Taipei Rose Festival held till the end of March

Taipei Rose Festival held till the end of March

2024-03-13

Flower lovers, take note! The 2024 Taipei Rose Show is back in action in Taipei’s Xinsheng Park. The festival features over 800 varieties and more than 5,000 roses from around the world. On weekends, there will also be a series of activities and food trucks at the venue. FTV reporter Stephany Yang takes us in for a look!

There are roses in a variety of colors like red, orange, pink, and white. Many visitors brought their cameras and paintbrushes to take photos and paint the beautiful roses.

Member of public
Each flower has a different appearance, and when drawn on the canvas, you can highlight the differences.

Member of public
The rose garden here is very beautiful. There are many varieties, and the shape of the flowers is very beautiful. If you take pictures of flowers with a little oblique backlight, the flowers will appear more three-dimensional.

This year’s Taipei Rose Festival features a total of six exhibition areas with more than 800 varieties and 5,000 potted roses. Visitors can enjoy live music as they stroll through the garden. The Taipei Rose Garden is the only rose garden in Taipei that grows roses year-round. You can enjoy the different styles of roses in all four seasons.

Yang Ping-che
Taipei’s Parks and Street Lights Office
The main characteristic exhibition area of Taipei Rose Garden is the "Sea of Flowers Area." The Sea of Flowers Area mainly contains classical roses that existed before 1867. These are rarely planted internationally or here in Taiwan. The Taipei Rose Garden is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Roses are a temperate plant, so its best flowering period is usually around November to May every year. We estimate that the best flowering period at our Taipei Rose Festival is around mid-to-late March. This year, the Taipei Rose Festival will provide food trucks during the weekend, flower-related vendors, and also shuttle buses at Yuanshan MRT Station.

During the festival period, a series of activities and food trucks are at the venue. The Taipei Rose Festival will be held till March 31 at Xinsheng Park in Taipei.

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

台北玫瑰展開展超過800品種、5000株玫瑰美不勝收!

2024-03-13

2024台北玫瑰展正在台北花博公園新生園區舉行，來自世界各地超過800多個品種、5，000多朵玫瑰，讓人大飽眼福。週末還會舉辦活動，還有餐車。一起來看看!

紅色、橙色、粉紅色和白色的玫瑰花，色彩繽紛，許多遊客拍照、或畫下眼前美麗的花朵。

[[民眾]]
"每一朵都有不同的樣貌，在畫面上組合起來就會有比較多的變化。"

[[民眾]]
"這邊玫瑰園滿漂亮的，品種又多，然後花形又很漂亮，隨意拍就很漂亮。拍花有一點斜，逆光拍起來的花朵會比較有立體感。"

本屆台北玫瑰節共設有6個展區，800多個品種、5000株玫瑰花，現場還有音樂演出。台北玫瑰園是台北市唯一全年種植玫瑰的玫瑰園，可以在四個季節欣賞不同種的玫瑰。

[[台北公園處台北玫瑰園技工楊秉澈]]
"台北玫瑰園主要特色展區就是"花海區"，花海區主要是1867年以前的古典玫瑰，這個在國際上還有台灣是目前比較少栽種的。台北玫瑰園是365天、24小時開放。玫瑰花是溫帶作物，所以它最好的花期通常會在每年的11月到5月左右，我們預估我們台北玫瑰展最好的花期是在3月中下旬左右。今年台北玫瑰展覽在假日有提供餐車然後以及一些花卉相關的攤販，也有在圓山捷運站提供接駁車。"

3/31前，到台北玫瑰展除了賞花，主辦單位還會舉辦一系列活動並提供餐車。

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民視台灣台（152頻道）週日至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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Top politicians turned out for the General Chamber of Commerce’s Spring Festival banquet on Tuesday. President Tsai Ing-wen, Premier Chen Chien-jen and former Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng of the opposition KMT made a rare joint appearance. In her address to the chamber, President Tsai touted her efforts to promote free trade. She also called on employers to raise wages and benefits.

At the General Chamber of Commerce’s Spring Festival banquet, some 650 professionals turned out. In her speech at the event, President Tsai Ing-wen emphasized her efforts to promote free trade so that Taiwan industry can go global. She called on companies to improve wages and benefits for employees.

