The Canadian Trade Office in Taipei on Wednesday announced a series of events to be held later this year to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation, including a Canada Day celebration in Taipei and a video contest, with the winner to receive a round-trip ticket to Vancouver.
The Canada Day celebration is to take place on July 1 at Taipei Hakka Cultural Park, the office said.
Thousands of people are expected to attend, said Mario Ste-Marie, executive director of the office, which represents Canada’s interests in Taiwan in the absence of bilateral diplomatic ties.
The Canada Day celebration in Taipei is usually the biggest celebration of the national day outside Canada, Ste-Marie said.
The office is also to hold a video contest, inviting submissions from Taiwanese who have traveled, worked or studied in Canada, or are currently doing so, it said.
Participants are required to submit videos that focus on at least one of the four “Canada 150” themes — young people, the environment, diversity and indigenous culture — sharing their experiences of Canada, office general relations director Su Yun Geithner said.
Entries must be two minutes to five minutes in length and in English, French or Mandarin, Geithner said, adding that the deadline for submission is Aug. 31.
The winners are to be announced in September, with the top prize being a round-trip flight to Vancouver, the office said.
The second prize is a gift certificate worth NT$10,000 for Canadian lifestyle brand Roots and a NT$5,000 gift certificate for third place, it said.
Roots is also to provide special prizes, the office said.
To celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary, the office is collaborating on a series of events with several partners, it said.
The Canada Day celebration in Taipei, which is to mark its 12th year, is to feature live music by local and Canadian musicians, and a procession at Taipei Hakka Cultural Park, said Carrie Kellenberger, chairwoman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, the organizer of the event.
The celebration attracted about 8,000 people last year and the Chamber of Commerce is hoping for at least 10,000 this year, Kellenberger said, encouraging people to dress in red and white.
Air Canada is also working with the office, the national carrier said.
On June 9, the airline is to resume its Taipei-Vancouver service after a 14-year hiatus, Air Canada said.
Hopefully, direct flights will help promote tourism in Canada, said Sophia Chen (陳美至), Air Canada’s Taiwan manager.
“Our goal is that visitors from Taiwan to Canada will be increased by 10,000 in 2017,” Chen said, adding that the airline is working with local travel agencies to launch special packages to promote tourism in Canada.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A New Taipei City hotpot restaurant could be fined after a rat dropped from the ceiling and landed on a customer’s plate last week, the New Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday after conducting an inspection. A woman recently posted on the “I am a Banciao resident” (我是板橋人) social media group saying that she had been eating with a friend at Chien Tu Shabu Shabu Hotpot Restaurant’s Shuangshi B branch in Banciao District (板橋). “While still eating, a big rat suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, landing on a plate next to a hotpot,” she said. “Later on, a member of
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
Actress Hu Ling (胡伶) on Saturday became the first Chinese movie star to walk the red carpet of the Golden Horse Awards since 2019, when China boycotted Taiwan’s biggest awards show over political tensions. Beijing banned its entertainers from joining the awards, dubbed the Chinese-language Oscars, after documentary director Fu Yu (傅榆) voiced support for Taiwan’s formal independence in an acceptance speech in 2018. There were no films from China in the 2019 nomination list and several Hong Kong movies dropped out that year, while several big commercial productions were conspicuously absent at both the 2020 and 2021 awards. However, Hu, nominated for
RSS