HAPPENING in TAIWAN Now

Every season is travel season in Taiwan! Now that foreign tourists are streaming in again, there is a lot going on in the local tourism industry, including the opening of new hotels, museums, and a wide range of other tourist attractions.

Ferry Service

Snoopy Ferry in Kaohsiung

A new ferry service in Kaohsiung Port is now operating: Gushan Fish Market to Kaohsiung Port Warehouse No. 2 (KW2) to Qijin Island, and back again. The ferry, sporting cute Snoopy imagery, will be in operation until August 20, 2023. Tickets are priced NT$80 per trip, and there are four services on weekdays, each hour between 1pm and 4pm (seven on weekends and holidays, 1pm-7pm). bit.ly/3GUGPSX (Chinese)

Museum

Navy Destroyer Museum with Cute Sheep

The words “navy destroyer” and “cute” are rarely, if ever, mentioned in the same sentence, but in Tainan one decommissioned warship has recently been “cutified.” Shaun the Sheep, from the British stop-motion TV series of the same name, and his buddies are “throwing a party” on the navy vessel that now serves as the Navy Destroyer Museum. The endearing cartoon characters have instantly become favorites with selfie takers, and have significantly lowered the average age of the museum’s visitors.

www.teyang925.com.tw (Navy Destroyer Museum, Chinese)

Museum

New Taipei City Art Museum

The town of Yingge in New Taipei City is best-known as Taiwan’s center for ceramics. Its top attractions are the Old Street area – home to numerous ceramics shops – and the Yingge Ceramics Museum. Soon to join these tourist draws (official opening slated for April) is the New Taipei City Art Museum, located between the elevated tracks of the Sanying MRT Line, currently being constructed, and the Sanying Art Village Park. ntcart.museum (New Taipei City Art Museum)

New Hotels

1. Episode Hsinchu | 新竹伊普索酒店

Opened in November 2022; Hyatt Group hotel with 140 guestrooms; located in Hsinchu City’s East District www.hotelepisode.com/hsinchu

2. Chu Resort | 丘丘．森旅

Soft opening October 2022; located in Hualien County’s Fenglin Township churesort.com

3. Hotel Indigo Alishan | 阿里山英迪格酒店

Soft opening December 2022; located on Prov. Hwy 18, the main road through Alishan National Scenic Area www.facebook.com/HotelIndigoAlishan

Library

Taoyuan Public Library Main Building

Located in the Zhongzheng Arts and Cultural Business District in Taoyuan, the new main building of this city’s public library system impresses with a striking design. The 8-story building was constructed around a “Tree of Life” concept. Its most prominent feature is the “Eco Tube,” a cone-shaped multi-story metal/glass structure at the heart of the building.

www.typl.gov.tw (Taoyuan Public Library)

Visitor Center

New Visitor Center in Ximending

Taipei’s Ximending district has been one of the city’s most popular shopping and entertainment areas for many decades. Also home to a large number of smaller hotels, it is one of the capital’s tourist hotspots. With these visitors in mind, a new four-story visitor center has been designed by the city (opening in March), located right in the heart of the district, at 45 Hangzhou Street.

www.travel.taipei (Taipei Travel)

Public Art

Life Tree in Tainan

Since the coastal areas of southwest Taiwan are rather flat and sun-drenched hot, it takes some convincing to attract visitors to these parts of the island. Introducing tourists to the fascinating history of salt production has been one successful approach, and now a new art installation (completion date set for June) is bound to draw even more attention to this facet of traditional life along Tainan City’s coast. The large artwork, named “Life Tree,” is being erected at the old salt fields just to the north of Qingkunshen Qingshan Fishing Harbor, the shape resembling these fan-shaped salt fields.

www.twtainan.net (Travel Tainan)