Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
As one of six people selected by Discovery Travel & Living's program Lonely Planet Six Degrees to introduce Taipei's charms, Ma yesterday morning took host Asha Gill on a helicopter tour of what the mayor called "a city that is a mixture of the old and the new."
"We flew across Taipei 101," the world's tallest building, Ma said, after alighting from the helicopter at Taipei Songshan Airport.
"I also showed her the Neihu Industrial Park and some old communities to show her that Taipei is a city that is a mixture of both old and new [elements]," the mayor said.
As the Discovery host prepared to shoot more scenes of the city, Ma said that what Gill found most beautiful about Taipei was the people.
"She told me that Taipei is very lovable, the people here are so friendly and she'd like to stay for a while if possible," he said.
In addition to Ma, Gill met with five Taipei residents, including DJ/magazine editor Liu Shiuan (劉軒), experimental singer/songwriter Mia Hsieh (謝韻雅), designer Isabella Wen (溫慶珠), artist Chin Ming-yi (覃敏宜) and the director of a puppet theater, Robin Ruizendaal.
Through these people's work and personal lives, the program explores the city's alternative attractions, from a historic military base surrounding a temple called Treasure Hill to the Red Playhouse in Ximending and the Tonghua Street night market.
"It's not necessarily what Taipei would like to show the world, but maybe more of what the world would like to see in Taipei," said David Momphard, unit production manager of Lonely Planet Television, commenting on the program's choice of the city's attractions.
Treasure Hill, for example, represented a subculture not known to many people.
Home to many veterans who fled to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) around 60 years ago, the area was a marginalized village that was going to be torn down about four years ago. However, thanks to the efforts of local artists, the community has been preserved and turned into an artist's village.
While Treasure Hill has largely been ignored by local residents, the site was selected as one of the attractions in a New York Times article and has grown in popularity.
Lonely Planet Six Degrees: Taipei will be shown toward the end of the year. The program attracts an audience of some 500 million from 50 countries.
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