Tourism Bureau, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Held at the high travel season in Taiwan, Formosa Summer Festival presents Taiwan's best summer features at once. Its series of colorful events have drawn many visitors home and abroad to explore Taiwan's beautiful scenery and delicious food, immersing in the country's summer charm.

The gradual arrival of winter formally announces that Taiwan's peak hot spring season has begun! Taiwan abounds in the gifts of nature—cold springs, hot springs, mud springs, submarine springs—it is a world-famous scenic spot for springs of every variety. Beginning in 2007 the Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communication combined two touristic resources--the unique healthcare aspects of thermal springs and the demand for a modern, healthy diet--to integrate Taiwan's "thermal springs" and "gourmet cuisine" for a plan to launch a "Taiwan Hot Spring Fine-Cuisine Carnival." This event takes center stage throughout Taiwan at the same time each year, with one of Taiwan's 19 thermal spring areas chosen as the year's kick-off location. Not only is the Carnival an opportunity for Taiwanese tourists to soak up the pleasures of thermal springs throughout the country and receive merchandise discounts, overseas tourists are also fascinated and attracted, and the Carnival is a driving force behind the annual autumn/winter Taiwan hot spring tourist boom. During this period, hot spring areas throughout the country hold a series of hot spring/fine-cuisine events and pull together hundreds of county and municipal companies, introducing the scenic beauty of the springs, the local cultural landscape, and special products.

Since 2010 the Tourism Bureau has actively conducted a whole series of events related to the Taiwan Cycling Festival, enthusiastically inviting the Taiwan public to lay down their "tire" tracks and turn the results of innovation in transportation construction into a new resource for tourism, aiming to make Taiwan into an international-level paradise for leisure cycling. Taiwan has an excellent highway system plus a superior topography so that when cycling, a rider can also appreciate magnificent scenery along the route—and what you have is a cycling tour around the island that boasts a convenient and enjoyable itinerary! The series of activities of the "Taiwan Cycling Festival" focus on bicycle touring and pulls together the tourist and transportation resources of the various county seats to present the specifics of a diverse and local touring culture. Accompanied by beautiful mountains and water scenery, bicycle enthusiasts from around the world can come on a pilgrimage and are provided a varied and rich recreational cycling experience, making the riding of the "iron horse" no longer a simple exercise but rather the perfect experience in body and soul.

As the most important platform in Taiwan’s fashion industry, Taipei Fashion Week brings Taiwan’s fashion to the world twice every year. Earlier in March, Taipei Fashion Week AW21 was held at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, and a much anticipated show on “sustainable fashion” kicked off in the evening on March 11 to unveil the special week. A total of 13 Taiwanese designer brands presented their collections, instilling creative energy to Taipei. Since the beginning of 2020 till now, the world’s industries have been severely affected by COVID-19. Without exception, the fashion weeks throughout the world are no longer steadily held. Thus, Taipei Fashion Week SS21 garnered much attention in the globe’s fashion community as the few physical shows left, and international media reports came along. In times of rebirth and innovation, Taipei Fashion Week AW21 decided to present itself with a brand new look with five highlights - functionality, sustainability, interdisciplinarity, diversity, and culture. Production-wise, it introduces Taiwan’s leading functional-fabric technology to sustainable fashion, bringing about innovative methodologies and thoughts. Design-wise, the fashion week brings together Taiwan’s art and culture and the fashion industry, resulting in more collaborations and inspirations. By making fashion a part of daily life, this event illustrates Taiwan as a place of cultural diversity. Taipei Fashion Week AW21 has not only garnered forces throughout the fashion industry, but also invited performing artists, visual designers, and musicians to help to promote Taiwan’s designer brands on the global stage. Despite COVID-19, the fashion industry in Taiwan is expected to keep developing its unique aesthetics for a prosperous future. Taipei Fashion Week AW21: 3/10-3/15 Taipei Fashion Week SS22: October

The Dalongdong area, which was formed around two centuries ago, is one of a few well-preserved historic neighborhoods in Taipei City known for its numerous quaint dwellings and religious structures surrounding Bao'an Temple. The Dalongdong Bao'an Temple is by far the most popular among Taiwan's 300-odd temples dedicated to Baosheng Emperor, according to folklorist Lin Heng-dao. Striving to fulfill its commitment of keeping a grassroots religion alive, creating an old-meets-new vision and a cycle of "new culture", and innovating on the basis of tradition, the palatial Dalongdong Bao'an Temple, along with its ornate decorations and spatial layout, represents unconventional thinking and methods regarding three-dimensional aesthetics that earned it international accolades such as the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation in 2003.The Temple is famous for hosting the annual Baosheng Cultural Festival, a symbol of Taiwan's folk religious celebrations, architectural legacies and heritage revitalization efforts, and has attracted locals and visitors alike for two decades. Running from April through June, the festival has not only enlightened an ever-growing participant base about different facets of the country's religious aesthetics and changes in relevant rituals, but has also, despite its orthodox view of Formosan spirituality, become a culturally influential, globally significant tourist attraction that inspired similar festivities across China and Singapore.

The Penghu International Fireworks Festival is not the only incentive attracting sightseers to the "Gaillardia pluchella Foug Island" during the summer season but it has certainly become a spectacular scene that lights up the evening sky over the isles that people look forward to seeing every summer. The first Festival took place in 2003 and invited well-known Taiwan singers and performing groups to entertain. The amazing high-altitude fireworks display, romantic music, cascading rockets and a sea of lanterns all turn Penghu into a resplendent scene, more and more beautiful as night falls! The Penghu International Fireworks Festival has become one of the grand events of the summer season and a beautiful and magnificent night scene for visitors to the Gaillardia pluchella Foug Island.

Using the golden sands of Fulong Beach, the artists at the 2020-2021 festival will illustrate Taiwan and the world's mountains and bicycle tours. The artists will go to many schools in the country to teach students to make sand sculptures, and both an international competition and a domestic competition will be held. The festival serves as a stage on which new sand artists can fully express their capabilities.

The plentiful marine products of the Matsu Islands not only attract aficionados from all around, but also the sea birds that soar in the sky overhead as they search for the small fish, like anchovies and herring, that constitute their primary diet. Each year these graceful guests fly in and nest on the uninhabited reefs of Matsu. As a result, in May 2000 the Matsu Islands Tern Refuge was established. The refuge comprises Shuangzi Reef in Dongyin Township, the Sanlian Islets, Zhongdao, Tiejian, Baimiao, and Jinyu in Beigan Township, the Liuquan Reef in Nangan Township, and Sheshan in Juguang Township. The protected birds include the Bridled Tern, the Black-napped Tern, the Roseate Tern, the Crested Tern, the Black-tailed Tern, the Reef Egret, and the Fork-tailed Swift. The best time for tern-watching in Matsu is from July to August. Whether it's taking the bird-watching boat and admiring the scenery of Matsu and the islands as they soar up in the air or taking a leisurely walk along the harbor and underground tunnels to enjoy watching the terns from a unique vantage point, both are wonderful excursions not to be missed while visiting Matsu in the summer. In addition to the bird-watching excursions, you can also enjoy Beigan's Mt. Da'ao, Qinbi Village, and a magnificent coast from the water, and along the way get a great view of Matsu's unique local landscape and the military fortifications that date from an earlier time. A series of activities allow visitors to savor the unique military culture of Matsu and at the same time combine a trip rich in ecological education with total relaxation where they can experience firsthand the beauty of the place, enjoy the local culture, the unique "battleground" environment, and the rich ecology.

Big, beautiful, colorful hot air balloons dreamily float through the air as tourists hasten to catch a glimpse of their splendor or ride them through the skies, taking in the beauty of the valley below. The hot air balloon trend has promoted local tourism, and is an attractive, rising new activity of the 21st century. The 2011 Taiwan International Balloon Festival was a new opportunity for aerial activities, and it 2012 it challenged the world record in terms of length of time and scale of event. The event was a success, proving the tourist charm and economic profitability of the balloons, and enhancing Taiwan's diverse tourism environment. Taiwan International Balloon Festival includes flying shows, mooring activities, balloon rides, a night glow music concert, balloon wedding celebrations, and a summer camp, providing visitors with something to take home as well as great memories. Experience the feeling of flight as well as a feast for the senses.

Yilan International Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival features "Children's Games," a different theme based on an everlasting spirit of playfulness and the resulting creativity! The festival aims to provide children with a happy event to share with parents and friends, as well as befriending cultures from around the world! The child-themed event is one of the representative events of UNESCO's International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts (CIOFF), and in 2010 was the only one of its kind in Asia to be approved by CIOFF International Festival. In contrast to ordinary festivals focusing on a single form of art (performance, visual art, or multimedia), the Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival combines multiple forms including performance, exhibitions, games, and exchange, presenting children's games in a diverse and interesting way.