New Taipei City launched a sightseeing bus in the Rueifang District (瑞芳) yesterday, offering unlimited daily rides for NT$49 in anticipation of the 2025 World Masters Games in Taipei and New Taipei City.
At the launch ceremony, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) announced that the city has issued 35,000 commemorative transit cards for Bus No. 177, which would be free for international athletes attending the Games, set to take place from May 17 to 30.
The new bus, decorated with a capybara motif, provides access to popular Rueifang attractions such as Jiufen Old Street, Jinguashi Gold Museum and Shenao Fishing Port, with discounts and perks available for passengers.
Photo copied by CNA
Near the fishing port, tourists can visit the famous “Capybara Rock,” renamed after the arch of the original “Elephant Trunk Rock” collapsed into the sea last year.
The bus operates every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until May 16. From May 17 to Aug. 16, it would run daily to accommodate visitors, before returning to weekend and public holiday service after the games.
The sightseeing bus offers 10 round-trip services a day, departing from Resident Square (eastbound) between 9am and 4:30pm, with the final return trip leaving the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology at 5:15pm, the city government said.
Visitors traveling from downtown Taipei are recommended to take a Taiwan Railway train to Ruifang Station, or buses 1061 or 1062 to make the connection.
For more information and to reserve electronic tickets for a specific date, visit funpass.travel.taipei/tour/y1D8.
Passengers can use TPass, electronic tickets or cash to board, with transfer discounts and senior citizens’ cards also accepted, the city government said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS