Free buses and frequent MRT services to Taipei Zoo will be offered during the Lunar New Year holiday as more than 100,000 visitors are expected to visit the two giant pandas every day during the holiday, the Taipei City Government said yesterday.
Free bus services between Taipei City Hall and the zoo will be offered between 7am and 6pm from Monday to Sunday, the Department of Transportation said. In addition, three new bus lines — bus 120 from the Taipei Railway Station, 121 from MRT Gongguan Station and 122 from MRT Zhongshan Junior High School Station — will provide transportation to the zoo during the holiday and weekends.
Lin Li-yu (林麗玉), deputy commissioner of the department, said the MRT Muzha Line would increase the frequency of its service during the holiday.
Transportation measures in response to the expected crowds in the zoo during the holiday also include a 1.3km exclusive bus lane along the parking lot on Shinkuan Road Sec. 2.
Parking space along that special zone will be canceled, while the parking fee at other lots around the zoo will be increased from NT$150 for a full day to NT$60 per hour.
Cars parked between Wanshou Bridge (萬壽橋) and Wanfu Bridge (萬福橋) will be charged fees starting on Monday, Lin said.
Taipei Zoo director Jason Yeh (葉傑生) said the panda exhibition hall would officially open to the public on Monday. People wishing to see the animals will need to obtain a number slip and visits inside the hall will be limited to 10 minutes.
Operating hours at the zoo from Monday to Sunday will be 8:30am until 5:30pm. Normal operating hours (9am to 5pm) will resume on Feb. 2.
Additional information on transportation is available at www.taipei.gov.tw, with information on bus routes available at www.5284.com.tw.
STAMPS
Meanwhile, stamp collectors swarmed the Taipei Beimen Post Office yesterday morning hoping to buy limited copies of Giant Pandas stamps scheduled to be made available this week.
Both stamps and the stamp folders quickly sold out.
The collection includes a NT$5 stamp featuring Tuan Tuan (團團), a NT$9 stamp featuring Yuan Yuan (圓圓) and a NT$25 stamp featuring a photo of both.
The post office said it printed 1 million units of each. As many as 25,000 stamp folders that include all three stamps, a miniature sheet, a first-day cover and three postcards are also available for NT$180 each.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition