“Rainbow Six,” a multicolored crossing in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) area that many tourists flock to for photographs, returned yesterday after a month of renovation, with its reoriented “TAIPEI” letters drawing mixed reactions from locals and visitors.
The crossing next to Exit 6 of Ximen MRT Station has been a must-visit photo spot for many visitors to the capital since it was installed in 2019 to mark Taiwan becoming the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
Following media inquiries about the renovation, which began on July 8, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism on Wednesday said that repainting of “Rainbow Six” and reorienting the “TAIPEI” lettering were part of preparations for Taipei’s annual Pride parade scheduled for October.
Photo: CNA
That change would allow people to photograph the crossing with the Ximending shopping district — rather than the road and buildings across the street in its previous orientation — as the backdrop, the department said.
The work, during which the crossing was covered and many tourists left disappointed, was completed yesterday with the return of the rainbow crossing with brighter colors and the reoriented lettering.
Among those lining up to get a photo with “Rainbow Six” was Mitzia Perez, a Filipino working in New Taipei City who traveled to Ximending in the capital’s Wanhua District (萬華) for the food and to see the newly repainted crossing.
“This is very great because ... we can read [the letters] very clearly now compared to the past,” said Perez, who has visited Ximending several times since arriving in Taiwan for work half a year ago.
Regarding the new backdrop after the reorientation of the lettering, the 23-year-old said it was “just right,” as it now features Ximending, “the main reason why we come here.”
Asked about the previous backdrop, she said it was “kind of off,” because it was against the light, with buildings and traffic in the background that “don’t suit the style.”
After learning about the previous backdrop, first-time visitor Matthieu shared similar views as Perez, saying the buildings in it “don’t look as new.”
The new backdrop, which is a pedestrian street with no vehicle traffic, has buildings that “look a bit newer than the ones on the other side,” the 38-year-old Frenchman said, adding that he visited Ximending after reading online recommendations describing it as having a “vibrant” youth culture.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
RSS