Kaohsiung residents will soon be able to take boat rides down the Love River, Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
The Kaohsiung City Government's Bureau of Transportation held a trial run yesterday for the new ship, dubbed Cupid, which is one of the 15 tourist boats set to sail on the Love River on Feb. 5, the date of the Lantern Festival.
PHOTO: LIN YA-LI, TAIPEI TIMES
Presiding over the launch ceremony at the Golden River cafe, which included a group of children dressed up as cupids, Hsieh said the 15 ships were built locally and created especially for the Love River.
He said the boats were intended to make the river more romantic and beautiful.
"Drinking a cup of coffee at the river cafe or strolling along the river is not the only way to experience the river's change," Hsieh said.
"Citizens and visitors will be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery by taking a boat, just like visitors to other famous rivers such as the Seine in France and the Rhine in Germany," he said.
The Love River was dredged and rehabilitated in 1999. The Bureau of Transportation announced plans in October to build 15 tourist boats for the river.
The Cupid was completed on Dec. 31 and the other 14 boats were expected to be finished by Jan. 20. The bureau plans to complete the mooring facilities by Jan. 30, an official at the bureau said.
Each boat costs about NT$2.6 million, is capable of accommodating 20 passengers and will feature seats designed for lovers, the bureau official said.
The Cupid is white, symbolizing purity and devotion. The other ships will be painted the seven colors of the rainbow and will be named after famous lovers.
A ceremony to mark the launch of the fleet will be held on Feb. 5, when the ships will cruise the Love River.
The cruise will go along the river about 4km, passing artistic spots such as the Kaohsiung Municipal Archives, Kaohsiung Municipal Museum of History, Music Center, Business Trade Center and Hakka Cultural Museum.
The river, a city landmark, has been a site for lovers since the 1950s. But the river became notorious for its stench and filth when it was polluted by industrial waste in the 1960s as heavy industry expanded.
Previous efforts to rehabilitate the river were unsuccessful.
Albert Lin (林耀文), director of the city government's Department of Information, said the river started to see real change since Hsieh began serving as mayor five years ago.
Lin said their goal is "where the Love River flows, there exists Renaissance," and to make the city more friendly and accessible.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS