Taipei’s Wanhua District is the sort of place you don’t soon forget. It can be on the gritty side, but the area packs a punch when it comes to historic buildings, street food, and old temples full of old traditions. Among the district’s treasures is a grand temple festival and parade that has been held regularly for 165 years, commemorating the lifting of a great epidemic that hit the area's 19th century townspeople. Appropriately enough for a year filled with disease, the 2020 edition of the festival, which ended last week, was the largest yet, attracting, per local media reports,100,000 or so participants. Late into the night, over the course of three days, firecrackers lit up the streets as revelers held a procession in honor to the gods that lifted the plague all those years ago. This year, though, things are a little different. The celebration this time around started early, back on November 27. And while the streets have calmed down, it’s actually not over yet. This year, the Taiwan-based General Association of Chinese Culture has organized several weeks of events and exhibits around the big bash to attract visitors to Wanhua and bring its history, plague and all, to life. The association’s deputy secretary-general, Li Houqing,  joins us today for an overview of Wanhua’s history and all of the activities planned this year to celebrate it.