Tainan locals organize events marking city wall tricentennial

Tainan locals organize events marking city wall tricentennial

2025-04-30

This year marks the 300th anniversary of Tainan’s city wall. Locals are organizing a festival to commemorate the event, featuring traditional performances as well as a procession for the City God. Not only that, but all around the old capital and at each city gate will be art installations to give the public a different perspective on this important part of Tainan’s history.

Performers sing and dance to traditional music in front of Tainan’s old city wall, lending a cultured flair to the historic surroundings.

Apart from the colorful folk opera performance, presenters play off of each other to introduce the history of the city wall. This year marks the 300th anniversary of its construction. To mark the occasion, locals have organized a series of events and performances from May 3 to 11 that they’re calling the City Wall Festival.

Lin Wei-hsu
Tainan Cultural Affairs Bureau acting director
The first event will be on May 3. With the City God Temple, a tour will be held to bring the City God to each of the four gates in order to bless our city with peace and prosperity, and our people with contentment. All around the city and at the Great South Gate we’ll have a plethora of art installations, concerts, and community activities.

Apart from the god’s procession to bless the city, there will be modern art installations scattered all over Tainan, including at the gates along the old city wall, offering the public a new perspective on their city’s treasured historical assets.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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#Tainan #citygod #citywall #history #anniversary #historicalfestival #tricentennial #culture

府城城垣300周年! 民間發起活動認識府城文化資產

2025-04-30

台南台灣府城牆，今年適逢城垣啟建300週年。這次由民間發起相關紀念及倡議活動，不只推出民俗技藝表演、城隍爺繞境，還在整個台南市區，以及府城各大城門區域，設置藝術創作作品，讓民眾以更加多元的角度，認識台灣府城重要的文化資產。

台南府城城垣前，表演人員隨著傳統民俗音樂歌唱、起舞，為現場帶來滿滿文化氣息。

除了精彩的民俗技藝表演，現場還透過相聲，介紹府城的相關知識以及歷史背景。今年適逢台南府城城垣啟建300週年，這次由民間發起相關紀念活動，在5月3號到11號，推出一系列「府城城垣節」活動及表演。

[[台南市政府文化局代理局長林韋旭]]
“首先的活動，我們會在5月3號，由府城王廟，這個府城尋城祭來揭開序幕，來由城隍爺尋城四個城門，來保佑我們的一個國泰民安，民眾能夠安居樂業，我們在全市以及大南門城，我們有豐富的一些，城牆裝置藝術的一個展出，城牆的一個音樂會，還有社區活動”

不只城隍爺繞境，保佑國泰民安，在整個台南市，以及府城各大城門區域，都會出現許多當代藝術創作，讓民眾以多元的角度，認識台灣珍貴的文化資產。

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The man wearing a white T-shirt is Golden Horse Award-winning actor Ethan Ruan. He’s appearing as the ambassador for a charity supporting formerly incarcerated youth, calling on the public to donate their coins.

Ethan Ruan
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I hope that we can all bring them just that much more luck to the best of our abilities. If they could feel just that little more fortune and care, it may perhaps turn their lives around.

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Ethan Ruan
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It’s been great. A shoot just wrapped up. The sun is out. I can stay at home and play with my cats, enjoy breakfast, and donate some money.

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Ethan Ruan
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If something happens that makes me want to get another tattoo, I will. But I’ll try not to get more tattoos in visible areas, because it’s really troublesome for the crew to have to cover them up.

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Ethan Ruan
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I’m just going with the flow. If that day comes, great. If I’m going to end up alone, it’s not a problem either.

Ruan remains mum on his private life, perhaps not to take away from the focus of the charity event.

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Taipei government sets up no-smoking reminder at parks

People are often spotted smoking at parks in Taipei, even though it’s illegal. Hoping to solve the problem, the Taipei City Government installed a no-smoking button at Qiangang Park in Shilin District. When pressed, the bell broadcasts a reminder that parks are non-smoking areas. But how effective is this? Without any police around, it’s up to the smoker to stop or not. People have also complained the button is hard to find and the broadcast is too loud.

Lin Yung-chi
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If you see someone smoking when you’re walking in this park, there’s a hidden button you can press that will broadcast a reminder not to smoke.

In both Mandarin and Taiwanese, the broadcast reminds people that parks are non-smoking areas. But people barely seem to look up when they hear it and there are still cigarettes butts littering the ground.

Member of public
No one presses that button. I’ve never seen it.

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It’s so loud, it can be heard all the way over here. It’s really loud.

Member of public
Someone cut its wire because it’s too loud.

The Taipei City Government installed this no-smoking button at Qiangang Park in Shilin District. During the day, it automatically broadcasts a no-smoking reminder once every hour. If a member of the public presses it, it will broadcast the announcement after 30 seconds, leaving enough time to leave the scene.

Member of public
If I knew about the button, I would press it, but I haven’t seen it.

No one comes to administer fines after the button is pressed, so it’s up to the smoker to stop or not. Over the past six months, it’s only been pressed 170 times. Although no complaints have been received via the city government’s 1999 hotline, city councilors say this doesn’t necessarily mean there are no issues.

Liu Tsai-wei
Taipei City Councilor (KMT)
Pressing it won’t guarantee cigarettes get put out. Pressing it again won’t do so either. It also seems impossible to directly go and administer fines right now. In addition, it’s set up in the corner, so I really don’t know if the button is effective at all.

Lan Shu-fan
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Its placement is really important, and of course it needs to be clearly marked. In this regard, we can probably make some changes.

The parks department says it will clearly mark it in the future and may even expand the idea to other parks. But whether it will actually stop smokers remains to be seen.

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Tunnel mural merges local Yilan sea life with religious tradition

Wanting to make an attraction themed around the goddess Matsu, a business owner in Yilan’s Nanfang’ao hired the famous street artist Tu Lung to make a 3D mural featuring sea creatures from the coastal town combined with local customs and beliefs. The result is a fanciful world from the bottom of the ocean that envelops you when you step inside.

As soon as they step foot into this tunnel, visitors are greeted by a shark, its gaping maw ready to devour. All around it, fish of all kinds swim by in the deep blue, transporting you to the bottom of the sea.

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A local business owner hired the famous street artist Tu Lung to create this 3D mural using special fluorescent paint. It features sea life found near Nanfang’ao alongside local religious figures, combined to create a mystical underwater scene right here on land. And just nearby the tunnel, there are two Matsu temples.

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DPP Lawmaker Lin Chun-hsien on Wednesday morning held a presser in which recall petitions signed overseas were handed over to campaigners. Joining Lin were a professor and a volunteer working abroad who came to witness the historic moment.

Lin Chun-hsien
Lawmaker (DPP)
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In the video, a mother silently shows her support for her daughter, who is volunteering to collect signatures in the streets of Taiwan. Within one hour since it was posted, it had been watched 15,000 times, and garnered more than 2,000 likes. Recall campaigners are pushing hard in the final stretch to collect signatures. One that’s made significant progress recently is the one against KMT lawmaker Hung Meng-kai, who is a key target of the effort.

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Man: No.

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Man: Yeah, vomited booze.

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Commenting on incident
I don’t think the alcohol test value would be so high if that’s true.

Commenting on incident
That can’t be true. Why would anyone swallow puke?

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No way. Of course he drank. That’s ridiculous.

Officer: Let’s take a look at the test result. 0.24. It’s above limit.

Although his blood alcohol content measured 0.24, just below the value of 0.25 that would make him liable for endangering public safety, the police finds that he had previously drove under the influence of alcohol, and slapped him with a fine of up to NT$90,000.

Wang Kai-cheng
Taichung City Police Department
He claimed that his girlfriend had drunk too much and accidentally vomited alcohol into his mouth. People should not attempt to escape the law, let alone with such a ridiculous excuse to try escape law enforcement.

The police added that it doesn’t matter how the alcohol got into your body. The only thing that counts is the value shown on the breathalyzer.

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#wtf #shocking #roadsafety #Taichung

2025-04-30