The best time to view cherry blossoms in New Taipei City this year is on Lunar New Year’s day, the city’s Agricultural Department says.
The department said that the cherry-blossom season attracts about 1 million visitors to the city every year and that it was prepared for the worst this year — expecting that only 20 to 30 percent of the city’s cherry trees would blossom — with due to a warmer-than-usual winter season.
However, with a cold front having recently passed over the nation, the department said that the municipality would likely see all of its cherry trees — about 150,000 — blossom.
District offices across the municipality aree holding various activities throughout the season, with Tamsui District (淡水) taking the lead and hosting a hiking event on Sunday at Hobe Fort (滬尾砲台).
The city government said it is adopting a “picnic theme” for this year’s cherry-blossom season and encouraged visitors to have picnics under the cherry trees.
The cherry trees along Chingshan Road in Sanjih District (三芝), Tamsui District’s Huwei area, at the Hsiungkung Tea Farm in Sansia District (三峽) and in Tucheng District (土城) are all blossoming, New Taipei City Agricultural Department Director Lee Wen (李玟) said.
Those trees would blossom first and the others would follow soon after, Lee said, adding that the staggered blossom would mean that visitors would be able to enjoy cherry blossoms well into March.
Department official Chung Chueh-fei (鍾覺非) said that Typhoon Soudelor in August last year severely damaged the cherry trees in Wulai District (烏來), adding that the district’s famous “nighttime visits” to view the cherry blossoms had been cancelled this year.
“The government hopes to plant more cherry trees next month and in March so visitors are able to enjoy the cherry blossoms in Wulai again next year,” Chung said.
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