Travel
10 Restaurants Certified by Japanese Travel Expert Aoki Yuka (Part 2)
These are carefully selected restaurants that Ms. Aoki Yuka often visits, entertains guests at, and loves so much she can’t resist. Use these picks to decide where to eat during your two-night, three-day trip.
10 Restaurants Guaranteed by Japanese Travel Expert Aoki Yuka (Part 1)
These are the carefully selected restaurants that Ms. Aoki Yuka frequently visits, hosts gatherings at, and loves so much she can’t resist them. Use these picks to decide where to eat during your two- or three-day trip.
Go green and protect Little Kinmen (Lieyu)! Free trial electric cart tours now available
The Kinmen County Government will launch two electric cart tour routes in Lieyu Township, offering completely free rides during the trial period. The goal is to attract more visitors to Little Kinmen, boosting local tourism revenue. Following the success of the “Guningtou Electric Cart Tour,” the county government has introduced another electric cart route on Little Kinmen, divided into north and south lines connecting various attractions. These low-speed, low-carbon, and noise-free carts will provide an in-depth travel experience, offering visitors an alternative way to explore Little Kinmen.
Bookstores also sell vegetables? Engineers ditch high salaries to farm in Yilan
It’s both a bookstore and a vegetable stand. “Little Space Books & Veggies,” located next to Yuanshan Shengou Elementary School in Yilan, sells books as well as rice and vegetables. Not only that, they also source friendly vegetables from local Yilan farmers and sell them through a book-for-veggies exchange. In addition, the couple participates in the “Zero-Distance Tableland” initiative, ensuring that the kindergarten attached to Shengou Elementary School can enjoy clean organic vegetables and rice.
Embrace Green Island’s Low-Carbon Travel & Ride Electric Bikes Free with Mandarin Airlines Boarding Pass
To promote eco-friendly low-carbon travel and protect Taiwan’s environment and ecology, Mandarin Airlines is launching the “e-Ride to Green Island” campaign, driving the “Green Island Smart Living Tech Low-Carbon Tourism Plan.” A series of low-carbon travel modes will be introduced, integrating dining, accommodation, transportation, entertainment, and e-app features to implement a multi-faceted approach toward a new style of tourism—show your boarding pass to ride an electric bike for free.
Vast fields of blooming silvergrass create beauty in sheer numbers — the unique silvergrass scenery of Jinguashi shared with mountains and sea
As autumn arrives, it’s the season when autumn silvergrass begins to steal the show. The Shuijinjiu area in New Taipei City is no less stunning than the silvergrass on Yangmingshan, but due to climatic factors, the silvergrass here often shyly bows its head. Yet, when the sunlight shines through, its unique seascape and mountain-backed silvergrass spectacle is sure to captivate at first sight.
Quit smoking? Eat bananas. Heartbroken? Eat banana peels. Here are 5 great benefits of bananas you should know.
Taiwan was once known as the "Banana Kingdom" for its abundant banana production, but in recent years, oversupply has been a persistent issue. Many farmers even give away their bananas for free on the streets because the selling price is too low. However, bananas are packed with nutrients—such as five times more vitamin A than apples, high levels of phosphorus and potassium, and more. According to foreign websites like eBlogfa, here are five key benefits of bananas that prove eating them can promote overall health from the inside out.
So cheap—IKEA is selling matcha soft serve ice cream for just NT$20!
Anyone who’s been to the well-known Swedish furniture brand IKEA knows you can get a NT$10 ice cream there. The store has even introduced a fully self-service ice cream machine that attracts many visitors. Recently, IKEA launched a winter-exclusive “matcha soft serve,” priced at only NT$20—much cheaper than other matcha ice creams on the market. After IKEA’s official fan page announced the news, it received an enthusiastic response from netizens, who quickly tagged friends to go try it together. This matcha soft serve will only be available until February 28, 2018, and other flavors may be introduced in the summer.
Zhejiang Tourism Plaza Promotion Event – Traditional Crafts and Folk Dances Take the Stage
To further strengthen tourism cooperation with Taiwan, Zhao Jinyong, President of the Zhejiang Tourism Association, led a delegation to Taiwan from May 14 to 20 to hold the Zhejiang Tourism Promotion Week. Today (May 18), the 2014 Taipei "Zhejiang Tourism Plaza Promotion Event" was held. In addition to various exciting traditional folk performances, over ten cities including Taizhou, Shaoxing, Jinhua, Zhoushan, and Hangzhou also provided tourism-related information for public inquiries.
New Taipei’s Pedestrian-Only “Crescent Bridge” – Transparent Walkway to Admire Nighttime Light Projections Reflected on the Riverbank
Connecting Banqiao and Xinzhuang, New Taipei City’s third landscape bridge exclusively for pedestrians and cyclists, the “Crescent Bridge,” officially opened on the 17th. Its asymmetrical arched design, paired with ever-changing nighttime light projections reflected on the Dahan River, adds even more charm to the evening, quickly making this brand-new bridge a new destination for locals to enjoy the river scenery day and night.
