The 2017 Taichung Culture Bus will be launched starting from March 25th! This year it not only presents the first art map and cultural & creative itinerary, but also largely increases the routes, cars and seats from those of last year. At the same time, new buses within 5 years of usage and outstanding professional drivers are hired to ensure the traveling security of the citizens. Deputy Mayor Lin Yi-ying mentioned that more than 70% of the activities and contents for this year’s culture bus event are new attraction sites and itineraries. In order to transform Taichung into “a city of festivals”, she invited everyone to enjoy the beauty and cultural atmosphere of Taichung.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau held a press conference for the launching of the 2017 Taichung Culture Bus at the City Government Building on Taiwan Boulevard. The lion dancing of Tong-Ren-Tang Lion Dance was the opening performance and the characteristic vendors of the 12 itineraries also took part in the press conference, making it bustling with noise and excitement. Deputy Mayor Lin Yi-ying, Director Wang Chih-cheng of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Councilman Liu Shih-chou and others also participated in the press conference to promote this event. They invited the citizens to take the culture buses and enjoy the rich art and cultural landscapes of Taichung.

Deputy Mayor Lin stated that since the release of the culture buses in 2011, there have been many different featuring themes each year and they are getting more and more popular among the citizens. This year, more than 70% of the activities are new attraction sites and itineraries, which fully display the atmosphere of Taichung as “a city of festivals”. Due to the numerous numbers of participants, the city government is considering to further add more buses and seats in the coming year.

Director Wang Chih-cheng of the Cultural Affairs Bureau pointed out that the culture buses are so popular that the seats available each year were sold out “within seconds”. With “Touring Arts and Culture. Ride happily to explore” as this year’s theme, it will take place from March 25th to May 20th and June 4th to October 29th. A total of 12 itineraries, 65 buses and 2260 seats were available this year, making it a greater event than those of the previous years. Besides continuing the itineraries of the century-old Mazu temples and Taichung literature, art map and cultural & creative pottery itineraries are introduced for the first time this year to allow more citizens to further experience the art and cultural features of Taichung.

The first echelon “Four Fortune” itinerary is based on the century-old Mazu temples. Led by folk culture expert Hsieh Wen-hsien, he will tour the “Fuan Sea Art Line”, “Fukang Joyful Spring Line”, “Fuyi Blessing Line” and “Fuwen Prosperous God Line”. The second echelon “Eight Arts” itinerary is led by art docent Huang Chia-sheng and itineraries including the art and cultural itineraries of “Old City Literature Line”, “Circling Art Literature Line”, “Stone Art Line”, “New Art Line”, “Art Seeking Pottery Line”, “Pottery LOHAS Tour Line”, “Traditional Art LOHAS Line”, and “Dye-work Exploration Line”.

Interesting DIY experiences will also be arranged in the tours, such as lion head painting DIY, pottery DIY at Dadu Huashan Kiln and others. The tours will also take tourists to memorable landscapes that littérateurs from Taichung have been to, such as Laiyuan at Wufeng, Minsheng Story Hall and others, and sites and memorials halls that well-known artists like to do their creations at, such as the estuary of Huludun Canal, Chen Ting-shih Memorial Hall, Lin Chih-chu Memorial Hall and others. We expect to give the citizens a feast of art and culture with different themes.

In addition to that, to ensure the security of the citizens, this event arranged new buses within 5 years of usage and hired outstanding professional drivers. Among the 65 buses, 11 buses are senior buses so that more seniors have the opportunity to take part in this event.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau stated that the registration time for the first echelon of “Four Fortune” is from 9:00am March 13th to 24:00 March 15th and the registration time for the second echelon of “Eight Arts” is from 9:00am May 22nd to 24:00 May 24th.

Citizens can register through the internet, telephone or by fax. The list of participants and those on the waiting list will be decided by random number generator. We charge the participants with the vent fare of NT$200. For further information, please refer to the official website of Taichung Culture Bus (http://59.120.88.203/2017TccBus/news.aspx) or the website of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Taichung City Government (www.culture.taichung.gov.tw), or call 04-2382-0451, 04-2380-0592 and 04-2382-0259.