A two-day kite festival scheduled for today and tomorrow at Baishawan (白沙灣) in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) is expected to draw expert kiters from across the nation and around the world, the New Taipei City Government said.
City government officials said the 16th annual New Taipei City North Coast International Kite Festival would not only feature traditional kite flying, but also kitesurfing displays on the water, allowing kite experts to show off their skills.
French kite artist Jean-Paul — known for his fluid kite designs that incorporate elements signifying the wind and local terrain — would be featured at the festival, while Belgian kite designer Alain Micquiaux — known for making symbolic kites out of unique environmental features — has also been invited for the first time, officials said.
Photo: Li Ya-wen, Taipei Times
Micquiaux is also known to utilize bamboo and paper in his designs to display an authentic “Asian” element in his works.
Shihmen District Office director Liu Shu-fen (劉淑芬) said that this year’s festival would not only feature kites, but also windmills and chimes, adding that there would be on-site workshops that would allow festival attendees to make their own kites, windmills and chimes.
“There will also be other cultural-creative products made available to visitors in the hope that they will be impressed with their visit to the ‘home of the wind,’” Liu said.
Meanwhile, Chunghwa Post Co said that its Sanchong District (三重) branch will setup a temporary post office at the festival to provide postal services, adding that the post office had designed “kite” stamps that will be on sale for collection and use.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS