People across the nation celebrated New Year’s Day by catching the year’s first beams of sunlight, both on the ground and in the air.
Up in the sky, 158 passengers took a special flight offered by China Airlines (中華航空) that headed straight into the day’s first rays on an early trip to Okinawa, Japan.
Flight CI2015, which took off from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5:20am, took a detour down the coast of Hualien County to Jiqi Beach to greet the new day at 6:18am, before turning north toward Japan.
Photo: Lin Yi-chang, Taipei Times
Later in the morning, tens of thousands of spectators in the eastern county’s Cisingtan area (七星潭) watched several F-16 jets welcome the new year with an air show above the Pacific Ocean.
Further north, people flocked to the easternmost edge of Taiwan proper at New Taipei City’s Cape San Diego (三貂角) to greet the sunrise, while others climbed Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County to watch the sun climb above the sea of clouds from 2,500m above sea level.
However, the uncooperative weather spoiled plans for some celebrants.
Photo: Lin Yi-chang, Taipei Times
In Hualien’s Fenglin Township (鳳林), poor weather canceled early-morning hot air balloon rides.
Others ballooning near Hualien and Taitung County were unable to catch the sunlight due to fog and light rain.
On New Year’s Eve, people all across the nation hurried to parties and celebrations that featured music and fireworks.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) yesterday said that ridership on the capital’s MRT system set a new record high in the hours around midnight, as nearly 3 million passengers rushed to countdown parties and fireworks displays.
In the 24 hours between 6am on Dec. 31 and 6am on Jan. 1, the five MRT lines transported about 2.96 million passengers, up by 210,000 from the year before, the system operator said.
The MRT reported smooth operations despite the increase in passengers, thanks in part to the assistance of more than 1,600 staff members and volunteers.
The inauguration of the Songshan Line (No. 3) in mid-November boosted system capacity, helping the entire network cope, TRTC said.
The new line and the Xinyi Line (No. 2) that opened in 2013 helped “stagger” passengers, who in previous years could crowd onto only the Bannan Line (No. 5) to reach City Hall and Taipei 101 for the major festivities.
A huge number of passengers surged into Yongchun, Taipei City Hall and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall stations on the Bannan Line and the Taipei 101/Taipei World Trade Center station on the Xinyi Line near midnight in a challenge to the MRT’s organizational capabilities.
The operator dealt with the crowds by designating elevators for elderly and disabled people, pregnant women and children to help them navigate the sea of people.
The number of trains was also increased to help move people as quickly as possible.
In Southern Taiwan, Greater Kaohsiung’s two-line subway saw fewer riders than last year, falling 16,751 to 351,287, Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp said.
The north-south red line transported 277,306 passengers, while the east-west orange line carried 73,981 passengers on Wednesday, it added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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