Oct. 21 to Oct. 27
1. Lollipop F and Dance with 24.09 percent of sales
2. Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) and Greatest Hits 1998-2011 (火力全開新歌加精選) with 16.8%
3. Makiyo and Night Power Girl Power (夜電Girls Power) with 7.29%
4. Aska Yang (楊宗緯) and Pure (原色) with 5.09%
5. Amber An (安心亞) and Bad Girl (惡女)
with 4.58%
Album chart compiled from G-Music (www.g-music.com.tw),based on retail sales
On Jan. 17, Beijing announced that it would allow residents of Shanghai and Fujian Province to visit Taiwan. The two sides are still working out the details. President William Lai (賴清德) has been promoting cross-strait tourism, perhaps to soften the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) attitudes, perhaps as a sop to international and local opinion leaders. Likely the latter, since many observers understand that the twin drivers of cross-strait tourism — the belief that Chinese tourists will bring money into Taiwan, and the belief that tourism will create better relations — are both false. CHINESE TOURISM PIPE DREAM Back in July
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Taiwan doesn’t have a lot of railways, but its network has plenty of history. The government-owned entity that last year became the Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) has been operating trains since 1891. During the 1895-1945 period of Japanese rule, the colonial government made huge investments in rail infrastructure. The northern port city of Keelung was connected to Kaohsiung in the south. New lines appeared in Pingtung, Yilan and the Hualien-Taitung region. Railway enthusiasts exploring Taiwan will find plenty to amuse themselves. Taipei will soon gain its second rail-themed museum. Elsewhere there’s a number of endearing branch lines and rolling-stock collections, some
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