The "MUSE Design Awards" have announced the list of winners for the first quarter of 2023, and the primary lantern, "Happy Rabbit in Happiness Taichung" of the 2023 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival, and the major carpet, "Courage Heart" of the 2020 Taichung international flower carpet festival from the Tourism and Travel Bureau of Taichung City Government successfully stood out and won two "Conceptual Design Platinum Awards" and one "Lighting Design Platinum Award." They added three platinum awards to Taichung International Tourism Marketing at one time.

According to Mei-Xiu Chen, the Tourism and Travel Bureau Director, MUSE Design Awards is affiliated with International Awards Associates (IAA). They created the design competition in 2015 and divided it into ten central award programs--architectural, interior, product, fashion, transportation, packaging, furniture, conceptual, lighting, and landscape design. The primary lantern, "Happy Rabbit in Happiness Taichung" of the 2023 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival, and the major carpet, "Courage Heart" of the 2020 Taichung international flower carpet festival, won the Platinum Award, the highest honor for conceptual design and lighting design, which is not easy. The organizer selected the major carpet, "Heart of Courage," of the 2020 Taichung international flower carpet festival as the first season annual award in the conceptual design category and directly exposed the photos on the homepage of the official website. This significantly enhanced the visibility of Taichung City's activities and is the honor and pride of the entire city government.

Director Chen indicated that the primary lantern of "Happy Rabbit in Happiness Taichung" of the 2023 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival is the most favored lantern group for the public. It stands on a landscaped pool, with buildings scattered along the two sides of the sphere and marginal lines outlining the city's skyline. They are the well-known Taichung International Convention and Exhibition Center, Central Taiwan Cinema Center, and National Taichung Theater while transforming into a planet full of surprises at night. The appearance of HAPPY Rabbit is designed with golden and royal blue as the primary colors that symbolize wealth and good luck. The lines on the rabbit body are adapted from the traditional auspicious totem, equipped with 130 beam lights around the lake. The main light show has climaxed and is eye-catching, the most water principal light show in Taiwan. The exhibition period of just nine days has attracted more than 1.95 million visitors. It is now shining internationally, besides the public deeply loving it.

Furthermore, since 2020, the Taichung International Flower Carpet Festival has been elevated to an international-level event in Taiwan's tourism calendar, and the number of visitors has grown year by year. It is the most well-known large-scale flower event in autumn and winter. The 2020 Taichung international flower carpet festival theme was Alice in Wonderland. And the primary flower carpet "Heart of Courage" reproduces the classic scene of Alice fighting against the Queen of Hearts. The 10-meter-tall Queen of Hearts device combines flower planting technology and dynamic mechanisms with lantern crafts to create a large-scale three-dimensional flower carpet installation. The main flower carpet show uses the hands and feet of the Queen of Hearts and playing card soldiers to go with the music, matching the lingering smoke to create a tense and exciting adventure atmosphere. Compared with the fearless Alice in front of her, an echo of movement, stillness, and size contrast, highlights Alice's courageous heart even more.

The Tourism and Travel Bureau added that Taichung is a grand ceremony city with exciting activities every month and every season. In the future, they will continue to promote Taichung to the international market through various means, such as high-quality event management, international travel exhibitions and promotions, and international media and travel agencies stepping on lines. The city government looks forward to international tourists coming to experience the diverse customs and colorful four-season activities of the mountain, sea, village, and city in Taichung.