The 10th annual Ilan County Green Expo opened in Suao’s (蘇澳) Wulaokeng (武荖坑) Mountain Stream yesterday, offering visitors 51 days of eco-fun.
Aside from large areas of flower plantations, which are always popular with photographers, fairgoers can feed milk cows, watch daily stage shows or even experience farming life in the 1 hectare rice paddy at the expo park. The park also has a playground for children.
For the Year of the Ox, this year’s expo revolves around the theme of traditional farming animals, with exhibit halls named “Fun Ox Hall,” “Fairytale Ranches” and “Steel Ox Hall.”
PHOTO: YANG YI-MIN, TAIPEI TIMES
The event runs until May 10.
The Ilan County Government, which organized the event, has the reputation of being one of the most environmentally conscious local governments in the country. It has been promoting a green way of life — mainly through the annual spring expo — since 1999.
Reflecting the current state of economy, admission from today on will be half the price of previous years, organizers said, adding that while Ilan residents can enter the park for NT$50, adult tickets on weekends for non-residents will be NT$150.
Addressing the opening ceremony, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said the expo was a step in the right direction as it integrates quality agriculture, tourism and green power industries into a model of development.
“After the economy picks up, industries will reshuffle globally and some will disappear … Green energy, tourism, refined agriculture and biotechnology are the future … Agriculture is not a industry that will fade out,” he said.
”As soon as I walked into the expo, I was struck by a beauty beyond description and I felt like I was entering a fairytale world,” Ma said.
Some protesters challenged the president and criticized the government for investing millions of dollars in the fair while neglecting natural treasures such as the Chingshui geothermal reservoir (清水地熱).
“The Chingshui geothermal reservoir is sealed off — and yet, the county government is spending big money on the expo. This is ridiculous and infuriating to people and the gods,” a protester said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS