It is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. This year, the national holiday falls on Monday 6th June 2011. Chinese New Year and the Moon Festival are the other most celebrated festivals in Taiwan.

Some of the traditions celebrated in Taiwan are dragon boat racing, eating glutinous rice dumplings (Zongzi)and getting together with friends and family. Today, dragon boat races are held in various Taiwan cities such as Hsinchu, Tainan, Taipei, and Yilan, etc.

More information is below on where you can see the races this year.

Eastern Taiwan

2011 Yilan Dragon Boat Championship

Date: 5th – 6th June 2011

Where: Dongshan River Water Park, in between Hoshimen Bridge and Chiho Bridge, Yicheng Bridge of Dongshan Town

Northern Taiwan

2011 Keelung Dragon Boat Festival

Date: 5th – 6th June 2011

Where: Zhenbing Port

2011 Taipei Dragon Boat Festival

Date: 4th – 6th June 2011

Where: Taipei City Dajia Port (500m-long course)

2011 Taoyuan Dragon Boat Race

Date: 4th – 6th June 2011

Where: Longtan Pond, Taoyuan, Taiwan

2011 Hsinchu County Dragon Boat Race

Date: 6th June 2011

Where: Chiho Lake in Xinfong Town, Hsinchu, Taiwan

2011 Hsinchu City Dragon Boat Race

Date: 5th – 6th June 2011

Where: No. 214, Nanliao Street, Hsinchu City, Taiwan

2011 Miaoli Dragon Boat Race

Date: 6th June 2011

Where: Zhunan Town, Miaoli, Taiwan

Central Taiwan

2011 Lukang Dragon Boat Festival

Date: 3rd – 6th June 2011

Where: Lukang Ji An Canal, Lukang, Taiwan

Southern Taiwan

2011 Chiayi Dragon Boat Festival

Date: 6th June 2011

Where: Dongshih Port, Chiayi, Taiwan

2011 Tainan City Dragon Boat Race Championship

Date: 2nd – 6th June 2011

Where: Tainan City Canal (between Anyi Bridge and Chengtian Bridge), Tainan, Taiwan

2011 Kaohsiung International Dragon Boat Race

Date: 3rd – 6th June 2011

Where: Love River (between Zhongzhen Bridge and Kaohsiung Bridge), Kaohsiung, Taiwan

2011 Pingtung Dragon Boat Race

Date: 5th – 6th June 2011

Where: Dongang River (between Donggang Bridge and Jingde Bridge), Pingtung, Taiwan

Useful Information

• All Festivals and Events in Taiwan

• Taiwan Hotels

• What’s on in Taiwan

Representatives from Government organisations, the design industry, universities and research sectors all took part in the countdown in April for the event.

Previously, the Design Expo has been held in northern, central and southern Taiwan eight times and has attracted a huge number of visitors.

This year, the event is expected to be bigger and better. To cater for the large demand, the event will be held for one month and in three venues – TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall, World Trade Centre Exhibition Hall and the Songshan Tobacco Factory.

The event will attract visitors from all over the world such as Japan, Korea, the UK and the U.S. There will be over 160 exhibitors taking part.

Useful Links

• More Information - 2011 Taipei World Design Expo

• Check Rates and Availability at all Taipei Hotels

The show will kick off on May 31 and finish on June 4. Over 120,000 visitors, including 40,000 overseas visitors are estimated to visit COMPUTEX TAIPEI this year.

The show will act as a procurement platform for foreign and local buyers of technology products such as e-books, PCs, tablet PCs, smart phones and 3D technologies.

Leading international companies, such as Intel, Microsoft, will be present to show case their latest knowledge and technology. In order to aid networking opportunities, COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2011 will organise many one to one meetings for VIP buyers and exhibitors.

Useful Links

• Find out more information - COMPUTEX TAIPEI

• Find the nearest hotel to the Taipei World Trade Centre

• See all Events in Taiwan

Kenting National Park is located in the southernmost part of Taiwan. Last year, Kenting National Park was voted the most visited National Park in Taiwan. The second most visited was Taipei’s Yangmingshan National Park and the third was Taroko National Park in eastern Taiwan.

Kenting is a tropical park located in the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County. The park has a beautiful beach and a tropical forest. A total of 6.35 million tourists visited Kenting National Park last year.

Yangmingshan Park is located in the North of Taiwan. It is famous for it’s volcanic geography and hot springs.Taroko National Park is famous for its marble gorge and lush mountains.

The Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency (CPA) reported that the number of overall visitors to Taiwan’s National Parks have rose and have become more popular. The total increase in 2010 was 6.8% from the previous year.

Taiwan’s National parks are able to offer tourists a diverse and beautiful scenery. They are peaceful, spacious and interesting from a cultural perspective. From high mountains to volcanic landscapes to historical battlefields and to aboriginal villages.

According to the CPA, the combined land area of the 8 national parks accounts for 8.6 percent of Taiwan’s total land area.

The 8 National Parks in Taiwan are:

1. Kenting National Park

2. Yushan National Park

3. Yangmingshan National Park

4. Taroko National Park

5. Shei-Pa National Park

6. Kinmen National Park

7. Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park

8. Taijiang National Park

Useful Links

• Kenting National Park, nearby hotels – Kenting Hotels

• Shei-Pa National Park, nearby hotels - Miaoli Hotels

• Taroko National Park, nearby hotels – Hualien Hotels

• Yangmingshan National Park, nearby hotels - Taipei Hotels

• Find out more information about Taiwan’s National Parks

Second Sunday in May (May 8th 2011)

Many shops and restaurants have benefited from extra sales for Mother’s Day. A high end department store in Taipei showed sales to be as high as NT$1.28 billion in a short period of only 6 hours on Friday.

The department store reported that this year sales were up by NT$470 million compared with last year. A special area was reserved just for it’s VIP customers. The store had 3 VIP customers that spent roughly about NT$10 million each on jewellery. Gold gifts were also a popular gift for mother’s this year.

Sales were apparently 10% more this year compared with last year. Many gourmet restaurants in Taiwan were fully booked by Friday.

Useful Links

• Hotels in Taiwan

• Restaurants in Kaohsiung

• What’s on in Taiwan

A British investment banker, Assad Khan first tasted the Taiwanese bubble tea in New York 6 years ago. When he returned to London he was not able to find the drink easily. At the start of this year, he decided to launch a tea house called “Bubbleology” in Soho London and serve the Pearl Milk Tea. It has become an instant success with the British people.

Mr Khan estimated selling 250 cups of tea a day but his sales numbers are actually 500 cups per day. He currently has 7 bubble tea flavours and 6 pearl fruit flavours. This July, Khan plans to open another shop in an  expensive department store in London.

Khan has visited Taiwan on 2 occasions. The first being to visit suppliers and the second to receive tea making training and how to operate the equipment. During his stay he drank more than 30 cups of tea a day in order to bring an authentic pearl milk tea to London.

Pearl milk tea is an important part of Taiwanese culture. Khan believes that his tea house will help instigate more interest and curiosity about Taiwan in Britain and promote its history and food traditions.

Useful Links

• Kaohsiung’s Attractions

• Food and Drink

• Restaurants in Kaohsiung

• Taiwan Cities

• There are many great hotels in Taiwan and discounts are available. See availability and check all Taiwan Hotels.

Taiwan has been experiencing a massive influx of Mainland Chinese visitors. Hotels and other businesses are rushing to cater for the increase in demand.

Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan has especially been popular as a tourist destination. Many hotels are experiencing an increasing amount of Mainlanders that have recently come to Kaohsiung and they are usually in large groups.

As a result, hotels are preparing for the greater demand of customers and expecting fierce competition among the hospitality industry. More financiers are investing money into buying hotels and property in Kaohsiung. Some investors are paying NT$960,000 a ping for scarce land.

Many Mainlanders have cancelled their holidays to Japan and are coming to Taiwan instead. April is normally the busiest year for Chinese tourists to Taiwan but so far this April has been the busiest. The next wave of Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan is said to be in June.

It is estimated that about 8,600 Chinese tourists enter into Taiwan every day. This number is set to increase if the Government allows the Chinese to enter Taiwan as individual tourists.

Useful Links

• Kaohsiung Attractions

• Kaohsiung Hotels

• Kaohsiung Pubs and Bars

• Splendor Hotel & Kaohsiung Tower

– see picture above

• Taiwan Cities

In Kaohsiung, The Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival is still taking place. For tickets contact 7-11 ibon or Arts Ticket.

Kaohsiung, Taiwan

• Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival until 18th June 2011
• Taiwan Drama Performance “Dream of Independence” 21st – 23rd April

A large music festival in Southern Taiwan brought to audiences by Discovery and BBC.

- Kaohsiung Attractions

- Kaohsiung Hotels

Taipei, Taiwan

• Secutech 2011 – Taipei April 20th – 22nd

The World’s Security Business Centre. The 14th International Exhibition and Conference for Electronic Security, Info Security, Fire & Safety.

• Giftionery Taipei (Taipei International Gift & Stationery Show) April 21st – 24th

Giftionery Taipei is Taiwan’s largest businesses to business gifts and stationery purchasing exhibition.

• The Taipei International Flora Exposition only until 25th April 2011

Opening Hours: Everyday 09:00 am – 10:00 pm

Locations: 1. Dajia Riverside Park 2. Taipei Artist Park

3. Yuanshan Park 4. Xinsheng Park

Upcoming Events in Taipei

• TaiSPO (Taipei International Sporting Goods Show) April 27th – 30th

TaiSPO is an important sourcing platform for sporting goods in Asia.The event will offer the latest and the most innovative products in the sporting goods industry.

• GTI Asia Taipei Expo 2011 May 5th – 7th

Game Time International Asia Exposition 2011. Taiwan’s Largest Annual Amusement and Gaming Machine Show.

• YODEX (30th International Young Designers Exhibition) May 20th – 23rd

The exhibition will showcase various design disciplines such as fashion design and industrial design etc.

• COMPUTEX TAIPEI (Taipei International Information Technology Show) May 31st – June 4th

COMPUTEX TAIPEI has become the largest computer exhibition in Asia and the second largest in the world, next to CeBIT in Germany.

Useful Links

• See all Events in Taiwan this year

• If your staying in Taipei for an event, there are many affordable hotels nearby the Taipei World Trade Centre. See a list of all hotels in Taipei and check rates.

In the 1990s, Kaohsiung had over 6,000 factories, which was fueling much of the pollution. In such a short time period, Kaohsiung has been transformed.

Kaohsiung’s Air Quality

Through these measures, Kaohsiung’s air quality has shown big improvements and very quickly too. In 2010, Kaohsiung City, Kaohsiung County and Pingtung County were the first in Taiwan to implement the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) air pollution quota control system.

City Bike Rental Scheme  

C-bike Rental Scheme, Kaohsiung City

 

Since 2006, Kaohsiung has implemented a number of initiatives to become a more sustainable city. One of the measures that has been encouraged by Kaohsiung’s Government is the use of bicycles.

The C-Bike Rental Scheme is cheap and simple to use. Bicycles are placed all over the city to rent. 150+ km of bicycles lanes have also been created around Kaohsiung’s City.

The efforts of the Government have enabled Kaohsiung to become named by CNN as “the third most bike friendly city in Asia“.

Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) 

MRT Map, 2 lines

 

The MRT has two lines which has made it easier to get around Kaohsiung. Two more lines are expected to be built around Kaohsiung City and up to Pingtung County, which would make getting around much more convenient.

Buses

Kaohsiung city has also put into action sevel hundred buses that are all powered by both petrol and biofuel.

Electric Vehicles

Kaohsiung’s Government are also encouraging individuals to switch to alternative fuels. They are also offering large subsidies for those who wish to buy an electric or natural gas powered vehicle.

The Government will offer a NT$ 25,000 subsidy to those who buy an electric motorbike and a NT$10,000 subsidy to those who buy an LPG vehicle. Kaohsiung’s Government aims in the next few years to take 300,000 motorbikes off the road to further improve air pollution.

Taiwan’s Largest Steel Producer – China Steel Corporation 

CSC in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

 

In 2009, Kaohsiung’s Government implemented a carbon tax on heavy industries. If a company emitted over 10,000 tons of CO2 per year then they would be subjected to paying a huge tax.

China Steel Corporation was responsible for producing over 40% of Kaohsiung’s City Co2 emissions. To respond to the Government’s initiatives and their own economic incentives, China Steel Corporation has now cut it’s emissions by 20% through upgrading its technology. They have invested millions of Taiwan dollars, thus improving efficiencies and emission levels.

Green Buildings in Kaohsiung

1. World Games Stadium 

World Games Stadium

 

Kaohsiung’s World Games Stadium can host up to 55,000 people. The stadium was opened in 2009. The building has over 8,800 solar panels on the roof which supplies up to 75% of the building’s power during operation. If the building is not in operation the solar power that is generated is enough to supply 80% of the surrounding area.

2. Kaohsiung Maritime Cultural & Pop Music Centre

The structure has not yet been built as of yet but the idea and plan is being put into action. The structure will overlook Kaohsiung’s city and Kaohsiung’s harbour. The idea of the building will be a public space for pop music. The roof will be covered entirely with solar panels.

There will be a theater which will seat 12,000 people. The outside of the structure will be made with thin-film solar technology. The aim is that it will be an iconic and attractive structure in Kaohsiung.

Love’s River Transformation & Solar Powered Boats 

Solar Powered Boat along the Love River

 

The Love River has had an amazing transformation in the last 10 or so years. Kaohsiung’s Government are continually working their way through the river to improve sewage and reforestation. The river is now home to over 50 species of marine life.

In 2010, the Government replaced some of the fuel boats and launched five solar powered tour boats along the Love River. They plan for many more in the next few years. The tour boats have been very popular especially in the evening on weekends.

Useful Links

• Attractions in Kaohsiung

• Restaurants in Kaohsiung

• Cheap Hotels in Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung, Taiwan

• Kaohsiung Commercial Times Machinery Show (C.T.M.S) at the Kaohsiung Arena, Kaohsiung, Taiwan – 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Monday April 11th 2011 is the last day of the show

***Check rates for all Kaohsiung Hotels

Taipei, Taiwan

• AutoTronics Taipei (Taipei International Automobile Electronics Show)  at the Taipei World Trade Centre (TWTC), Nangang Exhibition Hall No. 1

April 12th – 15th 2011

• Taipei AMPA (International Auto Machine Parts & Accessories Show) at the Taipei World Trade Centre (TWTC) Nangang Exhibition Hall 1F & 4F

April 12th – 15th 2011

• Motorcycle Taiwan – Taipei (Taiwan International Motorcycle Show) at the Taipei World Trade Centre (TWTC), Nangang Exhibition Hall No.1

April 14th – 17th 2011

• EV TAIWAN – Taipei (Taiwan International Electric Vehicle Show) at the Taipei World Trade Centre (TWTC), Nangang Exhibition Hall No. 1

April 14th – 17th 2011

***Check Rates of all Taipei Hotels

***See all Events in Taiwan this year