From firework displays and star-studded concerts to beach parties and a running contest, there are lots of options to ring in the New Year.
Read on for New Year’s Eve celebrations being held in cities and towns near you.
When the clock strikes midnight in Taipei City, 30,000 rounds of fireworks will shoot skyward from Taipei 101 in a 202-second-long pyrotechnics show. Adjacent to the site of the annual explosive extravaganza, a six-hour long party will be held in front of Taipei City Hall (台北市政府), starting at 7pm. Headliners at the event include Mayday (五月天), Show Luo, (羅志祥) and Hong Kong pop group Grasshopper (草蜢).
If you join the party tomorrow, expect a monstrously large crowd and traffic control measures. Do not attempt to drive, unless you want to get stuck in traffic for hours. Transport services are gearing up to deal with the massive exodus after the countdown. Bus operation hours have been extended, and most MRT lines will be open all night. More details can be found at www.tvbs.com.tw/project/tvbs_g/activity/2012_taipei/index.aspx.
After the New Year countdown, revelers can hop on trains heading to Fulong Beach (福隆海水浴場) and keep the partying rolling with performances by musicians including Amis crooner A-Lin (real name Huang Li-ling, 黃麗玲) and pop singer Shadya (藍又時). The beach party runs from 3am to 8am, and a fireworks display will welcome the first dawn of 2012. For more information, visit 2012.firstholding.com.tw or call the Fulong Tourist Center (福隆遊客中心) on (02) 2499-1210.
Hsinchu County’s New Year celebrations feature performances by pop stars including Da Mouth (大嘴巴), Champion (強辯樂團) and William Wei (韋禮安), as well as an eight-minute-long fireworks show at midnight. On the Net: www.hsinchu.gov.tw/activities/2012newyear/index.html.
Meanwhile, Taoyuan’s official celebration, which is being held at the Taoyuan Multipurpose Culture Park (桃園縣多功能藝文園區), consists of appearances by Hebe Tien (田馥甄), Cyndi Wang (王心凌) and Yen-J (嚴爵), among others. On the net: nye2012.tycg.gov.tw.
In Taichung City, a troupe of seven entertainers, including Na Dou (納豆), Ah-Ken (阿Ken), Wang Lee-hom (王力宏), Biung (王宏恩) and Ariel Lin (林依晨), will host a New Year Eve’s party at the stadium of the National Taiwan University of Physical Education and Sport (國立台灣體育運動大學體育場). On the Net: blog.ctitv.com.tw/2011newyear.
Television personalities Hu Gua (胡瓜) and Hsiao Chung (小鍾) will host Tainan’s official New Year’s Eve celebration at the park outside the Taiwan High Speed Rail’s (台灣高鐵) Tainan Station. Participating stars and groups include Show Luo, Ricky Hsiao (蕭煌奇) and The Chairman (董事長樂團). On the Net: 2012tainan.events.pixnet.net.
If countdown parties are not your thing, the annual Alishan New Year Sunrise Concert (阿里山日出印象音樂會) offers a much more serene way to welcome in 2012, with attendees watching the sunrise to a soundtrack of classical music. Starting at 4:30am, the aurorean concert’s lineup comprises the Yue Shu-han Brass Quintet (葉樹涵銅管五重奏團), oboe player Casper Tsai (蔡興國) and the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra (台北愛樂管弦樂團). On the Net: www.alishansunrise.989.com.tw.
If celebrating New Year’s Eve with a dip in a hot spring sounds heavenly, check out the festivities taking place in Guguan (谷關), Taichung County. A party will be held next to the Guguan Hot Spring Park (谷關溫泉公園) featuring fireworks and music performances. On the Net: lishan.989.com.tw.
Sticking with a more relaxed beginning to the New Year, at Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) bands will perform classical music in the afternoon at the Ita Thao Pier (伊達邵碼頭). A New Year Eve’s party will take place on the pier from 8pm to midnight, featuring a pyrotechnics show and performances by pop acts and indie groups including Totem (圖騰樂團) and Echo (回聲樂團). On the Net: www.agan.com.tw/2012sml.
Not to be outdone by Taipei, Kaohsiung City’s New Year’s Eve celebrations are being held at not one but two locations: the Dream Mall (夢時代廣場) and E-Da World (義大世界) theme park. Both will feature firework spectacles and musical performances throughout the day and into the night. A legion of pop stars, musicians and bands, including Wang Lee-hom, Sodagreen (蘇打綠), Wu Bai (伍佰) and his group China Blue, Aska Yang (楊宗緯) and Daniel Chan (陳曉東), will welcome the New Year at the Dream Mall in what is being billed as the country’s longest countdown party. The activities run from 3pm to 2am. Entertainers Jackie Wu (吳宗憲) and Chen Han-tien (陳漢典) will host E-Da World’s party, which comprises performances by mainstream and indie acts including Rainie Yang (楊丞琳), JJ Lin (林俊傑) and Aboriginal band Matzka (瑪斯卡). On the Net: ks2012.streetvoice.com and 2012eda.ctv.com.tw.
On the east coast, Taimali (太麻里) will hold its annual sunrise watching event on the beach at the Taimali Sunrise Park (太麻里迎曙光園區). The festivities, featuring performances by Aboriginal artists groups, firework displays and stargazing, will begin at 8pm. For the athletically inclined, there will be a running competition along the beach starting at 7am. For more information, visit www.taimali.gov.tw/?q=node/12044 and www.turaa.tw.
When the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces 50 years ago this week, it prompted a mass exodus of some 2 million people — hundreds of thousands fleeing perilously on small boats across open water to escape the communist regime. Many ultimately settled in Southern California’s Orange County in an area now known as “Little Saigon,” not far from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where the first refugees were airlifted upon reaching the US. The diaspora now also has significant populations in Virginia, Texas and Washington state, as well as in countries including France and Australia.
On April 17, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) launched a bold campaign to revive and revitalize the KMT base by calling for an impromptu rally at the Taipei prosecutor’s offices to protest recent arrests of KMT recall campaigners over allegations of forgery and fraud involving signatures of dead voters. The protest had no time to apply for permits and was illegal, but that played into the sense of opposition grievance at alleged weaponization of the judiciary by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to “annihilate” the opposition parties. Blamed for faltering recall campaigns and faced with a KMT chair
Article 2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文) stipulates that upon a vote of no confidence in the premier, the president can dissolve the legislature within 10 days. If the legislature is dissolved, a new legislative election must be held within 60 days, and the legislators’ terms will then be reckoned from that election. Two weeks ago Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed that the legislature hold a vote of no confidence in the premier and dare the president to dissolve the legislature. The legislature is currently controlled
Dull functional structures dominate Taiwan’s cityscapes. But that’s slowly changing, thanks to talented architects and patrons with deep pockets. Since the start of the 21st century, the country has gained several alluring landmark buildings, including the two described below. NUNG CHAN MONASTERY Dharma Drum Mountain (法鼓山, DDM) is one of Taiwan’s most prominent religious organizations. Under the leadership of Buddhist Master Sheng Yen (聖嚴), who died in 2009, it developed into an international Buddhist foundation active in the spiritual, cultural and educational spheres. Since 2005, DDM’s principal base has been its sprawling hillside complex in New Taipei City’s Jinshan District (金山). But
RSS