More than 4,000 fans of the boy band Fahrenheit (飛輪海) gathered at the National Taiwan University auditorium yesterday afternoon to meet their idols in a concert that aimed to promote the tourism industry.
Although the event was scheduled to begin at 3pm, eager fans began lining up outside the auditorium in the morning to secure good spots.
Some fans were chosen to play games with their idols on stage and received prizes, including a three-day trip around Taiwan. Each fan also received a poster, an Easycard and a glowing fan featuring a group photo of Fahrenheit.
PHOTO: CNA
Wayne Liu (劉喜臨), director of the Tourism Bureau’s international affairs division, said Fahrenheit were the nation’s tourism ambassadors in Japan and South Korea this year, replacing their predecessor, boyband F4. He said that while F4 had been effective in generating interest among female fans in their late 30s and early 40s, Fahrenheit appeared to be the favorite among people in the 18-to-25 age group.
The event will be broadcast through Azio TV’s Asia network and the Internet service IM.TV, he said.
Aside from Japan and South Korea, the band also drew fans from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Statistics from the bureau showed that about 1.08 million Japanese tourists visited Taiwan last year, down 6.83 percent from 2007. Overall, approximately 16 million Japanese traveled abroad last year, a decrease of 7.6 percent from 2007.
While the value of the South Korean won dropped drastically last year, more than 250,000 South Koreans visited Taiwan, a growth of 11.71 percent from the previous year.
In related news, 1,310 diamond-class sales managers from Japan’s Daihatsu Motor will be arriving this week on a four-day tour offered by the company for top employees.
The bureau said this was the third time the company had organized the tour. Good food and friendliness toward Japanese were two of the main reasons why Taiwan was selected as the destination for the tour, the bureau said. While some arrived yesterday, the rest were scheduled to arrive at different times between now and next Tuesday.
The Daihatsu tour was preceded by one organized by the Japanese cosmetic firm POLA, which rewarded 1,300 sales representatives with a free trip to Taiwan last week.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS