Kite enthusiasts from around the world will flock to Shihmen Township (石門), Taipei County, this weekend to celebrate this year’s Shihmen International Kite Festival.
The festival will see a host of competitors from home and abroad displaying their kiting skills in competition against each other.
The event has been hosted by the North Coast and Guanyinshan National Scenic Area Administration since 2000.
This year, the event has drawn the participation of kite fliers from Australia, the UK, the US, Japan, Korea and Malaysia as well as from several local kite fliers associations.
HOME
The Tourism Bureau’s deputy director general Steven Kuo Su (郭蘇燦洋) said Shihmen is now known as the home of kite fliers, as it has the Shihmen Kite Park, which is probably one of the best places to fly kites in the region.
Shihmen Mayor Liang Yu-xue (梁玉雪) said that although the Shihmen International Kite Festival clashes with the kite festival in South Korea this year, the South Korean Kite Association is still sending four representatives to attend the Shihmen festival.
Many kite fliers from other countries still have chosen to come to Taiwan as well.
At the press conference yesterday, the organizers also invited local kite makers to demonstrate special kites, such as Frisbee and parachute kites. These kites can be flown both indoors and outdoors.
MORE THAN KITES
In addition to kites, the festival now includes other wind-related activities, such as windsurfing and sailing, to highlight the various recreational activities available on Taiwan’s Northeast Coast.
Visitors can take the Taipei MRT Red Line to Hongshulin Station (紅樹林站), where a free shuttle bus service heading to Shihmen will be provided every 20 minutes.
The Shihmen International Kite Festival is held every year in September and October.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS