solutions
There are various cultural traditions in Taipei, but the main tradition is Chinese New Year, where many exhibitions take place, and residents of the city write poems about spring and paste them outside their house to decorate. Of course, they hold a massive parade, and the streets are decorated with water lilies and plum blossoms, which are considered good luck. Street performers, acrobats, martial-art experts and many more participate in this parade. The biggest attraction, in the parade itself is the dragon dance, where experienced dancers carry a dragon through the streets and dance to create the illusion of the dragon flying through the streets of Taipei. Another important festival, although not as important as Chinese New Year, is the Lantern Festival, which marks the end of Chinese New Year itself. It is celebrated with lantern making, riddle games, and colorful displays of lanterns in shop windows, the streets, and in the front of houses. The main specialty that is eaten during this time is starchy rice dumplings called tangyuan. They are often filled with sesame, red bean paste, and meat. Booths in the street sell many types of traditional crafts, such as clay sculptures, paper arts, and lanterns. They often light fireworks and release lanterns into the sky, often called “heavenly lanterns.” Lastly, there is the celebration of the city’s god. This celebration includes beiguan performances, which is a type of music originating from the 17th century and is used in theatrical and cultural performances.
Taipei faces many environmental issues, one of the biggest being air pollution. The one million registered motorcycles in Taipei cause most of the air pollution. This comes to about 57% of air pollutants and 33% of greenhouse gas emissions. When concealed by cross-border haze the PSI readings at many stations in Taiwan reach precarious levels. The regularity of increased pollution levels has been higher then previous years. Taipei is trying very hard to reduce air pollution, not only in the city itself but the country as well. Taipei’s mayor Hau Ling-bin received an award on September 23 in New York for the Citizen’s Choice Award for its effort to reduce air quality. However this does not mean that Taipei has solved its air pollution problem. The major pollutants in Taipei consist of sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide, non-methane hydrocarbon, and carbon monoxide.Taipei has reduced the pollution rate bit by bit.
Taipei is working to reduce its air pollution by paving more bike paths for people to bike. The new service is called “YouBike”, has been established in order to reinforce this idea. A small fee of 15 cents is charged for the rental of a bike for 30 minutes. The “YouBike” stations began with 500 bicycles at 11 stations, but now there are over 100 stations and also over 1000 bikes for rent. Taipei set up dynamometers, or machines that measure the energy output of cars to help reduce emissions by certifying certain trucks and public transportation vehicles as low-pollution. Now there are 4,436 buses with and 936 trucks also with this low pollution symbol. Taiwan has also built an urban rail that reduces the carbon monoxide pollution in the air between five percent and 15 percent. An important festival, which requires the burning of paper money is discouraged as well due to the amount of carbon monoxide, the burning paper will release. Although these measures have been implemented there is still much more to do in order for Taipei’s PSI to return to a normal rate.
Taipei faces many environmental issues, one of the biggest being air pollution. The one million registered motorcycles in Taipei cause most of the air pollution. This comes to about 57% of air pollutants and 33% of greenhouse gas emissions. When concealed by cross-border haze the PSI readings at many stations in Taiwan reach precarious levels. The regularity of increased pollution levels has been higher then previous years. Taipei is trying very hard to reduce air pollution, not only in the city itself but the country as well. Taipei’s mayor Hau Ling-bin received an award on September 23 in New York for the Citizen’s Choice Award for its effort to reduce air quality. However this does not mean that Taipei has solved its air pollution problem. The major pollutants in Taipei consist of sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide, non-methane hydrocarbon, and carbon monoxide.Taipei has reduced the pollution rate bit by bit.
Taipei is working to reduce its air pollution by paving more bike paths for people to bike. The new service is called “YouBike”, has been established in order to reinforce this idea. A small fee of 15 cents is charged for the rental of a bike for 30 minutes. The “YouBike” stations began with 500 bicycles at 11 stations, but now there are over 100 stations and also over 1000 bikes for rent. Taipei set up dynamometers, or machines that measure the energy output of cars to help reduce emissions by certifying certain trucks and public transportation vehicles as low-pollution. Now there are 4,436 buses with and 936 trucks also with this low pollution symbol. Taiwan has also built an urban rail that reduces the carbon monoxide pollution in the air between five percent and 15 percent. An important festival, which requires the burning of paper money is discouraged as well due to the amount of carbon monoxide, the burning paper will release. Although these measures have been implemented there is still much more to do in order for Taipei’s PSI to return to a normal rate.