TRANSPORTATION
Gondola to mark milestone
The Maokong Gondola will hold a series of celebrations next week to mark its 10 millionth passenger since its launch on July 4, 2007. The passenger is expected to board at the end of this month, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said yesterday. As part of the celebrations, the company has prepared 70,000 souvenir pencils to be given away to passengers as they exit the gondola’s Taipei Zoo station from Thursday next week. A total of 2,000 free photo keychains will also be handed out. During the four-day celebrations, the first 1,000 passengers each day wearing clothes decorated with flowers, dogs or crystal patterns will receive free unlimited rides on the gondola. A concert will be held in the parking area opposite the Taipei Zoo station from 6pm to 10pm on Friday next week, featuring performers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea.
COMICS
Expo sets new record
The annual Comic Exhibition that ended in Taipei on Tuesday drew a record turnout of about 550,000 visitors and generated about NT$180 million (US$6.1 million) in business over the event’s six days, according to the organizer. Roger Gao (高世椿), secretary-general of the event organizer, the Taipei-based Chinese Animation and Comic Publishers Association, said there were about 10,000 more visitors than last year and revenue was NT$30 million higher than expected. A total of 70 companies exhibited at the event, which also featured 38 book signing events and activities, the organizer said.
CULTURE
Eric Chu attends festival
New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) attended the opening of a comic book and anime festival held in Tamsui District (淡水) yesterday and said his administration hoped to turn the city into a home for artists. Chu said the city invited Japanese comic book artists Akemi Kurata, Nori Ochazuke and Naomi Kimura, along with the many local artists who attended the opening, to promote cultural and creative industries in the city. Chu also said the government planned to turn a dormitory in Lising New Village into a space where comic book artists could create and display their work, which would make New Taipei City the first center for comics and anime in the nation. The Tamsui Art Gallery, where the festival is taking place, is also holding an Asian comic book exhibition featuring 200 works by 67 artists from eight countries. The exhibition will run until Aug. 28.
TRAVEL
Tour operators probed
Travel agencies have not been transparent in quoting group tour prices and could face stiff fines for false advertising, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday. In a random survey of 20 travel agencies, the foundation found that 14 posted their prices as “starting from” a certain amount, with real prices up to 50 percent higher than those advertised in some extreme cases. The foundation criticized the practice as violating Ministry of Transportation and Communications guidelines for “fairness and transparency.” The guilty agencies could face a fine of up to NT$25 million if they are found to have violated the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法) clause on false advertising, it added. Among the travel agencies found to be misrepresenting their tour package prices, the foundation said it discovered that ezTravel and Ta Yu Travel Service Co listed “war risk surcharges” as fees in their tour packages even though China Airlines and EVA Air have not collected them since Jan. 1, 2008.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
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