Translated by Cara Steenstra

News released by the Government Information Office

Release Date: 2006-02-05

On February 5th, 2006, amidst the cheers of audiences, Mayor Jason Hu, Snoopy and VIPs from various industries announced the official start of the 2006 Snoopy World Lantern Exhibition. This lantern exhibition will take place between February 5th and 12th, lasting a total of eight days. Huge crowds of people already rushed to see Snoopy on the day of the opening ceremony.

Mayor Hu expressed that Taichung City has been steadily heading towards internationalization. For this Lantern Festival, Taichung won the international right to transform Snoopy into a Chinese style lantern, attracting worldwide attention. Mayor Hu thanked the cooperation of the City Council and the community for the success of this lantern exhibition. As for the popular Snoopy Lanterns, the city government has already increased production of them. From 7pm on February 12th onwards, 3000 of these lanterns will be distributed free of charge each day at the outdoor playground food vending area of Guang Fu Elementary School.

The Taichung City Government and Snoopy welcomes home all those who have been living or traveling abroad, as well as friends from all over the world, in celebration of this year's Lantern Festival in Taichung. For more information, please check www.ze.com.tw