00:00How would you celebrate the 150th anniversary of your city's founding?
00:07Well, if you're Hengchun in southern Taiwan, you hold a concert
00:11and a contest where competitors race to the top of greasy poles.
00:22It's a traditional activity called Chianggu, which has been around since the Qing dynasty.
00:28And it's a key part of Hengchun's annual celebrations.
00:31We've joined a very, veryęęē¾©, like Taiwan's religion.
00:41Taiwan, the entire religion of the Qingchun, our Qingchun, our Hengchun, our Hengchun, our Hengchun, our Hengchun, our Hengchun.
00:53This year, 17 teams signed up to make the slippery ascent.
01:01Thousands of people watched the spectacle, held on a massive makeshift platform.
01:07Participants had to climb one of 36 poles, each 23 meters tall.
01:12In the end, a team from a funeral service company won the event, taking roughly seven minutes to make it to the top.
01:19They got to take home a grand prize of around 11,000 U.S. dollars.
01:26Climbing greasy poles may not be the most conventional way of celebrating a town's birthday.
01:31But in this southern Taiwanese city, it's a cherished tradition.
01:36One that's still going strong after more than a century.
01:39Howard Tsang and Leslie Liao for Taiwan Plus.
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