■IMMIGRATION
Stowaway numbers drop
The number of Chinese stowaways detained in Taiwan so far this year has dropped to 45, the lowest number in the past decade, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said on Friday. The NIA’s detention centers in Yilan, Hsinchu and Nantou once held thousands of stowaways from China, but the number has been falling over the past few years. The NIA attributed the drop in numbers to Taiwan’s expansion of its policy on Chinese tourists, saying that Chinese citizens wishing to enter Taiwan no longer have to risk their lives crossing the Taiwan Strait in fishing boats. Now they can apply for a tourist entry permit for Taiwan, NIA officials said, adding that the agency has put in place measures to prevent Chinese tourists in Taiwan from absconding. The NIA said it shipped 35 Chinese stowaways — 22 males and 13 females — back to China on Friday aboard the vessel Hai Hsia.
■CULTURE
U Theatre to perform
U Theatre, a celebrated Taiwanese group of Zen drummers, will present Sound of the Ocean at the concert hall in Changhua County on Nov. 28. Sound of the Ocean is an abstract work about a rhythmically propelled physical exploration of water, which aims to project “peace” and “sharing” to the audience. In order to vividly convey that concept without an explicit narrative thread, U Theatre’s performers will use a combination of traditional martial arts techniques, meditation, modern theatrical skills and ancient Chinese opera arts. Gongs, drums and temple bells will trace the journey of a drop of water as it falls from the sky and joins other drops in a fast running stream that flows into the vast ocean. It has been staged more than 120 times in more than 20 countries, and was rated the best art show by the Avignon Theatre Festival in 1998.
■CULTURE
Honey buzzards screened
A Taiwanese documentary featuring the Oriental Honey Buzzard — one of a number of protected raptors in Taiwan — was screened at an international conference on honey buzzards that opened on Friday. The high-definition documentary gives an unprecedented glimpse at how the bird invades a hornet hive in groups to prey on pupa, officials from the Council of Agriculture’s (COA) Forestry Bureau said. The film also provides visual evidence of the honey buzzard’s migratory paths, the environment it encounters and the hazards that threaten the bird’s survival, the officials said. It is Taiwan’s first documentary featuring the bird that was little known until the government began constructing a databank of raptors in 2002. As they undertook the project, researchers discovered that some of the buzzards that wintered in Taiwan have settled here.
■CULTURE
Lugang sites reopen
The recently renovated Lugang Assembly Hall and fragrant osmanthus artistic village have reopened with a series of winter tour activities. The activities include a creative fair and craft show today. In addition, a children’s fair will be held on weekends at several locations, including Lungshan Temple. Lugang Assembly Hall, with its distinctive Western style architecture, was designated as a historic relic by the Changhua County government in 2000. The renovation of the building was completed in March. The county government’s Cultural Bureau has also completed projects to renovate Longshan Temple, Fongshan Temple and Lugang Gate.
RSS