Travel
Yacht harbor cruises and firefly watching – Kaohsiung’s top 6 spring travel spots cover mountains, sea, rivers and harbors
Where to go during school holidays and Tomb Sweeping Day? Kaohsiung City has launched 6 spring travel experiences that “cover mountains, sea, rivers and harbors.” Visitors can take boat rides through Love River to enjoy the city’s scenic views and cruise around the Port of Kaohsiung. They can also head to Namasia District, one of Taiwan’s top 10 firefly-watching spots, to admire fireflies dancing under a starry sky. The city government said that those who upload their Kaohsiung travel photos to the “Kaohsiung Traveler” website before April 20 can also enter a lucky draw.
Children under 12 enter free during the Yilan Green Expo holiday; also get rice candy lollipops!
With Children’s Day three-day holiday approaching, the Yilan Green Expo is celebrating by offering free admission for children under 12 during the three-day break. Additionally, as an extra perk, in collaboration with the Wujie Township Farmers’ Association, rice candy lollipops will be given to visitors. The lollipops can be collected at the entrance after entry, starting at 9:30 AM each day, with a daily limit of 1,000 portions—letting visitors enjoy a sweet treat while exploring the park.
Australian grapes in 2014 had a solid and mellow taste – top wines crafted by a talented female winemaker
Australia’s premier five-star top-tier winery, Vasse Felix in Western Australia, is set to enter its eighth consecutive year of producing exceptional wines. Verginia Willcock, the chief female winemaker at Vasse Felix, stated, “2014 will be the best grape vintage in the Margaret River region, but our great responsibility is to work even harder to turn these beautiful fruits into world-class wines.”
The Jadeite Cabbage and Meat-Shaped Stone from the National Palace Museum to Tour Japan — The "Little Jadeite Cabbage" Will Fill in the Spotlight
The "Jadeite Cabbage" and "Meat-Shaped Stone," both listed among the "Three Treasures of the National Palace Museum," are set to be exhibited in Japan separately between June and October. As for who will take the place of these two immensely popular national treasures in their vacant display cases, the museum has announced that three other jadeite cabbages from its collection, along with other precious Qing Dynasty artifacts of comparable beauty, will be displayed during that period.
The final Children's Day at the Children's Recreation Center draws 28,000 revelers
The first day of the 2014 Qingming holiday coincided with Children's Day, prompting many parents to take their children to amusement parks after tomb-sweeping. Theme parks across Taiwan saw huge crowds. Taipei’s Children’s Recreation Center, which will relocate this summer, welcomed over 28,000 visitors on the 4th—far more than the usual holiday turnout of fewer than 10,000. This year also marked the last Children's Day for the Yuanshan site in its 80-year history, leaving many visitors feeling sentimental.
Tiny unnamed shops tucked away in narrow alleys are hard to spot—thick-skinned dumplings made fresh and rolled to order, ensuring ultimate freshness.
It’s funny how one day I stumbled upon a post online from a fellow netizen mentioning a dumpling shop in Kaohsiung that only opens at night, has no signboard, and is hidden deep in a secluded alley. The mystery piqued my curiosity, and just a few days later, while heading to Kaohsiung for a client meeting, I discovered the shop was right near Lion Jia Station as I stepped out.
The “British Lady” Sells Taiwan Railways Meal Boxes – The First-Generation EMU100 Tze-Chiang Limited Express Enters the TRA Dream Factory
The first-generation EMU100 Tze-Chiang Limited Express, long nicknamed the “British Lady,” is making a comeback—but this time not to carry passengers, but to “sell Taiwan Railways meal boxes”! The TRA Dream Factory Songshan Store will open on the 6th at Songshan Station. The store’s exterior features a replica design of the first-generation Tze-Chiang electric multiple unit train, and in addition to meal boxes, it will also recreate the original look of the train from those days, allowing railway enthusiasts to relive the past.
A Festival Full of Color and Love – Holi Lets the World Experience a Colorful Life
Holi is an important festival for Indians and Hindus, as well as the traditional New Year in India. This year on March 29th, it was celebrated with great enthusiasm in Spanish Fork, Utah, USA. Revelers danced to music and beer while incorporating yoga moves, raising their colorful hands high in a lively and colorful celebration of the festival.
Dots of green light fluttering through the forest — Hsinhua National Botanical Garden invites you to enjoy the firefly season
It’s that time of year again when the forest glows with tiny dots of green light as fireflies emerge. Hsinhua National Botanical Garden, recognized as one of the “Eight Scenic Spots and Ten Attractions of New Southern Taiwan,” has also entered its firefly-viewing season. From now until May 31, every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday starting at 6 PM, the public is welcome to come and admire the beautiful sight of fireflies dancing through the night.
F-104 fighter jet flies into the city—New Taipei’s Veterans Shrine creates Taiwan’s largest weapons park
New Taipei City has transformed the Veterans Shrine into Taiwan’s largest “weapons park,” gathering a total of 16 different types of land, sea, and air weaponry and retired fighter jets within the park grounds to allow the public to learn about the historical deeds of the national military during wartime.
Clusters of red and white flowers bloom upright—tall hollyhock fields like a giant’s garden
We visit the Xuejia hollyhock fields every year as scheduled, and this year there are even more spots to enjoy. Beyond admiring the beautiful flower fields, the Xuejia hollyhock fields have also created hollyhock-themed art paintings. The vibrant blooms surrounding the fields have painted the entire community in color, making it lively and cheerful.
Celebrating the Inauguration of the Sky Lantern Police Station – Pingxi Launches “Ignite Happiness Package”
To celebrate the inauguration of the Sky Lantern Police Station, the New Taipei City Government’s Department of Tourism and the Pingxi Charm Business District have collaborated to launch a limited edition of 666 “Ignite Happiness Packages.” Each package includes a NT$150 Police Sky Lantern Experience Voucher and a NT$300 Pingxi Business District Consumption Discount Voucher, with a total value of NT$500, available during the campaign period for just NT$300.
Las Vegas unveils the world’s tallest 168-meter Ferris wheel, the High Roller
The “world’s tallest Ferris wheel” officially opened in Las Vegas, USA, on March 31. This massive Ferris wheel, named “High Roller,” not only holds the title of the world’s tallest but also boasts cabins that can accommodate up to 40 passengers each, with a total capacity of 1,120 riders—truly a sight to behold！
Cloud Forest Ancient Pit: Tung Blossoms Bloom Early & A Stroll Among April Snow, with the Lingering Fragrance of Coffee
After two months of a “pink explosion” from cherry blossoms, one of the stars of the colorful April floral scene is the season when tung blossoms bloom like snowflakes all over the ground. Beating Miaoli to the punch, the tung blossoms in Gukeng Township, Yunlin County, have begun to bloom one after another. The 2014 Yunlin Hakka Tung Blossom Festival also kicked off with a bang at the Tung Blossom Park in Gukeng Township on the 5th.
The "Drivers' Club" is famous for its braised pork rice, thanks to its decades-old braising pot
The other day, a friend who’s been following my blog for a long time asked me if I hadn’t eaten any braised pork rice worth writing about lately. I thought for a moment and nodded, but to avoid disappointing him, I browsed through my mental list of must-try braised pork rice spots and found this well-known place I’d had on my radar for ages. Coincidentally, my good friend Ben said he wanted to go, so I finally got to satisfy a craving I’d had for over three years.
"Taiwan Tourist Shuttle" Stops at Daxi Old Tea Factory – Present Your Ride Coupon for a Free Tea Gift
The nearly century-old Daxi Old Tea Factory has now become one of the stops on the "Taiwan Tourist Shuttle – Xiaowulai Line" route. To celebrate this new stop, from now until the end of June, visitors who present their same-day ride coupon can receive a special tea gift from the factory. Additionally, free guided tours led by experts will be offered three times a day on weekends.
Love locks weighing as much as 20 elephants — Paris’s Pont des Arts is barely holding up
In the hope of making love last forever, when you walk across Paris’s Pont des Arts, do you also want to securely lock your love in this romantic city and then toss the key into the Seine? This act has been repeated countless times, but the heavy love locks clinging to the bridge are making the historic Pont des Arts increasingly unable to bear the load.
Having weathered the disaster, the Lijia Tribe has regained smiles with its “starry skies above and firefly rivers below.”
“A crisis can also be an opportunity.” Severely affected by Typhoon Morakot (also known as the 88 Flood), the Lijia Tribe in Alishan spent 4 years and 7 months in reconstruction. During this time, residents and the official Reconstruction Committee discovered that the area’s natural beauty—its star-filled night skies and gatherings of fireflies—was a precious tourism resource. As a result, they began training stargazing guides to promote the tribe’s charm, aiming to transform Lijia into a beautiful world of “starry skies above and firefly rivers below.”
The Ambassador Hotel offers all-you-can-eat Peking duck, plus free pizza and sashimi
From now until April 30, the Ming Yuan Western Restaurant at The Ambassador Hotel in Taipei is launching the “Spring Warmth Duck Delights – Unlimited Peking Duck” promotion. In addition to hung oven Peking duck, the restaurant will also feature a rotating selection of duck dishes daily, such as pan-seared duck breast, duck salad, smoked duck pizza, and duck and vegetable consommé. Other offerings include a colorful fresh vegetable salad bar, freshly sliced sashimi, a live teppanyaki grill station, a seasonal seafood bar, and a handmade French pastry section.
Dine in a traditional Japanese house—embrace local customs with chilled hand-made soba noodles on a cold day!
The Japanese word そば means soba noodles. Almost every restaurant in Ōuchi-juku serves handmade soba, but the most famous one is Mitsuzawa-ya. However, while riding the Saru-yū sightseeing bus to Ōuchi-juku, I specifically asked the conductor which shop he thought served the best soba.