Officials yesterday lauded a pro-ject aimed at encouraging young people to travel in Taiwan.
The National Youth Commission described the program, "Youth Travel in Taiwan," as a project aimed at encouraging in-depth traveling and learning experiences around the nation.
It has attracted more than a thousand young people, locals and foreigners alike, since it was launched in 2005, said commission officials yesterday.
"Two years ago, when there were an increasing number of young people traveling abroad, we thought it was unfortunate that many interesting local attractions were overlooked," said Wang Yu-chun (
Thus in the summer of 2005, the commission launched the first itineraries for Youth Travel in Taiwan.
This year, the commission is working with more than 20 non-governmental organizations, with itineraries that focus on topics ranging from nature to history, local culture to art.
"Our itineraries usually include six components -- physical challenges, discussion of public issues, an expert tour guide, do-it-yourself experiences, sightseeing and visits to public works," Wang said.
"For example, we may ask the chief of an Aboriginal village to give the participants a tour of the village. Or we may ask everybody to share their views on prisoners' rights when we visit a prison," she added.
The most popular itinerary, according to the commission, is the Dajia Matsu Pilgrimage in March.
This is an eight-day trip that follows the pilgrims of Matsu, the goddess of sea according to traditional beliefs.
Participants are able to experience not only the culture and rituals of the Matsu tradition, but also life in small farming villages in Taiwan, Wang said.
"So far, this has been the most popular itinerary for foreign visitors," she added.
Unfortunately, the Youth Travel in Taiwan itineraries only offer guides who speak local languages, thus some local linguistic ability is a must.
"If we see an increase in non-Chinese-speaking participants in the project, we certainly will look into including English-speaking guides in future years," Wang said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS