00:00Vinjen, or Myanmar New Year, is a holiday known for its lively music, dancing and water fights meant to wash away misfortune.
00:11But this year's festivities were somber in Taiwan.
00:14New Taipei's Burmese Chinese community are praying for loved ones in Myanmar after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake devastated the country,
00:22killing over 3,000 people and displacing tens of thousands more.
00:27The main event is that we want to express the interest of the country in the United States.
00:34We want to express the interest of the country in the United States.
00:39We have two weeks in the United States,
00:45It's about $20,000, and we also have to send these money to the most, and we have to thank you.
00:58Thank you so much.
01:00Volunteers wove in and out of crowds calling for donations,
01:03and passers-by tied pieces of yellow string to trees in prayer.
01:07New Taipei's Little Myanmar is only a few blocks long,
01:10but for the over 100,000 Burmese Chinese living in Taiwan,
01:14it's a special gathering place, and vendors and visitors are out in droves for the New Year's festivities.
01:20But although they're celebrating their heritage with vibrant food and dress,
01:24for many, their hearts are with their family and friends back in Myanmar.
01:32Some restaurants offered free meals to warm the community with a taste of home.
01:37Some community members who typically perform in the New Year's festivities stayed off stage, instead focusing on prayer.
01:57Do you think today's activities are very different?
02:01Yes, it's very different.
02:03My heart is also very emotional.
02:06The weather is very dangerous.
02:09Some of my friends have been hurt.
02:13It's a feeling echoed in Mandalay, the central Myanmar city near the epicenter of the tremor.
02:19In a country already torn by three years of civil war,
02:23the ruling military junta has banned music and dance during the holiday.
02:31With the full cost of March's earthquake still unknown,
02:34many people in Myanmar face a difficult year.
02:37But in all the uncertainty ahead,
02:39they can count on the continued support of friends and loved ones in Taiwan.
02:43Lee Sun Chen and Tiffany Wong in New Taipei City for Taiwan Plus.
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