Superlatives to start 2006

From 1:30am to 4:40am the Warner Village Courtyard will be the site of the White Nights Crazy Music festival, with DJ Lim Giong (林強) and bands such as XL, Wong Fu and Ilan County's Aboriginal girl band, Paper Dolls.

Songshou Park will be transformed in to a Hakka tea garden, complete with waiters dressed in traditional Hakka costumes serving an assortment of Hakka teas and desserts until 5am. And the Ho-Yi-Yam indigenous cuisine area will be set up in the A10 parking lot (next to Shinkong Mitsukoshi A8 building) selling handicrafts and foods from Taiwan's indigenous tribes.

And if you don't want to wade into the crowds, you can still enjoy the sights come midnight.

"The good thing about celebrating in Taipei is, no matter where you are, all you have to do is step outside to enjoy the fireworks display; you can see the 101 from almost everywhere," said Lo Chih Cheng (羅智成), commissioner of the Taipei City Information Department.

`Grand opening'

Lo was speaking at another landmark event, the opening of Eslite's new giant flagship bookstore and boutique adjacent to City Hall MRT station. The bookstore, will have its "grand opening" at the New Year, providing another good reason to check out the Xinyi District tomorrow night.

In addition to Eslite, which will be open 24 hours a day from now on, other shops in the area will be extending their operating hours to accommodate the crowds. The Taipei 101 Mall will stay open until 11:30pm and its food court will stay open until 2am. The Novel Hall center court cafe will remain open until 5am. New York, New York will keep its doors open until midnight and the Starbucks downstairs will be open until 2am. Next Door at Neo 19, the food court will be serving until 5am and movies will run at Warner Brothers Village, also until 5am.

EVENT NOTES:

In Taipei, the celebration in the streets of the Xinyi District will begin in the afternoon and go until 5am New Year's Day. Attendees are encouraged to take public transportat to the site and give themselves plenty of time to get there as the MRT is expected to be running at maximum capacity close to midnight. The MRT will run until the early hours.

In Taitung, festivities start tonight at the Museum of Prehistory, move to the beach at Taimali and go until past dawn the morning of New Year's Day. Shuttle busses will be running between the museum and the beach. The Museum of Prehistory is located adjacent the Kangle train station.

Entrance to both events is free.