To celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month next month and promote Taipei’s diverse culture, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism is partnering with “TWeen Drag Queens of Taiwan” to launch the “2025 Color Taipei” series.
A specially designed “Rainbow Sightseeing Bus Tour” is to run every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Oct. 3 to 26, the department said on Saturday.
This year’s bus tour is to feature two themed routes: the classic “Drag Bus: Show On The Go” and a special limited-time “Party Express Tour,” it said.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei City Government
The tours would feature several well-known drag queens and LGBTQ+ influencers as tour guides, including RICO, Malisa and Swaggy Baby — who featured in the popular national drag competition “Drag Arena Taiwan” — as well as talk show host Ryan and drag content creator UG.
They are to guide passengers through iconic landmarks such as the Red House (紅樓) in Ximending (西門町), 228 Peace Memorial Park and National Taiwan University, the department said.
The tours would conclude with a special drag queen performance, and the final stop would be at gender-friendly venues, such as the Courtyard by Marriott Taipei Downtown, Taboo or Locker Room.
Each ticket includes a complementary drink, the department said.
The limited “Party Express Tour” route would coincide with Pride Month events, with three exclusive departures, it said.
In addition to exploring the city, participants would also be able to attend major events at the end of the tour, such as the “International Drag Art Festival,” the “Taiwan Trans March” and the “Queen’s Dressing Room Finals,” offering an immersive experience of the vibrancy and diversity of gender expression, it said.
Stressing that Taipei has long been committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and friendly urban environment, the department said that the “Color Taipei” event is not only an extension of the Taipei tourism brand, but also a reflection of the city’s rich cultural diversity.
Tickets for the “Rainbow Sightseeing Bus Tour” are available for purchase on the KKday platform, with the first 15 people to buy tickets for each tour to receive a limited-edition rainbow tote bag, it said.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
RSS