Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) was in Taipei yesterday to promote tourism in Taitung, introducing special discounts for tourists and inviting the public to enjoy the beauty and bounty of the east coast.
“Taitung is a place with beautiful mountains and fields, a 160km coastline on the Pacific, a rich blend of Aboriginal, Hakka and Hoklo cultures, as well as gourmet food and fresh farm produce,” Kuang told a news conference. “Some people have told me that when they traveled to Taitung for the first time, they felt as though they had walked into paradise.”
In addition to Hoklos and Hakkas, there are six Aboriginal tribes in Taitung — the Amis, the Puyuma, the Paiwan, the Rukai, the Bunun and the Tao — “making traveling in Taitung a very unique cultural experience,” she said.
The East Rift Valley (花東縱谷), bounded by the Central Mountain Range on the west and the Coastal Mountain Range on the east, is famous for producing high-quality rice and other agricultural products, she said.
Taitung also offers “bamboo coffee,” described by its grower Juan Yung-kuang (阮勇光) as the best-kept secret in Taitung.
“There are some great coffee growers in Taitung, but not many people know about it,” Juan said behind a table on which he displayed coffee beans from his farm in Beinan Township (卑南).
“I put fresh coffee beans in bamboo pipes and let a natural fermentation process take place,” Juan said, explaining how “bamboo coffee” — which is only found in Taitung — is made.
“Beans can be kept there for about a year or so. Just take out the beans, grind them and make coffee whenever you like,” he said. “Every sip of the coffee has the fragrance of the bamboo.”
To promote tourism, Kuang said in a press release that the county government, local tourism authorities and 60 tourism-related businesses had developed a “Taitung Tourist Passport” that gives travelers discounts on lodging, food, entrance fees and souvenirs at participating stores and tourist sites.
More information about the discounts is available online at www.erv-nsa.gov.tw.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not