Alishan was included in the New York Times’ “2025 Travel Destinations: 52 Places to Go This Year,” a collection of 52 idyllic places to visit around the world.
The only Taiwanese destination to make the list, Alishan ranked 19th.
Its inclusion on the list is an important international recognition of Alishan’s rich natural beauty and cultural heritage, Chiayi County Commissioner Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁) said yesterday.
Photo courtesy of the Chiayi County Government
The Alishan National Scenic Area Headquarters, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, the Alishan Forest Railway, the Cultural Heritage Office and the Chiayi County Government have worked to improve Alishan, enhance its environment and create an international tourist destination, the county government said in a statement.
With 112 years of history, the 71.4km Alishan Forest Railway was finally reopened in July last year after 15 years of repairs.
The railway’s reopening has attracted domestic and international media attention, bringing Alishan once again onto the global stage and introducing Chiayi to the world, Weng said.
Alishan was included in the Tourism Administration’s list of Taiwan’s top 100 highlights, as well as the New York Times’ list, receiving both domestic and international recognition, he said.
Alishan not only has enchanting natural scenery, but is also famous for its high-quality tea and coffee, Weng.
Local tea and coffee farmers have won awards at international competitions, which shows their products’ quality and competitiveness, he said.
Chiayi is also home to an indigenous group with a unique culture, the Tsou, whose distinctive villages are well worth visiting, he added.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by