More than 100 concerts, traditional Hakka performances, games and sales of special souvenirs will make this year’s Tung Blossom Festival unforgettable, Council for Hakka Affairs Minister Huang Yu-chen (黃玉振) said at a news conference marking the beginning of the festival.
The festival, which has become one of the most popular Hakka events in the country, is expected to welcome more than 10 million visitors this year, Huang said.
The Council for Hakka Affairs (CHA) earlier this week unveiled plans to promote the nationwide festival abroad with the goal of attracting more visitors from abroad.
PHOTO: TUNG CHEN-KUO, TAIPEI TIMES
“To attract more visitors worldwide, we’ve put up ads for the festival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and international airports in Beijing and Tokyo,” Huang said.
To better serve international visitors, the council has also created Tung Blossom Festival Web pages in Chinese, English and Japanese.
Tung trees, found mostly in hilly areas in northern and central Taiwan, were originally planted for the purpose of extracting Tung oil, which can be used in the manufacture of paint and as a water-repellent material.
The festival is presented in cooperation with the county administrations of Yilan, Keelung, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin and Nantou.
As many Hakka villages are located in hilly areas across the country, the council decided to declare the Tung blossom a symbol of Hakka villages eight years ago.
For details on the festival, visit tung.hakka.gov.tw.
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