Riding on the success of an innovative temple fair dance during the opening ceremony of the Kaohsiung World Games, the Kaohsiung City Government is planning to promote the dance at the renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the biggest arts festival in the world.
The innovative temple fair dance involves “seven-star” steps that were traditionally danced by Taoist deity sedan-chair carriers during religious festivals and are accompanied by loud traditional temple tunes and neon lights.
The dance was billed by the city government as the “Taike Dance” because of the strong Taiwanese folklore characteristics surrounding it, said Shih Che(史哲), director-general of the city government’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs.
The bureau is planning to organize a “Taike Dance” company, which will train regularly so that it can represent Kaohsiung City at the next Edinburgh Festival Fringe next August, Shih said.
To attract further interest, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) is inviting people to join her for a record-setting event where it is hoped some 100,000 people will take part in a “Taike Dance” at Kaohsiung’s Lotus Pond at 2pm on Sunday, Shih said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
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US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,