WEATHER
Taoyuan hit by heavy rain
Taoyuan yesterday morning was hit by heavy rain due to a low-pressure system that brought unstable weather, and more rain was expected as extremely heavy rain warnings were in effect for Taoyuan and other areas in northern Taiwan. A weather station in Taoyuan’s Dayuan District (大園) had accumulated 128mm of rain as of 11:30am yesterday, the most anywhere in Taiwan, Central Weather Bureau data showed. The bureau’s heavy rain alert was also in effect for Taipei and Hsinchu City, and Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, as well as for Yilan County in the east, Taichung, and Changhua and Nantou counties in central Taiwan, and Chiayi City, Tainan and Kaohsiung, and Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung counties in the south. A heavy rain warning is defined as 80mm of rainfall over a 24-hour period or more than 40mm in one hour.
HEALTH
Mpox travel notice issued
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday raised a travel notice relating to mpox for China and Thailand following surges in cases of the disease there, advising people to practice precaution when traveling to the two nations. The nations join 38 others on the Level 1 watch list — the lowest in the CDC’s three-tier travel alert system. The list also includes South Korea, Australia, the US and Japan, CDC spokeswoman Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) said. The CDC on Tuesday confirmed 14 mpox cases last week in Taiwan, bringing the total to 280 since the disease was designated a Category 2 communicable disease in June last year. The new cases were in New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, and the ages of the people ranged from 20 to 60, Tseng said.
DIPLOMACY
Letter of intent signed
Taiwan and Guatemala on Monday signed a letter of intent at the Customs Administration in Taipei to promote cooperation in customs matters. The Customs Administration said the letter of intent was signed by Customs Administration Director-General Peng Ying-wei (彭英偉) and Marco Livio Diaz Reyes, head of the Guatemalan Superintendency of Tax Administration. The agreement is aimed at paving the way for the two nations to deepen bilateral customs cooperation through expertise and information sharing to more effectively crack down on criminal activity, the agency said. A long-term diplomatic ally, Guatemala signed a free-trade agreement with Taiwan in 2005 and a Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Authorized Economic Operator in 2021.
TOURISM
People chosen for campaign
A total of 15 groups and individuals, including a chef and YouTubers, have been selected to stay overnight in the Presidential Office Building as part of a government campaign to raise the nation’s global visibility. The campaign drew submissions from nearly 100 groups worldwide, Presidential Office spokesperson Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said on Monday. Running from next month to December, the program would give participants the chance to spend a night in the historical setting, and explore cities and counties that showcase Taiwan’s diverse attributes, Lin said. The selected participants include people from Canada, the US, Japan, Slovakia, France, the Netherlands, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Israel, said Lee Hou-ching (李厚慶), secretary-general of the General Association of Chinese Culture, one of the campaign’s organizers.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: As authorities were busy with post-typhoon cleanups elsewhere, residents cleaned fallen leaves and cut small fallen trees blocking the hiking trails All hiking trails damaged by Typhoon Kong-rey have been repaired and has reopened for people who want a refreshing hike in Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, a city official said. The Taipei Basin is known for its easily accessible hiking trails. It has more than 130 trails combined into the 92km-long Taipei Grand Trail, which was divided into seven major routes when it was launched by the Taipei City Government in 2018. Last year, a part of the sixth route of the Grand Trail collapsed due to Typhoon Kong-rey, which hit Taiwan in October. The damaged section belongs to one
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