The Alishan Cherry Blossom Festival, which opened yesterday, is to feature six guided tours on the area’s 100-year-old steam trains, taking visitors through the mountain resort’s stunning terrain, the Chiayi Forest District Office said.
The special steam train tours would be available tomorrow, Monday next week and on March 27, with two tours per day. They would coincide with the Alishan National Scenic Area’s annual cherry blossom festival that runs through April 10, the office said.
The steam train would travel on the Alishan Forest Railway’s Zhushan Line, along an S-shaped mountain route that has great views of the cherry trees, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Chiayi Forest District Office via CNA
Each train can only accommodate 80 passengers, and only tickets for March 27 remain available, the ticket booking Web site showed as of yesterday afternoon.
The festival was a big attraction on its opening day, with 5,000 tourists visiting the park yesterday morning, office head Chang Tai (張岱) said at a news conference.
The park’s Taiwan cherry and Okame cherry trees are in full bloom, while the Wusheh cherry trees have bloomed to 70 percent and the Yoshino cherry trees are set to bloom at the end of this month, Chang said.
Besides cherry blossoms, flowers such as magnolias, azaleas, daisies and windowsill orchids are expected to bloom soon, Chang said.
More information about the Alishan Cherry Blossom Festival and its train tours is available at afrch.forest.gov.tw or www.facebook.com/AlishanForestRailway.Taiwan.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS