The 20th edition of the Yilan Green Expo opens today at the Dongshan River Ecopark (冬山河生態綠舟) in Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山).
With ecotourism as the theme, the county hopes to incorporate concepts such as “green living,” environmental protection, energy conservation and low-carbon diets into everyday life, Yilan County Agriculture Department Director Kang Li-ho (康立和) said on Friday last week at a news conference at the Council of Agriculture’s (COA) offices in Taipei.
The expo’s many spaces include a Farm Station (農遊驛站) exhibition, a Good Times Store (好食光雜貨店) selling local agricultural products and an Ocean School (海洋小學) for young students, he said.
Photo: Chiang Chih-hsiung, Taipei Times
Inside the experimental agricultural school at the expo, experts are to give demonstrations and visitors will have the opportunity to have a hands-on experience, COA Deputy Minister Chen Chun-chi (陳駿季) said.
Meanwhile, the “ecotourism time machine” uses virtual-reality technology to allow guests to experience what happens when a natural disaster strikes, he said.
Through an interactive experience, it would bring people 100 years into the future and allow them to explore climate change, he added.
To attract visitors from outside the country, the county is offering free admission to those who arrive using public transportation — via train or bus — Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) said.
Visitors can present a physical or electronic ticket stub from the day of or the day before their visit, Lin added.
Group tours by members of farmers’ or fishers’ associations are entitled to a 50 percent discount on the admission fee of NT$100 (US$3.24), organizers said.
To encourage people to attend the expo’s opening ceremony at 10am, the county has prepared 1,000 1kg bags of rice grown at last year’s expo, Lin said.
Visitors can pick up vouchers at the entrance to the expo and at the Taiwan Railways Administration’s Dongshan Station (冬山車站) starting at 9am and redeem them at a counter set up by the expo at the railway station between 11am and 5pm today.
Over the past two decades, the Yilan Green Expo has received subsidies from the council totaling NT$500 million and generated NT$10 billion in business, the Yilan County Government said.
On April 16, the county is to lead a delegation of representatives from trade associations, hotels and guesthouses to Shanghai to promote agricultural products, such as scallions and rice from the county’s 12 administrative districts, Lin said.
The expo runs through May 12, organizers said.
Additional reporting by Chiang Chih-hsiung
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS