TRAVEL
Asiana 747 makes last stop
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday became the final overseas stop for Asiana Airlines’ last Boeing 747-400 plane, as the South Korean carrier prepares to retire the giant commercial jet known as the Queen of the Skies. The 747-400, registered as HL7428, touched down in Taiwan at 11:24am after taking off from Incheon International Airport at 10:15am and was greeted by firetrucks festively spraying it with jets of water as it taxied its way to Gate D6. The gate was chosen for its symbolism, having been the same gate where China Airlines retired its last passenger 747-400 on March 20, 2021. At 1:34pm, HL7428 took off from Taoyuan for its final trip in the skies back to Incheon before it was set to be retired. The plane’s final voyage drew the attention and attendance of many aviation aficionados and fans of the airline, completely selling out. A Hong Kong-based South Korean passenger said he was taking his mother on the final voyage to remember a trip he took with his parents to the US 15 years ago on the same plane. Another traveler, a Japanese student enrolled at a Taiwanese university, said he bought a ticket to Incheon on the plane out of interest in the model. All passengers who flew on either leg of the 747-400’s final flight were presented with commemorative luggage tags, Taoyuan ground crew personnel said.
SOCIETY
Crosswalk changes planned
People would see more green-and-white pedestrian crossings and more distance allotted for turning vehicles at intersections if a planned traffic amendment focused on improving pedestrian safety is implemented, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said. If passed, the amendment to the Regulations for Road Traffic Signs, Markings and Signals would give clear protocols for local governments to follow, ministry official Chu Da-ching (朱大慶) said. The amendment advises local governments to redesign pedestrian crossings to reduce the number of traffic accidents around intersections, the ministry said. Measures include moving crossings further away from intersections and painting crossings white and green. The eye-catching green is meant to warn approaching vehicles to slow down as they approach the crossings, Chu said. Crosswalks should be designed 3m to 5m from intersections to give drivers turning longer to react to moving pedestrians and avoid blind spots, the measures say. Local municipalities currently only have a guideline introduced last year advising them how to improve pedestrian safety. Several cities and counties have already implemented some of the new traffic regulations and said they have had positive results.
SPACE
Taiwan joins satellite show
Taiwan last week took part in this year’s Satellite Exhibition in Washington, with a pavilion displaying the nation’s achievements in the fields of microwave antennas, key satellite components and materials. The Taiwan Space Pavilion aimed to showcase the nation’s satellite innovations and capabilities, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US said. It was set up by Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), the Industrial Technology Research Institute and industry players. Tsai Hsin-hsuan (蔡欣璇), a TASA specialist in industry promotion, said that one of the highlights of the Taiwan pavilion was the TASA-developed Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) employed by the domestically developed weather satellite Triton to collect GNSS signals reflected by the Earth’s surface. As for the Formosat-7 constellation, which was launched in 2019, Tsai said the combination of observation data collected by the GNSS reflectometry and the data provided by Formosat-7 can help improve the accuracy of severe weather forecasts. Participating Taiwanese manufacturer YTTEK Technology showcased its new product — a high- speed satellite modem — while Min Chun Precision exhibited a ground-based weather radar system. The Satellite Conference and Exhibition is the largest annual gathering for the satellite and space communities.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
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