WEATHER
Snow falls on Yushan
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山), the nation’s highest peak, early yesterday morning, as chilly weather persisted across the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Although the snowfall has stopped, rime ice remained visible in the Yushan area yesterday. Temperatures on Yushan dropped to minus-2.1°C overnight, and fell to as low as 13.5°C in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) and 13.6°C in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅), according to CWA data. Independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) forecast that temperatures would rebound briefly today, while rain would become confined to central, southern and eastern Taiwan. As northeasterly winds strengthen tomorrow, they would bring another drop in temperatures and localized showers to northern and eastern Taiwan, he said. Conditions would remain cool on Saturday before gradually warming on Sunday, he said, adding that northern Taiwan would turn cloudy over the weekend while the south would see sunnier skies. Starting Monday next week, parts of eastern Taiwan could experience localized rain again, with wet conditions extending northward Tuesday as temperatures begin to fall, he said.
RELIGION
Matsu pilgrimage set
The annual pilgrimage honoring the sea goddess Matsu at Dajia Jenn Lann Temple (大甲鎮瀾宮) in Taichung, one of the nation’s most important religious events, is scheduled to begin at 10:05pm on April 17. The date and time were decided on Tuesday after Jenn Lann Temple chairman Yen Ching-piao (顏清標) cast a pair of crescent-shaped divination blocks in front of a statue of Matsu in a traditional rite seeking the deity’s approval. The theme of this year’s pilgrimage is “kindness” (善) and the annual procession showcases the “best things” in Taiwan, with people along the route offering snacks, water, massage services and medical assistance, the temple said. Tens of thousands of participants voluntarily practice and promote kindness, creating what the temple described as a virtuous cycle of goodwill. This year, organizers have replaced pork offerings with “Ping-an” rice cakes (平安糕), a traditional ritual of earlier followers, which could reduce the number of pigs offered to the event, the temple said. The nine-day, eight-night pilgrimage route includes stops at several temples in Taichung, as well as Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi counties before returning to Dajia, it said.
TRANSPORTATION
MRT eases bike access
Starting on Tuesday next week, Taoyuan Metro is to permit full-sized bicycles to board at its airport-adjacent stations, the company said. With the inclusion of the Airport Terminal 1 (A12), Airport Terminal 2 (A13) and Airport Hotel (A14a) stations in its bicycle-friendly network, all 22 currently operational stations on the Taoyuan Airport MRT line would be fully accessible to cyclists, Taoyuan Metro Corp said in a news release on Tuesday. The measure allows outbound travelers to wheel their bicycles directly to the terminal stations, where they can then follow Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and airline regulations to have their bicycles packaged and checked in as special baggage, it said. Inbound travelers can assemble their bicycles on the spot after collecting them from the special baggage claim area, and wheel them directly through the airport onto the Airport MRT, it added. Passengers with bicycles must buy a dedicated ticket at the inquiry counter, which includes the standard distance-based fare plus a flat NT$50 surcharge, the company said. Bicycles carried in a bag in folded or disassembled forms that meet the size requirements for carry-on items are free of charge, it said. Bicycles are allowed on commuter trains only — not express trains — through designated doors on the first and fourth carriages, the company said. On weekdays, they are permitted from 10am to 4pm and from 10pm until the last service, with no restrictions on weekends and public holidays, it said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
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