Every year, in the two-week run up to the Lunar New Year break, businesses along Taipei’s Dihua Street hold a special Lunar New Year specialties market.
The store-lined roads, with outside stalls laden with New Year dried fruits, candies, spiced drinks and meat jerkies, are packed with people anxious to stock up for the holiday.
The weather was cold on Wednesday, but mercifully sunny to take the bite from the cold, and the air was full of anticipation and festive spirit.
Photo: Paul Cooper, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報記者古德謙
The sellers themselves, wearing matching Lunar New Year jackets and tops in each individual stall, were all in a jovial mood, smiling and joking with the customers as they handed out free samples and took their money.
The shoppers were dressed up warm, some in casual clothes, some in their best suits for the occasion; there were monks and foreigners and photographers and mothers bringing their children, as well as pet owners, carrying their dogs on their shoulders or pushing them along in pet pushchairs. There was one guy walking his pet pig — he’d had it for five months, he said — which had its snout pressed to the ground, hoovering the tarmac for fallen sweets, treats or dried meats.
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
Photo: Paul Cooper, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報記者古德謙
每年春節假期前兩週左右,台北迪化街的商家都會辦理年貨市集。
商店林立的年貨大街擠滿趕辦年貨的人,店鋪前擺出的攤子滿是蜜餞、糖果、薑茶和肉乾等年貨。
週三天氣很冷,但幸好出了太陽,驅走了一些寒意,空氣中充滿著年節的味道與對過年的期盼。
Photo: Paul Cooper, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報記者古德謙
每攤的售貨員都穿著自家店統一的春節外套及上衣,喜氣洋洋,發試吃品和收錢的時候,都跟顧客有說有笑。
採買的顧客穿著保暖的衣服,有些只是居家服,也有人穿得很慎重。人群中有僧侶、外國人、攝影師、帶著孩子的母親,以及把狗扛在肩上或用寵物推車推著的飼主。還有一個人牽著寵物豬──他說他已經養了五個月──那隻豬把鼻子貼在地上,把掉在路面上的糖果、零食或肉乾吸起來吃。
(台北時報林俐凱譯)
Photo: Paul Cooper, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報記者古德謙
Photo: Paul Cooper, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報記者古德謙
A: And how about the other star signs? B: Libras can benefit from multiple perspectives, Scorpios will be tough as steel and Sagittariuses may travel around. A: Cool, what’s next? B: Capricorns may take the lead, Aquarius may start a new life and Pisces should be well prepared for action. A: I hope we’ll have a lot of good fortune in the Year of the Snake. A: 其他的星座運勢如何? B: 「天秤座」左右逢源、「天蠍座」百煉成鋼、「射手座」志在四方。 A: 還有呢? B: 「摩羯座」一馬當先、「水瓶座」脫胎換骨、「雙魚座」蓄勢待發。 A: 希望大家在蛇年能好運旺旺來! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Undersea cables are conductors wrapped in insulating materials and laid on the seabed. Their main functions are telecommunications or power transmission. The core of the undersea cables used for Internet signals is optical fiber, using light to transmit Internet signals. Taiwan’s communications are currently handled by 10 domestic undersea cables and 14 international undersea cables. About 99 percent of Taiwan’s Internet bandwidth relies on undersea cables, making them Taiwan’s “digital lifeline.” The demands on the cables’ bandwidth are only set to increase with the development of artificial intelligence (AI), which relies on the data fed into it. Today, data is
Recent events in Taiwan have highlighted the contentious nature of “priority seating” on public transportation. Incidents, such as passengers experiencing emotional distress after being compelled to give up their seats and elderly individuals attacking others after being refused a seat, have prompted a national reassessment of this policy. Some voices in Taiwan now advocate for abolishing priority seats to prevent such conflicts. This issue is not unique to Taiwan. In South Korea, where respect for the elderly is deeply ingrained, priority seating has led to similar confrontations. Younger passengers often face accusations of disrespect if they do not yield seats. In
A: Astrologer Ai Fei-er has just released his horoscope reading for this year. B: What do the stars tell us? A: Aries may be reborn through challenges, Tauruses should keep learning and Geminis will have double the good luck. B: Wow, so lucky. A: Cancers may see the light in the dark, Leos should conceal their ability and bide their time and Virgos will brave the wind and waves. A: 艾菲爾老師的2025年星座大預測出爐啦。 B: 今年各星座運勢如何? A: 「牡羊座」挑戰重生、「金牛座」學無止境、「雙子座」幸運倍增。 B: 真幸運! A: 「巨蟹座」柳暗花明、「獅子座」韜光養晦、「處女座」乘風破浪。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)