The Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area received its 500,000th visitor of the year on Tuesday (Dec. 10), a new record for the area, which was opened 37 years ago, CNA reported.
The administrative office of Taipingshan gave the lucky visitor a gift set at the entrance at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to the news agency.
Wu Ssu-i (吳思儀), division chief at the Forestry Bureau's Luodong district office, said Tuesday that Taipingshan ranges between an altitude of 365-2000 meters above sea level and that Taipingshan attractions, such as Jioujhihze Hot Spring, Taiping Villa, and Cueifong Lake, as well as its eight nature trails, are popular with visitors in all seasons.
Wu said that the number of annual visitors before 2012, when the "Bong Bong" tourist train servicing the area was damaged by Typhoon Saola, was about 350,000, but that the number dropped to a low point of 250,000 after 2012. Last year, the Bong Bong train resumed operations, and the number of visitors picked up to 490,000, the report quoted her as saying.
This year, the makeover given to the old egg boiling area at Jioujhihze Hot Spring was completed in May, and Kuo-Kuang Motor Transportation Company (國光客運) launched weekday bus services to Taipingshan beginning on July 15 to supplement its weekend services, Wu pointed out. She said that these two factors combined with favorable conditions made reaching the record-breaking half-million mark possible.
Source：Taiwan News
