Introduction

The wind in Shimen creates an amazing natural landscape, and vividly colorful kites float through the blue sky, attracting groups and 

enthusiasts from all over. The goal of this festival is to promote local culture and tourism, integrate local resources to create a 

cultural area, and market features of local industries.

Activities

1. Kite education Kite education is integrated with school curricula to teach children about different types of kites such as diamond kites, pot kites, octagonal kites, paragliding kites, butterfly kites, and fighting kites, as well as how to adjust and release kites. Children learn how to make and release kites, stimulating their imagination and creativity.

2. International Trick Kite PK Competition Trick kites come in many colors and varieties and take a certain degree of skill to fly. Performances feature decorated kites and accompanying music and drama, with kites performing a stirring spectacle against the stage of a blue sky.

3. International Kite Show Famous kite flyers from Taiwan and abroad will compete in traditional, creative, trick, wave, and candy kite shows. There will also be a discussion on the features, production, and flying techniques of kites from different countries.

4. Kite and Pinwheel Education Shimen Township is famous for its wind, and a variety of kite creativity education activities will give everyone a chance to learn about kite culture. Kite and pinwheel DIY education will accompany the annual kite festival and promote kite culture.

5. Limited Edition Lighthouse Kites The lighthouse at Cape Prosperity is the northernmost one in Taiwan and is an important landmark of Shimen. The annual lighthouse kite flying event has been very popular, and this year we hope to develop them into souvenirs with features of Shimen.

6. Shimen agricultural product exhibition and kite market Included are promotions on Shimen specialty products such as rice dumplings, agar cake making and kite DIY, a kite market, and an agricultural product exhibition, ensuring that everyone gets to try delicious foods and have a good time at the festival.

7. Shimen Tour Development of a Shimen Township travel package and organized tour for people to appreciate the unique feeling and beauty of Shimen is planned.

Purpose

1. In order to promote international culture exchange Through the efforts of the city and county governments for over a decade, as well as expert kite fliers, Taiwan’s trick and creative kite shows have improved dramatically and become internationally recognized events as well as platforms for international kite cultural exchange.

2. Promotion of kite culture The activity of kite-flying encompasses many fields including art, exercise, folk arts, and science. Therefore, we hope to use it as a starting point to build up Shimen’s features, and to expand the scope of related kite-themed activities.

3. Focus on promoting health and recreation A kite’s ability to soar through the sky is due to careful balance between its weight, the power of wind, and the pulling force of the kite flier. Kite flying can thus be considered a game between man and nature, and kite-flying goes hand in hand with enjoying nature while improving health. It is an activity which combines health with recreation.

4. Marketing Shimen’s Culture and Tourist Attractions The kite festival has a deep and significant influence on Shimen Township, including benefiting local industries, cultural/recreational activities, and living environments, in addition to changing peoples’ concepts of kite flying.

Local Attractions

Kite Park

The Kite Park is the only one of its kind in Taiwan. When the weather is good, kites of all sizes and colors can be seen soaring 

through the sky. When experts from all over the world gather for the International Kite Festival, kites fill the sky with color, bringing joy and nostalgia for childhood fantasies of flight. With its back to the mountain and facing the sea, the park commands a grand view, and one can find repose from the noise and bustle of city life when relaxing in a pavilion, gazing at the ocean and listening to the tides. The park’s coastline also features the stone channel, a natural wonder formed over thousands of years as waves eroded the softer parts of the reef and left behind a channel formed by the more durable parts. The northeast season brings strong winds and crashing waves as well as the proliferation of sea algae such as sea lettuce and charophyta, creating a marvelous phenomenon known as Taiwan’s only “green coast.” During April and May, the green coast attracts numerous photographers who come to lose themselves in the beauty and attempt to capture a moment of it.

Baishawan (White Sand Beach)

Surrounded on either side by Linshanbi and Cape Prosperity, Baishawan is a half-moon shaped natural bay famous for its 1.3 

kilometer stretch of fine white sand, where tourists come to frolic in the waves during the heat of summer. Among the sand and seashells, a variety of colorful beach umbrellas and tents cover the beach. Young people play volleyball, and the area also features water sports such as banana boats or jet skis, making Baishawan a tourist attraction rivaling Kenting in southern Taiwan. It’s also located close to the greater Taipei area and therefore a safe destination where parents often bring their children and Labrador dogs, which are natural swimmers, to play in the water. The best way to beat the summer heat is to come to Baishawan, a water paradise. Although other beaches are gradually being developed along Taiwan’s north eastern coast, they are unlikely to approach Baishawan in terms of popularity.

Cape Prosperity Lighthouse

Standing at the southern and northern edges of Taiwan, the shining white Eluanbi Lighthouse and the black and white Cape 

Prosperity Lighthouse have long guided sea travelers to home and safety. Built in 1896 during the Japanese colonial era, the latter was intended as a landmark for navigation routes and undersea cables betweenTaiwan and Japan. Constructed entirely of material shipped from Japan, it was completed in 1897. At the time, construction on the north coast was severely hampered in autumn and winter by heavy fog and strong winds from the northeast, and a foghorn was installed to warn ships during heavy fog. The Cape Prosperity recreation area is also home to the Fuji fishing harbor, famous for fresh seafood, as well as a park with cliff pathways and mazes for children to play in. Here, fiery red Indian Blanket flowers rival an azure blue sky in brilliance, and the two provide a beautiful contrast.