Old Caoling Tunnel (舊草嶺隧道), which is scheduled to officially open next Sunday, is now open to cyclists.
Linking Fulong (福隆) in Taipei County with Shihcheng (石城) in Ilan County, the tunnel was the nation’s first train tunnel and was perhaps better known for inspiring the Taiwanese folk song Diudiudang (丟丟銅).
First opened in 1924, it was officially closed after the Taiwan Railway Administration changed the railway route in 1986.
Last year, the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration decided to turn the tunnel into a tourist attraction. To this end, the administration removed all the railway tracks in the tunnel and built new pavement. A bicycle lane was also built to allow cyclists to ride through the tunnel.
In June last year, the administration hosted weekend tours to allow tourists to walk through the tunnel.
The administration conducted a trial operation during the first weekend of last month, allowing cyclists to ride through the tunnel for the first time.
People interested in taking a bike tour can take the train and get off at Fulong, where they can rent bikes and ride approximately 2.5km before they reach the north end of the tunnel, the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration said.
After exiting the tunnel, visitors will be able to see Turtle Island (龜山島) in the distance as well as other coastal scenery in the Pacific Ocean.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
RSS