The Taichung World Flora Exposition opened yesterday, featuring horticulture from around the world at three venues in Houli (后里), Fongyuan (豐原) and Waipu (外埔) districts.
The expo is held in cities around the world to promote gardening and horticultural design. The Taichung expo is the second time it has been held in Taiwan after the Taipei Flora Exposition in 2010.
The Taichung expo’s leopard cat mascots, Love and Life, were at entrances to welcome visitors.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the preservation of leopard cats at Houli Horse Ranch and Forest Park, one of the three venues, was supported by the International Association of Horticultural Producers.
Visitor numbers reached 30,000 as of noon yesterday, according to the Taichung City Government, the event’s organizer.
The city government said that it expects 8 million people to visit the expo, with up to 6 million of them staying in the city — including 1 million foreign travelers — bringing revenue of up to NT$30 billion (US$976 million).
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Expo spokeswoman Huang Yi-han (黃意涵) said that Taichung’s goal is to exceed the 585,000 international visitors who attended the Taipei expo.
Taichung has stepped up its global marketing campaign and established direct flights to the city, Huang said.
In June, flights began between Taichung International Airport and Narita International Airport in Japan — in addition to the 18 international routes established from 2015 to last year — which are expected to bring more than 1 million visitors to the city, she said.
Photo: CNA
Taichung International Tourism Association chairman Chai Chun-lin (柴俊林) said that it takes more than a day to see the expo’s three venues, which means visitors are likely to stay one or two nights, which would be a big boost for local businesses.
The first visitor to enter the Houli site yesterday was Atsushi Futakami from Japan.
He said he was a staff member at the 1990 International Garden and Greenery Expo in Osaka, Japan, and has visited flora expos around the world since then.
The city government advised people to use public transport to reach the venues to reduce congestion.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
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DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
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