The Central Weather Bureau is to host celebrations on Saturday next week to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the founding of the Tainan Weather Observatory.
The observatory — the oldest of its kind in Taiwan — was built by the Japanese colonial administration as one of the first observatories in Taiwan and is situated at the highest point of what was then Tainan Prefecture, the bureau said.
The station has a peculiar layout, with an 18-sided roofed structure and a conical central tower that earned it the nickname “Pepper Shaker,” the bureau said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Bureau
The weather station was in 1998 listed as municipal heritage and in 2003 received national historical heritage status, owing to the rarity and artistic value of its architecture, the bureau said.
An earthquake on Feb. 6, 2016, damaged the station’s walls and tower, but it remains structurally sound, the bureau said.
Repairs are scheduled to begin after anniversary celebrations end, and fully restoring the building is expected to take 200 days of work, it said.
From the tower’s vantage point, visitors can see the Port of Anping (安平港) and the sea, the bureau said, adding that the Pepper Shaker has long served as a landmark for Tainan residents.
Commemorative illustrated books are to be handed out at the event and Chunghwa Post is to open a temporary post office that will stamp letters with special-edition postage marks, the bureau said.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS