A dragon boat float sponsored by Taiwan’s largest airline carrier, China Airlines (CAL), won the top prize at this year’s Rose Parade held in Pasadena, California, on Saturday to celebrate New Year’s Day.
The CAL dragon boat float, which showcased the Chinese tradition of dragon boat racing, but was also covered with plenty of Republic of China (ROC) flags, won the top prize for the 20th time in 25 appearances in the annual parade.
With rowers and drummers wearing scarves featuring the ROC national flag, the dragon boat float was designed especially to mark the ROC’s 100th year, said Chang Feng-ping (張鳳炳), director of CAL’s North America division.
PHOTO: AFP
According to Rose Parade sponsors, at least 70,000 people attended the parade and it was watched on television by 350 million people worldwide.
“I’m glad that the CAL float presented itself as a symbol of the ROC’s centennial year,” Chang said.
Chen Ke-jung (陳科榕), a Taiwanese expatriate who was one of the first people to take up a position on a Pasadena street for the parade, said he was absolutely thrilled to see so many ROC national flags on the float.
Another woman from Taiwan, who brought along her son to watch the parade, said she was particularly moved to see the rowers and drummers wearing ROC national flag scarves while they were performing.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
RSS