Q: Where are the good beaches?
A-Hok says:
If cleanliness is your concern, the good ol’ Environmental Protection Administration in June listed Taipei County’s New Jinshan Bathing Beach (新金山) as the cleanest beach on the island for swimming.
Taipei County’s Fulong Beach (福隆), Miaoli County’s Chiting (崎頂) and Tunghsiao beaches (通霄), and Taitung County’s Shanyuan Beach (杉原) are also good choices.
However, if gorgeous weather, a nice stretch of sand, and [not so] crystal clean waters in a million shades of blue is more your style, then A-hok would humbly suggest you visit the beaches in Kenting, and on Lanyu and Penghu islands.
Shawei (沙尾), which stretches for 1,000m in Penghu’s Chipei Islet (吉貝嶼), is known as the “golden beach.” It enjoys six months of summer sun a year and is said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in Taiwan.
Kenting’s South Bay (南灣), a heavenly beautiful but impossibly packed beach almost year-round, with soft sand, eternal sunshine and a gazillion stalls selling iced coffee and popsicles, is a beach every tourist dreams of.
Those looking for a reclusive spot can consider Lanyu (蘭嶼) island – with only 2,000-some residents and sandy beaches all around looking out to endless ocean — the whole island can be your backyard beach paradise.
Q: Where can I find out in English/Spanish/Filipino whether or not the offices and schools in Taipei will be closed during a typhoon?
A-hok says:
The Taipei City’s Information and Tourism Department told me that the city’s Web site (www.taipei.gov.tw) would replace its homepage with information from the city’s disaster prevention and rescue information page (http://tdprc2.tfd.gov.tw/TaipeiCityEms1_public/) at times when typhoons affect northern Taiwan.
The page provides updates on typhoon-related information in Chinese and English, and you can check whether the Taipei City Government has announced office and school closings for typhoon days.
You can also call the Taipei City Government’s 24-hour hotline by dialing 1999 to inquire about the possibility of office and schools closings on typhoon days.
The typhoon hotline offers inquiry services in English as well. Unfortunately, neither the Web site nor the hotline offer Spanish or Filipino services, the department said.
Radio Taiwan International does generally make typhoon-related announcements in their around-the-clock news programs in several languages, including Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese. You could check the broadcast schedule online (www.rti.org.tw) and find the news broadcast in the language you need.
If you have something you’d like to ask, please write to community@taipeitimes.com.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College