With the Taiwan Lantern Festival just around the corner, Yunlin County — the host of this year’s official event — has suggested several travel itineraries in the county, including bicycle tours, in an effort to attract more people to explore the area.
This year’s lantern festival is to be staged in two areas, with the main area in Huwei Township (虎尾) from Saturday next week to Feb. 19 and the other in Beigang Township (北港) from Tuesday next week to Feb. 19, organizers said.
Covering a combined area of 50 hectares, the event is to be the largest since the festival was launched in 1990, organizers said.
Photo: Chan Shih-hung, Taipei Times
It will also mark the first time a section featuring the culture of new immigrants in Taiwan is included, they said.
Taking the opportunity to promote local tourism, the Yunlin County Government suggested various travel itineraries designed to allow wider exploration of the county.
Among them are three bicycle tours that allow poeple to experience different aspects of Yunlin in a two-day itinerary.
One itinerary suggests that visitors start with Siluo Township (西螺), where they can taste local specialty dishes such as bean sprout noodles, followed by a visit to Cihtong Township (莿桐) to enjoy blooming flowers.
They can then travel to Huashan Village (華山) in Yunlin County’s Gukeng Township (古坑) to see the night view of the county and spend the night.
On the second day, people can visit a facility that introduces one of Taiwan’s signature snacks — pineapple cakes — and a winery, and end the tour at the festival in Huwei.
Another itinerary focuses on an exploration of the coffee industry in Gukeng and the natural scenery in Dounan Township’s (斗南) Caoling Village (草嶺) on the first day, followed on the second day by a visit to the winery, Gukeng Green Tunnel and Douliu City (斗六), where they can visit a village promoting the cultural and creative industry before biking to Huwei.
The third itinerary features a tour to explore Hakka culture and try local signature dishes in Erlun Township (二崙), as well as a visit to Mailiao Township (麥寮) to learn more about “green energy” development there.
Visitors are to finish the tour in Beigang, where they can explore the town and enjoy the lantern festival.
‘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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS