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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Society
Woman reunited with father
With only two blurred photos and vague hints from her mother, Emily Yan (楊芸莉), a Taiwanese-born US citizen, met her biological father in Tainan on Saturday after a hiatus of 40 years. Yang, a bank clerk, was helped by a Banciao policeman in her quest to track down Tu Lung-yi (杜龍一). She told journalists at her father's Tainan home that her mother left Tu and moved to the US when she was only three years old telling her he was dead. Her mother changed her name after she remarried and the little girl's only impression of her biological father was two family photos.

■ Weather
Cold snap on the way
The Central Weather Bureau forecast a chilly weekend yesterday as a cold front is expected to affect the nation on Thursday. Overall, the temperature in regions north of Taichung could potentially drop to 8oC. Temperatures in the south, on the other hand, are expected to slide to approximately 10oC. According to the bureau, the cold front is composed mainly of dry air. Should its humidity gradually increase as it approaches land, snow could fall on mountains higher than 3,000m above sea level. Meanwhile, wet conditions are expected to continue until tomorrow when a stationery front which has hovered over the nation since last week gradually moves away. Showers will mostly occur in northeastern regions of the country.

■ Environment
Tainan pulls in spoonbills
A total of 759 black-faced spoonbills are spending the winter on the Tsengwen Estuary in Tainan County, the Wild Bird Society of Tainan reported yesterday. The world census of the endangered birds was initiated by the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society, with Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Macau taking part. Since the Tsengwen Estuary provides a wintering ground for most migratory birds, the result of the survey has attracted attention. The Wild Bird Society of Tainan and the Black-faced Spoonbill Association in Tainan County conducted this year's census over the weekend and counted 705 of the rare birds on the first day and 759 birds on the second day. Neither number matched the record figures for spoonbills recorded previously.

■ Crime
Cops target betel nut vice
Police have stepped up inspection of roadside betel-nut stalls after some betel nut sales girls were caught providing "drive-through" sex services to customers, local television reported yesterday. They have increased patrols on Highway No. 19 in Tainan County after some betel nut sellers launched a "drive-through" prostitution service to passing car drivers, several cable TV channels reported. The police discovered that when a car pulled up and the driver lowered his window, some betel nut girls pushed their upper bodies through the window, allowing the car driver to fondle her breasts as she handed over the betel nuts, the reports said. For a higher fee, the betel nut girl would jump into the front seat of the car and perform oral sex on the driver. "We have stepped up patrols on Highway No. 19 to crack down on prostitution. We are now checking the ID cards of every betel nut seller to make sure it is a proper business, not a front for selling sex," a policeman said on ETTV.

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