Already famous for its coastal scenery and seafood, Dapeng Bay (大鵬灣) and the fishing port of Donggang (東港) in Pingtung County are becoming bigger draws for tourists thanks to a color LED installation which illuminates Dapeng Bridge (大鵬橋) at night with a dynamic light show.
Opened in March 2011, the bridge spans an estuary in Donggang. Since then, the number of tourists visiting the town has doubled, according to officials at the Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area Administration.
When the 2,600-LED installation for the bridge was completed in October last year, the sparkling multicolored light show was an instant hit with locals and visitors, the official said, adding that the bridge has become a new venue for a leisurely stroll in the evening or a romantic rendezvous for young couples.
Photo: Yeh Jung-chien, Taipei Times
Officials estimated that the new tourist attraction would bring in more than NT$10 billion (US$346 million) in sales and derived financial benefits to the area’s shops, hospitality services, restaurants and guesthouses.
The bascule-type bridge can open to allow ships to pass through the harbor’s outlet to the sea. The operation takes 20 minutes and starts at 4:30pm on weekends and holidays, officials said. On such occasions, viewing spots around Dapeng Bay are usually crowded with hundreds of onlookers.
With a different color display theme every night, including a special light show every hour on the hour, the bridge is a draw for sightseers, officials said.
Statistics from the Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area Administration show that prior to the completion of the bridge, the area around Dapeng harbor had about 200,000 visitors per year. The figure for last year was an estimated 600,000, the agency said.
Calculating that each visitor spends NT$300 during a visit, an official said the local economy benefitted by at least NT$180 million.
“The total cost of the bridge’s construction was just under NT$1.8 billion. The electricity bill for the bridge-opening operation and the LED light show is about NT$30,000 per month, but [the bridge] has generated a lot of tourism and business benefits. It was a small investment for a big financial return,” an agency official said.
A few years ago there were no guesthouses or private lodgings in Donggang, but now there are 12, with several new tourist hotels scheduled to open soon.
Lin Chia-chin (林佳進), a former chairman of a local community organization, is entering the guesthouse business and also acts as a tourist guide, taking visitors to the area’s beaches to catch sand crabs and observe the fauna and flora of the local parks and wetlands.
“Most of the infrastructure is completed in the Dapeng Bay area, but tourism programs are still lacking,” he said. “The planning could incorporate ecotourism guided trips, leisure cruises and activities on the water. I’d suggest the tourism administration add more recreational facilities to attract tourists.”
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
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
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
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai