During periods of rapid economic development, traditional industries are often overlooked and sometimes even abandoned altogether. The industrial landscape of Taiwan has changed dramatically over the last 50 years and the modern, high-tech, urban face of this land is nowadays much better known around the world than that of our more traditional, low-tech, countryside. In recent years, however, there has been a significant counter-trend, engendered by an increase in domestic travel and the promotion of rural areas by local governments and private enterprises. “Agriculture for tourists” has great appeal for modern city-dwellers who wish to spend value-added time closer to nature and enjoy a cleaner, quieter environment.

Recreational farms offering a range of rural hands-on activities such as fruit-picking and handicraft courses, as well as privately-run guesthouse (in Taiwan known as “homestays”), mean a treasure trove of new options on visits to the countryside. Foreign visitors who jump off the beaten track and venture into Taiwan’s rural heartland are in for a wholly different experience of this land and its people. There are myriad discoveries to be made. Find out how tropical fruits such as bananas, pineapples, mangos, and guavas are grown, learn about traditional farmhouses and witness ancient temple rituals, or just take in the fresh green of paddy fields and enjoy the slower pace of life in the country.

A visit to one of the busy fishing villages along Taiwan’s long coastline is another way to gain insight into local lives, though it’s quite a contrast from the more laid-back rural agricultural scene. Fishing villages are busy places where everyone seems to be in a hurry to get something or other done ─ after all, here the fish and other seafood must be delivered same-day fresh. Speaking of seafood, if you love fish, lobster, shrimp, squid, and all those many other morsels from the depths of the sea, you won’t be disappointed when dining at a harborside restaurant in Taiwan. The rich waters of Taiwan’s coast yield amazing quantities and varieties of marine species, and it’s hard to top the freshness of seafood that has just been unloaded from the boats.

While the concentrated focus of the sports world is on the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer, another city is getting ready to host its own “big” games next year. Kaohsiung , host of the 2009 World Games, will be the first Taiwanese city to stage a major international multi-sport event, with thousands of athletes to take part. One major milestone on the way to the successful holding of the Games was the opening in March this year of the first of two KMRT (Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit) commuter lines (the second line will open at the end of the year). When complete, the state-of-the-art system will connect downtown Kaohsiung with the city’s suburbs in the north, east, and south, as well as the harbor area to the west, and is expected to do what the MRT in Taipei has done for the capital over the least decade, easing traffic flow on the streets, making travel in the city more convenient for commuters and tourists, and encouraging people to use more environment-friendly means of transport to get from A to B.

On behalf of the Tourism Bureau, I wish you a safe and pleasant journey!