English speakers around the world who are interested in Taiwanese culture, arts and entertainment have increased access to information through a Web site officially launched yesterday.
Culture.tw, funded by the Council of Cultural Affairs (CCA) and run by the Central News Agency (CNA), aims to be the main Internet portal that "showcases the rich and colorful culture of Taiwan in English," Chief Editor of the site Miranda Loney told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
After more than a year of planning, culture.tw was launched quietly in July on a trial basis, council Vice Chairman Wu Chin-fa (吳錦發) said.
"During the trial run, an average of 800 plus unique users viewed the Web site from 53 countries around the globe every day," he said.
Accounting for 45.53 percent of all hits, US Internet users were the largest group of regular visitors to the Web site, while English speakers in Taiwan accounted for 42.64 percent of hits, Wu said.
Taiwan-related cultural events and activities can be found in the frequently updated events section, while the "stories section offers in-depth, high quality written features on various facets of Taiwan culture augmented by audio, video, and photographs," Loney said.
Users may also discuss or comment on issues related to Taiwanese culture, Loney said.
David Blundell, a linguistic anthropologist who teaches at National Chengchi University, praised culture.tw as excellent.
"[The site is] an excellent tool for my students in Taiwan to learn about Taiwan?and it's [also] something so convenient and easy to use for my students in California to discover Taiwanese culture," Blundell said.
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
President William Lai (賴清德) is expected to announce a new advanced “all-domain” air defense system to better defend against China when he gives his keynote national day speech today, four sources familiar with the matter said. Taiwan is ramping up defense spending and modernizing its armed forces, but faces a China that has a far larger military and is adding its own advanced new weapons such as stealth fighter jets, aircraft carriers and a huge array of missiles. Lai is expected to announce the air defense system dubbed “Taiwan Dome” in his speech this morning, one of the sources said. The system
RSS