A Japanese colonial-era building in Taipei that has been repurposed as a museum was among the recipients of this year’s National Cultural Heritage Preservation Awards on Saturday.
The recipients included both tangible and intangible cultural assets, said the ministry, which held the award ceremony at the Cultural Heritage Park in Taichung.
The building, which used to house the railway department of the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan’s Bureau of Transportation, was in 2007 granted national monument status under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法) and was reopened as part of the National Taiwan Museum in July, becoming one of the museum’s four branches.
Photo: CNA
The site was once the administrative hub of Taiwan’s railways, the ministry said.
The restoration of the site was a rigorous process, and might serve as a model for other restoration and preservation projects, it said.
Two other national monuments — the water resources site of the Old Tainan Watercourse (原臺南水道), and the British Consulate and Consular Residence at Takow (打狗英國領事館及官邸) in Kaohsiung — also received awards, it said.
The former, constructed during the Japanese colonial period, represented the achievements of Tainan’s drinking water and sanitation projects, the ministry said.
The site, which has been kept intact, is historically significant as a symbol of Taiwan’s modernization, it said.
Since its restoration, it has functioned as a space for historical displays and cultural education, the ministry said, adding that the extension of its outdoor area as a space for leisurely activities has also encouraged more people to visit.
The Tainan Shan-Shang Garden and Old Waterworks Museum (臺南山上花園水道博物館), where the site is located, opened in October last year.
The other honorees were the National Archives Administration for its preservation of railways documents deemed significant antiquities, Lead Jade Life & Culture (立偕生活文化), and Hsu Han-chen (許漢珍), the ministry said.
Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) thanked central and local governments, as well as private companies and institutions, for their efforts in preserving the nation’s cultural assets.
The Nantou-based Seediq’s Traditional Culture and Arts Troupe and the Tang Mei Yun Taiwanese Opera Company performed at the ceremony.
A free exhibition is to be held at the Cultural Heritage Park through Sunday next week in honor of the six recipients, the ministry’s Bureau of Cultural Heritage said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS