With the advent of autumn, the Kinmen County Government is stepping up promotion of an ancient trail on Taiwu Mountain (太武山), the highest in the county, as part of ongoing efforts to boost tourism.
Dotted with numerous granite steps, the Caicuo Ancient Trail (蔡厝古道) is a path that used to connect Shamei (沙美) and Shanwei (山外) villages, which are separated by Taiwu Mountain in the eastern part of Kinmen Island, the county government said in a press release.
In earlier times, traders carried baskets loaded with tofu and fresh vegetables on a stick over their shoulder along the trail to sell their wares.
Photo: CNA
That explains its other name, Tofu Ancient Trail (豆腐古道), the county said.
Kinmen started promoting the Taiwu Mountain hiking tour along the Tofu Ancient Trail last year, Kinmen Tourism Department officials said.
With the Caicuo Old Trail as its main feature, the tour is designed to attract hikers and ancient trail fans from Taiwan and China, giving them a glimpse into rarely seen natural and cultural landscapes in Kinmen, the officials said.
The trail has already been featured on the popular television travel program Made In Taiwan (MIT台灣誌) on China Television, which visited Kinmen for five days in August to document it, county officials said.
Former county government resident artist Tsou Chia-che (鄒佳哲) was commissioned by the county government to paint a mural featuring the Tofu Ancient Trail at the Caicuo tourist center last year and returned to lead a group of reporters and hikers along the trail earlier this month.
On the three-hour walk from the trail entrance to the peak of Taiwu Mountain, the group visited cultural spots from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as more modern attractions.
At the top of the mountain, Tsou once again sketched the beauty of the trail and a wonderful bird’s-eye view of Jinsha Township (金沙), the department said.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C