People planning a bicycle tour along the east coast will soon be able to maximize their experience thanks to a Web portal developed by the Institute of Transportation that will be officially launched on Saturday to coincide with the Taiwan Bike Festival.
Institute of Transportation -Director-General Lin Tyh-ming (林志明) told a weekly ministerial meeting at the Ministry of -Transportation and Communications on Thursday that the contents of the portal would initially only be available in traditional Chinese.
However, Lin said the institute was planning to translate the contents into English so foreign tourists and English-speaking residents could organize bike tours using the travel information provided on the portal.
The institute has also produced a cellphone edition of the portal so people can access the information via their cellphones, he said.
Lin said Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) had asked the institute to add a function on the portal that provides travelers with a panoramic view every 500m along the route.
The institute said the system covers the bike routes starting in Fulong (福隆), Taipei County, all the way through Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties.
The portal also provides links to the Tourism Bureau Web site, allowing travelers to access information about scenic spots along the way.
In addition, the institute said its system enables travelers to customize their tours and schedule their routes.
If a person wants to visit hot springs, flower beds or buy local snacks while cycling in Yuli (玉里), Hualien County, for example, they simply need to enter those conditions and the system would produce a list of proposed routes.
The information listed in the proposed routes will include the distance of a route, the locations where bicycles can be rented and the public transportation systems available to access the route’s starting point.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
‘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
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
RSS