Pinghsi Sky Lanterns During Lantern Festival, beautiful sky lanterns light the still night sky over the village of Pinghsi creating a scene of unusual beauty. Located in a remote mountain area outside of Taipei, Pinghsi developed slowly and was not very accessible. Originally inhabited by indigenous people, the region was later developed by Han settlers who were often the victims of murder and robbery during earlier times. Since access to the region was inconvenient, these pioneers came up with the idea of releasing "sky lanterns" to let others know that they were safe and sound. Through the years this practice evolved into a popular cultural tradition celebrated annually during Lantern Festival. Sky Lanterns are also known as "Kung Ming lanterns," since some say they were invented by Chu Ke-liang (also known as Kung Ming) during the Three Kingdoms period as way of communication during war time. According to another story, the name came from the resemblance of the lanterns to the hat worn by this famous prime minister. Despite the remoteness of the Pinghsi area, the sky lantern festivities draw huge crowds thanks to wide reporting of the event in the media. Not only do the number of lanterns increase with every event, their size continually grows as well. The lanterns are decorated with colorful pictures, the names of their owners, and wishes such as "The higher the lamp flies, the higher your business will soar."