Heping Island Park (和平島公園), which has been closed for more than six years, is to reopen in July, Tourism Bureau officials said yesterday, presenting a tourism campaign to name 10 unique rock formations in the park.
The park, which is close to Keelung Harbor, was closed to visitors after it was deemed unsafe due to falling rocks, but the North Coast and Guanyinshan National Scenic Area Administration has reported that safety precautions taken since it took over management of the island from the Keelung City Government in 2016 would allow the park to reopen.
“We have made cliff areas safer and designed routes that avoid dangerous areas,” administration official Lee Ssu-hsien (李思賢) said.
The park, like Yehliu (野柳) and its singular rock formations, is known for its spectacular terrain created by marine erosion, including wave-cut beaches and sea cliffs.
Seasonal winds from the northeast have also weathered the rocks, which are now the centerpiece of a promotional campaign that asks the public to help name 10 of the park’s formations.
Two possible names have been selected for each of the formations, based on animals the rock’s shape resembles, such as a crocodile, rhino or boar.
Members of the public are asked to vote for their favorite rock names online at www.hpipark.org.
The voting has already started and is to continue until the end of the month, Lee said, adding that before July, people can visit parts of the island for NT$20 during trial operations.
The names of those who vote will be placed in a lottery, with the winners to receive cruise liner tickets or one of 20 passes to visit the park for free for a year, Lee said.
Along with the UK’s South Downs and the US’ Bryce Canyon, Heping Island Park was in 2014 chosen by US-based Chinese-language SinoVision television network as one of the world’s most stunning places to watch the sunrise.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS