Work will begin soon on a center to promote local cacao, Hakka culture and tourism in Pingtung County, the Pingtung Department of Hakka Affairs said.
With the permission of the Diocese of Kaohsiung, an abandoned Catholic church in Wanluan Township (萬巒) is to be refurbished and turned into a promotional center for the local cacao industry, the department said.
With the project funded by Pingtung County Government and the Hakka Affairs Council, the center is to be the first of its kind in Taiwan.
Photo provided by the Pingtung City Government
A groundbreaking ceremony was held yesterday, with the center expected to be operational by August, the department said.
Cacao trees — which thrive in hot, rainy areas — grow mainly in latitudes within 20 degrees of the equator. In Taiwan, the trees are predominantly cultivated by Hakka communities in townships across Pingtung.
Cacao plantations can also be found in some non-Hakka communities, such as Jiouru (九如) and Ligang (里港) townships.
Nationwide, about 200 hectares of farmland are dedicated to the crop, the department said.
The nation’s cacao industry has experienced a boom in recent years after chocolate made from trees grown in the region received accolades.
In 2017 and last year, Pingtung-based chocolate makers have won at the International Chocolate Awards, including Fu Wan Chocolate, which claimed gold in the rough ground, textured plain and origin dark chocolate bars category at last year’s World Final in Florence, Italy.
Pingtung could win hosting rights for the next Asia-Pacific Competition leg of the awards, the department said.
The center, once completed, would assist the local cacao industry with marketing and promote local Hakka culture and tourism, the department said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS