Two days of explosive fun kick off at Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival

Two days of explosive fun kick off at Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival

2024-02-23

One of Taiwan’s biggest celebrations for the Lantern Festival is the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival in Tainan. This year, 400 pavilions loaded with fireworks will be lit up during the multi-day pyrotechnic extravaganza. A local temple leader says more than 200,000 people are expected to visit Yanshui for the festival.

Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che, lawmakers and councilors assume their positions to inaugurate the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival with a bang.

The strings of firecrackers reach up to a gate suspended in the sky, symbolizing success. And with that, the two-day festival kicks off, starting with a parade.

Huang Wei-che
Tainan mayor
The Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival will have 400 firework pavilions, to celebrate 400 years since the founding of Tainan. Every pavilion has undergone safety inspections. They have to pass the certification before they get set alight.

A parade with gods in sedan chairs streams out from the temple, as fireworks go off at every pavilion it passes by.

Many thrill seekers took part in the event in the morning. Readied with helmets, coats, jeans and thick cloths, they stepped into the explosive extravaganza.

Participant
I come every year, because my grandma is from Yanshui.

Wong Tsai-chin
Yanshui Wumiao
We’ll be setting off fireworks from Saturday evening all the way to about 4 or 5 a.m. on Sunday. I think that, combined with the Yuejin Lantern Festival, at least 200,000 people will visit Yanshui for the Beehive Fireworks Festival

This year, the parades will run along five routes, and revelers can scan the QR codes provided to see where the procession is located at any time. The main event will take place on Saturday night at the sports field at Yanshui Junior High School. There, four firework pavilions will be set off at the same time, for a pyrotechnic show to never forget.

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武廟出發展開為期2天2夜"鹽水蜂炮"鑾轎遶境

2024-02-23

元宵節南台灣最盛大的民俗慶典-台南鹽水蜂炮，上午正式啟炮，台南市長黃偉哲親自主持，展開為期兩天兩夜的蜂炮鑾轎遶境活動。這次配合台南四百年，參與的蜂城也有四百座，要讓民眾炸個過癮。

台南市長黃偉哲和立委、市議員等民代，各就各位，共同為鹽水蜂炮啟炮。

瀑布般的鞭炮上頭，是一座龍門，象徵鯉躍龍門，正式揭開為期兩天兩夜的鹽水蜂炮鑾轎遶境活動。

[[台南市長黃偉哲]]
“今年的鹽水蜂炮，炮城有達到四百座，就是因為台南四百，所以說每一座炮城都經過嚴格的安全檢查，經過認證之後才能夠施放”

鑾轎和陣頭立即從鹽水武廟出發，炮城也隨即燃放。

不少民眾上午就來參與，準備好安全帽、大外套、牛仔褲、厚麻布，要來好好享受被蜂炮狂炸的刺激感。

[[參加民眾]]
“我們每年都會來，因為我的奶奶是鹽水人”

[[鹽水武廟主委翁再進]]
“預定是(農曆)十五晚上，會放到十六號凌晨四、五點，今年我想配合月津港的燈節，最少應該會有二十萬人到鹽水來看蜂炮”

今年神轎遶境共分5條路線，民眾只要掃描QR Code，就能掌握神轎位置，而元宵夜重頭戲將在鹽水國中操場登場，4座主炮城將同時施放，為民眾炸除厄運。

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New legislature inaugurates its caucus for promoting closer ties with US Congress

The newly-elected Legislative Yuan on Friday inaugurated its Legislative Yuan USA Caucus that promotes friendship between Taiwanese lawmakers and American members of Congress. In attendance was U.S. deputy ambassador Jeremy Cornforth, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu and vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim. The political significance doesn’t just stop with a further warming of Taiwan-U.S. ties. It’s also a sign that compared with past legislatures, there’s a new atmosphere of cross-party cooperation. The caucus is jointly headed by DPP lawmaker Wang Ting-yu and KMT lawmaker Ko Chih-en and a total of 73 legislators from across the political spectrum are taking part.

The newly-elected Legislative Yuan on Friday inaugurated its Legislative Yuan USA Caucus. Not only was KMT legislative speaker Han Kuo-yu and his deputy Johnny Chiang present, but also American Institute in Taiwan Deputy Director Jeremy Cornforth and vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim. This was the first time Hsiao entered her old stomping grounds, the Legislative Yuan, since being elected vice president.

Hsiao Bi-khim
Vice president-elect
The hat I’m wearing today should not be that of vice-president elect. I come today as a graduate of the 9th Legislative Yuan. That’s one of my hats. My second hat is head of the Legislative Yuan USA Caucus for the 9th Legislative Yuan.

Han Kuo-yu
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We’ve got 113 legislators, and 73 are taking part in the Legislative Yuan USA Caucus. This number is really extremely surprising. Each one of you will meet many members of U.S. Congress in the future and you must welcome them to the Legislative Yuan for a meal. Dining out with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is colorless, while dining out with the Legislative Yuan is colorful.

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I will definitely share this with my colleagues when I return, but I must report to caucus members that Ministry of Foreign Affairs banquets are splendid and meaningful affairs.

It is the first time for the caucus, which is in its 11th iteration, to have two heads: the DPP’s Wang Ting-yu and KMT’s Ko Chih-en. Reports had said that Chiang had originally planned to form the caucus with his party. However, Wang also had the same plans and was set to form the group before him on Thursday. To avoid conflict, the two parties’ caucus conveners met for negotiations and decided on the current arrangement.

Wang Ting-yu
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Actually, I invited Ko Chih-en to serve as deputy chair at the very beginning. There was definitely a negotiating process. It’s not about who is fighting for dominance. All sides, each political party, hopes to care about and work for Taiwan-U.S. relations. We must organize and integrate as one, and everyone can work together.

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According to my understanding, the largest party in the legislature should take on the role of chair. Because it’s like this, each and every one of us feel that they should make even greater contributions to Taiwan-U.S. relations. So we can say we’ve set a precedent. The AIT also hopes to have a counterpart unit.

In a break from the past, there’s a new atmosphere of cross-party cooperation, starting with the just-formed Legislative Yuan USA Caucus.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

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President-elect Lai Ching-te hopes that orchids can be Taiwanese money-spinners

President-elect Lai Ching-te on Friday attended the opening ceremonies of the 23rd World Orchid Conference and the 20th Taiwan International Orchid Show. After seeing the show, Lai was full of praise for Taiwan’s orchids, saying he hoped they could be sold globally in the way the Netherlands sells tulips. This would give farmers more business and boost the economy.

Cutting a birthday cake with the number “20” kicks off the 20th Taiwan International Orchid Show. President-elect Lai Ching-te was in attendance and in his opening speech he emphasized he hoped Taiwan’s orchids could be just like Dutch tulips, providing income for even more people and creating an even greater economic output value.

Lai Ching-te
Vice president
I hope that Tainan’s orchids can be the same as tulips in the Netherlands, providing for even more Taiwanese people, and becoming an identification symbol of Taiwan internationally.

In addition to the Taiwan International Orchid Show in the government-run Taiwan Orchid Technology Park, the World Orchid Conference will be held in Tainan’s International Convention Center. Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che voiced hope that the orchid events and the Taiwan Lantern Festival would attract visitors to the city in its 400th anniversary.

Huang Wei-che
Tainan mayor
All these events happening together can make Tainan even better and more fun.

Owing to the joint showing of these two major orchid events, this year visitor numbers are expected to exceed 200,000.

Huang Wei-che
Tainan mayor
This year, Tainan turns 400, and our orchid show during the day, and Taiwan Lantern Festival at night, along with the Yuejin Lantern Festival, all complement each other, so I believe it is a reasonable estimate to see upward of 200,000 people this year.

The Orchid show, with the theme of “Orchid Together” covers Taiwanese orchids from many angles: conservation, history, culture, academic research and daily life applications. Together with the lantern shows, Tainan is a must-visit for flower lovers.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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New Delhi’s deadly air pollution prompts some to quit city

Severe air pollution in India’s capital city, which has failed to improve despite efforts, is prompting a small but growing number of people to leave New Delhi to escape the health hazards posed by dirty air. Many are relocating to the western coastal city of Goa, which has witnessed an influx of so-called pollution migrants. VOA’s Anjana Pasricha has more.

Prashant Kalra relocated from Delhi to the western coastal city Goa five years ago because the city’s dirty air was making his then three-year-old daughter sick.

Prashant Kalra
Entrepeneur
Our daughter could not breathe in Delhi NCR… because she needed a nebulizer every night just to go to sleep.

NCR refers to Delhi and surrounding districts. Kalra is among a small but growing number of people quitting that urban sprawl as two-decade long efforts fail to clean up the toxic smog that shrouds it every winter.

Most are heading to Goa, a popular holiday destination that has become a magnet for so-called “pollution migrants” from Delhi.

For this couple, the trigger for moving two years ago was their daughter’s persistent cough.

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She got put on an inhaler and also the nebulizer. That is when I realized it is the air.

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When I moved to Goa, I did not know anybody else. Now in a span of two years, I know probably 20 people who moved here for the same reason.

Moving out of Delhi is a choice available only to a few. But the trend underscores that cleaning up India’s mega cities will be one of the country’s biggest challenges as the government sets an ambitious goal of making India a developed nation by 2047.

Anjana Pasricha, VOA News, New Delhi

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
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Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Raphael works to star in Chimei Museum exhibition

Chimei Museum in Tainan will play host to a blockbuster art exhibition in May. The “Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London” exhibition will bring 52 masterpieces of Western art to Taiwan. The National Gallery is the U.K.’s most prestigious art museum, and has an encyclopaedic collection of important Western paintings. This show will share original works by Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Raphael with Taiwanese audiences. Early bird tickets go on sale on March 1.

The huge news has rocked the art world, once again establishing Chimei Museum as a hot topic for fans of Western art.

Cheng Po-hui
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It’s being called the biggest exhibition of Western art in Taiwan. From Raphael to Van Gogh, “Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London” is coming to Chimei Museum. The show only opens on May 2, but the countdown has already begun for many art lovers.

