Tour offers Hong Kongers glimpse of election culture

By Hsu Yu-hsin / Staff reporter





Two travel agencies in Hong Kong and Taiwan have teamed up to offer a four-day package tour for people interested in exploring Taiwan’s unique election culture.

The tour, offered by GLO Travel and Walk in Taiwan, will take travelers to key pre-election campaign events of the two major parties and attend rallies at their party headquarters on the day of the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 11.

Priced at HK$7,850 (US$1,008), the tour covers expenses for tour guides, accommodation, local transportation and food. The airfare is not included.

Taiwan’s unique election culture has fascinated many foreigners, Walk in Taiwan CEO Chiu Yi (邱翊) said.

Election-themed tours for international tourists interested in Taiwan’s elections have been held as early as four years ago, but they were mostly organized by researchers upon request, he said.

Unlike those tours, the one offered by Walk in Taiwan and GLO Travel is designed for the general public, he said.

According to a tour schedule released by the two agencies, the tour is to be led by University of Hong Kong adjunct associate professor Simon Shen (沈旭暉).

On Jan. 9, travelers are to visit A-tsai’s Restaurant (阿才的店) in Taipei and learn about Taiwan’s social movements.

The restaurant, which opened in 1987, was once a popular gathering spot for members of the dangwai (黨外, outside the party) movement and the Wild Lily Student Movement (野百合學運).

Later that day, travelers are to attend a campaign rally in Taipei and another one in Kaohsiung the following day.

For the third day, they are to visit the Taiwan Human Rights Memorial (景美人權園區) and then join the public at a rally at a party headquarters to watch live news about the election results, the schedule shows.