This year's traditional pole-climbing competition at the Hengchun Ghost Festival took on an interesting turn, as the organizers of the event provided teams with wider and shorter cloth strips than previous years', thereby increasing the contest's overall level of difficulty.

Thirty-two teams participated in the annual Hengchun Ghost Festival traditional pole-climbing competition this year. As usual, the posts were smeared with butter. However, the game officials also introduced something new: shorter and wider cloth strips for the participants to use as they climbed. The teams appeared unaccustomed to this change, and many of the teams only climbed halfway up the pole before inevitably sliding back down.

When this year's competition dragged past the customary two hours, the organizers considered distributing additional strips to help quicken the pace of the event. Meanwhile, arguments broke out among the fans of various teams.

After a strenuous four hours, the Manatees reached the platform at the top. It took the team over ten minutes during the third phase of the competition just to grab the flag, but they were finally able to complete the competition and emerged as winners.