A record number of visitors descended on the Taipei International Flora Expo yesterday, thronging various venues and taking the event one step closer to an estimated 8.9 million as it concludes this evening.
By 8pm yesterday, 182,481 people had visited the expo during the day, breaking an earlier record of 153,833 set on Feb. 27.
This brought the total number of visitors to the expo to 8.8 million.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Expo spokesperson Ma Chien-hui (馬千惠) said the final day of the event, which would feature a full day of celebrations with carnivals and a fireworks show, was expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors.
Hoping for a last chance to visit the expo, visitors started lining up for tickets at 2am. About two hours later, all 3,000 appointment slips for the most popular pavilion, the Pavilion of Dreams, were gone.
High temperatures and overcrowded exhibition sites drew some complaints from visitors, who said the quality of the exhibition had suffered as a result of the large number of visitors.
“It’s so crowded that me and my family decided to leave early. It’s impossible to enter any pavilions or enjoy the floral decorations at outdoor areas because all you can see is people,” 34-year-old Taipei resident Chiu Fang-lin (邱芳琳) said.
Wu Chi-kai (吳啟凱), a resident of Greater Kaohsiung who also defied the crowd, said he expected a lot of people, but still decided to come -because he did not want to waste the advanced ticket he purchased.
As of yesterday, a total of 1.1 million advanced tickets remained unused, Ma said.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said advanced tickets were not refundable because the refund period ended on Nov. 13 last year. He said the sale of advance tickets was done in accordance with regulations on charges and fees, and that expo organizers had informed advance ticket holders about the refund policy on its Web site.
Attending closing ceremonies for several pavilions, Hau thanked expo staff and volunteers for their dedication and said he expected the expo, which opened on Nov. 6 last year, would leave a wonderful memory for the public.
“We’ve been through the ups and downs for the hosting of the expo and I thank all of you for helping mark a perfect end to the event,” he said.
Today’s closing festivities will begin at 3pm with a parade at Dajia Riverside Park, followed by a series of performances featuring Aboriginal dancers and a theater show at 5pm.
A food festival featuring 160 vendors selling all kinds of Taiwanese snacks will be held at the park from 4pm to 9pm and a three-minute fireworks show will mark the official end of the expo at 10pm.
Expo organizers said the most popular pavilions would be reopened to the public as early as July after renovations.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS