Taiwan Further Features
Interesting Places
Hot springs are all over the island with water temperatures range from 60 to 95 degrees Celsius. A hot spring tour is a must considered by many, and it is an excellent way to rejuvenate the skin and body.
Bird Watching Areas like Kenting Park, Mount Hohuan (height 3,500 m) and Penghu Archipelago etc. are among the places in China for nature lovers.
Festivals
There are many festival activities with local characteristics in Taiwan that the most notable like "Cingshuei Master", which is celebrated on 6th day of the first month in Lunar Calendar in Taipei's Wanhua Cingshuei Rock with 20 days of drama performance; the grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to Matsu is held from mid to late March; and "Yulan" religious ceremony for saving all the living beings from sufferings is held throughout Taiwan in July.
Entertainment
Film industry in Taiwan can be traced back to the Japanese colonial era that the first silence movie appeared in November 1901. Due to the lesser control to the industry by the colonial authority compared it did to drama, so the film importers could fetch Mainland China films in Taiwan, while local filmmakers were funded themselves to make movies.
Since the 1950s Mandarin films have been popular while Min-nan films declined. In the 1960s romantic movies became a mainstream genre, and in the 70s and 80s the wave of "rustic films" came to the silver screen, which movies were very beautiful, rustic and artistic feel.
In the mid 80s movies based on literatures and novels were blockbuster hits and in the 90s some local film directors like Hsiao-hsien Hou and Ang Lee attained acclaim internationally.
There are four local television stations on the island of which programs are such as news and current affairs, entertainment and talk shows, TV drama series and animated features etc. Just like Hong Kong, watching TV soap operas is a favorite pastime for local Chinese. Satellite TV and Internet are also popular.
Radio stations in the province have programs in Mandarin and various Chinese dialects, as well as English transmission.
Newspapers are mostly printed in Chinese (traditional Chinese characters) with a few high quality English publications.
Taiwanese pop scene is roughly divided as Mandarin and Min-nan dialect, of which the former is also one of the most exportable popular cultures in Taiwan. The Mandarin pop songs are sung all over Chinese community at home and abroad, and the most singers are from local and Hong Kong, while the Min-nan songs are mostly catering to local Taiwanese audience. Song CDs and cassette tapes are available throughout the island.
Apart from these mainstream entertainments, karaoke halls, bars and nightclubs of different sizes are all around the island.
