Tens of thousands of spectators gathered at Taipei’s annual New Year’s countdown party outside Taipei City Hall on Tuesday, where a six-minute fireworks show was set off atop the iconic Taipei 101 skyscraper.
The themes of this year’s Taipei 101 fireworks display were “Team Taiwan” and “Champions,” in recognition of Taiwan’s victory at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 baseball championship in Tokyo in November.
Before the fireworks show, a light sculpture show created by Canadian-American artist Bernard Chang (張伯納)was also presented, featuring the likenesses of eight notable Taiwanese athletes who competed in the Summer Olympics in Paris and the Premier12 tournament last year.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
A New Year’s Eve countdown party was held in the plaza in front of Taipei City Hall, featuring renowned K-pop group Apink and several Golden Melody Award winners, such as Penny Tai (戴佩妮), Faith Yang (楊乃文) and YELLOW (黃宣).
Tourists and local residents gathered near the Taipei 101 skyscraper on Tuesday, hours before the fireworks show to ring in the New Year was scheduled to take place, with performances by pop singers continuing past midnight in front of Taipei City Hall.
Anne, from the Philippines, said she was visiting Taipei for the new year and planned to watch the Taipei 101 fireworks show.
A surgeon working in Hong Kong, Anne said her new year’s resolution is to work harder and fulfill her career goals.
Alfredo Arellano Jr, a Filipino factory worker, said it was his first New Year’s Eve in Taiwan, and he was excited to experience the fireworks show at Taipei 101.
His new year’s resolution is to make more money for his future and that of his family.
Suchira Rachakrom, from Thailand, was also in Taipei to celebrate the new year, saying that the fireworks show at Taipei 101 was a main attraction.
She added that she had heard the theme of the fireworks show was a celebration of Taiwan’s victory in the Premier12 championship in Tokyo on Nov. 24 and hoped to “celebrate with everyone in Taiwan.”
In addition to Taipei, New Year’s Eve events were held across Taiwan, including in New Taipei City, Taichung and Kaohsiung, with pop concerts and fireworks displays to welcome in the new year.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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