Nantou paragliding operator re-obtains business permit

Nantou paragliding operator re-obtains business permit

2025-02-19

Good news for extreme sport enthusiasts! After more than half a year, a paragliding operator on Hutoushan in Nantou’s Puli Township has re-obtained its permit. While the suspension of business operations was in effect, the Nantou County Government assisted the company in getting the right permits. Now, there’s finally another choice for a thrilling weekend getaway. Let’s hear more.

Liao Yi-cheng
Nantou County department of education
Puli Township, Nantou County has the ideal climate and geography for promoting the sport of paragliding. Pursuant to regulations on motorless air sports and their operation and management, the county government assisted businesses in obtaining legal business permits, to ensure that consumers’ and tourists’ safety and rights are protected.

Trying out paragliding
I’m really excited. It’s not often in life that you get to enjoy soaring high up in the sky.

At an elevation of 600m, Hutoushan is one of the few areas suitable for paragliding in Taiwan. Guided by local operators, visitors can try out this air sport that affords magnificent views. Before the suspension was imposed, even international tourists came for the paragliding. Now, after almost a year, one operator is back in business, while another will also reopen once it’s gotten a sufficient insurance plan.

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

受法規限制停飛大半年埔里虎頭山飛行傘復飛

2025-02-19

南投埔里虎頭山是中部重要的飛行傘基地，受中央法規限制，停飛大半年，經過縣府輔導業者，取得合法經營許可，重啟營業，吸引不少愛好飛行傘的民眾，前來體驗。

[[南投縣教育處運動發展科長廖宜政]]
“南投縣埔里鎮擁有發展飛行傘運動的天候跟地理條件，那縣府依據無動力運動及其經營管理辦法，輔導業者取得合法的經營許可，來確保消費者跟遊客運動的安全跟權益”

[[民眾]]
“蠻興奮的，人生沒有幾回能夠有這種高空飛行的體驗啦”

埔里虎頭山海拔大約600公尺，是台灣少數適合飛行傘活動的場域，體驗者在業者帶領下，往前奔跑衝刺，成功翱翔於天際，美景盡收眼裡，連日本玩家也專程來埔里體驗。停飛大半年後，其中一家業者已經重啟營業，另一家待完成保險作業，也可望復飛！

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
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

Related News

China condemns Japanese marriage registration update

2025-02-19

Activists race for signatures before tighter recall rules enter effect

2025-02-19

Taiwan government trials new cancer screening scheme

Stomach cancer is one of Taiwan’s Top 10 most common cancers, with one of the highest mortality rates. What’s more concerning is that more than half of new diagnoses were made in the later stages. To promote early diagnosis of stomach cancer, the government is now trialing a new subsidized screening plan in 17 municipalities, which will be expanded to the entire country next year. Let’s find out more.

Taiwan adds around 4,000 new stomach cancer diagnoses every year, 67% of which were already in the later stages. Over the past 20 years, survival rates for patients with stomach cancer only increased 3 percentage points, trailing behind the progress made by Japan and South Korea. As such, early diagnosis is key to treatment.

Chen Jen-shi
Taiwan Oncology Society
The first thing is that we must increase early diagnosis rates. There must not be so many Stage Fours, that’s the first. Second, we must have more targeted drug treatments and supportive therapies, in order to increase the median survival rate of patients. It could be one year, a year and a half, two years… the longer the better. That’s what we wish for. We must not only rely on a single drug, but improve on both prevention and treatment, so we can approach this problem in a more holistic manner.

Under a new government scheme, people aged between 45 and 74 will be eligible for a free Helicobacter pylori stool antigen test. Meanwhile, doctors are also calling for more precise target therapy.

Shan Yan-shen
Taiwan Surgical Society of Gastroenterology
Everyone’s genes are different, and the reason for developing cancer differs. Of course the mutation of oncogenes, the driver oncogene differs. So the most important thing about genetic tests is that they allow us to target the different symptoms and pathogens that induce stomach cancer, so that we can fight and suppress the oncogene that progresses cancer.

With more widespread screening and better treatment, the government aims to reduce the morbidity rate of stomach cancer by a third before 2030.

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

2025-02-19

City awards US-bound pitcher ‘Pride of Hualien’ honor

18-year-old pitcher from Hualien, Yang Nien-hsi, was signed by the San Francisco Giants last December and plans to move to the US at the end of the month. He recently visited the Hualien City Office with his family to receive a "Pride of Hualien" banner. The baseball star will likely start in the minor league and said he hopes to make the major leagues within five years.

Standing with confidence on the mound, you can tell he’s a good pitcher as soon as the ball leaves his hand. This is Yang Nien-hsi, who was signed by the San Francisco Giants in the US last December, becoming the sixth Taiwanese player to ever join the team.

Yang Nien-hsi
Pitcher
I’m excited. I hope I can go there soon to play. This has been my dream since I was a kid. I’ve achieved my goal, but I still need to work hard. I hope to make the major leagues in five years.

Born to a baseball family, Yang began training in athletics in elementary school. He started running track in fifth grade, then switched to baseball, which he’s been playing now for 10 years. At an advantageous 187cm tall, he can pitch up to 150kph. He was the starting pitcher in last year’s U18 Asian Baseball Championship, striking out a batter in the first frame. His career performance drew interest from US scouts. Most recently, he went to the Hualien City Office to receive a “Pride of Hualien” banner.

Wu Hsin-i
Yang’s mother
It’s been a wonderful journey. He never gave up, even through all the blood, sweat, and tears. Even as a teenager in high school, a time when kids like to have fun, he sacrificed a lot of holidays to perfect his baseball.

Wei Chia-yen
Hualien Mayor
I’m thrilled that Hualien has produced such an excellent player. I need to thank his mother and father, and the upbringing of his family. I think Taiwanese players in recent years have seen incredible results both in Taiwan and abroad.

Yang is a testament to the saying, if you try hard, you’ll succeed. He is expected to go to San Francisco at the end of this month to join the Giants. After accumulating experience at the lower levels, he hopes that in five years, he can bring his talents to the major leagues.

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

2025-02-19

Church combines European style with Indigenous culture

2025-02-19

Olympian Lin Yu-ting speaks to high schoolers about bullying

2025-02-19

Ski resort in Hachimantai welcomes Taiwanese tourists

2025-02-19

Kaohsiungstation cat Mikan to feature on Japanese trains

Mikan, the Kaohsiung Metro’s famous station cat, has earned the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp. millions over the past year. Lovingly called the "most powerful lucky cat," Mikan’s charm has now spilled over to Japan. The KRTC has teamed up with the Enoshima Electric Railway and Randen tram network to bring Mikan to Japan for a "work study" of sorts. The opportunity would see Mikan’s likeness displayed on trains in Kamakura and Kyoto, hopefully encouraging more Japanese to visit Taiwan.

Just arriving for work, Mikan climbs through a ticket window to greet his fans. The Kaohsiung Metro’s most famous employee is surrounded by his admirers, with one kid even wearing a Mikan T-shirt while shouting that he wants to see his idol.

Mikan fan
We have a cat at home, so we bring him here to see the cat, then go outside to get some buns.

Mikan fan
I came today just to see him on duty. This is my doll bag where I put my Chiikawa and Mikan.

Adults and children alike can’t resist his charm. Now the Mikan craze has even made it to Japan.

Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp has teamed up with the Randen tram and Kamakura’s Enoshima Electric Railway to dress Mikan in the two Japanese networks’ uniforms.

Previously, the Kaohsiung Metro and Enoshima railway worked with a ramen snack brand to create colorful designs for their trains and stations. This time, Randen is joining in, and Mikan will be the star of the show. The Mikan-themed trains will hit the rails in late May, joined by a pop-up store.

Wang Po-yen
KRTC public relations director
The main goal is to attract more Japanese tourists to Taiwan. If people on these two famous railways in Kanto and Kansai see Mikan, it will create a surge of tourism to Taiwan and to Kaohsiung.

Mikan fan
There’s a store for Mikan near Zuoying Station. I heard some foreign travelers saying they wanted to go visit the store.

Conquering both Taiwan and Japan with cuteness, Mikan is Kaohsiung’s best tourism ambassador. Now officials hope to harness his power to draw more Japanese tourists to Taiwan and get more Taiwanese to learn about Japan.

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

2025-02-19

Endangered Formosan fruit bat crashes into Hualien home

2025-02-19

Hakka museum boasts unique walkway made of military waste

The Hakka museum in the village of Baoli in Pingtung has a very unusual sight to welcome visitors. Residents of this coastal community used to collect used ammunition cases from the nearby military base. Thousands of such cases have been made into a unique walkway inside the museum. It’s a testament to the military history of Checheng Township and the resilience of the local community, who found lots of uses for the military waste that accumulated in their town.

Walking into the Hakka museum in Baoli, you’re greeted by this unusual walkway on the floor.

Look closer, and you see it’s made of ammunition cases from .50 caliber machine guns. Lying four abreast, the lines stretch more than 100 meters. There are 1000 cases here, at least.

Tseng Li-ching
Baoli Community Development Association
Years ago, the village inhabitants would go out and pick up empty ammunition cases from .50 caliber machine guns. People were enthusiastic about collecting them. When the museum was first founded, our secretary-general encouraged everyone to place them into a walkway. It may be the only one of its kind in the world.

The village of Baoli, in Checheng Township, Pingtung, is the Southernmost Hakka village in Taiwan. Its claim to fame is a military Joint Operations Training Base which opened here in 1967. Troops have come here to conduct drills with live ammunition every year since, leaving behind empty cases from artillery shells and machine guns. Collecting and selling cases became a side income for village residents. The .50 caliber machine gun cases have also been remodeled into useful items by locals.

Chen Mei-hui
Baoli Community Development Association
They would put betel nuts inside, and grind like this until they were broken up. Then bring it up close to the mouth. Grandma didn’t have any teeth to chew with, so it was a way to enjoy betel nut.

Chen Cheng-hsiung
Checheng Township mayor
People in Checheng and Hengchun love betel nut, so the more intact cases could serve as betel nut mortars. Others were kept as samples, to look nice.

Life in this rural area in the mid-20th-century was tough, and many people in Baoli collected ammunition cases for extra money, although tragic deaths occasionally occurred when unexploded bombs were uncovered. In recent years, the practice has declined as safety is given more priority.

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

2025-02-19