A disused train station in Taitung County’s Taimali Township (太麻里), which is hailed for its beautiful views, is expected to reopen next month following more than three months of renovations.
Duoliang Village’s (多良) Duoliang Station — which is solely a tourist site after rail services there were halted in 2006 due to low ridership numbers — was closed on March 31 for upgrades.
People are not permitted on the platform for safety reasons, but the Taitung County Government is upgrading its observation deck, giving it mock tracks and a sign.
Photo: Wang Hsiu-ting, Taipei Times
It has also installed an “I Love Duoliang” sign next to a new path connecting the station to the Sunrise Driftwood Workshop.
Taitung County Commissioner Rao Qing-ling (饒慶鈴), Taimali Mayor Wang Chung-jen (王重仁), Daren Township (達仁) Mayor Chen Hsin-hui (陳新輝), and Taitung County councilors Weng Li-yin (翁麗吟) and Chang Cheng-hui (章正輝) visited the station on Thursday last week.
Slight adjustments have been made to improve the flow of people, Rao said.
The entrance to the observation deck has been moved to the north, giving vendors and visitors more room, she said.
People would also be able to walk between the station and the workshop, and there are plans to connect the station to Calavig, a Paiwan community in Duoliang.
County officials are expected to inspect the site and recruit vendors later this month and the station is to reopen on July 1, she said.
The renovations are part of the first phase of a NT$38 million (US$1.2 million) project by the county government to promote development of the tourism industry in Aboriginal areas, officials said.
Work is also being done in Calavig and Daren’s Nantian Coast Water Park, they said.
Rao thanked the Taimali Township Office, Duoliang Village and the Duoliang Community Development Association, adding that she is confident the work would boost tourism in Duoliang.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon