The Taiwan Pavilion that was erected at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo is to be officially lit up in Hsinchu City today and is expected to be opened to the public by the end of the year, according to the city government.
The lighting ceremony, along with a concert and a lantern display, is to coincide with the Mid-Autumn Festival, the city government said, adding the event stands to attract 100,000 people.
Pulling in more than 700,000 visitors, the Taiwan Pavilion was one of the most popular features of the six-month expo in Shanghai. It was dismantled soon after the expo closed in late October 2010 and was shipped back to Taiwan for reassembly.
The building was designed by prominent Taiwanese architect Lee Tsu-yuan (李祖原), who also designed Taipei 101.
At its center is a ball 16m in diameter consisting of 1 million LEDs that display various images reflecting Taiwan’s natural beauty and diverse culture. Inside the ball is a 12m-wide screen that shows films of Taiwan. There are to be small changes made to the building so that those who have already visited the pavilion can enjoy it as much as those who have not yet seen it, the city government said.
The pavilion not only highlights Taiwan’s cutting-edge technology, but also showcases some of Taiwan’s best natural and cultural attractions, including Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), Yingge ceramics, rocks from Yushan (玉山) and an infinity pool symbolizing the Pacific Ocean.
Hsinchu purchased the pavilion at a cost of more than NT$450 million (US$15.35 million), with the plan of establishing an industrial innovation park as part of its efforts to boost tourism in the city.
The pavilion is to be one of two main facilities at the Hsinchu Science Park, the largest science park in Taiwan, where there is to be an exhibition hall situated in a renovated warehouse, the city government said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
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