Tsai Ing-wen
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I would like to take this occasion to ask industry leaders to support our minimum wage hike policy by increasing wages and benefits for employees. Doing so can help with talent retention and stabilize business operations. In this upcoming year, let us continue to work together to overcome challenges and reach new heights for Taiwan’s economy.

Speaking on Taiwan’s net-zero transition and global inflation, Tsai said her government was fully prepared to tackle these challenges. As for Taipower’s financial losses, the electricity price review committee is expected to decide on April rates this week. Sources say the Executive Yuan plans to subsidize rates by NT$150 billion. But business leaders say the amount needs to be higher.

Paul Hsu
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Although there is a plan for making adjustments, Taipower won’t be making a profit straight away. So there’s also that period of time you have to consider. Taipower has more than NT$300 billion in debt. Unless you provide NT$200 billion, it will have a hard time getting by.

Wang Mei-hua
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The Executive Yuan is still calculating how much it can allocate to the subsidy program. Also to be considered are issues related to resource distribution. So it’s true that no conclusion was reached today.

Present at the banquet were Premier Chen Chien-jen, Presidential Office Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung and former Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, in a rare joint appearance. There was also Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu, who arrived after group photos were taken.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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The City of Lightning: Chiayi is Taiwan’s most electric place

Do you know which region of Taiwan is the most electric? A report by a weather risk firm shows that in 2023, you were most likely to see lightning strike in Chiayi City. The city saw 167 lightning strikes per square kilometer last year. We spoke to a climate expert in Chiayi to find out the science of why the southern city attracts thunder and lightning. And we spoke to a local religious representative, to hear what lightning traditionally means for those working on the land.

An inky sky is lit up by series of flashes. It’s a common sight in Chiayi City.

Chang Jui-cheng
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It’s mainly because of the geography. Chiayi City sits at the foot of both the Alishan Range and Yushan. The southwest monsoon rains bring in a lot of air moisture. When it hits the mountains it creates a thermodynamic effect.

A weather risk analysis firm has collated data from lightning monitoring stations. A staggering 10.5 million lightning strikes hit Taiwan last year. If we look at the density of lightning strikes per square kilometer, we see lighting was most likely to strike Chiayi City, with 167 strikes per square kilometer in 2023. Next was Taipei City at 110 strikes per square kilometer, then Hsinchu City at 96, Chiayi County at 92 and Yunlin County at 86. Lightning is a very frequent visitor at midday in summertime in Chiayi, where convection currents are most common and create the special effects.

Chang Jui-cheng
Chiayi Weather Station official
Mountain regions tend to heat up after midday, which leads them to produce afternoon convection cells. They form and then spread out into the flat land, and Chiayi City is in the perfect place to get hit by them.

In September, the frequent lightning strikes in Chiayi even damaged electrical equipment at Lantan Reservoir, including environmental monitoring systems, and cut off a musical fountain show.

As you would expect of such an electric area, Chiayi has its own important lightning god. Lei Gong Temple in Dongshi Township, is dedicated to the Duke of Thunder. Lightning is important for local farming communities.

Liu Chia-hsiang
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The lightning season begins in March and continues until fall, more or less. Chiayi is a great farming county, and farms need lightning to wake up all living things on earth.

As an old saying goes, “Every living being comes back to life when the spring thunder rumbles.” A lightning storm heralds the return of spring for farmers here. Now news of their exceptional electricity is making rumbles around the country.

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Taiwan closes up 13 points after volatile trade

Taiwan shares broke past 20,000 points in Wednesday’s trading session, led by tech shares. TSMC shares soared NT$15 right after opening, with MediaTek and Hon Hai also surging. But after hitting a new high of 20,112 points, the market stumbled on profit-taking, falling below the 20,000-point mark. The day ended with a modest gain of 13 points, at 19,928. An analyst warns that many small- and mid-cap shares have started to trend down, so investors should beware of chasing highs.

Nvidia and TSMC American depositary receipts soared on Tuesday, driving momentum on Wall Street. On Wednesday, Taiwan shares made gains led by TSMC, which opened up NT$15 and hit an intraday high of NT$785. Hon Hai, MediaTek, and United Microelectronics also soared, lifting the Taiex past the 20,000-point mark. Taiwan shares peaked at 20,112 points, pushing total market value past NT$63 trillion, a record high. But the surge set off panic selling, sending the market below 20,000 points once again, with total fluctuation exceeding 220 points.

