Taipei 101's Fireworks Show Clocks In at 360 Seconds|台北101煙火秀 動畫燈光效果十足

Revelers in northern Taiwan welcomed the new year in different ways. In Taipei, Taipei 101 started the new year's countdown at the record time 99 seconds, and its fireworks display included animations and a light show. Meanwhile, Taoyuan City celebrated without fireworks to highlight the importance of environmental protection.


Although the weather in Taipei was cold and wet on the last day of 2018, thousands of revelers still gathered near Taipei 101 to watch its annual New Year's Eve fireworks extravaganza. In past years, the countdown started at 60 seconds. This year, the countdown was extended to 99 seconds. Another difference was the use of animations in conjunction with the fireworks. There was also a video of celebrities from 17 different disciplines counting down towards the new year and welcoming 2019, including baseball player Chen Wei-yin and sculptor Ju Ming.

There were of course good things about 2018 and bad things. Let's all happily welcome 2019 together.

The show also celebrated all types of professions to highlight their joint effort in pushing Taiwan forward. Taiwan's fruit was also thrust into the spotlight in honor of its reputation as the "fruit kingdom." This year, 16,000 fireworks were set off during the Taipei 101 fireworks display. Although this number did not change compared to previous years, this year also included animations and a light show, increasing the length of the extravaganza to a record 360 seconds. However, the fireworks display was not the highlight of the New Year's Eve celebration.

The highlight came when singer A-mei appeared on stage and began performing. She sang 16 songs without taking a break, while the audience cheered her on.

Meanwhile, Taoyuan City decided to make its New Year's Eve countdown more eco-friendly and declined to release fireworks.

Instead, the arrival of the new year was celebrated with pink streamers. Emcees Mickey Huang and Lulu led the crowd in shouting "Happy New Year!" Taiwan's cities and counties showed off their creativity with a variety of New Year's Eve celebrations to say goodbye to 2018 and welcome 2019.