A cycling event highlighting the nation’s straddling of the Tropic of Cancer is to be held in Chiayi County on the summer solstice as part of a more diverse approach to tourism, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
On June 21, Provincial Highway 82 that links the Chiayi townships of Dongshih (東石) and Shuishang (水上) is to be closed to all traffic except bicycles, the bureau said.
On the 34.7km expressway, which runs parallel with and close to the Tropic of Cancer at latitude 23.5?N, the sun will be directly overhead at noon on June 21, bureau official Wu Chia-yen said.
The celestial phenomenon at noon on the summer solstice is the focus of the bureau’s summer travel promotion, which highlights the nation’s location on the Tropic of Cancer.
The cycling route is to include tourist attractions such as Dongshih Fisherman’s Wharf and the Solar Exploration Center at the Tropic of Cancer marker.
“It will be the biggest cycling event in Chiayi ever, involving the closure of a provincial highway,” Wu said.
The cycling event is the latest initiative under a project by the Tourism Bureau and the counties of Chaiyi, Hualien, Nantou and Penghu — which all lie on the Tropic of Cancer — to design exclusive travel packages for their respective areas.
The bureau will also map out special travel routes covering the nation’s six national scenic areas in the counties of Chiayi, Hualien and the outlying Penghu, where Tropic of Cancer landmarks can be found.
Previous events have been organized around food themes, giving visitors an opportunity to sample specialties such as smoked flying fish in eastern Taiwan’s Rift Valley and cactus ice-lollipops in Penghu County.
The summer solstice occurs when the sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the North or South poles. It falls between June 20 and 22 in the northern hemisphere.
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