Amusement parks across the nation have rolled out rebates and deals for special events to boost domestic tourism during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday.
The Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village in Taichung on Friday said that it has organized the only cherry blossom festival outside of Japan certified by the Japan Cherry Blossom Association.
The festival takes place from today to Feb. 28 and visitors can take the gondola to see the park’s 5,500 cherry trees, it said, adding that the flower season is to last until March 10.
Photo courtesy of the Leofoo Village Theme Park.
Lihpao Land in Taichung said that it hopes the Lihpao International Circuit, a three-course race track which was completed in November, would draw visitors to the park.
The main circuit — a 3.5km-long, 23-curve affair with an 20m elevation difference built to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile’s grade two standards — is cleared for purpose-built racers, supercars and sport cars, it said.
Additionally, the circuit has a cross-country track and is the only Commission Internationale de Karting-certified go-kart course in Taiwan, it said.
The E-Da Theme Park in Kaohsiung bills itself as the sole amusement park inspired by ancient Greece. It consists of three areas — the Parthenon, Santorini and Trojan Citadel — which at 15,000 ping (4,545m2) is the nation’s largest indoor amusement facility.
Leofoo Village Theme Park in Hsinchu this year has an Arabian-themed Sweet Charms Palace, a romantic outing for couples that is also family-friendly, it said.
The facility features bubble machines, kaleidoscopes and a 3m crystal ball, and stylists, princess gowns and parades are available for families with children, it said.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
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
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
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive