A three-minute film promoting rail travel in Taiwan was released March 29 by the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications as part of government efforts to showcase the country’s diverse visitor attractions.
Titled “Touring Taiwan by Train,” the video is the agency’s first spotlighting the country’s convenient local travel services and distinctive railway culture, according to bureau Director-General Chou Yung-hui.
“A great number of charismatic townships islandwide are easily accessible through the rail network,” Chou said. It is hoped that the short film will encourage more international visitors to explore the distinct traditions and cultural practices found around Taiwan, he added.
Shot from the first-person perspective of a solo visitor traveling by train, the film takes viewers to some of Taiwan’s most popular attractions, including landmark skyscraper Taipei 101 and New Taipei City’s Pingxi District, known for its sky lantern festival.
Also featured are golden paddy fields in the East Rift Valley running through the eastern and southeastern counties of Hualien and Taitung, the Alishan Forest Recreation Area in the southern county of Chiayi and the Green Tunnel, a 4.5-kilometer section of Provincial Highway 16 lined with camphor trees in Jiji Township of the central county of Nantou.
The video is expected to support government efforts to diversify visitor destinations as part of the Tourism 2020 initiative. Under the four-year, NT$31.8 billion (US$1.09 billion) program, townships will be the focus of promotional efforts for 2019, following ecotourism in 2017 and bay area tourism this year, with mountain tourism the target in the final year. (SFC-E)
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