Hsinchu County Government held a grand parade on October 10th, also known as “Double Tenth Day” to celebrate National Day. After Magistrate Chiu Ching-chun, Council Speaker Zhang Zheng-rong and people from all over Taiwan attended the flag-raising ceremony at Hsinchu County Second Stadium, the parade kicked off with nearly 50 groups of paraders holding and small national flags. The procession passed through “Flag Tunnel,” which featured “blue sky, white sun and a wholly red earth,” and walked by Guang-ming Commercial District. Along the route, it successfully caught many people’s attention.
Magistrate Chiu stated that this year’s flag-raising ceremony was held specifically at Second Stadium to show its brand new look after renovation due to 2017 Summer Universiade. In the future, Second Stadium would be open for public use. Magistrate Chiu further revealed that in addition to the flag-raising ceremony, Hsinchu County Government organized a parade and set up thousands of national flags along the main roads. He hoped that people could rejoice together and sincerely wished the Republic of China a happy birthday.
The two mascots of Hsinchu County—Taiwan Barbet and Pi-pi Lion led the parade, followed by 11 government teams representing different themes, such as “Intelligent City” and “Glory of Hsinchu County.” In the procession, Hukou Township’s spectacular 100-meter-long Dragon and New Tile House Folk Drum Troupe presented splendid performances. Mascots from the Police Bureau, Fire Bureau and Leofoo Village Theme Park also weave their way through the procession and had great fun with people alongside. Aside from local participants, a group of new inhabitants in traditional clothes joined in the parade as well, making it an unprecedented international carnival. Through the chance, they were able to know more about Zhubei City and blend in with the local community.
This year’s celebration of National Day was strongly supported by Guang-ming Commercial District Development Association, which had urged 10 stores in total to launch a discount campaign. Those who got the coupons from the parade could receive discounts or gifts when making purchases at the appointed stores. Last but not least, people could also get specially designed flag-patterned key chains from the parade. All of these really marked a wonderful ending to the four-day holiday!