Foreign and local visitors flocked to the opening of the annual Tainan International Mango Festival on Saturday for a taste of the latest mango varieties as well as snacks and dishes made of the popular summer fruit.
The festival, which is being held at the Tsou-Ma-Lai Farm (走馬瀨農場) in Greater Tainan’s Danei District (大內), is to run until Sunday.
Nineteen foreign trade delegations, including representatives from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei and Canada, were present at the festival’s opening weekend.
Photo: Lin Meng-ting, Taipei Times
Two Japanese trade delegations — from Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture, and Minakami Town, Gunma Prefecture — visited the festival for a second straight year.
“Mango and its many products are delicious and loved by everyone. It is a symbol of Tainan’s success in refined fruit production and agricultural technology,” Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) said. “Promoting mangoes not only boosts sales and international trade, it also promotes friendship with other countries.”
“At the first Tainan International Mango Festival last year, we garnered more than NT$35 million [US$1.17 million) in orders. We look forward to breaking that figure this year,” Lai added.
Aside from fresh fruit, the festival features mango ice desserts and pastries, mango gift packs, sliced green mango snacks and a host of activities, including mango picking and learning how to make mango-inspired snacks.
Festival organizers — the Greater Tainan Government, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council and the Tainan Farmers’ Co-operative Association — have also set up a “Mango Bus” to run during the festival.
People can board the “Mango Bus” at the Shanhua Rail Station and get off at Tsou-Ma-Lai Farm or Yujing (玉井), famed for its mango trees and mango ice dessert shops during summer.
The Mango Bus runs until the end of next month, according to the Greater Tainan Government, adding that passengers can keep their bus ticket receipt and exchange it for a free serving of mango ice cream at designated stores in Yujing, discounts on mango food dishes and purchase of mango gift packs.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS