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Players of the art, known as 'Gan Le' in Taiwan, set the toys
spinning by throwing them a short distance while at the same
time inducing rotation by unwinding a string curled around the
pointed base.
The eight-member Sanxia Pinpoint Spinning Top Team show off
their skills every week at the Hsing Lung temple in the capital,
landing the rotating toys on small platforms of varying height
and popping balloons after running the tops along strings.
"My hope is to promote this Taiwanese folk memory of spinning
tops," Tseng Kuo-hua, who founded the group in 1994, told
Reuters.
Traditional forms of entertainment are becoming rare in Taiwan's
big cities, but can still be glimpsed in more remote areas.
The efforts of the team, aged from 50 to 80, drew applause from
an intrigued crowd.
"I think that traditional culture is slowly disappearing," said
one spectator, 20-year-old Chang Chiao-han. "That we still get
to see this performance is very special and a lot of fun."
(Writing by Patrick Johnston Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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