Live from Keelung Port: The Spectacular “Five-Cruise-Ships-Gathering”
Keelung Port was buzzing all day today (May 18)! Starting with the morning arrival of the Sapphire Princess, followed by the gradual docking of four cruise ships — the COSCO STAR, the Voyager of the Seas, and the SuperStar Aquarius — at various berths around the port, the Taiwan-Matsu Ferry is expected to arrive at 5 PM. The public will then witness an unprecedentedly magnificent sight: the “Five-Cruise-Ships-Gathering”!
The long-established Jiangsu-Zhejiang cuisine restaurant with a stellar reputation | Must-try specialties: Spare ribs with rice and vegetables, glutinous rice balls!
At Cai Lixing, there are two must-try specialties: glutinous rice balls and spare ribs with rice and vegetables. But personally, I’d recommend the plain rice and vegetables more—the reason being that the sweetness of the vegetables really infuses into the rice. Even though sometimes the rice can get overly soft and mushy, as for the spare ribs, I always feel they’re a bit on the dry and tough side.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Officially Opens; First Guest Is Brigitte Lin
After eight years of construction, Mandarin Oriental Taipei, poised to be the most luxurious hotel in Taiwan, officially opened today (May 18). The opening ceremony attracted political and business elites from various sectors, as well as Vice Premier of the Executive Yuan Mao Chi-kuo and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-pin. Long-absent movie star Brigitte Lin was also invited to serve as the honored guest for the ribbon-cutting, becoming an unexpected highlight of the day.
Comeback of the Invincible East! Maggie Cheung Attends the Opening Ceremony of Mandarin Oriental, Taipei
The once-beloved iconic actress Maggie Cheung, today (May 18), was invited by Mandarin Oriental, Taipei to attend the hotel’s opening ceremony, still as radiant as ever.
Taiwan’s Most Luxurious Taipei Mandarin Oriental Hotel Opens on the 18th
Taipei Mandarin Oriental Hotel, billed as “ultra-luxury six-star,” officially opened on the 18th. This newly established flagship of a top-tier luxury hotel, years in the making and costing NT$25 billion, boasts the highest construction cost in Taiwan. Its standard room size, room rates, premium wedding banquet prices, and banquet hall capacity have all claimed four “No. 1 in Taipei” titles in one go, decisively outshining Grand Hyatt and W Hotel to become the new leader among Taipei’s high-end hotels.
A hot spring soak with just a beautiful view through the window is enough to bring satisfaction — a one-night-two-meal hot spring homestay in Yilan
Sometimes, a hot spring soak doesn’t require an overly luxurious or spacious bath. Just a beautiful view through the window and a room filled with steam can be deeply satisfying. Dayu Hébi has that very charm, leaving guests with memories they’ll cherish forever.
Irresistible authentic Japanese flavors – the cakes are springy, and the matcha has a rich bitterness that’s simply enticing.
Taiwanese people’s love for Japanese cuisine is well-known, and matcha dessert shops are popping up everywhere. My friend Little G, who’s in the top-right corner of the photo, couldn’t stop raving about the cake rolls from this shop. Without delay, the next day I headed over to see how these matcha desserts, made with the original flavor of 100-year-old Uji tea brand Marukyu Koyamaen’s matcha, managed to win over my friend’s heart (and mine after the meal).
Pilot Shortage: Japanese Low-Cost Carriers Peach Aviation and Vanilla Air Cut 2,000 and 154 Flights Respectively
In recent years, traveling abroad on low-cost airlines has become a popular money-saving option for many travelers. However, two major Japanese low-cost carriers serving Japan-bound travel — Vanilla Air and Peach Aviation — have announced flight cancellations due to a pilot shortage. Among them, Peach Aviation will reduce the most flights, with an estimated total of 2,000 fewer flights from May to October.
Survey on the World’s Best-Tasting Drinks – The #1 Is Actually...
Taiwan’s bubble tea is almost world-famous. Recently, CNN conducted a survey on the most delicious drinks in the world, and bubble tea made the list. Other beverages such as coffee, cola, juice, and beer also ranked highly. Beyond that, let’s take a look at what other drinks made the list—and the #1 spot is sure to surprise you!
Soak in a "Afternoon Tea" hot spring in Hakone—with lemon and milk tea flavors too!
The Japanese beverage "Afternoon Tea" is known for its rich flavor, and many have likely tried drinking it. But have you ever thought about "soaking" in it? Hakone’s famous hot spring theme park, "Hakone Kowakien Yunessun," is offering a limited-time "Afternoon Tea" hot spring from now until July 18—and there's more than one flavor!