Anding District Office held a Chinese New Year event in the square of Anding Village’s Bao-an Temple at 2:00pm on Sunday, January 27. Welcoming the Year of the Pig, those in attendance wrote Spring Festival couplets expressing messages of “out with the old, in with the new” and wishing for a happy new year. Violet Cloud Calligraphy Club wrote and then gifted their New Year couplets and different communities came together to organize a flea market. There was also a book giveaway, an activity where recyclables could be exchanged for promotional products, and the crowd was also given a lesson on earthquake disaster prevention.
The site was jam-packed with people each holding onto their own New Year scroll as they weaved through the community flea market, searching for celebrated local agricultural goods. The crowd was also excited about the gift exchange area for recyclables and the book giveaway. Anding District Chief Liu Shih-Hsiung places great emphasis on spreading information about disaster prevention, which explains why he was on-site teaching the public about earthquake preparedness. People earned a small gift as long as they were able to complete the three steps of earthquake disaster prevention on the spot. Liu’s instruction was both informative and fun, and he hopes that through events like this people can be reminded of the importance of disaster prevention.