Huang Wen-ching
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The recent rally on Wall Street and in exchange-traded funds has driven up both lagging and high-yield stocks. In addition, interest in artificial intelligence has set off an investment craze. As the Taiex repeatedly breaks past the 20,000-point barrier, the question is arising: Are Taiwan shares set to hit new highs?

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The analyst says the index could reach new highs in the short term, but investors should be wary of overheating. He said that eventually, all stock prices return to the fundamentals.

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E. Sun Securities ends new subscriptions for 00940 ETF amid buying frenzy

A frenzy for ETFs, or exchange traded funds, is taking hold in Taiwan. The prospect of high dividends and low buy-in prices has attracted many investors. Recently, Uni-President Asset Management launched the 00939 ETF, pricing it at NT$15 per share. Even cheaper is the 00940 ETF, which Yuanta Funds will launch on April 1 at NT$10 per share. The latter fund has reportedly raised more than NT$170 billion in subscriptions, although Yuanta Funds says the figure is not official.

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I have a friend who sold off Quanta shares for NT$1 million, so he could play around with ETFs.

Investors are flocking to buy the ETF, which comes with the prospect of high dividends and monthly payouts for the low price of just NT$10 per share. The ETF reportedly raised NT$170 billion in subscriptions in just three days. In a statement, E. Sun Securities said that, due to high demand for the 00940, it would no longer accept new subscriptions, to ensure that existing buyers could make inquiries and payments. In a rare move, Yuanta Funds also released a statement, saying that rumors regarding sales did not contain official figures. It stressed that Yuanta Funds had not provided financial advice to any individual investors. It said potential buyers should fully understand the product’s features and evaluate their risk tolerance, before making a financial decision.

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Early morning on a cold winter’s day, and students are already hard at work in the gym. But this is no ordinary fitness class. It’s a self-defense class.

The coach demonstrates a dangerous situation that might occur, and teaches students how to escape.

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Robert Wayne Hipple Jr.
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Hipple loves sports and fitness, and studied boxing and judo for many years. He’s gradually developed a combination of sports and self-defense techniques. When he first arrived in Taiwan, he taught free classes at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Violent crime is not a big problem in Taiwan, and Hipple is impressed by the warm and good-naturedness of the Taiwanese. Even so, he believes self-defense skills have universal value.

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Will you likely ever need to use this skill in your lifetime? Honestly, I hope not. But it’s those few times where something happens, unfortunately, that we need it, and we’re so happy when we have it.

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We’ve had couples come to the class together before. They are hoping that the wife or the girlfriend will know how to protect herself when she’s alone. It’s the same for Robert, actually. So he’s quite strict on me in class, but within a range that is okay for me.

Robert Wayne Hipple Jr.
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She’s one of the tough young ladies! If I had to say, I’m probably more afraid of her than she is of me!

The two have a tight rapport and see self-defense the same way. As a pair, they will continue to spread self-defense skills and understanding for many years to come.

This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

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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A wisteria garden glistens like a crystal. Its purple flowers are encased in ice, and they shimmer bright under the sun. Ice has also formed on the plum blossoms, making their yellow stamens especially striking.

Member of public
When I got up this morning, it was minus 0.6 degrees. We saw a landscape that was like a crystal palace, and another that was like a dreamcatcher. They were both stunning.

Early morning Wednesday at Wuling Farm, temperatures plunged to minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, transforming the gardens into a “crystal palace.” Not only did ice form over flower petals, it also created a delicate web that resembled a dreamcatcher. Overhead, tiny icicles hung from the cables like lanterns.

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To keep the water pipes from freezing, we turned them on in the wisteria garden last night. Due to the effects of radiative cooling, ice was able to form this morning.

With a cold front upon us, surprises were also in store at Nantou’s Dalun Mountain. At high altitudes, white clouds and mist stacked up in layers, creating a magnificent sea of clouds. Even the Xiaobantian bridge was engulfed.

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It’s spectacular. The swirling mist makes you feel like you’re in a fairyland.

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