Portal:Taiwan/Selected article/2007

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These articles have appeared on the Portal:Taiwan page in 2006 since the creation of the portal. They are selected from the list of selected article.

January

The Taiwan High Speed Rail (Traditional Chinese: 台灣高速鐵路, also known as the THSR) is Taiwan's high-speed rail network, running approximately 335.50 kilometers (208 mi) from Taipei City to Kaohsiung City, which began operations on January 5, 2007. Adopting Japan's Shinkansen technology for the core system, the THSR uses the Taiwan High Speed 700T train, manufactured by a consortium of Japanese companies, most notably Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The total cost of the project is currently estimated to be USD $15 billion. Express trains travel from Taipei City to Kaohsiung City in roughly 90 minutes as opposed to the current 4-6 hours by conventional rail, although regular trains take a scheduled two hours when making all stops.

February

The 228 Incident (Chinese: 二二八事件; pinyin: èr èr bā shìjiàn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Jī-jī-pat sū-kiāⁿ) or 228 Massacre was an uprising in Taiwan that began on February 28, 1947 and was suppressed by the Kuomintang (KMT) government, resulting in between ten thousand to twenty thousand civilians killed. The number "228" refers to the day of the incident, February 28 (28th day of the 2nd month, 2/28).

This event is now commemorated in the Taiwan as Peace Memorial Day. Official government policy had repressed the education of the events until recently, for various reasons. Many of the details of the incident are still highly controversial and hotly debated in Taiwan today, as the largely conservative-controlled government often tries to stifle discussion on the topic. Some people point to Communist involvement as a "justification" for the KMT's action.

March

Temples of Taichung: Like many of Taiwan’s older cities, Taichung (founded in 1705) has a large number of old temples and shrines that have historical value and are typical of the eras in which they were built. They include family and public Taoist and Buddhist temples, a Confucian temple, and even a Japanese Shinto Shrine.