Lanterns, Dragons & Heavy Metal Music
Meet the 27-Year-Old Lighting Up Tainan’s Temple Art Scene

By Lin Hsien-Yun / Tainan

AUG 2025

You’ve heard of Japan’s Nebuta Festival in Aomori, where giant illuminated floats dazzle crowds every summer. But tucked away in the narrow alleys of Tainan’s historic West Central District is Taiwan’s very own answer to sleeping giants—Yuán Huī Lantern Shop (苑輝燈舖).

Only here, the dragons are painted by a soft-spoken 27-year-old who blasts heavy metal in his headphones while bringing mythical beasts to life.

The fourth-generation artist: from social work to shrine work

Meet Wang Jui-Cheng (王睿誠), a brush-wielding rebel who finished a social work degree from Tunghai University for a full-time gig painting temple lanterns with the precision of a master calligrapher and the energy of a rock guitarist.

He’s not your typical heritage craftsman. Think less incense smoke, more Iron Maiden.

A family shop that glows across generations

Yuán Huī Lantern Shop has been illuminating southern Taiwan’s temple festivals since 1934. Temples across Tainan commission the shop to create ceremonial lanterns for religious processions, deities’ birthdays, and ghost month rituals. Their specialty?

The “Dragon Lantern”—a fierce green dragon swirling across a golden yellow background, representing power, clarity, and divine light.

Jui-Cheng and his cousin, a trained designer, now co-run the business with three other family members. Orders flow in from across Taiwan and even from as far away as Singapore and Japan. Each lantern is one-of-a-kind, each character hand-brushed in a traditional script passed down over generations.

And yes, he takes requests—but not all of them.

If your custom order clashes with temple aesthetics or is deemed “inappropriate by the gods,” Jui-Cheng will gently suggest you ask the divine for a second opinion.

Plan your visit

If you're the kind of traveler who loves local craft, obscure alleyways, and meeting artists who keep cultural fire burning—Yuán Huī Lantern Shop is a must. You might not walk out with a full-size dragon lantern (unless you have space in your suitcase), but you’ll definitely walk away glowing.

Travel Tip:

Lantern painting is at its peak in the months leading up to Lunar New Year. Call ahead if you want to see the artists in action or place a custom order. And if you hear Slayer playing in the background? That just means the dragon is almost done.