A rare violin worth US$172,000 that was mistakenly left onboard a Boston-to-Philadelphia bus by a groggy music student from Taiwan has been found and returned to its grateful owner.
Megabus USA director Bryony Chamberlain said on Friday that a cleaning crew recovered the instrument, which had been left in an overhead bin earlier this week. The New England Conservatory student got on a Megabus in Boston with the 176-year-old violin, but got off without it late on Tuesday, police said.
“It could have been quite a tragedy on Christmas, but in the end we were able to trace down the violin and [give] it back as soon as we could,” Chamberlain said.
The 19-year-old student, Hsieh Mu-chen (謝慕晨), told investigators that she left the instrument in an overhead bin and only realized she had forgotten it after she had been picked up. The violin was lent to her by the Chi Mei Culture Foundation in Taiwan to use while she studies in the US.
Hsieh said she initially called the bus company to see if the instrument had been found, but she was told it was not on board. Megabus offers low-cost express bus service to more than 70 cities in the US and Canada.
She also reported the loss to police, who later called the bus’ cleaning company, and eventually the rare instrument was returned. Hsieh was so happy she hugged detectives and played her violin during a police news conference on Friday afternoon.
Police lieutenant John Walker said people always hope for Christmas miracles around this time of year.
“In this case,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “we got one.”
Chi Mei Culture Foundation’s Chi Mei Museum in Tainan is not only known for its large collection of exquisite violins, but also for its generosity in lending them for free to Taiwanese prodigies, sources said.
Of the 468 world-class violins that Chi Mei Corp (奇美實業) founder Hsu Wen-long (許文龍) has collected from around the world, a number of them are on loan to young virtuosos studying abroad.
“A fine violin tends to fetch NT$3 million [US$99,108] or even NT$4 million, an amount beyond the reach of the average family, so the museum, with Hsu’s support, has been lending its violins to local musicians,” Chung Tai-ting (鍾岱廷), an adviser to the museum, was previously quoted as saying.
The museum does not charge the borrowers, although they must pay an insurance premium of about NT$12,000 a year.
Additional reporting by staff writer
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS