The annual Yangmingshan Flower Festival began yesterday, but people who want to see cherry trees in full bloom will have to wait until later this month, organizers said.
People visiting Yangmingshan in the first half of this month are to be greeted by blossoming common camellia and Taiwan cherry, the first plants to blossom this year, Taipei Park and Street Lights Office director Huang Li-yuan (黃立遠) said.
A range of cherry species — including Japanese cherry, double-flowered cherry and Yoshino cherry — as well as rhododendrons are expected to blossom during the festival, he said.
Speaking at Yangming Park, home to a floral clock, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said the office has arranged a variety of events for the festival, such as an evening cherry blossom-
watching event for couples between 6pm and 9pm every day until Wednesday next week.
On Feb. 25 at 11am, a group picnic is to be held in front of the floral clock, he said.
A springtime promenade starting at the Hushan Road parking lot has been scheduled for March 4, which is to feature a variety of activities, he added.
Two events are to take place on March 19, the last day of the festival, with the first admitting 200 people to pick up trash between a bus terminal outside the park and the floral clock, he said.
The second event, which conclude the festival, will be a “valley concert” that would be held at a campsite, Ko said.
Due to relatively warm weather this winter, people who want to go to the park to view the cherry trees in full blossom are advised to wait until Feb. 28, Taipei Department of Public Works official Sung Fu-hua (宋馥華) said.
People should use bus routes 260 and Red 5 from MRT Shilin or Jiantan stations, the Taipei Department of Transportation said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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