A four-day holiday and the ongoing crisis in Japan motivated more than 4 million people to travel within Taiwan during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, the Tourism Bureau announced yesterday.
Statistics from the bureau showed that a total of 4.4 million people traveled during the holiday.
The number of travelers on Sunday topped 1.62 million, exceeding the other three days.
The bureau also said that because the country resumed celebrating National Children’s Day as a national holiday, many amusement parks offered special discounts for children, including allowing children under the age of 12 to enter the parks for free. According to the bureau, 24 amusement parks nationwide attracted 300,000 visitors between April 2 and April 5.
The Taipei International Flora Expo, which is scheduled to close on April 25, remained the biggest attraction during the holiday, drawing a total of 293,487 visitors.
Some of the nation’s scenic spots, such as the northeast coast, Sun Moon Lake, Alishan (阿里山) and Kenting, were also filled with tourists, the bureau said.
In related news, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that more people are using public transportation systems to travel during long holidays.
The ministry said the average traffic volume on public transportation systems between April 2 and April 5 was 1.4 million passengers a day, which was a 6.4 percent increase compared with the same period last year.
The average traffic volume on the high speed rail system reached approximately 152,600 passengers a day, increasing by 17.28 percent compared with the same period year, the ministry said.
In addition, use of Taiwan Railway Administration services grew by almost 10 percent, it said.
Despite congestion at certain sections of the nation’s freeways, the ministry said that the average driving time between Taipei and Kaohsiung would not have exceeded six hours.
The longest backup on Freeway No. 5 was limited to 3km, it said.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS