The 2010 Asia Pacific Traditional Arts Festival is held on October 2 in I-lan County, and the theme for this year will be North Asian atmosphere.

The people of North Asia, which sits several thousand kilometers from Taiwan, have been invited to perform at the festival with the hopes of bringing a bit of the North Asian culture to the audience through art.

Balancing multiple bowls on their heads, the dancers move so gracefully.

All of these dancers are members of the Mongolian National Song and Dance Academic Ensemble. At the finale, the performers surprised the audience as they poured water from bowls on their heads.

People in Taiwan can now enjoy this classical Mongolian bowl dance at the nine-day arts festival here in I-lan.

Besides Mongolian performers, people from the Sakha Republic in the Arctic Circle will also be bringing their national folk songs and a traditional harmonica performance.

North Asia lies in close proximity to Taiwan, but many Taiwanese are still unfamiliar with their culture.

Many of these performances are today considered invaluable cultural heritages treasured by the UNESCO.

The festival will hopefully bring a rich dose of North Asian atmosphere to the Taiwan audience.