Chinese lion design in Miaoli paddy field with five different colored rice plants

Chinese lion design in Miaoli paddy field with five different colored rice plants

2022-09-23

Every year, people create designs in Yuanli Township’s rice fields in Miaoli. This year the activity had a theme of "Bumper Harvest." Rice plants of five different colors were planted, depicting a little girl leading a Chinese lion. In addition to giving the village a cheerful feel, the image reflects the farmers’ prayers for a bumper crop.

People can climb up a three-story observation deck nearby to take in the scene. Yuanli Township has different paddy designs each year. Last year during the COVID pandemic, inoculation was the theme in hopes of lowering people’s chances of getting COVID. This year, the farmers spent two months creating a rice field design with five colors.

苑裡五色稻田彩繪舞龍舞獅祈願"豐收"

2022-09-23

苗栗苑裡年年都有的稻田彩繪，今年特別以"豐收"為主題，白紫黑黃綠5種顏色的水稻，畫出小女孩引領舞龍舞獅，為鄉村打造輕鬆氛圍，也祈禱稻作豐收，表達農民心聲。

民眾爬上三樓高的觀景台，飽覽這片稻田風光，苗栗苑裡，年年都有不同的彩繪稻田，去年因為疫情，以打針做為主題，希望能夠趕走病毒，今年農民花了兩個月，設計五色稻田，為鄉村農莊打造輕鬆氣息。

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If you’re dreaming of experiencing autumn in Japan, now’s the time to make it happen.
Taiwan is expected to remove travel quarantines as early as Oct. 13, and Japan is opening up to independent travelers around that date. Phones are ringing off the hook at travel agencies.

Shan Feng
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Japan is allowing entry to travelers without visas, and that’s driving up business for us. Before the pandemic, travel to Japan accounted for 40% of our revenue. We hope that Japan’s lifting of restrictions on visa-free travel can once again allow Japan travel to account for 30% of our revenue from mid-October to year’s end.

Travel agents warn that plane tickets to Japan are much more expensive than before.

Shan Feng
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The price of tickets to Japan is up by 30% to 40%. But it’s worth it if you visit as an independent traveler, because shopping and other expenses are cheaper thanks to the weaker yen.

Airlines are ready for a travel boom. Tigerair Taiwan says it will add 220 flights in October to destinations in Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

Starlux Airlines has at least four weekly flights to 10 destinations, including Macau, Penang and Osaka. It is also resuming its daily flights to travel hotspots such as Singapore and Bangkok.

Agi Chan
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We hope the government will be more proactive in opening up to more people, so that we can gradually revive our economy. I think it would be very helpful toward economic recovery in Taiwan and abroad.

Go into Taoyuan Airport now, and all you’ll see are empty corridors, even during business hours. A local industry representative says he hopes Taiwan will open up as soon as possible to boost economic recovery.

Wang Kwo-tsai
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We have finished up the guidelines for arrivals and departures, and conducted the relevant training courses. On this front, things will return to normal. We hope more tourists will come to Taiwan.

The transport ministry says that starting Oct. 13, quarantine hotels and taxis will cease to exist. Taoyuan International Airport will return to operating as it did before COVID, ready to welcome travelers once again.

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Hoteliers voice concern over government plans to phase out quarantine hotels

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Wearing a full set of protective clothing, he sprays disinfectant to thoroughly sanitize the room. Mandatory quarantines for travelers could be removed as early as Oct. 13, spelling the end for quarantine hotels. Hoteliers say that, although they knew this day would come, they still have a few concerns about the future.

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Quarantine hotels can be transformed into specialized hotels for housing COVID patients. Their staff have been trained for a while now, and they have the expertise. People who catch COVID and have to isolate should absolutely not stay at regular hotels. The infection rate for international arrivals is still very high.

Hoteliers say tourists who test positive while staying at a regular hotel could pose an infection risk for other guests. They say one way to avoid this is by turning some of the quarantine hotels into specialized accommodation for infected travelers. Meanwhile, some quarantine hotels say that going back to normal tourism operations is not easy, as there is a shortage of manpower.

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I call on our government to assist our industry with recruiting migrant workers. Otherwise, there will be insufficient personnel in the tourism industry.

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After attending the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio held a press conference, where he was asked what Japan would do if there was a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

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Regardless of the circumstances, in order to protect the nation and the lives and livelihoods of our citizens, we must abide by our legal framework based on our domestic laws, including the constitution and the Legislation for Peace and Security, and respond with concrete measures. This will not change under any circumstances.

A few days ago, U.S. President Joe Biden said for the fourth time the U.S. was willing to defend Taiwan. Kishida apparently did not say much about how Japan would act. However, he reiterated that a new Japanese security strategy would be formulated within this year and that defense capabilities would be thoroughly strengthened within five years. Next year, Japan’s defense budget is expected to reach a new high of 5.6 trillion yen, which is about NT$1.24 trillion.

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Some countries do not abide by norms and use military force and coercion to trample over the peace and security of other countries. In order to prevent these kinds of situations from occurring, increased defense budgets can have a deterrent effect.

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Yao Wen-chih
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If we don’t tell these stories enough, then our next generation won’t know how we got here. If you’ve seen the Korean film “A Taxi Driver,” it shows the evolution of the era from the perspectives of ordinary people. For the last decade or two decades, I’ve been wishing there would be people with the breadth of vision, and more financiers, who would do things like this. But I never saw it. Now that I’m no longer a legislator, I can do it.

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Yao was under immense pressure at certain points during filming when finances were tight.

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The hardest thing was spending a million dollars every day, just burning through it while filming is underway. At that point we had a funding shortfall of NT$40 million. We were continuously managing the crew there. I hope we can expand on Taiwan’s history with many movies. What I’m planning now is the story is Chen Cheng-po, as well as a love story against the backdrop of the 1935 Taiwan Exposition.

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