The Taipei Department of Information and Tourism yesterday inaugurated the city’s first-ever luxury double-decker restaurant bus at City Hall Square ahead of entertaining fine-dining enthusiasts from Tuesday next week.
Starting yesterday, people could book tables for the 26-seater’s daily afternoon tea service and twice-daily dinner service, with those hopping on the bus treated to dishes prepared in the lower-deck kitchen by the Regent Taipei (台北晶華酒店).
A round trip is to take about 90 minutes for afternoon tea and two hours for dinner, said Eric Hsu (徐偉朝), chief operating officer of Sanjin Integrated Marketing Co (三晉整合營銷), the main operator of the bus service.
Photo: Liao Cheng-hui, Taipei Times
At the inauguration ceremony, Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said that the restaurant bus would take patrons on a tour of the city’s landmarks and renowned sights while enjoying a quality meal.
“We want to promote the city as an open museum with the whole city ready for patrons to explore,” Tsai said. “So, we are happy that Taiwan’s first double-decker restaurant bus is set to hit the road.”
The service, which begins and ends at the Taipei City Hall MRT Station on Tuesday to Sunday, is to cruise past many of the city’s landmarks, such as National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Taipei 101, Hsu said.
The idea for the service came from a survey conducted overseas two years ago, which found that cities such as Tokyo, Bangkok, London and Hong Kong had similar restaurant buses, he said.
“We learned from these surveys that they have had this type of bus for many years, and we wanted to bring the experience to Taipei,” Hsu added.
Although the tourism industry over the past two years has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan’s situation is relatively stable, Tsai said, adding that the time is right to launch the bus-based fine-dining experience.
“If the global pandemic is controlled and restrictions on travel can be eased, allowing international tourists to visit Taiwan, we estimate that after six months, the service would benefit the whole tourism industry in Taipei,” Tsai said.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS