Hi and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Allie Highsmith.

And I'm Nancy Sun.

In today's episode - how keeping everyone healthy inspired this 100-year old
festival.

And how this little monkey won the hearts of fans around the world.

Plus… the word of the day is "ABUZZ".

All those stories, coming up.
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台南市每年的煙火節讓大家好興奮！
Tainan town abuzz for this yearly fireworks festival

The district of Yanshui (鹽水) is less than 40 kilometers from Tainan, and is
one of the oldest ports in Taiwan.

But Yanshui is also known as one of the most dangerous spots in Taiwan thanks
to a festival that happens every year.

The Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival takes place on the 14th and 15th days
of the first month of the lunar calendar.
鹽水蜂炮節在農曆正月十四日和十五日舉行.

This event is held to mark the Lantern Festival, but it didn't start out that
way.
這個活動是為了慶祝元宵節而舉辦的，但它最初並非如此。

More than a hundred years ago, in 1885, there was an epidemic (流行病) of a
disease called cholera (霍亂).

To get help, the residents went to the local temple to pray.

They were told that the god would get rid of evil spirits for them, but the
residents had to greet the god with plenty of firecrackers.
居民們聽說神明會幫他們趕走邪靈，但他們必須用很多鞭炮來迎接神明。

The sound and the lights was supposed to get rid of disease, and bring luck
for the coming year.

Now, the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival uses towers decorated with plenty
of lights, that are packed with bottle rockets (瓶火箭).

Some towers are packed with 2,000 rockets and others are packed with as many
as 600 thousand rockets!

All these rockets are then fired into the crowd (向人群發射) at the same
time.

It might sound dangerous, but the people who take part in the festival say
getting hit by a rocket means the end of bad luck- and blessings for the year
ahead.

Officials and organizers think about two million bottle rockets are used
every year!

But not everyone that gets hit by the rockets are lucky.

Some people end up in the hospital because they get hurt.

The bottle rockets can hurt people so badly - the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks
Festival is considered one of the most dangerous festivals in the world.

So would you take part in the event?
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BITE-SIZED BREAK

And in this episode's Bite-Sized Break, we hear a riddle from 13-year-old
Curtis from Chien-kuo Junior High School in Taoyuan City.
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日本獼猴愛絨毛娃娃 打動全世界
Punch the Monkey steals international hearts from a Japanese Zoo

Punch is a Japanese macaque (日本獼猴) who was born at the Ichikawa City Zoo
(市川市動物園) in July of 2025.

He looks just like any other macaque in the 'Monkey Mountain' habitat.

But unlike other monkeys in the enclosure Punch spends many many weeks
hanging out with a stuffed orange orangutan.
但與其他圈養猴子不同，Punch 花了好幾個星期的時間和一個橙色的毛絨猩猩待在一起。

Punch doesn't have any macaque friends at the zoo for a reason.

Zookeepers say Punch was abandoned by his mother (被母親遺棄), so he had to
be raised by the zoo's human keepers instead (動物園飼養員).

When it was time for Punch to be reintroduced to the group of 60 macaques, he
had a really difficult time making friends

Zookeepers say the young monkeys can only learn to make friends and interact
(互動) with other monkeys when they watch older animals.

But because Punch was raised by humans, he didn't know how to belong.

And because he had no friends, he could only find comfort by hanging out
with the human keepers and with his toy orange orangutan.
因為他沒有朋友，所以他只能透過和人類飼養員以及他的橙色玩具猩猩待在一起來獲得慰藉。

He went viral (在網路上爆紅) after many videos circulating online (網路流傳),
showed him hugging and playing with his toy.

Punch became so popular, many people went to visit the zoo just to watch him.

Many fans get upset when they see older macaques treat Punch badly.

And they go on the internet to complain about it.

Punch isn't having an easy time, but his keepers say things are about to
change.

They say Punch has begun to make friends with the older macaques, which makes
the human keepers very happy.

And while Punch has spent many weeks and months with his toy orangutan, there
will come a time when he won't need it any more.

That's when the zookeepers and his fans will know Punch has found his place
in the group.
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RECAP

So, in today's News Bites…

Tainan holds the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival.

People want to get hit by the rockets, but they sometimes get hurt.
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And…

Punch the monkey is winning hearts in Japan.

He has a hard time making friends, but he's getting there!
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NEWS FLASH

In today's News Flash, our word of the day is "ABUZZ".

Now doesn't that word sound like the noise plenty of bees make?

The word "abuzz" (嗡嗡聲) means many things are happening at the same time,
and a place is full of excitement.

So when a place is getting ready for a festival - like the Yanshui Beehive
Fireworks Festival, you could say the town was 'abuzz with activity.'

And now you know!
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If you have a fun fact or a joke you'd like to share with us, record your
message and send us your Bite-Sized Break to newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you
might hear it in an episode!

We'll see you next time for a new exciting episode of News Bites.