Glory Pier (光榮碼頭) led an online poll conducted by Internet portal Yam.com for the top 10 tourist hotspots in Greater Kaohsiung.
The poll was voted on by 110,000 netizens, with Glory Pier receiving 7,431 votes, the Pier 2 Arts Center (高雄駁二藝術特區) coming in second with 7,231 and the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center coming in third with nearly 7,000 votes, Yam.com said.
Originally named Pier No. 13, the Glory Pier was renamed when the military started using it as supply post for soldiers stationed on Kinmen and Matsu.
After its retirement from military use in 2005, the city government built a 500m-long path along the pier, turning it into a new scenic site with a view of the bay.
The pier rocketed to renewed fame after the Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s giant yellow Rubber Duck was unveiled at the pier during the Mid-Autumn Festival last month.
Meanwhile, the Pier 2 Arts Center, just a short distance from the Glory Pier, was originally an old warehouse the city government decided to remodel into a center for artistic creativity.
In recent years it has been a important site for artists in southern Taiwan to show their works.
The E-Da World Mall, known for its New Year’s firework displays, which some say rivals the annual display put by Taipei 101, ranked fourth, while the Chiahsien District (甲仙), which was ravaged by Typhoon Morakot in 2009, came in at fifth place after the release of a documentary film — A Bridge over Troubled Water (拔一條河).
The district has recently experienced an influx of tourists who have been touched by the film about the area and how it coped with the ravages of Morakot.
Kaohsiung Metro’s Formosa Boulevard Station, which houses the world’s largest public glass art work — the Dome of Light — ranked sixth, according to the poll.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea