Taiwan must move to add more values to its tourism industry by developing smart innovations and smart transportation solutions, according to Christian Fuchssteiner, director of the Austrian Commercial Office in Taipei.Austria is set to demonstrate its latest smart tourism, transportation and autonomous driving solutions at the 2019 Smart City Summit & Expo at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center from March 26-29.Fuchssteiner said that both Taiwan and Austria lack natural resources and therefore had better develop industries with high add-on values and sustainable operations, such as tourism and environmental protection industries.He continued that Taiwan, situated in the heart of the Asia Pacific region, can well attract tourists from Southeast Asia with shorter flight time and beautiful sceneries of its local cities. In this regard, diverse smart city solutions can be developed to make city tours more attractive to tourists.Many businessmen and traders visit Taiwan or exhibit at its annual trade fairs, and many others come to attend academic seminars or to engage in short-term work. If more innovative tourism packages can be offered to allow family members of the incoming visitors to enjoy in-depth tours of local cities and experience local cultural activities, then a "blue-ocean" market for urban development may emerge for Taiwan, according to Fuchssteiner.He also revealed that Austria has seen 10% of its annual GDP contributed by its tourism industry, with China, Russia, Switzerland and Taiwan being the top-four sources of tourist spending in the country.Christian Fuchssteiner, director of Austrian Commercial Office in TaipeiPhoto: Mark Tsai, Digitimes, Febauary 2019

The southern reaches of Taitung County on the East Coast is a region of high-mountain backdrops, flatlands carpeted with paddy fields, Pacific Ocean views, palm trees, and gently curving highways that are much quieter than those in the island's more heavily populated areas. Here you can experience the cultures of indigenous peoples (including a visit to harvest festival celebrations, indigenous singing and dancing, an educational forest walk on a "sacred" mountain, and feasting on native cuisine), cycling through farmers' fields, the local live-music scene, surfing, distinctive arts and crafts, hot-air balloon flights and much more.Taitung CitySmall Taitung City is the county's only city and its main transportation hub (rail service, domestic air service, intersection point for the region's two major highways, and launch point for ferries to Green Island and Orchid Island). It is also the starting point for this Travel in Taiwan expedition.Its alluring natural surroundings and unique blend of laid-back people, who primarily come from Han Chinese groups and the various regional native peoples, have led to comparisons with multiracial Hawaii. One in five denizens is a member of one of Taiwan's indigenous Austronesian tribes.Taitung's wonderful National Museum of Prehistory was built to showcase important local archeological finds. You can visit a protected section of the actual digs nearby, at the Beinan Cultural Park. The museum is one of Taiwan's premier locations to learn about the ways and means of the island's original peoples, from prehistoric into historic times. Highlights include a mock-up of a dig site that you descend into along glass-floor walkways, dioramas depicting prehistoric life, and a full-scale oceangoing canoe specially created by Orchid Island's Yami tribe (also called the Tao) for the museum.At the Seashore Park enjoy superlative views to the ocean horizon and southward along the mountain-backed coast, as well as a quiet spell in the Paposogan. This is a spacious rattan-domed viewing platform that is a fine place to take in the sun's daily rise and stage romantic photos as it sets.North of the city along the coastTraveling north of Taitung City along Provincial Highway 11, you'll soon arrive at Xiaoyeliu. This is a natural scenic area right on the coast where land meets ocean. Along the shore are extensive rock formations – honeycomb rock, mushroom rock, tofu rock, and cuestas. There is a visitor center with well-crafted scale models and rock samples introducing the geological features of both Xiaoyeliu and the Coastal Mountain Range, which runs along the coast from just north of Taitung City to just south of Hualien City.Jialulan is a seaside art park that is also an eco-engineering showcase. It's on a remediated waste-soil site created during construction of the adjoining air-force base. Artworks are spread out over the expansive grassland. Most are made of wood, notably driftwood, a favorite material with Taitung artists. Photographers love to take shots of the art pieces with Green Island in the background, the blue of the ocean and the green of the island creating a compelling contrast. The island, though about 33km from the mainland coast, is seen clearly on blue-sky days.Small Jiamuzi Bay is a place of stunning archetypal tropical scenery where the mountainside slopes dramatically right down to the surf. Coconut trees line the narrow beach, and the coral reefs just offshore pop into and out of sight as frothy waves arrive.The Water Running Upward attraction is just south of the village of Dulan. This is a long, narrow irrigation channel that runs the mountainside. Tourists view it in a small park just off the coastal highway. The gurgling waters do indeed seem to defy gravity and run uphill, the slope's tilt juxtaposed against that of the nearby road tricking the eye.Dulan village has established a reputation as a little bohemian paradise in the last decade or so. It is one of the East Coast's largest Amis-tribe settlements and attracts many artists and surfing enthusiasts from the "outside world." Locals say this means anywhere beyond the high central mountains that keep the East Coast so quiet, limiting the number of tourists.The coastal highway does double-duty as the main drag, home to a growing collection of small bars, cafés, eateries, and shops that cater to the surfer/artist crowd. Taiwan's biggest surfing event, the Taiwan Open of Surfing, is staged not far to the north, at Jinzun Fishing Harbor. It attracts top-tier talent from around the globe.The sprawling, big-shouldered old Dulan Sugar Factory, at Dulan's southern end, no longer makes sugar. This protected heritage complex is today a creative oasis for local and expatriate artists and craftspeople. There are artist workshops, a cultural-creative boutique, a café, a craft brewery, Taiwanese and Japanese restaurants, a snack-food kiosk, a driftwood stage, and other attractions. The big action happens Saturday night, with free live-music sessions featuring both local (indigenous and Han Chinese) and expatriate talent.The Amis people, Taiwan's largest tribe, are spread throughout Hualien and Taitung counties on the East Coast. Each year villages stage Amis Harvest Festival celebrations in mid/late summer, and Dulan's are among the most elaborate, spanning three days. Taiwan's tribal peoples have been inviting tourists to these gatherings only since the early 2000s. Visitors to Dulan are welcome on the first two days, but the proceedings are more solemn, and photography is discouraged. It is the third day that draws the big crowds, with photography welcome. The colorful three-hour extravaganza kicks off with a grand march into the village recreational ground by members in full traditional regalia, followed by exuberant ritual singing and dancing. The street in front is lined with snack stands, a number selling tribal treats.North of the city up the East Rift ValleyLuanshan is a Bunun-tribe village perched on the lower slopes of Mt. Dulan, a peak in the Coastal Mountain Range's southern reaches. It looks down over bluffs to the floor of the Beinan River, which flows out to sea at Taitung City, and looks across at the Luye Highland, venue for the annual Taiwan International Balloon Festival. Mt. Dulan is sacred to both the Bunun and the Amis; the west side is traditional Bunun land, and the east side, Dulan village at its base, is traditional Amis land.The Luanshan Bunun invite outsiders on guided ecology/culture experience tours (a fee is charged) on their lands, referred to as an "open-air forest museum." Travel in Taiwan chose the forest walk with traditional Bunun feast (9am~2pm; if no feast, the activity ends at noon). On the walk, our guide, dressed in traditional warrior garb, explained the local tribal history, medicinal, dye, and other useful plants, the village's ongoing forest-protection efforts, and much more. We also visited a magnificent sacred grove of giant banyan trees, some 1,000-plus years young. Before sitting down to what was truly a chief's feast we were regaled with songs of greeting, plus harvest, hunting, and courting songs, and given an archery lesson using traditional-style bows.The East Rift Valley's flat terrain and painting-like scenery makes it a popular leisure-cycling destination, with many routes to choose from. Two of the most popular are at the towns of Chishang and Guanshan, located close to each other. The long loop routes, almost entirely free of vehicle traffic, bring you into picturesque paddy-field tapestries interlaced with networks of gurgling-water irrigation channels, and to many sites of historical and/or cultural interest. There are numerous bike-rental outlets around the starting points, located at the edge of each respective town. Most biking needs will be satisfied, up to pedal bikes for four people and e-carts for six.Just outside of Chishang town, on the cycling loop, is one of the rift valley's most photographed roads, Bolang Dadao ("Brown Avenue"), made famous in a Mr. Brown Coffee commercial and an EVA Air commercial starring Japanese-Taiwanese pop-idol heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro.The loop also takes you around small Dapo Lake, directly east/southeast of the town. "Chishang" literally means "on the lake." The tree-surrounded body of water is at the end of the suggested cycle route, and is a pleasant oasis at which to cool off after all your pedaling.This lake was over twice its present size in the 19th century. Early residents caught small fish and shrimp in this natural wetland, using them with the local rice to make tasty "Chishang rice dumplings" that were sold to passing travelers. Many of today's local biandang (see below) sellers include these treats in their offerings, though the fish and shrimp now come from elsewhere.You have two options for getting right out onto the lake, renting a pedal boat or a raft. With the rafts, which have sun-protection roofs, you do your own paddling. You're also provided with a long bamboo pole that will enable you to push the raft, gondolier-style, into the thick forest of lotus plants on the lake's east side. Dapo Lake was long used for lotus and water chestnut cultivation.Many Taiwanese swear that Chishang-area rice is Taiwan's best, and around the island you'll see signs above small eateries proclaiming Chishang Biandang. Biandang is the Mandarin Chinese rendering of the Japanese bento, or boxed lunch; the use of Chishang is a promise that Taiwan's best rice has been used as your boxed-lunch bed. Two main reasons are given for Chishang's rice quality: the pure, mineral-rich waters from the central mountains distributed by the local irrigation-channel system, and the region's superior soil, created via silting from two young mountain systems that have sprung up "fresh from the sea," in geological terms, on the east and west sides.Near the aforementioned bike-rental operations is the iconic Chishang Riceball Museum, which is in fact a restaurant-cum-museum. The old blue-painted railway cars outside the large two-story wood-façade facility make finding this spot a cinch. The museum/restaurant interior is stuffed with old-time farm-country memorabilia.Explanation for the passenger carriages parked out front: During Taiwan's period of Japanese rule, Chishang rice was sent to the Japanese emperor as tribute. Building on this quality, Chishang bento/biandang were developed, which were sold from the local train-station platform to passengers on passing trains - a practice followed around the island. Chishang biandang is the specialty at Chishang Riceball Museum, and the carriages are "outdoor" dining spaces. Each biandang typically contains, at a minimum, a chicken leg (or pork cutlet or fish), a sausage, a soy-stewed egg and beancurd, pickled cabbage, and rice.Explanation for "riceball" in the museum name: In days past, people would often bring what was called a "riceball" to work for lunch. This was rice, stuffed with such goodies as meat chunks and pickled vegetables, that was usually wrapped in a banana leaf.Getting to/around TaitungThere are numerous daily Taipei-Taitung flights (45 minutes one way), and regular rail service to/from Taipei, the fastest trains taking just 3.5 hours. Quality car-rental chain outlets are located outside the Taitung Railway Station, along with scooter-rental enterprises. For those not self-driving, note that the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle service will get you right to, or close to, almost all of the places we've introduced.Bolang DadaoDapo LakeTiehua Music VillageDulan villageJialulan

Taiwan received 11 million visitors in 2018 and the number of tourism businesses has grown 21% over the past three years, indicating tourism in Taiwan is booming. With do-it-yourself trips quickly taking over guided tours to become the mainstream, traveler behavior is changing and travel experiences are being reshaped. This has prompted more and more tourism and hospitality companies to engage in new ways of conducting business and come up with new ideas on how to help travelers gain access to information faster and easier.Yung-Hui Chou, director-general, Tourism Bureau, comments that as the government agency in charge, the bureau is looking to help tourism and hospitality businesses upgrade and leverage Taiwan's technological strength to promote smart travel. "When data undergoes analysis, it becomes more useful and valuable," says Chou.Raising the bar on transportation services for travelersInnovative technologies have reshaped how people travel. According to Chou, transportation services are the lines that connect the dots on people's journey. Transportation services can encompass the collection of pre-travel information, transfers between modes of transport during travel, gathering of traveler feedback and analysis of tourism hotspots after travel. Whether and how such transportation information is made available, used and analyzed plays an influential role on people's travel experience. However, transportation has not fully engaged with tourism until now. The Tourism Bureau is taking the initiative to consolidate the information and present it in eight different languages on the itravel website. By providing information on travel, transportation, tourist attractions, gourmet food among others in the form of webpages, which travelers can easily browse without having to download apps to their smartphones, the Tourism Bureau hopes to enable a smoother and more enjoyable travel experience.The Tourism Bureau also endeavors to leverage technologies to raise traveler satisfaction. First of all, to resolve traffic and overcrowding issues at major events such as the Lantern Festival, parades and New Year's Eve celebrations, it is working with Chunghwa Telecom to gain access to the actual amount of people flow by tracking cellular signaling data as well as traffic flow information from the Directorate General of Highways. The Tourism Bureau looks to use push notifications to inform travelers at crowded areas of people and traffic flow conditions in real time so that they can avoid congestions and thereby get diverted to less crowded areas. The Tourism Bureau also hopes to make use of cellular signaling to effectively calculate attendance at an event, further estimate and assess the commercial value the event can generate and conduct post-event review for future improvement.The Tourism Bureau's use of cellular signaling has been field tested at Alishan Scenic Area and Sun Moon Lake. Travelers receive push notifications from telecom operators and are kept informed of real-time road conditions. Traffic authorities such as those in charge of traffic control, highways and interchanges can respond to actual traffic flow conditions with different control solutions.Balancing cross-region tourism developments in TaiwanAlthough Taiwan is receiving an increasing number of international tourists in recent years, most of them only visit northern Taiwan. In an effort to balance tourism developments across the island, the Tourism Bureau will collaborate with local travel agencies and airport authorities to offer compelling airfare discounts to international visitors entering Taiwan through airports in central and southern Taiwan, thereby diverting tourist flow to the regions.Tailoring guidance services for different types of businessesThe Tourism Bureau implements different guidance programs suited to fit young startups and seasoned veterans in the tourism business. To new companies that are full of innovative ideas, the Tourism Bureau will ease regulations and open up databases to help them realize their ideas. It will also hold brainstorming contests and offer prize money to encourage startups to come up with creative service models that solve travelers' pain points. Chou emphasizes, "A government agency should be the provider of data, rather than a player of the game."To traditional firms that are a majority in the tourism business, the Tourism Bureau is endeavoring to help them transform themselves. By helping them make use of subscription-based ERP systems, they can digitize traditional operations. By giving them access to analyzed data, they can benefit from better utilization of hospitality resources and augment their competitiveness. By engaging in discussions, the Tourism Bureau also provides consultation and guidance to help traditional businesses upgrade their offerings to something that customers nowadays are more interested in.ConclusionThe integration of ICT technology has made travel information that used to be exclusively accessible by the tourism industry now available to the general public. With travel information at their fingertips, people are now growingly opting for self-guided tours. In keeping abreast with the trend, the Tourism Bureau has set the policy to build up a platform to promote widespread availability of travel information. Helping the hosts of small and medium tourism businesses that are not tech-savvy transform themselves will be the Tourism Bureau's goal over the next few years.Yung-Hui Chou, director-general, Tourism Bureau

Taichung, west-central Taiwan's hub city, is a dynamic place long known for universities and intellectual ferment as well as for blue-collar industrial dynamism. Its factories and major port played a key role in Taiwan's famed "economic miracle" of the past century, and they remain the driving force behind central Taiwan's economic elan, the scholastic institutions playing a key supporting role. Over the past two decades, however, a third actor has entered the play - the city has been reinventing itself as a destination of cultural and recreational enticements, creating an ever-widening array of resident- and tourist-friendly cultural and green-space attractions.The city's central area is in a basin. In this article we visit its coastal area, on the Taiwan Strait, separated from the core by the low-elevation Dadu Plateau. The north-south National Freeway No. 3 rides high up on the western side of this plateau, providing marvelous bird's-eye views over the coastal districts and the freighters and fishing boats riding atop the waters out to sea.Heritage Culture - Old Dajia TownThree major rivers run through the city to the Taiwan Strait: the Da'an and Dajia rivers in the north and the Dadu River in the south. We first visit Dajia District, centered on what was called the town of Dajia up to 2010 (when Taichung City and the former Taichung County were amalgamated), located between the Da'an and Dajia rivers. The people of Dajia take great pride in its title as one of Taiwan's "Top 10 Tourist Towns."Inform any Taiwan citizen that you've been to Dajia and you'll likely be asked if you visited Dajia Zhenlan Temple, Dajia's key attraction (also often spelled "Jenn Lann"). Taiwan, an island nation, venerates Mazu - the Goddess of the Sea - like no other deity. She is worshiped at almost 900 temples. Zhenlan Temple, which dates to the 1700s, is among the most famous and powerful, and the annual Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage is the best-known event celebrating her springtime birthday. This is one of the world's three largest religious celebrations. The Dajia goddess celebrates with a pre-birthday visit to over 80 temples in central Taiwan, traveling 300-plus km in a nine-day round-trip journey joined by thousands of devotees and otherworldly minions/protectors, marching bands, and lion dancers.Over one million line the route seeking her blessing, touching her palanquin and - the most powerful blessing - braving firecracker blasts to lay under it as she passes. Over 100,000 crowd Dajia for her send-off and homecoming celebrations. She is regaled with puppet and opera shows, float parades, and lion/dragon dances, massive firecracker explosions protecting temple and town by frightening off demons and other nasty supernatural types.Right beside the temple is a spacious, brightly-lit basement-level showroom with a heavenly trove of exquisite freshly-minted carvings of religious theme, large and small, inexpensive and very dear. Walk away wearing a protective amulet for just a few hundred New Taiwan dollars, or have a large, intricately crafted work shipped to you at a price ending with many zeroes.A short drive from the temple (too far to walk) is another freshly-minted gem, the grandiose Dajia Zhenlan Temple Cultural Museum. Designed in the style of an ancient Chinese fortress, it was recently opened as a dedicated venue for display of the magnificent collection of priceless heritage artworks accumulated by the wealthy temple over the years, commissioned and donated. The works are important enough that they have even been on tour overseas.All around Dajia Zhenlan Temple are eateries of venerable pedigree that have long been satisfying the needs of pilgrims - and locals - who have come to the temple to fulfill their spiritual needs. Dajia Ma Mianxian, just a minute away on foot, is specially recommended. Taiwan's central-south coast is renowned for plump, meaty oysters, and the signature dishes here, oyster rice noodles and oyster omelets, are indeed especially good. While eating, enjoy the wall-decoration photos of the area from the 1895-1945 Japanese colonial period.The Taichung region has also long been known for high-quality traditional weaving crafts. In the early 20th century the Japanese colonial government promoted the commercialization of straw hats, and by the 1930s Taiwan panama hats, commonly called Dajia hats, had a global reputation, in 1936 becoming Taiwan's No. 3 product after sugar and rice.Eco-Exploring - Gaomei WetlandsThe Gaomei Wetlands, 3,000 hectares in area with a seawall stretching 3.5 kilometers facing the Taiwan Strait, is a popular birdwatching hotspot. Members of over 120 species reside here, among the most conspicuous from the heron, ibis, goose, and godwit families. This is also an important migratory-bird stopover point, and if lucky you'll go home with a wall-mountable photo of the endangered black-faced spoonbill, a species for which Taiwan is working as a key protector.A long, meandering boardwalk brings you far out into the wetlands, beyond the sedge-grass marsh into the intertidal zone, putting you just a few feet above the teeming world of busy fiddler crabs, mudskippers, and other tiny local denizens. The birds swoop in when the tide is out, feasting on the exposed buffet. When the tide is out, visitors are permitted to step off the end of the boardwalk in the intertidal zone, where the footing is comparatively firm and the mud thickness limited, to explore the animal goings-on on the mudflats (back on dry land there are facilities available to wash off your shoes/feet).Breezy pavilions top the shore-protecting seawall, but otherwise there is no protection from the sun, so prepare yourself with a big hat and sunblock. Be aware as well that yummy handmade popsicles bursting with flavor are to be had at a grandma-run shop just a few steps up Gaomei Road, just off the boardwalk entry-point seawall, all healthy-sweet and made with fresh regional ingredients: pineapple, papaya, and taro among them.Fresh Catch & Harbor Tours - Wuqi Fishing HarborWuqi Fishing Harbor is just off the north end of massive Taichung Port. The latter is busy with much, much larger craft. The former's different draws are enjoyed at varying times of the day.There's a lively, raucous daily fish-auction market. Most boats come in during the one or two hours before sunrise; the scene is cacophonous, to say the least, and photo-captivating. If not a night-prowler, fret not; individual craft continually chug-a-lug in during the day, knowing local buyers punctually appearing to provide you with unposed photo opps among the weary sailor folk.Directly before the fish-auction area you'll see sleek white-painted tour-cruise craft and their joint-operation ticket office. These cruises are surely different from anything you've previously experienced - an intimate fly-by past Taichung's thick, broad-shouldered powerhouse world of port refineries, crayon-style painted smokestacks, docks and warehouses, Gaomei Wetlands on the north, and small-craft Lishui Fishing Harbor on the south, at the mouth of Dadu River.Directly behind the fish-auction area is a daytime-operation market that will test your knowledge of the marine-creature world. It's not likely that, like Taiwan locals, you'll be heading off with ice-filled styrofoam boxes of fresh catch; the scores of stall-owners, however, make life easy for you by providing the freshest prepared seafood delicacies, from grilled squid to deep-fried oysters to sashimi platters with the best from Taiwan's waters and unexpected treasures such as salmon from as far away as the Faroe Islands.Looks Into the Past - Qingshui DistrictNiumatou Cultural Park, an important archeological site, is on a terrace on the Dadu Plateau in Qingshui District, on what is called Aofeng Hill. The people of the neolithic Niumatou Culture, dating back to 4,500~3,500 years ago, lived predominantly by farming, supplemented with hunting. It appears the settlement was established here because the plain below was prone to flooding during typhoons, and enemies could be more easily spotted. The site was discovered by the Japanese during their colonial rule, on the site of a Shinto shrine, some remnants of which remain in place. The displays on the finds, explaining dwellings, graves, farming techniques, and more, are housed in the old cement-built barracks buildings of a recently-closed army camp set up after WWII.For even better views over the coastal region, head higher up Aofeng Hill to the park area immediately beyond, where two visually enticing architectural works await, Aofeng Jade Bridge and, higher still along the park's pleasing pathway, Aofeng Hill Viewing Platform. The former is a curving waterway-leaping pedestrian bridge, the latter is perhaps the coastal area's best spot for sunsets and star-viewing.Nearby, back down on the coastal plain, is the heritage-status Zhao Family Ancestral Residence, a lyrically pretty traditional courtyard-style residential complex with the green slopes of the mountain plateau at its back. Built in the late Qing Dynasty in the old south China style brought over by the ancestors of the Taiwanese, before it is a pond entirely covered with lotus pads. According to fengshui principles, such ponds deflect evil spirits from entering the gates of a complex, because they cannot travel over water. From the lotus pads a world of pastel art bursts to life in summer, drawing photo buffs aplenty.Old Meets Cultural-Creative New - Shalu DistrictHow best to describe Shalu Dream Street? Let's say an old shop street made something brand-new. Located right beside the pretty, foliage-profuse campus of Providence University, this is a short, now-covered lane converted into a dynamic "living incubator" for youth-oriented enterprises. The shop/bar/studio façades are designed as artworks in themselves (one original sausage shop hangs on), and 3D street art covers the ground. A constant stream of young folk line up for dynamic-background selfies. The street's design-focused nightspots make this the coolest – and hottest – of after-dark gathering-spots.Not far from Dream Street, explore the narrow lanes of Meiren Borough Painted Village. Meiren Village was long ago eaten up by the burgeoning urban agglomeration. Taichung has been on a wall-mural painting spree over the past decade, inspired by heritage-celebrating creations of a retired veteran in what is now called Rainbow Village, and here the murals - of an old grocery store, tailor shop, fruit shop, etc. - transport you back into the slow-paced, tight-community feel of Taiwan in the 1950s.Getting AroundTaichung's high-speed rail station and Taichung Railway Station are local bus-route hubs. The taichung.guide website provides helpful local-bus assistance with highlighted hotspots. Since this article's highlighted sites are distant from each other, however, a rented car or scooter is recommended. The English-speaking staff at the two aforementioned stations can provide guidance. Details on area Visitor Information Centers can be found at eng.taiwan.net.tw.Gaomei WetlandsDajia Zhenlan Temple Cultural MuseumWuqi Fishing HarborAofeng Hill Viewing Platform

The city of Tainan on the southwest coast is the birthplace of modern Taiwan history. The local population looks upon Tainan - the capital for most of the island's days under imperial Chinese control - as the Japanese do upon ancient Kyoto and the Koreans upon antique Kyongju. The classic Tainan tour, a celebration of the proud legacy embodied in its compelling heritage sites, has in recent years been made that much more rewarding with renovation and/or significant augmentation of sites for the pleasure of both residents and tourists.The city, various government authorities at the national level, and private citizens are also hard at work comprehensively enhancing local quality of life - and the tourist experience - in other fields. One key area in this quest is the cultural-creative realm; one after another old, narrow shophouse street and neighborhood enclave has been magically transformed into a cultural-creative space teeming with boutique stores, small art galleries, and eclectic restaurants, cafes, and teahouses, with the original architecture and community history respected and celebrated.On another front, more and more of the coastal area's deep stock of saltwater-focused resources, from lagoons to mangrove swamps to canals leading to harbor and sea - long dedicated almost exclusively to marine-resource industries - are now being rededicated for tourist-drawing eco-learning activities.Heritage Sites & Tourist HotspotsTaiwan's modern history began in today's Anping District. And it all began in Anping at the spot today called Anping Fort, site of the ruins of a grand citadel built by the Dutch.The stronghold, originally called Fort Zeelandia, was built at the north-end head of a great sometimes sandbar/sometimes silt island (at high tide) that jutted out from the mainland. Along with other offshore silt islands, it formed the sea-side wall of a large "Inner Sea." The Dutch sought to rule Taiwan from 1624 to the time they were ousted by the celebrated Ming dynasty loyalist Koxinga in 1662. The Inner Sea eventually silted over, and the fort's ruins are today stranded far from the coast. Much of our theme-tour time in the pages to come is spent where the Inner Sea once rippled, and in the solid land/open water transition area between Anping Fort's position and today's Taiwan Strait coastline.Right beside Anping Fort are a number of narrow eatery-stuffed streets collectively called Anping Old Street, where seafood is bien sur the compelling draw. This was the site of the first Dutch settlement, "Taiwan's 1st Street" - the first-ever commercial street to form. There are many famed eateries here with long histories; shrimp rolls are an Anping Old Street compulsatory treat, Taiwan's answer to Japan's tempura, and Chou's Shrimp Rolls is one of the best restaurants serving the delicacy.Just north of Anping Fort is a heritage-architecture tandem only opened to the public in recent years, the Old Tait & Company Merchant House, and directly behind, the Anping Tree House, both built by a British trading firm after the Second Opium War forced China to open ports to Western trade in 1858. The facilities were later abandoned when the Japanese targeted the lucrative opium and camphor trades during their colonial rule of Taiwan. Inside the breezy, graceful arcaded colonial-style trading house are displays on the area's imperial-era history. The treehouse, originally conjoined warehouses, has been completely overrun by massive banyan trees, creating a fairytale maze.Just south of Anping Fort is the innermost section of Anping Harbor, awaiting tour-boat exploration. Overlooking its south side is a giant 16m-high hilltop statue of Lin Mo-Niang located in the breezy Lin Mo-Niang Park. Lin was the young mortal maiden who became the immortal Mazu, Goddess of the Sea, protector of seafarers.A few blocks south of the park is the Eternal Golden Castle, actually a fort, built by the Chinese in the 1870s as protection against grasping colonial powers. Designed by a Frenchman, massive bastions are found at the ends of the four high, thick walls, with a moat making enemy access even more difficult. On display inside are giant cannons and archeological digs.Also recommended are two newer historic attractions not far outside Anping District. The Tainan Judicial Museum complex, inaugurated as the Taiwan District Court in 1914, is considered one of Taiwan's three supreme Japanese-era works of architecture, the others Taipei's Presidential Office Building and National Taiwan Museum. The Japanese used Taiwan as an experimental station, and as with other designs this is an eclectic mix of Western architectural traditions. A dome is its most striking feature, once paired with a tower that soars no more but which is still "on view"- in a room of whimsy with a large replica seen in a deep well that is in fact a reflection of the real thing hanging upside-down from the ceiling.The Old Taiwan Magistrate Residence, built in 1900, was used as a residence by visiting Japanese royals, most notably the future Emperor Hirohito during his 1923 grand Taiwan inspection. Have your photo taken with him (a life-size cutout) in the history-display area.Cultural-Creative Youth Culture on Old StreetsOver the past decade or so, a number of historic streets and alleys in Tainan's old neighborhoods long down on their luck have undergone a renaissance, the prime movers young entrepreneurs simultaneously following two dreams: to preserve a chosen bit of the architectural history of the city they love, and to express their cultural-creativity in self-financed business ventures that can provide them a living wage. These long-quiescent enclaves are now alive with artsy-style cafés, teahouses, eateries, boutiques, artist studios, and other interests.Blueprint Culture and Creative Park (opened in 2015) is a narrow-lane complex of renovated simple, cement-walled dormitories originally built by the Japanese to house judicial-authority employees; the aforementioned Tainan Judicial Museum is nearby. The dorm buildings are today home to an attractive cluster of artisanal outlets and creative eateries. The "blueprint" refers to a mesmerizing entrance-point 3D artwork that transforms a solid wall into a glowing architectural blueprint.At the western end of old, exceedingly narrow Xinyi Street, which stretches just a few hundred meters, is the small, imperial-style Duiyue Gate. Built in 1836 by China's Qing imperial government, this is the only gate from the old walled city still in use today (note the white stone used for the base, Penghu stone originally used as ballast in ships sailing from the Penghu Islands). In recent years young entrepreneurs have been encamping in this still-bustling neighborhood, rich with traditional shophouse-style heritage residences and three venerable, well-maintained temples.Yuguang Island, today Tainan's sole offshore island, is a mere stone's throw-plus from the Eternal Golden Castle. It is reached by a short bridge just south of the fortress; the canal-tour boats pass underneath. A raised boardwalk takes visitors through the island's forest cover to along, crescent-shaped outer beach, where people picnic, small sailboats ply the gentle waters, and fishermen move about tending their open-water oyster-farm plots.A short distance from the coast in Annan District, right above Anping District, is the striking Taijiang National Park Visitor Center. Taijiang National Park is a watery world of estuaries, sandbars, tidal flats, old irrigation canals and small-craft shipping channels, mangrove swamps, wetlands, and aquaculture farms - much of these vestiges of the old Inner Sea. The white-walled buildings of the visitor complex, built on stilts above retired fish farms, resemble traditional fishermen dwellings and circle a faux "lagoon."North of this is coastal Qigu District, home to the Black-faced Spoonbill Reserve, a key site in the ongoing international campaign to help the magnificent, critically endangered black-faced spoonbill, a water bird that migrates between North Korea to Southeast Asia. North of the reserve is the sea-like Qigu Lagoon, festooned with a veritable Roman legion of aligned oyster racks.North of Qigu is coastal Beimen District. Just south of the fishing village of Beimen are the Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields, Taiwan's oldest salt fields, created in 1818. This site is a showcase example of how the bottom of evaporation ponds were paved with pottery shards, producing cleaner salt and making harvesting easier.Just north of Beimen village is the grandiose Nankunshen Daitian Temple complex, visible from far off across the flatlands. This is the largest of Taiwan's many temples dedicated to what are called the "plague gods." In imperial times effigies of these gods would be placed on junk sat sickness-stricken places and sent off to sea; temples would often be built to appease them at places the boats drifted ashore. This spot, place name Nankunshen, is said to have been visited by such a craft in 1662.Vanaheim, a coast-side eco-theme resort, is not far north of the temple. You "camp" here - in simple, sturdy structures resembling yurts, big enough for two beds and a small toilet and shower. The accommodations sit on the edge of a large, busy mangrove forest; tectonic activity has caused some coastal land in this region to subside, and mangroves have been encouraged to once again take root where saltwater aqua farms long flourished.Included in a visitor's stay package is a guided mangrove-channel boat tour and an eco-tour along a long forest-wending raised boardwalk and the beach/tidal flat between forest and Taiwan Strait.Anping FortAnping CanalBlueprint Culture and Creative ParkNankunshen Daitian Temple

To encourage more overseas tourists to visit Taiwan, the Tourism Bureau, MOTC, has also been encouraging visitors to explore central and southern Taiwan's new tourist attractions. So it has joined hands with the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation to launch the "Travel in a Pair, One Person Travels for Free" discount offer. From Nov. 27, 2018 to Jan. 31, 2019 overseas tourists coming to Taiwan on short-term visas can enjoy one free ticket as long as they and their travel companion take a trip to any THSR station from Taichung and southward. The stations and destinations included in this offer are: Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan and Zuoying (Kaohsiung).The Tourism Bureau's Director General Joe Y. Chou said in order to provide overseas tourists with a more in-depth and meaningful experience in Taiwan, the Tourism Bureau also signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Performing Arts Center on Nov. 9 to cooperate on developing arts and culture-rich travel itineraries and activities for tourists. The goal is to combine culture with sightseeing to open new developments in Taiwan tourism. The central and southern regions of Taiwan offer a different type of culture and scenery from northern Taiwan. Some of these attractions include: the Taichung World Flora Expo, National Taichung Theater, the cultural-heritage former capital Tainan, and the agricultural and forestry-resources rich county Yunlin, the National Palace Museum Southern Branch in Chiayi, the passionate harbor city Kaohsiung, the recently opened Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, and 30th Taiwan Lantern Festival to be held next year in the Pingtung Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area. These attractions will let overseas visitors experience a different kind of Taiwanese beauty as well as the diverse and rich culture on our beautiful island.For international tourists who want to take advantage of the limited time they have in Taiwan and visit more attractions, the Tourism Bureau, MOTC has made it easier for them by cooperating with Taiwan High Speed Rail. In addition to implementing the specific actions of integrating culture with tourism, we also hope tourists will bring along a friend and sightsee in Taiwan together. This special offer will allow international passengers to take the fast and convenient high-speed trains to travel to the central and southern areas of Taiwan to experience the different culture and attractions.This activity will provide international passengers with affordable prices to experience the convenience of Taiwan's high-speed rail while exploring different cities and counties in Taiwan. The event, already launched globally on November 27, will be limited to foreign travelers on short-term visas. Foreigners coming to Taiwan for work and study will not qualify for this offer. The number of free tickets is limited and will be given out on a first-come-first-served basis until supplies last. For details, please visit the website of KKday, the Taiwan High-Speed Rail's overseas special dealer https://thsrc.kkday.red-digital.com/en.In order to encourage foreign tourists to visit Taiwan, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Company has a series of "High-Speed Rail Pass" products in addition to one-way tickets. Overseas passengers can take high-speed trains for any number of times and within an unlimited period during the specified period. International passengers are welcome to choose the right product for them so that they can take the high-speed rail to travel around Taiwan.Taiwan High Speed RailNational Taichung TheaterWeiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts

Taiwan has established leadership in the global bicycle industry. Cycling is also gaining popularity in Taiwan in recent years with more than 270 cycling events held by non-government organizations in 2017. Going forward, how will cycling continue to flourish in Taiwan?Cycling is the greenest mode of transport to get around a city and experience its charmsAs cycling gains popularity worldwide, people in Taiwan are joining those around the globe in taking up bike riding as a result of promotional efforts from public and private sectors. According to Sports Administration, Ministry of Education, cycling has many benefits. It is an aerobic exercise that is easy on muscles and joints, burns calories, slows aging, improves cardio fitness and prevents bone loss. Unlike some other sports, cycling can be enjoyed by people of all ages.Furthermore, exercising releases endorphins, which put you in a good mood, make you feel happy, help you stay focused, alleviate stress from work and life, and contribute to a more positive outlook on life. Aside from these health benefits, cycling also plays a growingly important role as a transport mode and leisure activity. Particularly with increasing environmental awareness, people are making efforts to control air pollution, reduce carbon emission and cut energy consumption, so bicycles have become the best mode of transport with minimum carbon footprint for people to freely get around a city and experience its charms.Building up hard and soft infrastructure, Taiwan is creating endless possibilities for cyclingBicycles have a long history in Taiwan. The number of people taking up cycling has been on a continuous rise in recent years. What advantages and appeals does Taiwan have in terms of the hard and soft infrastructure for cycling? According to Sports Administration, a host of major cycling and marathon events have taken place over recent years but many of them have been held in cities where the air quality may be poor, and despite traffic control, participants often ride or run with cars still driving on the route. As a matter of fact, about 70% of Taiwan is covered with forested mountains. It is more suitable to hold these events in more natural environments, which can also promote local industry development.There are also many cycling routes with unique features to be discovered. People bike touring in Taiwan have a myriad of choices - whether it is a relaxing ride on paths throughout riverside parks, a challenging race in the mountains or a circumnavigation around the island on Cycle Route No. 1. With these different cycling routes in place, local governments are making abundant tourism resources available including mapping out their own unique routes featuring special sceneries, cultural characteristics, eco-environment, local delicacy and other attractions. They even host their own bike tour sites for people to search for information on local B&B, restaurants, hotels and attractions. Bike tours can expand to become a sports tourism business, which holds tremendous potential. Moreover, bike rental stations throughout Taiwan offer free drinking water, tire pumping and rest areas for cyclists. Almost all riverside parks in Taiwan have bike rental stations. Bike-sharing services are also quite popular in Taiwan. All these have made cycling in Taiwan an enjoyment.High-tech advances and social media also help with rising popularity of cycling. Widespread availability of exercise apps and mobile communication services makes it easy for bikers to keep track of heart rates, cycling speed, route and time, much like having a personal trainer at your side. Moreover, the rapid rise of social media like Facebook and Instagram allow people to share their fitness progress with family and friends, motivating one another to keep exercising. With today's hectic lifestyle, people are often isolated and disconnected. However, humans are by nature social creatures and need to engage in face-to-face activities to stay emotionally connected. Cycling can be such an activity that brings people together.Taiwan has a complete cluster of bicycle industry. The popularity of cycling in Taiwan will continue to escalate with increasing public awareness on health and environmental protection. Sports Administration has been actively instituting programs to promote cycling as a sport for all and calls on private organizations to work together toward the goal. It will also endeavor to find additional stunning cycling routes for everyone to enjoy Taiwan's cycling culture and create a lifestyle combining sports and leisure.Come enjoy Taiwan's cycling culture and create a lifestyle combining sports and leisure