As SARS continues to upset the routines of everyday life and people stay at home rather than risk going out, many businesses are suffering from the effects of the pernicious disease.
Dimmed by the market slowdown, a number of local companies are now coming up with all kinds of bright ideas in the hope of offsetting their losses.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TIEN LAI SPRING RESORT
The familiar practice of low pricing has been effective in bringing back some customers, but hot spring resorts have gone a step further with their claims that a soak in a hot spring pool is so good for you it can boost the immune system and help defend the body against SARS.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TIEN LAI SPRING RESORT
Lucy Lee (
A different tack has been taken by two resorts on Yangmingshan, at Peitou (北投) and Kinshan (金山). They are trying to attract the general public by promoting the idea that one of the most effective ways of beating SARS is to take a healthy hot spring, away from the disease's hot spots in the city and enjoy gourmet food at a scenic hideaway.
As a result of these promotional efforts, or perhaps because they are ready to get back to normal life, people in Taipei have responded to the calls of the hot spring owners, as the large number of visitors to resort hotels on Yangminshan last weekend showed.
The hot springs in these areas mostly originate from the Tatun mountain range (
Bathing in hot springs is a favorite leisure activity of many Taiwanese that was picked up from the Japanese during the 50-year colonial-rule period beginning in 1895. In Japan the merits of taking a daily dip in the hot spring have been preached like a gospel since the eighth century.
The story goes that Taiwan first acquired the habit when a Japanese businessman from Osaka, named Hirada Gengo (
In addition to Peitou and Yangmingshan, Guanziling (
The hot spring waters in Peitou belong to the acid sulfur type, which are quite different from the nearby springs in Yangmingshan, which contain a weak alkali type of water. In Guanziling, however, the spring water carries alkali and salt, whereas in Sichongxi the water is distinguished by its weak alkali and carbonic acid content.
Hot spring resorts have also developed in Wulai (
All hot spring resorts claim their spring waters have extraordinary healing effects, such as improving skin tone, increasing circulation and digestion, as well as other functions of the body. Also, many scientists have confirmed the beneficial effects of bathing in hot springs.
One thing is certain, however, and that is, when a person relaxes in a hot spring pool, natural or suffused with fragrance, the comfort naturally brings forth a refreshing effect, spiritual and physical, against which little else can compete.
June 23 to June 29 After capturing the walled city of Hsinchu on June 22, 1895, the Japanese hoped to quickly push south and seize control of Taiwan’s entire west coast — but their advance was stalled for more than a month. Not only did local Hakka fighters continue to cause them headaches, resistance forces even attempted to retake the city three times. “We had planned to occupy Anping (Tainan) and Takao (Kaohsiung) as soon as possible, but ever since we took Hsinchu, nearby bandits proclaiming to be ‘righteous people’ (義民) have been destroying train tracks and electrical cables, and gathering in villages
Dr. Y. Tony Yang, Associate Dean of Health Policy and Population Science at George Washington University, argued last week in a piece for the Taipei Times about former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) leading a student delegation to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that, “The real question is not whether Ma’s visit helps or hurts Taiwan — it is why Taiwan lacks a sophisticated, multi-track approach to one of the most complex geopolitical relationships in the world” (“Ma’s Visit, DPP’s Blind Spot,” June 18, page 8). Yang contends that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has a blind spot: “By treating any
Swooping low over the banks of a Nile River tributary, an aid flight run by retired American military officers released a stream of food-stuffed sacks over a town emptied by fighting in South Sudan, a country wracked by conflict. Last week’s air drop was the latest in a controversial development — private contracting firms led by former US intelligence officers and military veterans delivering aid to some of the world’s deadliest conflict zones, in operations organized with governments that are combatants in the conflicts. The moves are roiling the global aid community, which warns of a more militarized, politicized and profit-seeking trend
This year will go down in the history books. Taiwan faces enormous turmoil and uncertainty in the coming months. Which political parties are in a good position to handle big changes? All of the main parties are beset with challenges. Taking stock, this column examined the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) (“Huang Kuo-chang’s choking the life out of the TPP,” May 28, page 12), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (“Challenges amid choppy waters for the DPP,” June 14, page 12) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) (“KMT struggles to seize opportunities as ‘interesting times’ loom,” June 20, page 11). Times like these can
RSS