A new skywalk opened on Changhua County’s Baguashan (八卦山) yesterday, with thousands of visitors lining up to inaugurate the longest skywalk in central Taiwan.
The 1,006m Baguashan Skywalk, which cost more than NT$80 million (US$2.48 million) and took 22 months to build, starts from a 26m-tall Buddha statue and passes over an ecological park, a baseball stadium and a local high school before ending at the National Changhua Living Art Center.
The county government constructed the skywalk to draw attention to the landscape of Baguashan, which is often described as the county’s top destination.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
The bridge has a deck height of between 1m and 16m.
On some parts of the bridge there are stairs connecting to trees so that visitors can climb into the treetops.
There are no admission charges during the initial opening period, but during that time only four of the seven entrances to the bridge are open, as three entrances from the Changhua Arts Senior High School are closed for safety reasons.
Locals said the bridge has revived tourism on Baguashan, which had more visitors yesterday than it had on any day during the Lunar New Year holiday period.
However, a visitor surnamed Tsai (蔡) from Taichung’s Wuchi District (梧棲) said the bridge’s management should have put more personnel in charge of visitor safety.
A visitor surnamed Chen (陳), who has visited a skybridge in Chiayi County’s Jhuci Township (竹崎), said the Baguashan skywalk was better, but the bridge was shaky in steep sections — possibly because there were too many visitors.
“The number of visitors must be carefully managed, and safety measures must be in place to control visitor flow,” Chen said.
“Whether the bridge is worth NT$80 million can only be judged with time. The bridge can sustain tourism development if it brings in enough tourists over an extended period. The county government can build more tourism facilities along the skywalk, such as turning old buildings under the bridge into cafes or restaurants,” said a visitor surnamed Yang (陽) from Taichung’s Shalu District (沙鹿), who works in architecture.
Changhua County Commissioner Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) said Baguashan is the county’s “sacred mountain,” and its ecological resources and relatively even terrain make the mountain an attraction for visitors both young and old.
While the bridge is designed to take 10,000 visitors, only 2,000 visitors are allowed to be on the bridge at any one time to avoid congestion and consequent discomfort, Changhua Department of City and Tourism Director Tien Fei-peng (田飛鵬) said.
Warning signs have been erected at some sections of the bridge to prevent visitors from lingering to avoid congestion, Tien said, adding that the bridge is designed to resist earthquakes, gusts of wind and torrential rain.
‘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