The Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival is now in its fifth year. Last night, a special outdoor concert was held in front of the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. The concert commemorated the 228 Incident, as the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra performed with 4 choral groups along with Italian trumpet virtuoso, Andrea Giuffredi.
資料來源：
http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=1BC835C0D43937CD655B986A128D3E55
With the benefit of excellent weather this weekend, the Taoyuan County Government and the Taiwan Cyclist Federation sponsored a 42.9 km cycling trip on the Northern Cross-Island Highway.
All ages participated in this event, including the eldest cyclist who was 73 years-old. Cyclists who completed the whole route and arrived at the La-la-shan Visitor Information Center were given a special certificate showing they completed the difficult course.
資料來源：
http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=400C1B72CC9B1B84D2450A86B515D1CF
Today, both expert and amateur dancers participated in a warm-up competition for the World Dance Council’s Ballroom Dance Taipei Open which begins on Feb. 28. Even a few young contestants participated such as this brother and sister pair who were just three and four years old.
This brother and sister pair are just three and four years old, appearing much shorter than their competitors, though they are quite charming and have become the focus of many in the audience.
The professional category had 16 pairs of dancers competing, each pair demonstrating a sexy and nimble dance style.
Yang Rong-jye
Dancer
It’s such a beautiful stage, and the feeling is really great as it will give me confidence when I perform, making me feel young again.
Jane Chen
Taiwan International Dance Sport
A (total) of nearly 400 pairs of dancers will participate in the Asian Tour Taipei Open which begins on Feb. 28. This is a warm-up competition, giving all of the dancers an opportunity to improve.
Today’s competition is just a small taste of what will occur at the main event which brings 142 pairs of foreign competitors from 31 different countries, becoming the biggest and grandest ballroom dance competition in Taiwan.
資料來源：
http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=77D5BDE75C3F2F4AC8C1DE4003833D83
Kaohsiung recently held a robot competition that featured a number of challenges associated with emergency response to natural disasters. For example, robots were given the task of breaking through barricades and performing other critical functions which tested each team’s creativity and programming ability.
The playing field upon which these robots are competing mimics the scene from a natural disaster. Students are asked to design a robot that can maneuver this dangerous course which includes multiple obstacles. And ultimately, arriving at a designated finish line within a certain amount of time.
The teams of students that are able to complete this task within an allotted time are quite happy, though a few teams are unable to overcome difficult obstacles.
This robot competition is jointly hosted by the Kaohsiung City Government Department of Education and the National Science and Technology Museum along with other groups under the general theme of disaster response.
Hsu Zheng-he
Judge
One goal is how to respond to disasters, and how to prevent disasters as well.
Another part of the competition is moving these building blocks, discovering which team can place the most yellow building blocks into their basket. Another test is this hanging horizontal bar, as the team that works the best together, as well as writes the best program, and achieves the top score is the winner.
Our strategy and preparation before the event was very good so we were able to get the top score.
The top team in this competition also wins the right to represent Taiwan in an international competition in the United States or Australia.
資料來源：
http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=422BDA51D8683388C9EAF57F76875A8D
A new installation at the Taitung Art Museum offers visitors a chance to enter what appears to be a moving pigeon house. Inside the house is devoid of pigeons and looks more like a human inhabitance, conveying the designer’s conception of a longing to fly free.
From the exterior this wooden building looks like a pigeon house. Located on the end of a green belt outside Taitung Art Museum, it is small but well furnished. Inside there is a kitchen and bathtub, and most astonishing are the wheels underneath. These bring a freedom of movement that makes it possible to bring the home on trips.
Hsiao Yu-chih
Shih Chieh University
My idea was to bring people back to the fundamentals of architecture. Or you could say I wanted to show them a more intrinsic structure. In fact, architecture is something you experience with the five senses.
The building was designed by Hsiao Yu-chih, a professor in the Architecture Department of Shih Chieh University. It acts as a stage standing in a green field where structure, activity and people interact. The county’s culture director described the meaning behind the design.
Liu Jheng
Taitung Cultural Affairs Dep’t
It symbolizes a pigeon-free pigeon house because when pigeons fly away they are free. When we are in a building, we are like a pigeon that longs to fly freely away. We can fly out of the building and away from this world to travel in another place.
There are few large-scale art installations in Taitung, making the introduction of this unusual building a popular topic of discussion.
資料來源：
http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=DE3E22FBAF49453C67C1C90D490E6E01
Students from National Nantou Senior High School are world champions in the 560-kilogram men’s category of the World Indoor Tug of War Championship. While competing in Ireland over the weekend the boys beat a team from England to take gold.
hese images are from 2012. The Taiwan team was disqualified from competition for having applied cleaning solution to the soles of their shoes. A couple days ago, the team returned with a vengeance.
Standing between Taiwan and gold in the men’s 560-kilogram category in the World Indoor Tug of War Championship was England. The Taiwanese team stuck in to prevent the advance of its strong opponent. When England seemed on the verge of surrender a burst of energy from the Taiwan side led to victory.
When the news reached National Nantou Senior High School, the athletes’ classmates were delighted.
Chiu Ming-huang
Nantou Senior High School
To become accustomed to cold weather, they trained together on Hehuan Mountain. The calluses each team member developed on his hands also helped beat the cold.
The hard work this team put in has been rewarded with world championship gold.
資料來源：
http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=C6084B589154E04D2C08685B19D22746
A press conference was held today ahead of Thursday’s theatrical release of the local baseball drama “Kano.” Two Japanese films stars portraying an on-screen couple, Masatoshi Nagase and Maki Sakai, were present.
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A new smart bracelet will make it easier to find and identify lost elderly and disabled people. The Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly cooperated with a local telecom to create the technology, which reveals information such as emergency contact numbers after just a quick scan using a smart phone.
In the past, when elderly people disappeared, the only information that could be used to retrieve them included the clothes they were wearing and their hairstyles. This information often wasn’t enough to bring them back.
Now, as long as an elderly person wears this special smart bracelet, he or she can be identified by someone with a smart phone. Scanning the bracelet reveals information such as phone numbers of family members and the address of their residence. The new technology impressed artist Ann Lang, whose father suffers from dementia.
The telecom company that contributed to the bracelet says by utilizing GPS tracking, the bracelet will dramatically increase the recovery rate of lost elderly people.
James Cheng
Telecom Employee
Without this bracelet, the recovery rate for lost elderly people was about 60 percent. If they wear this bracelet then I believe that the recovery rate will be near 100 percent.
The smart bracelet is expected to be officially launched this week, with 4,000 being issued to Taipei, New Taipei and Pingtung residents. Those suffering from dementia or people with disability cards can apply for a free bracelet.
資料來源：
http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=AB293BD1B15F489CE9F8C0177DB3F9E3
