Curry Travel News.com

In the past, Taiwan was seen as an island of industry. However, the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan has been working hard to promote tourism of Taiwan during these years, hoping that Taiwan can become an island of tourism in the near future. After several activities that have been held recently, the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan is now holding activities especially for foreigners-“The best trip in the world.” The world travelers can plan and have a Taiwan trip on their own where they also have the chance to win big prizes.

“If you want to have a trip, let’s go to Taiwan! We will help you see how Taiwan is different.” said the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan.

From now on, the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan recruits world super travel groups (50 groups, at least 2 people in a group, at least one non-Taiwanese in a group). These travel groups can plan four days trip of Taiwan by themselves. The enrolled groups can get NT$ 7000 dollars support per day for the trip. Moreover, they can have the chance to win the big prize. The deadline will be on June 30.

Besides planning 4-day trips, the travel group needs to film a short introduction video and upload to the website before June30. The Tourism Bureau of Taiwan will nominate the enrolled groups. The groups need to finish their trip before August 31. During the trip, groups have to upload one video and 200 words introduction a day for people to vote on. The most popular team will win the flight ticket and 4-day free trips within Taiwan.

Taiwan has been also been known as Formosa. The area is not so large but has various nature scenes and beautiful landscapes. The Tourism Bureau of Taiwan combines activity and travel elements in Taiwan together, hoping that will attract more people from the world come to Taiwan. Moreover, by sharing people’s experiences of Taiwan on internet; it allows the world see the beauty of Taiwan.

Reference: CNA  Official Website

Do you have an Easy card at hand now? If yes, the following is something you need to know.

Easy cards are very commonly used in Taipei City; almost everybody has at least one. Taipei citizens use Easy cards to take Taipei Metro buses and trains every day. However, Easy cards are not only used in Taipei anymore, but also in Taizhong City. During the next six months, people who live in or travel to Taizhong City can use Easy cards to take buses in Taizhong City.

In recent years traffic problems have been a big issue in Taizhong. If you have been there in rush hour, you can see there are many cars and motorcycles that make the road very crowded. To solve this problem as well as prepare for the metro system, Taizhong City Government is providing free buses not only for travelers, but also to encourage people to take public transportation.

To build the transportation web in Taizhong City, the local government is providing free buses－ “TTJ MRT Bus.” If you have an Easy card, you can take 7 free buses in Taizhong. People who have the original “e-card” can also use it to take free buses. The free buses pass by business areas, landmarks, and railroad stations which makes city transportation more convenient. The free bus service runs from May 18 to November 17, everyday from 6am to 10pm, running at 15 minute intervals.

“The easy card already can be used at Tong-lian bus. Now, it can be used at buses in Taizhong as well. People only need one easy card then they can travel in both Taipei and Taizhong,” said the Easy card Company.

According to the Tong-lian bus website, non-holiday tickets from Taipei to Taizhong are NT$ 80 dollars each. Once you have an easy card, the limitless transportation fee only cost you NT$ 160 dollars.

The free bus service will continue until November 17. The Taizhong City Government hope this activity will not only attract more people to visit Taizhong, but also solve traffic problems by encouraging people to take public transportation.

Reference: BCC  TCCG   Caidu

Would you like to travel around National Scenic Area in Taiwan? In the same vein as “Wikipedia, the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan has created an online encyclopedia – “National Scenic Area Encyclopedia.”

The encyclopedia provides schedule plans and information of National Scenic Areas in Taiwan. Moreover, just like “Wikipedia”, travelers can put their opinions and information online to enrich the content.

The Tourism Bureau of Taiwan has divided the website into four parts, which include features of the trip, travel schedule plans, living and eating, and transportation information. This function lets people search for information easily. People can get information through the website as well as get the experiences from other travelers.

On the other hand, to attract people to visit and enrich the content of the website, the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan is holding an activity– “Everybody Can be A Super Traveler.”

“People who publish articles or promote any articles can join a lucky draw,“ the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan said.

In the activity, the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan invited bloggers Sih-siao-jhe, Hai-tun-nan and Sana to be the promoters. They will take turns to publish articles and promote trips they like. They hope through this activity that more and more people will visit the sites to share experiences or get information. In addition, it encourages people to travel around National Scenic Areas in Taiwan and know more about Taiwan.

The activity will not end until December 15. All are welcome to join the activity to develop the encyclopedia. Furthermore, the encyclopedia provides more information to people who would like to go on trips to National Scenic Areas in Taiwan.

The website address:  http://funfungo.taiwan.net.tw

Reference: CNA  BCC NEWS

How many roads do we have to walk so we can see the change of the world? How much money will it cost to enjoy the masterpieces of the ancients? Wonderful meeting of tourists and culture is on display in Museums during May.

The word “museum” is not used very often in our daily conversations, except by people who work there or art major students. Some people are even afraid to pass by it, because they think they don’t know much about art. However, a museum is a place where we can not only have fun with our friends and family, but also allows us to cultivate our knowledge. Are you someone who would like to visit museums but still don’t go? The Chinese Association of Museums in Taiwan holds activities in May to encourage people to visit museums.

The International Council of Museums has held the International Museum Day on May 18 since 1977. The theme of this year is “Museums and Tourism.” Since the financial situation is not so good this year, the Chinese Association of Museums in Taiwan partnered with around 70 other museums in Taiwan to provide a cheaper price for museum visitors.

On May 18, there are free entrances for museums in Taiwan including National Palace Museum, National Taiwan Museum, Yingge Ceramics Museum and so on. Besides the free ticket, the Chinese Association of Museums in Taiwan provides handbooks of Museums from May16 to 24. There are coupons for discount of Museum tickets or shops in museums in the handbook. People can get them from internet, museums, or community colleges around Taiwan.

Moreover, you can also collect three stamps of museums on the post card on the handbook. You can get a gift by sending back the postcard to the Chinese Association of Museums.

Go to the official website to get more information http://www.cam.org.tw/big5/activity/20090518/

Reference: Official Website

 Do you love biking but cannot afford a bicycle of your own? Or, is it that you have nowhere to store a bicycle and therefore have decided not to buy one? Well, the Taipei City Government has solved this problem for you.

To create a better and greener life in Taipei City, the government has partnered with bike company Giant to set up “YouBike”, a public commuter bicycle rental system. This bicycle rental system began a test phase in the Xinyi area in March. There are plans to expand to the Gongguan, Yuanshan, and Jiantan areas in the future.

Renting a bicycle using the YouBike system is simple. The Taipei City Government combines YouBike rental systems with Google Mapping. You can just go to the Website to search for the bike stops. The Website also shows how many bikes are available for rental at a particular stop.

You can use the EasyCards issues by the Taipei metro or a credit card to rent the bicycles. Additionally, a bicycle can be rented at or returned to any stop along the bicycle trail.

You can use your EasyCard to pay for bicycle rental as well as bus and metro fares. The credit card is to ensure that the bicycle is returned.

The basic price for a bike is NT$40 dollars for less than 30 minutes rental. After 30 minutes, every 15 minutes costs NT$10 dollars. You can rent bicycles for five days, a month, half year and a year. 

“If there are no stolen bicycles, we will consider canceling the credit card program. People can rent the bike easily,” said the Taipei City Government.

The bikes have been specially designed to prevent rusting and to prevent ladies’ skirts from becoming caught in the wheels. Moreover, the Taipei government uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to maximize the efficiency of the rental system effectively.

The Taipei City Government hopes more people will use this rental system, not only for exercising but also to make the city greener.

Reference: News Taiwan Net   You Bike Official website    Mook   Cardu   Metro Taipei

People have deep memories from their childhood of traveling with their parents. When growing up, we start traveling with our friends or by ourselves. We start to experience the world. Most young people would like to experience overseas traveling. However, people give up their travel dreams for many reasons; for example, they don’t have enough money and time or they cannot speak other languages to go overseas.

It is not necessary to travel overseas to experience the world. The Taiwan National Youth Commission is now cooperating with non-profit organizations to pick 29 spots where young people should go before they turn 30 years old in Taiwan. They have also designed activities of experiencing culture and society.

“I encourage young people to travel around Taiwan not only because people can broaden their view, but also have deep learning experiences. Moreover, this plan is specially designed for people from ages 15 to 30. I hope people of these ages can join enthusiastically.” said Wang Yu Ting, the leader of the National Youth Commission.

Taichong Shoes Industry Experiencing

The 29 spots are divided into culture trips, ecology trips, countryside or fishing village trips, and volunteer trips. These trips include Taipei Gongliao canoe, Sinjhu Sih-ma-ku-sih tribe, Taichong shoes industry, Yunlin breeding fish industry, Hualian Ma-tai-an-yuan county, Taidong Da-lu-ma-ke tribe and so on.

“People always think it is better to go to overseas countries for travel when they are young; however, I think the first step to experience the world is from our native growing place. To understand Taiwan’s society, culture and industry by traveling,” said Wang Yu Ting.

You plan to travel but don’t know how to start? Don’t worry. National Youth Commission plan schedules are just for you. Just go online and pick up the trip you like. Then prepare your suitcase, go for the trips easily.

In addition, these trips are not only for Taiwanese but also for foreigners. People who are interested can go to the website to get more information.

The official website: http://tour.youthtravel.tw/grandtour/index.php

Reference: Official Website ChinaTimes.Com

When old people hear about Cihu, some memories may come up in their mind, because it was a residency of Chiang Kai-shek.

The Mausoleum at Cihu is well-known to people; however, there’s a hidden part of it that people are not so familiar with. The hidden part of Cihu occupies two-thirds of Cihu, it has played an important role in national defense.

Cihu Sculpture Memorial Park and Cihu Mausoleum

Even though the hidden part of Cihu was opened for visitors last year, there were only two hundred people per month allowed to get in. Some people regretted that they didn’t have the chance to visit. However, people have the opportunity to visit now.

“The hidden part of Cihu will be reopened on May 1. The maximum number of people will be increase to four hundred per day. No matter whether you go by individual or group needs to apply by internet and you need to pay NT$ 100 dollars per person. The applying time will start from April 15, everyday from 9:00 to 24:00.” Taoyuan Tourism Promotion Department said.

Hidden part of Cihu

Although the department opens for more people to visit this time, there cannot be more than 50 people for any given period. If there are over 50 people you have to choose another time.

The distance of the visit is 3.85 kilometers by walk, people needs to estimate their body condition before applying for a ticket on travel-taoyuan.tycg.gov.tw

There are some other marks of Jiangs nearby Cihu. You can visit Daxi Mausoleum, Zhongzheng Park, and Convention Hall to enrich the trip as well.

Reference: Nownews UDN.com UDN.com2

Can you imagine renting a train as transport for your trip?

In the past, if we wanted to have a trip with a large group of people, we used to rent tour coaches. However, there is now a new type of speical transport.

Taiwan Railways Administration have a policy to promote railway travel. People can rent trains to be their transports. People can also decide the time and stations they want to stop at.

Beside the retrospective trains, people can also rent high quality trains.

Cruise ship train”, where the trian stops for a few hours at each staiton, so the tourist can visit places along the way. The “Cruise ship Train” is more suitable for groups under 6 people because they only accept that many people to suscribe together. If there are large number of people, to rent one alone may be the best choice.

People can decide the schedule by themsleves

“There are two types of train for rent, one is Doraemon Train-DR205 retrospective trains, another is high quality train Tzu Chiang Train” a spokesman from Tainan Station expressed.

Doraemon Train has to rent at least two carriages, which contains about 112 people. Tzu Chiang Train has to rent at least three carriages and one living-room carriage, and the distance must be more than 100 kilometer.

The travel schedule can be one-day or many days. The stop station and time can be decide by the renter.

Reference: UDN.com Travelrich.com

It was at five in the afternoon and the skies had begun to get dark. In far away mountain, fireworms seemed to blanket the mountain. 

This is what Chung Ming Shih, Tourism Commissioner of Chiayi County said of his experience of seeing fire worms.

The Alishan Fireworm Festival has begun and will last until June 30.

“The fireworms in Alishan occupy one third of Taiwan. April to June is the best time to do fireworm seeing,” said Ceng Han Jhou, the Commissioner of Alishan National Scenic Area Management Office.

Spring and summer is the fireworms season, especially April to June. The Dance with FireWorms Activity, is orgnaised by the Alishan National Scenic Area Management Office. They cooperate with 20 communities and 60 private hotels to schedule trip for visitors. 

Fireworms in Alishan deight the mountain

“It is also the first time we open Yuantan Natural Preservation Zone at night. The open time is Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday on April, from 6:30pm to8:30pm. Furthermore, there are free professional tour guides,” said Ceng Han Jhou.

To protect the environment, Alishan National Scenic Area Management Office announced that the farmers, hoteliers and other developers in the areas preserve a no poison, no light pollution, and no noise environment.

Also, the visitors must follow three rules: do not catch the fireworm, no photography, and no noise.

Reference: Now news

 The 37.6 kilometer No.6 National Highway opened on March 21, decreasing the distance between Taichung County and Nantou County from 2 to 3 hours to 40 to 50 minutes.

The highway starts at Wufong village in Taichung County and ends at Buli in Nantou and has four lanes in either direction with a speed limit of 90 kilometers per hour. There are three tunnels with a total distance of 4.2 kilometers, Ceng Da Ren, Engineer Commissioner said at the Ministry of Communication at the opening ceremony.

The highway has five interchanges, at Wufong, East Caotun, Guosing, Ailan, and Buli. However, the Guosing interchange will not open until June.

Previously, the Taiwan 14 line — Jhong Tan National Road — was the sole motorway between Tai Chung and Nantou. Serious traffic jams were common on the roadway on weekends and holidays.

“First generation highways requested transportation functionality; the second generation highway requested comfortable driving; however, the third generation highway emphasized the environment,” Minister of Communication Mao Jhih Guo said.

 

Raptor pastors on the walls to avoid birds crashed on the walls.

The No.6 National Highway does not go past Jioujiou Natural Preservation Zone in order to protect the environment.  Moreover, there are special underpasses for animals to cross the street and two pools to counter any negative effects on wildlife near East Cao Tun Interchange and Ai Lan Interchange. It also has transparent sound proof walls to allow commuters to enjoy the scenery.

The highway will help the development of the tourism industry at Sun Moon Lake, Cing Jing, Lu Shan, and other areas where the highway passes according to Central News Agency service (CNA).

 Reference: CNA

Many people may get confused when they see this headline.  Taipei’s Hexi corridor? Doesn’t China have one? However, there really is a Hexi corridor in Taipei.

“If you haven’t ridden Hexi corridor in Taipei, you don’t really know about Taipei,” Taipei biker Huang Jian Han said.

Cycling has became a popular pasttime for people now with Taipei’s Hexi Corridor as a favored spot. And going with friends or relatives is the best way to enjoy the trip.

Streets named after places in Western China makes Taipei’s Hexi more special. Old people sit by the roadside talk about their life. Taipei’s Hexi corridor presents another side of Taipei lifestyle. This trip not only suits groups of people but individuals.

“There is Lan Jhou street(蘭州街), Gan Jhou street(甘州街), Liang Jhou street(涼州街) and Jiou Cyuan street(酒泉街). If you connect those streets together you will get to Taipei’s Hexi corridor,” said Huang Jian Han.

While riding your bicycle you can enjoy the riverside scenery, including birds and plants. At the same time, you can interact with your friends or relatives.

On arrival at Ming Zu West Road(民族西路), there is a small door to go out to the riverside. Turn left at Chong Cing North Road(重慶北路). There are many vendors on hand selling a wide assortments of refreshments.

Along Jiou CyuanStreet(酒泉街) there are old builidings from the Ching Dynasty, a stark contrast to other structure in the city. You are made to feel that you have opened a door from the city into the countryside. 

Contiuing along Jiou Cyuan Street(酒泉街) and the the long line of people you see are most likely queing up to buy the very famous “oyster thin noodles”.

“If you have tried oyster thin noodles here, you won’t think there are more delicious oyster thin noodles in the world,” said another biker Chu Ming Ren.

Then go through Ha Mi Street(哈密街), you can get to Bao An Temple(保安宮) and Confucius Temple(孔子廟). There you can see the the various practices associated with temples in Taipei City.

If you are going to take an exam,take a bike trip is a good choice. Ride through Taipei’s Hexi Corridor to relax yourself and pray to have a good grade at Confucius temple.

After that, ride along Da LongStreet(大龍街) and Cang Ji Street(昌吉街), get to Lan Jhou Street(蘭州街), then Liang JhouStreet (涼州街) and Gan Jhou Street (甘州街) to wrap up your Taipei’s Hexi Corridor trip.

Reference: travel.chinatimes.com

“Yang Ming Mountain is the best place to see the natural and to breathe in fresh air” Kenton X. Chance.

Every year from February to April, flowers crowed the mountain. The smell of flowers permeates the mountain. Cherry flower, azalea, and Calla Lily are competing their beauty. Parents smile, children’s smile, friends’ smile, and enjoyable all collect in the mountain.

Once a year, Yang Ming Mountain Flower Festival begins on Feb. 22. Every year at this time, people crowd the mountain to see the blooming flowers. The blooming flowers mean that spring has begun. People who live in the city go there to enjoy the natural scenery.

When it comes to Yang Ming Mountain, people always have lots of fond memories. Parents and children go there to camp, lovers have dates there, and friends have fun together.

The Flower Festival is held by Taipei City Government. There are activities until March 22. Hope people can not only enjoy the beauty of flowers also having fun there.

Moreover, there is a photograph competition of Flower Festival, you can take any picture which relate to “Flower Clock” during Flower Festival. The champion can get a digital single-lens reflex camera, and the deadline will be on March 15.

To avoid car jam and parking problem, people can use public transportation well. There are buses at MRT Shilin, Jiantan, and Xinbeitou station. Furthermore, there is a special bus service which let people enjoy Flower Festival easily. To get more information about the special bus you can call, 0800-079-668.

Reference: Official website  TTNews