TRAVEL
Matsu reopens to tourists
Taiwan’s Matsu Islands on Friday welcomed the first post-COVID-19 tour group from China, following an announcement from Chinese authorities in April allowing residents from Fujian Province to travel to Matsu. The seven-member group is scheduled to spend three days visiting major tourist spots on the islands, Matsu Longfu Travel Agency said. The tourists have backgrounds in industries such as trade and tourism, it said, adding that other than sightseeing, the visitors are also hoping to explore cross- strait business opportunities. Beijing announced the eased travel restrictions on April 28, which it said would take effect once the direct ferries between Matsu and Pingtan County in Fujian resume. Travel links between Taiwan and China have been largely frozen for the past three years, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. China halted independent travel to Taiwan on Aug. 1, 2019, citing poor cross-strait relations. It suspended group travel to Taiwan in 2020. The Mainland Affairs Council said the tour group is the only group to have submitted a travel application. The council said it was happy to see the arrival of Chinese tourists and welcomed more Chinese to visit Matsu and Kinmen islands.
CRIME
Officer drowns in river
A sergeant major stationed at the National Defense University was found to have drowned near Guandu Bridge in New Taipei City yesterday morning. The officer, surnamed Lu (呂), was spotted in the Tamsui River by a civilian. He had no vital signs when police and medical personnel arrived at the scene, the university said. Lu drove to Guandu on Friday and a vehicle parked near the bridge was confirmed by his wife to be his, a source in the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. The police are investigating Lu’s death. Should they determine that Lu died in an accident or from an illness, his family would receive a consolation payment. Under the Indemnities Act for Military Personnel, officers who commit suicide are categorized as having died from an illness and their families are entitled to a consolation payment. However, families of military personnel who commit suicide after a crime would not be entitled to any consolation payment.
SOCIETY
Teaching program wraps up
More than 500 young people from 22 countries completed a month-long English teaching program in Taiwan earlier this month, during which they built connections with Taiwanese culture and helped teach students. The program recruited 502 volunteers, aged 17 to 25, who taught English in more than 80 elementary and junior high schools around Taiwan, the Overseas Community Affairs Council said. Sasha Erenburg from London said she had wanted to come to Taiwan to learn about the culture, because her Mandarin teacher is Taiwanese. Meanwhile, Sydney Lee, a 19-year-old from California said she liked the bus rides and seeing how different the scenery was from the US. Maljeveljeve Tiudjalimaw, an official at the Council of Indigenous Peoples, said three volunteer teams served in indigenous communities in Hualien, Taichung and Pingtung. She added that some children now aspire to study abroad following the experience. Council head Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) thanked participants for helping Taiwanese children gain a broader worldview. The council’s English teaching program has been held annually since 2006, and more than 7,000 “overseas youth” have been recruited to help teach English to Taiwanese children.
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
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
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
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