Tourism specials promise a summer of fun

Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau is promoting travel without a car this summer by providing shuttle buses in 10 of Taiwan’s cities and counties. Excursionists can save money and limit their carbon emissions as they travel on 21 routes connecting railway and high-speed rail stations with scenic spots through the bureau’s “Tour Taiwan Sightseeing Shuttle Service.”

From now until the end of September, shuttle buses to the following 11 destinations may be ridden free of charge: Dongshan River and Jiaoxi in Yilan County; Lion Mountain in Hsinchu County; Nanzhuang, Penglai, and Xiangtian Lake in Miaoli County; Xitou in Nantou County; Chiayi City; and Taitung City, Eastern Coastal Areas and Offshore Islands, and East Rift Valley-Luye in Taitung County. Stops for these shuttle buses are located at railway stations and high-speed rail stations near scenic spots and are marked by large, red signposts bearing the Tour Taiwan logo.

Shuttle buses are scheduled one every hour on weekdays, and one every half-hour on weekends and holidays. Tickets may be purchased at stations or the fare may be paid on the bus, with the 11 aforementioned routes being free during the summer. For details, please visit http://www.taiwantrip.com.tw.

One item never far from the top of a traveler’s list is food, and it’s not just leading hotels that serve up Taiwanese delicacies. Steamed dumplings, stinky tofu, and pearl milk tea are local specialties that have gained global fame in recent years. If you were at a night market in Taiwan, which would you choose: stinky tofu or pig-blood cake? What if the choice were between pearl milk tea and mango shaved ice? Perhaps you’d like to try one of each as you make your way through the night market.

The Government Information Office is holding an online contest on Taiwan’s foods, entitled “Taiwan’s Yummy Snacks.” The four rounds of the contest will be held between July 15 and September 28.

For this event, eight of Taiwan’s specialty foods have been chosen to face off in four rounds. In the first round, pig-blood cake battles stinky tofu; then in round two, it’s oyster omelet against Taiwanese meat ball; in the third round, steamed dumplings will be matched up against braised pork rice; and to close things off, pearl milk tea will go toe-to-toe with mango shaved ice. Participants need only log on to the contest website to vote for their favorite food. Contestants may only cast a single vote each round, and all those who voted for the winner will be entered into a prize drawing. The top prize for each round is a Garmin portable GPS system.

Those who have participated in all four rounds and have chosen the winner each time will be entered in the drawing for a special prize—an HTC smartphone. To access the contest website, please visit the Republic of China Government Entry Point at http://www.taiwan.gov.tw.

Pig-blood cake was voted the world’s weirdest food in a contest run by a British travel agency. While this has caused this local specialty to become more well known worldwide, at present, the dish has garnered only 120 votes to stinky tofu’s 1,816. Unless this trend changes, it looks like pig-blood cake will be the loser come the close of the contest’s first round on August 2.

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