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They’re all some of the most famous artists in history, and they’re all original works. So there are 50 artists in total and 52 works of art.

Unlike past exhibitions which have focused on a single great master, “Masterpieces from the National Gallery” will lead visitors on a journey from the Renaissance all the way to the Impressionists, laying out the essential developments of Western art over more than 400 years.

Tsai Hai-kuang
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The exhibition will cover 400 years, from the Renaissance all the way to the Impressionists in the 19th century. So visitors will be able to see an overview of Western painting across 400 years.

High Renaissance artist Raphael. Rembrandt, the Dutch “master of light.” Impressionist superstar Van Gogh. Fifty-two masterpieces will go on show at Chimei, which has been chosen by the National Gallery as its sole partner museum in Taiwan. It’s also the last stop in the exhibition’s tour of Asia.

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After they are shown here in Taiwan, all the work will return to the National Gallery, because it needs to go back there for the gallery’s bicentenary.

A limited number of early bird tickets will go on sale on March 1, but there’s already huge buzz around the exhibition. Art lovers can’t wait to get to Tainan.

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Now, for fans of Taiwan’s wild landscapes: employees of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency in Chiayi are celebrating. They caught close-up footage of a Formosan black bear eating its lunch by a river. The footage is the best of its kind for the Chiayi Branch office. It’s the result of a new project placing infrared cameras across Chiayi and Tainan. Other cameras have caught exciting glimpses of many wild animals, like bears, deer, and martens.

A Formosan black bear stands on some boulders by the side of this river, guzzling on a fresh catch. When it’s full, it bounds nimbly away across the water.

The footage was taken at Nanzihsian River by an employee of the Chiayi Branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency. Colleagues are still cooing over it.

Hsu Yu-ching
Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, Chiayi Branch
We’ve never had such close-up footage before. Normally, we just see traces of the bears, or excrement, nothing so close-up, or eating food like this. Black bears are extremely wary of humans.

The branch has installed automatic infrared cameras in the mountains of Chiayi and Tainan, to monitor the movements of wild animal populations and collect footage. They’ve captured: wild boar hunting for food, two small bears, yellow-throated martens gathering to drink from a pond, a sambar deer wallowing in mud, and a curious Reeve’s muntjac staring into the lens.

Lee Ting-chung
Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, Chiayi Branch
We’ve recorded some very diverse footage of animals, and even very cute images. This allows us to understand trends in the dispersal of animal populations, and draw up our conservation strategies.

These precious images also reveal the successes of past conservation projects. But experts are keen to stress that if you visit the mountains and happen to come upon a similar scene, never give a bear cause for alarm.

Hsu Yu-ching
Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, Chiayi Branch
If you meet a black bear in the wild, you must stay calm. Don’t raise your voice. Keep facing the bear, and slowly back away, out of its line of sight. And then escape from the area.

The agency also notes that if you come across a wild animal, don’t touch it, don’t disturb it, and don’t feed it: “three don’ts.” But do make sure you take away any food you take into the wild, to avoid causing any damage to the mountain ecosystems.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

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Cold Lantern Festival weekend for northern and central Taiwan

The Lantern Festival weekend is set to be a cold one in many areas of Taiwan. Lows in central and northern Taiwan could dip to a chilly 13 degrees on Saturday and Sunday. The cold is not expected to ease up until next Wednesday.

Workers shake a tray with glutinous rice flour to wrap up balls of fillings. People stand in line to buy a serving of these round Lantern Festival treats.

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I’ve been in line for about half an hour. I like the jujube paste and the mung bean ones.

The Lantern Festival is on Saturday, and it’s set to be a cold one in the north, as northwesterly winds blow in. On Friday, daily lows hit 11.2 degrees in New Taipei’s Fugui Cape and Shimen District, and 14.3 degrees in Taipei.

Lo Ya-yin
Central Weather Administration
On Saturday and Sunday, lows in central and northern Taiwan will linger at around 13 or 14 degrees. In other areas they’ll remain at about 16 to 18 degrees. On the night from the 25 to the 26, more cold air will sweep in, bringing temperatures down. They’ll be especially low in central and northern Taiwan. So lows could dip to between 11 and 14 degrees on the 26 and the days before and after.

The weekend could get chilly. Lows in the north could be 1 to 2 degrees lower than now. Over in central and southern Taiwan, warm weather is expected during the daytime, but with big temperature swings to lower temps at night. Precipitation is also in the forecast for the weekend, as weather in central and northern Taiwan turns cold and wet.

Lo Ya-yin
Central Weather Administration
Today and over the weekend, the rainy areas are Keelung and the north coast, the east coast and the greater Taipei area. These places may see brief localized showers. By Monday and Tuesday, the wet weather will intensify and spread to other areas in the north, as well as mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan, which may see scattered showers. The wet conditions will taper off from Wednesday.

Northeasterly winds are picking up strength, bringing big waves to coastal areas and outlying islands. The cold will linger until Wednesday, so remember to wrap up warm if you’re heading out.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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