The image of Penghu's Fireworks and Music Festival (澎湖海上花火節) which begins tomorrow is of a long-haired rock star in a paradise destination silhouetted by fireworks.
It's a lively idea that is being broadcast in adverts on local TV stations and appears in promotional material sent out by the Penghu County Government tourism office.
The reality will be "Taiwan's Kenny G," minor singing stars like Mei Mei (
JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
With the addition of some controlled explosions and stalls it should be entertaining enough and though the event is not going to set the world alight it may provide a convenient peg on which to hang a trip to some of the 64 islets that form Penghu.
The problem is this sort of thing has been done before, most notably by Macau, which has been holding its annual fireworks display for over 17 years.
Penghu's festival was conceived in 2003, when severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was at its height, and it has since struggled to make a mark.
This is the first year, however, when organizers have tried to reach out to younger and international tourists by putting on foreign acts.
"It will be fun here, more beautiful and less crowded than Kenting," said Sean Kaiteiri, one of the consultants brought in to give the festival a youthful edge.
He said bands such as the jazz duo Frienz would perform from Monday, followed by fire troupes, the reggae band Red I, Jobo Jangles the Clown, the David Foster Band, punk outfit The Deported and Chinese cover band Candybox, among others.
At the press conference last week in Taipei to introduce the festival, Taiwan's self-proclaimed Kenny G provided a taste of the entertainment to come.
A succession of bigwigs from Penghu, including the county commissioner Wang Chien-fa (王乾發), then stepped up to the stage to say how beautiful the place is.
This is true. Moreover, Penghu is an outstanding venue for water sports. It is said to have the best windsurfing in the world, good waves, fine fishing and great coral reefs to explore. Some of its beaches are exceedingly fine and are well worth a visit. A pyrotechnical spectacle could be just the excuse you needed.
The festival is on two stages. Starting tomorrow and until June 18 there will be fireworks and a show every two days. From July 29 to Aug. 4 there will be similar entertainment every day.
For further information contact the Penghu County Government tourism office on (06) 9274 400, or check out the Web site at www.penghu.gov.tw.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built