Fifteen contestants from around the world will compete for a top prize of NT$1 million (US$34,700) on Fun Taiwan Challenge (瘋台灣大挑戰), co-sponsored by the Tourism Bureau and the Discovery Networks’ Travel and Living Channel (TLC).
The program will start shooting on Monday and is scheduled to debut in Taiwan in October. It will subsequently be broadcast in more than 34 countries in Asia, with an estimated audience of more than 134 million.
Tourism Bureau Director--General Janice Lai (賴瑟珍) said this was the third time that the bureau has worked with the Discovery Networks. She said that Fun Taiwan Challenge drew more than 3,000 participants from 30 countries around the world, but only 15 were chosen for the competition.
Photo: CNA
“We hope that the program shows the charm of Taiwan through interactive games and generates new discussion about travel in Taiwan,” she said.
Discovery Networks Asia--Pacific general manager Tommy Lin (林東民) said that the production costs for Fun Taiwan -Challenge would be three times more than the network’s other travel programs, adding that it is the network’s first reality game show in Asia.
The program will allow an international audience to experience the unique energy of Taiwan, Lin added.
Taiwanese-American Janet Hsieh (謝怡芬) hosted the network’s two Fun Taiwan series and will be in charge of dishing out various challenges to the contestants in the new program.
“In the Fun Taiwan series, I traveled by myself or with a foreigner,” Hsieh said. “The new program will also have a little bit of intensity to it.”
Hsieh said she would make sure that the contestants cannot easily win the reward, adding that one of the contestants would be sent home on the first week of shooting.
As teasers, Hsieh asked eight contestants at a press conference yesterday to try a taste of congealed pig-blood cake and duck tongue, two famous Taiwanese delicacies. Some of the contestants were clearly disgusted just by the names of the food they were being asked to eat.
Others were asked by Lai to write the Chinese name of the program in Chinese calligraphy.
“The congealed pig-blood cakes are actually delicious, although I hope I can drink some water [while eating it],” said 24-year-old Tully Smith from the US.
Those interested in submitting challenges to contestants can go to the TLC Web site at www.tlc-funtaiwan.com.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS