Baishatun Mazu reaches Beigang after 8 days of pilgrimage

Baishatun Mazu reaches Beigang after 8 days of pilgrimage

2026-04-20

The Mazu from Gongtian Temple returned to her home temple back in Tongxiao on Monday, bringing the Baishatun Mazu Pilgrimage to an end. This year, the eight-day event attracted a record-breaking 460,000 participants.

The leading banner of the procession was escorted to the temple at full speed, where it was quickly secured on the dragon pillar in front of the main hall. Then, Mazu’s palanquin arrived at the scene, advancing and retreating three times. All the while, the crowd gathered at the site shouted “Enter!” repeatedly, inviting the Baishatun Mazu and the censer master Mazu to settle in at the spirit chamber in the temple. Then, a red curtain was lowered and closed, for the deities to absorb the spiritual essence of the temple. The next event will take place in 12 days, with the ceremonial ignition of the censer.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
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#mazu #culture #religion #taiwan #baishatunmazu

白沙屯媽祖"三進三退"衝回宮閉關12天5/1開爐

2026-04-20

2026白沙屯媽祖，北港進香，全程8天7夜，在周一劃下完美句點，46萬香燈腳隨行，再創新紀錄。

頭旗組莊嚴護衛頭旗，全速衝刺，進入廟內，迅速將頭旗固定正殿前龍柱。良辰吉時一到，媽祖鑾轎，三進三退，眾人齊聲高喊，進喔進喔，恭請爐主媽與白沙屯媽祖，入神房安座，接著紅布幔垂下，讓媽祖薰染萬年香火靈氣，12天後，才會正式開爐。

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Taiwan becomes first in Asia with Public Lending Right scheme

Since 2025, every time you check out a book from a public library in the six special municipalities, publishers and authors can still receive compensation. It’s because Taiwan is now piloting a Public Lending Right, or PLR scheme from 2025 to 2027. It’s also the first country in Asia with a PLR program. The government pays NT$3 for each physical book checked out from the library, split 7:3 between the Taiwan-based publisher and writer or translator of Taiwanese nationality. Currently, more than 4,000 writers and translators have benefitted from the program.

Lin Yung-chi
FTV reporter
You can borrow books for free at the library. But did you know that your borrowing also benefits writers and publishers?

That’s right, you can support writers even if you didn’t buy a personal copy. Public libraries could more or less affect book sales, but it doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. The Ministry of Culture is piloting a Public Lending Right, or PLR scheme, covering 300 libraries in the country. Every time a physical book is checked out, the government offers a NT$3 subsidy, split 7:3 between the publisher and the writer or translator.

Member of public
Library user
I think it’s great, because it doesn’t cost me anything to borrow books from the library. At the same time, I get to receive knowledge from books and compensate writers.

On the program website, beneficiaries can see the number of times their titles were checked out and how much they can expect to receive. All the writer or translator has to do is to register the ISBN of their publications, and the system will automatically tally the number of times their works have been checked out.

Chi Li-feng
Writer
Only after registering on the system did I discover just how many times my works have been checked out, which really adds up. The new title section in stores looks different every two to three months. Now that you can find the books in libraries and check out the titles, you can actually support the authors and publishers. Sometimes it’s not about money. It’s more the realization that so many people are still willing to borrow my works, which is really touching.

Xiao Yi-qing
Children’s author
I was quite happy when the remittance came through. This title was published way back, in 2010. It’s not so easy to find it in stores now, but over a four-month period last year, it was checked out 700 times. It’s still visible to readers, which I find really touching.

Currently, only some 35 countries have a PLR program, with Taiwan as the first in Asia. Over the September to December billing period last year, around NT$18.47 million was distributed to 221 publishers and over 4,000 writers and translators.

Steve Wu
Publishers’ Association
Not only the publishing industry, the entire book industry strongly supports PLR. I also hope that it can be written into law, so that there won’t be a risk of the government no longer earmarking a budget for PLR due to a lack of budget, which we don’t wish to see happen.

Publishers hope to see PLR written into law, so that the funds for the all-win solution for libraries, publishers, writers and translators won’t risk getting cut.

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

#libraries #publishing #PLB #publiclendingright #culture

2026-04-20

Daylily Mountain residents deploy dogs to drive away hungry macaques

A troop of macaques has been ravaging the Moso Bamboo Forest Trail in Taitung’s Taimali, eating the shoots before they have a chance to mature. Add to that typhoons winds blowing down older stalks, and the forest on Daylily Mountain is becoming increasingly sparse. Locals have tried everything to drive away the monkeys, to limited success. It wasn’t until earlier this year that they brought in a pack of dogs from a nearby vegetable garden to guard the forest, successfully driving back the brazen monkeys.

Seeing delicate bamboo shoots poking up from the ground is moving for the residents of this forest. For a while, they’ve been battling a troop of macaques that have been eating the shoots before they have a chance to grow, causing the forest to thin out until the weeds began growing taller than the bamboo.

Tsai Cheng-ming
Local hotel owner
There have been a lot of macaques around here the past few years. They eat all the shoots before they have a chance to grow. We thought they’d eat them all again this year, meaning the shoots will never grow into bamboo.

This is the Moso Bamboo Forest Trail on Daylily Mountain in Taimali. The 100 meter-long path used to be known as Taitung’s Xiaoxitou, but due to the macaques and typhoon damage, the once-dense thicket is nearly gone.

The monkey invasion has been intense, driving residents to exhaustion in their attempts to drive them away. But earlier this year, they turned to a nearby cabbage patch to enlist the help of their guard dogs.

People go daily to feed the eight dogs. With these canine sentinels, the macaques haven’t dared to return.

Tsai Cheng-ming
Local hotel owner
Cabbage doesn’t grow much during this season, so the dogs were just at home. We asked the neighbor if we could borrow them and brought the dogs to the trail. The growth this year has been pretty good. Some shoots are finally getting the chance to grow. We haven’t seen growth like this for 30 years.

Enlisting a pack of dogs to keep the macaques away has proven a resounding success. But the residents are also warning visitors to avoid the trail for now, as the dogs are highly territorial. It’s best to wait until the bamboo matures and the dogs return home before revisiting this hidden gem of Taimali.

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

#bamboo #bambooforest #dogs #macaques #wildlife #Taitung #Taimali #territorial #creativesolution #monkeys

2026-04-20

Kitchens, farmers fret about upcoming ban on feeding food scraps to pigs

Pig famers have been using kitchen waste as feed for a long time, but it’s soon to become a thing of the past. To prevent the spread of African swine fever, the government has decided to ban the practice starting from next year. It’s not only pig famers who will need to adapt, but kitchens will also face significantly higher disposal fees. Is local infrastructure truly prepared to handle the looming surge in food waste? Let’s follow the FTV news team to find out.

Nearly 1,500 tonnes of food waste is produced every day across Taiwan, according to data from the Ministry of Environment. Of that, over one-third comes from schools. Most of it used to be sent to pig farms, but it’s not clear where it’ll go now.

Cho Jung-tai (Dec. 4, 2025)
Premier
We will assist farmers in changing to pig feed and ensure that the final deadline for transition—Dec. 31, 2026—is met as scheduled.

To prevent the spread of African swine fever, the government is banning the use of kitchen waste as pig feed from 2027. During the transition period this year, industrial food waste from restaurants, supermarkets, and cafeterias may be disposed of under certain conditions. But once all food scraps are lumped in with regular waste, combined transport and processing fees for a single cafeteria will cost at least NT$800,000 every month.

Chen Ming-hsin
Lunch box association chair
The collection cost for a 200kg barrel of food waste ranges between NT$300 and NT$700. So the financial impact on school cafeterias is fairly significant.

Although food scraps can still be fed to pigs at the moment, it’s only allowed under stringent conditions. Some farmers are upset, saying that mismanagement in one city has led to a nationwide ban.

Mr. Chen
Pig farmer
I actually think that feeding food scraps to pigs is best for everyone. In places like Taichung, the issue is in management. I think that the environmental protection and agriculture departments in every local government need to tighten their ships.

Local governments are exploring alternative solutions, such as enzymatic decomposition, bioenergy production, and composting with black soldier fly larvae. But the methods are still under development, and have odor issues. If there’s too much, the only answer is to burn it.

Lin Chien-san
Environmental Management Administration
It’ll take up about 5% of total incinerator capacity. Monitoring results show that dioxin concentrations are actually slightly lower than before the food waste was introduced.

Food scraps as pig feed will soon be a thing of the past. Where will it all go now? And is Taiwan ready?

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

#foodwaste #pigfeed #kitchenscraps #garbage #wastemanagement #ASF #Africanswinefever #pigfarming #cafeterias

2026-04-20

4-time pepper spray incident at TPP event caused by police officer’s negligence

Last Friday, an alleged pepper spray attack during a TPP event had left former Chair Ko Wen-je and other members with persisting respiratory irritation. On Monday, it was revealed that the attacks—4 separate times within an hour—were caused by a police officer due to negligence. The officer in question is the head of a precinct, who was on duty to accompany the TPP team. He claimed that his pepper spray was leaking, so he had to spray the extra content out onto the ground, at 15m away from the crowd. He had admitted to be at fault 24 hours after the incident, and as a result, was demoted from his position and received two demerits.

The head of Taichung City Police is apologizing to the TPP, after it was discovered that a precinct head was responsible for last Friday’s alleged pepper spray attack during a TPP campaigning event that left former Chair Ko Wen-je, other TPP politicians and volunteers with persisting respiratory irritation.

Wu Ching-tien
Taichung City Police Department
The precinct head Chou Chun-ming had a malfunctioning pepper spray at approximately 15m ahead of Ko’s four destinations. He chose to spray directly onto the ground. In such instances, he should’ve left the scene immediately.

The police also publicized related surveillance footage. The man with a crew cut and dressed in black is the precinct head in question. In this pictured instance, he can be seen ahead of the TPP canvassing team and letting the pepper spray onto the ground.

Wu Ching-tien
Taichung City Police Department
He only called me 24 hours after the incident and admitted to it. His conduct was a serious misconduct, and as such he’s no longer fit to serve as the head of a precinct. He’s also received two demerits.

Chaing Ho-shu
Taichung City Councikir (TPP)
Was it really so difficult to admit what you’ve done at the first instance? You’re a police officer. Why must you let your colleagues work so hard to look for the instigator and had people questioned, when it was you the whole time? What if you ended up hurting innocent passers-by?

Before the precinct head admitted his misconduct, the TPP had wondered if it was a politically motivated attack, with Chair Huang Kuo-chang saying that the incident revealed the DPP’s underhanded tactics.

Huang Kuo-chang
TPP Chair
Lai Ching-te always pays lip service for solidarity, but in fact the DPP always does the opposite. Their standard of procedure is pretty obvious. They’d get certain people to carry out certain actions to trash other parties’ events.

The perpetrator ended up being a high-ranking police officer, to everyone’s surprise.

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

#taiwanpolitics #TPP #柯文哲 #pepperspray #negligence

2026-04-20

IMF predicts GDP per capita to exceed US$50,000 in 2029

2026-04-20

Taiwan ranks No.3 globally with 16 wins at 2026 Edison Awards

Taiwan was once again a top winner at the Edison Awards, ranking third worldwide with the number of winners, behind the US and South Korea. It’s also the 10th consecutive year for innovations from Taiwan-based institutes and business to be honored. This year, government-backed institutes won three golds, six silvers and three bronzes in total for innovations in key technological fieldsm including AI, 5G, energy efficiency and biomedical technology.

A fresh layer of asphalt mixture is applied onto the road surface to make it smooth and even again. But what happens to the old, removed layer? The Industrial Technology Research Institute, or ITRI has a solution. Their Sustainable Pavement Material Recycling technology is the world’s first to utilize a proprietary biological agent and a water-based heating process to separate aged asphalt from aggregates. The reclaimed materials are no longer headed to landfills, and instead can be reused, reducing Taiwan’s annual demand for new aggregate materials by 4.86 million tons. The circular solution won gold at the 2026 Edison Awards.

Chen Chih-hao
ITRI green energy research labs
The processing cost is just one-third of that of new raw materials, while also greatly reducing carbon emissions. We’ve already built a demonstration site in Taiwan that can process 80,000 tons a year.

Another key innovation is the Smart Energy-efficiency Combustion System for industrial furnaces from the Metal Industries Research and Development Center, or MIRDC. With an AI-powered self-learning mechanism, the system delivers precise temperature control and exceptional waste-heat recovery, turning once heavily polluting sites into smart, green systems.

Tang Shao-wen
MIRDC
We have an AI self-diagnosis mechanism and combustion system. With a modular solution, we demonstrate how sensor systems can be quickly deployed in industrial furnaces for energy saving and efficiency.

Representatives for the award winners happily cheer and pose for photos. In the past decade, these Taiwanese government-backed research institutes have continued to outperform themselves. Altogether, they’ve won three golds, six silvers and three bronzes this year, demonstrating the country’s innovative capabilities.

Frank Bonafilia
Edison Awards executive director
… very, very good at creating both your ecosystem of bringing companies together that support each other is unbelievable, and it’s very impactful. And I believe that’s a differentiator for Taiwan.

With a deepened focus on key technologies and strong integration, Taiwan hopes to integrate the winning technologies with the industry, to create greater commercial and industrial success.

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

#tech #innovation #edisonawards #materialscience #energyefficiency

2026-04-20

Viral Megaport dancing granny throws first pitch for TSG Hawks

A 90-year-old grandmother who went viral after dancing at Megaport Music Festival is back, this time at the baseball pitch. Cheng Chin-chih was thrilled to get the invitation to throw the inaugural pitch for the TSG Hawks on Monday. She was so excited about the opportunity, that she practiced pitching daily for two weeks, and even wore new shoes and a fresh hairdo to the occasion. Ms. Cheng got the celebrity treatment at the ballpark, getting fully supported by the team’s mascots and even wearing a jersey with the number 90, like her age.

Dancing along with the cheerleaders is the one and only Megaport dancing granny, Cheng Chin-chih, wearing the No. 90 jersey. She’s here to take to the mound for the first time and throw the inaugural pitch for the TSG Hawks.

With a powerful throw, the ball bounced right into Wang Po-jung’s glove to a thunderous cheer from the crowd. Ms. Cheng, at 90 years old, was elated.

- How are you feeling?
- Great!
- Are you nervous?
- No!
- But there are so many people.
- I don’t get nervous.
Especially not dressed like this!
I love these trousers!
Hahaha!
Seeing everyone dancing,
I took it a little easier.

Ms. Cheng became an overnight sensation after featuring in a video dancing at the Megaport Music Festival with her granddaughter. Now she’s become the oldest person to throw the first pitch for the TSG Hawks. She got a tour of the stadium and even got fanned during the breaks by the team’s mascot, to make sure she was comfy at all times.

Liu Tung-yang
TSG Hawks general manager
The response from fans was incredible. The gags, the atmosphere and the warmth were even better than what everyone was expecting.

With such a huge responsibility and having never played baseball before, Ms. Cheng spent two weeks practicing pitches on the daily. She even wore new sneakers and got a head-to-toe makeover before the big day.

- Did you get better?
- I think I did
And I’m wearing new shoes.
- You got new sneakers for the first pitch?
- Yes, I’m wearing them for the pitch.

She even went to the hair salon the day before to get a dazzling hairstyle and show the fans and herself that, although she is 90 years old, she remains young at heart.

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

#funny #baseball #taiwan #musicfestival #megaport

2026-04-20

Plants glow blue and fireflies sparkle green at night in Sanyi

2026-04-20