While the sky lanterns of picturesque Pingsi District in New Taipei City draw hordes of tourists to the area, the fallout is evident as the surrounding area is dotted with lantern “corpses.” Not only are they an eyesore for those wishing to enjoy the pristine hills and forests, they are also an environmental hazard and can be dangerous for wild animals.
Next weekend, MyTaiwanTour is launching WISH, a sustainable lantern festival that uses eco-friendly lanterns designed by local startup Culture Bank (文化銀行). According to Culture Bank, up to 400,000 lanterns are released into the sky each year, creating 45 tonnes of garbage, about 10 percent of which is never picked up. Instead of the metal frames, Culture Bank’s frames are made from recycled paper egg cartons, and are designed so they completely burn up before they land.
To offset the remaining issue of carbon emissions from lantern burning, part of the revenue from the lanterns, as well as the festival costs, will go toward planting trees.
Photo courtesy of MyTaiwanTour
MyTaiwanTour will provide transportation.
The festival will take place in the forest and features live music from Golden Melody-winning Hakka band Gina’s Can (吉那罐子) as well as the smooth jazz of Lady & Knight (女爵). Visitors will have a chance to ride an old-school coal transport train and visit the local coal mine museum. There will be craft beer, food and an arts and crafts market.
■ Oct. 12 from 5pm to 8:20pm at 5, Dingliaozi, Pingsi District, New Taipei City (新北市平溪區頂寮子5號). Free shuttle bus departs at 3:30pm from Liberty Square.
■ General admission is NT$1,500, VIP pass that includes a farm-to-table feast are NT$3,600. Both ticket types include an NT$300 coupon for food and drinks at the venue, transportation and lantern releasing. For more information, visit www.wish-festival.com/en/
By global standards, the traffic congestion that afflicts Taiwan’s urban areas isn’t horrific. But nor is it something the country can be proud of. According to TomTom, a Dutch developer of location and navigation technologies, last year Taiwan was the sixth most congested country in Asia. Of the 492 towns and cities included in its rankings last year, Taipei was the 74th most congested. Taoyuan ranked 105th, while Hsinchu County (121st), Taichung (142nd), Tainan (173rd), New Taipei City (227th), Kaohsiung (241st) and Keelung (302nd) also featured on the list. Four Japanese cities have slower traffic than Taipei. (Seoul, which has some
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry consumes electricity at rates that would strain most national grids. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) alone accounted for more than 9 percent, or 2,590 megawatts (MW), of the nation’s power demand last year. The factories that produce chips for the world’s phones and servers run around the clock. They cannot tolerate blackouts. Yet Taiwan imports 97 percent of its energy, with liquefied natural gas reserves measured in days. Underground, Taiwan has options. Studies from National Taiwan University estimate recoverable geothermal resources at more than 33,000 MW. Current installed capacity stands below 10 MW. OBSTACLES Despite Taiwan’s significant geothermal potential, the
In our discussions of tourism in Taiwan we often criticize the government’s addiction to promoting food and shopping, while ignoring Taiwan’s underdeveloped trekking and adventure travel opportunities. This discussion, however, is decidedly land-focused. When was the last time a port entered into it? Last week I encountered journalist and travel writer Cameron Dueck, who had sailed to Taiwan in 2023-24, and was full of tales. Like everyone who visits, he and his partner Fiona Ching loved our island nation and had nothing but wonderful experiences on land. But he had little positive to say about the way Taiwan has organized its
The entire Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀) saga has been an ugly, complicated mess. Born in China’s Hunan Province, she moved to work in Shenzhen, where she met her future Taiwanese husband. Most accounts have her arriving in Taiwan and marrying somewhere between 1993 and 1999. She built a successful career in Taiwan in the tech industry before founding her own company. She also served in high-ranking positions on various environmentally-focused tech associations. She says she was inspired by the founding of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in 2019 by Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), and began volunteering for the party soon after. Ko
RSS