cycle repeats itself further down the road until early morning. Do I have cigarette-like burn marks to share as a result? Not exactly but I do have some incredible footage and a migraine that just won't go away!