This year’s Taipei Culture Passport features more than 50 walking tours, exhibitions, lectures and other activities running until Aug. 31.
Beginning as a booklet in 2004 listing places worth visiting in the capital and distributed by the city government, the Taipei Culture Passport has since expandedd to become a series of events in which the public is invited to experience the city’s traditions, history and culture.
This year’s theme is “Eight Approaches and Six Ways (八方六道),” with the organizers, Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs and South Village (南村落) — an arts and culture center, seeking to introduce different ways of exploring the city through eight theme-based categories, each of which features six activities led by artists and cultural experts.
In the category of Contemporary Design, for example, participants will have a chance to take guided tours of graffiti art in Ximending or to visit architectural studios at Songshan Tobacco Factory. Walking tours grouped within the Creative Aesthetics section will lead attendants through some of the city’s most thriving back streets such as Dongfeng Street (東豐街) and Fujin Street (富錦街) as well as the “Wen Luo Ding” (溫羅汀) area — which runs from Wenzhou Street (溫州街) to Roosevelt Road (羅斯福路) and Dingzhou Road (汀州路).
For nature-lovers there are organized outings to Zhishan Cultural and Ecological Gardens, Beitou Park and Tamsui River. Meanwhile, history is to be revisited through half-day trips to old neighborhoods such as Shilin (士林), Beitou (北投) and Dalongdong (大龍峒).
“Through these activities, we want to show people how easily it is to get in touch with culture in our daily lives. Culture and arts are experienced in the city’s nooks and crannies, not just inside the National Theater or National Palace Museum,” Taipei City’s Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Liu Wei-gong (劉維公) said.
Lulu Han (韓良露), the head of South Village, said that even after the event ends, people can still use the brochures as a city tour guide.
“For tourists from Chinese-speaking regions, the booklets are a good reference point for an in-depth city trip,” he said.
Culture Passport brochures containing information on destinations and activities can be picked up at various cultural venues around the city, including Taipei’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Lin Yu-tang Residence (林語堂故居), Spot — Taipei Film House (光點—台北之家) and Red House Theater (西門紅樓). It can also be found online at: 2012taipeiculturepassport.blogspot.tw.
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