Oh Bear Travel promoting tourism   The inaugural voyage of the OhBear Smiling Sightseeing Train

By MOOK Scenic Spots Family, compiled and reported

 
The OhBear team leader from the Super Task Force of the Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, launched the highly acclaimed OhBear painted train (EMU700 series) back in 2015. It received extensive media coverage and continuous praise from both railway enthusiasts and travelers. To maintain the buzz, in 2016 the Tourism Bureau and Taiwan Railways Administration joined forces to create the OhBear Smiling Sightseeing Train, accompanying travelers on their journeys across Taiwan and promoting tourism. They also brought along two beloved mascots from the Taiwan Railways Administration—Tie Lu and Hannah Jiang (the TRA travel bears, a brother and sister duo)—who made appearances on the train.

The Tourism Bureau and Taiwan Railways Administration jointly created a fully painted EMU800 series “Smiling” local train for the three black bear mascots. Inside and outside the train carriages, the adorable images of OhBear team leader and the travel bears can be seen everywhere. Custom plush toys in unique designs for each of the three mascots were also placed in separate carriages. Along with last year’s OhBear plush toy enjoying a giant bowl of TRA bento on the train, the entire train has been turned into a moving tourist attraction, adding more fun for southern passengers riding the painted train.

 The Tourism Bureau stated that the TRA painted train featuring OhBear team leader, launched in 2015, was very well received, but it only ran in the northern part of Taiwan (Su’ao–Changhua). Many fans in the south and railway enthusiasts were also eager to ride the OhBear painted train. Therefore, in 2016, the design theme was specially focused on southern sightseeing activities and industries, and the train was assigned to run on southern local lines. It presents the travel experiences and adventure stories of OhBear team leader and the travel bear siblings exploring southern Taiwan. The train will appear daily on southern railway tracks to meet fans, and exclusive commemorative stamps for the sightseeing train will also be provided, allowing fans to collect train-specific stamps at stations in Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Xinzuoying, and Pingtung.