The Presidential Office Building has grown in popularity among Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan.
Since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) opened Taiwan to Chinese tourists in July 2008, two months after assuming office, the number of Chinese visitors to the building, located on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei, increased from 5,965 in 2008 to 44,353 in 2012.
Between January and November last year, the building attracted 127,144 visitors, 44,471 of whom were from China, far higher than the 8,171 visitors from Japan and the 1,470 from Hong Kong and Macau, according to Presidential Office data.
Many members of Chinese tour groups told her after visiting the building that they wanted to come back when they travel to Taiwan as independent tourists in the future, so that they can appreciate the beauty of the building at a slower pace, volunteer tour guide Ko Chiao-mei said.
The building is open to visitors from 9am to noon every day from Monday to Friday, free of charge.
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
A promotional event for the launch of a drinks store led to police questioning a 26-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), the Taichung Police Department said yesterday. Police said that they questioned Chang and forwarded the case to prosecutors, accusing her of producing, distributing, broadcasting or selling pornography. Police said she faces charges related to the alleged distribution of indecent photographs on Twitter and using overtly sexual innuendos to promote the store on Monday night. Officers stumbled upon the content during a routine Internet “patrol.” Chang faces a prison sentence of up to two years and up to a NT$90,000 fine if found guilty
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
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