this museum has been completed but no one noticed it!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coyett
[FONT="Palatino Linotype"]
Lanyang Museum, Yilan, Artech
|
more at dan's flickr album:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dans180...th/4184562535/
The Lanyang Museum in the eastern Yilan County is a NT$1.02 billion project, which took nearly a decade to build. Construction of the museum is almost complete and it is expected to open in August 2010. The museum is a collaboration between the public and private sectors, based on the principle that a project of this magnitude should not depend solely on the government.
The museum aims to give visitors a greater understanding of Yilan County, located in northeastern Taiwan facing the Pacific Ocean. Its mission is to preserve and promote the county’s natural environment, historical sites, archaeological artifacts, and cultural heritage, in order to share these resources with the people.
It is expected the museum will attract 400,000 visitors a year, during its first three years of operation. The museum will also work with the organizers of some of the famous festivals in the county, such as the Blue Rain Festival and the Green Expo, on joint promotions. The museum will also work with the Toucheng Old Downtown Association and the Northeast Coast Scenic Area Administration to form a tourism corridor along Taiwan’s northeast coast.
Yilan’s tourism industry has seen a major transformation over the past few years, due to the completion of various infrastructure projects. The county’s travel market was given a major boost after the completion of the Syueshan Tunnal, measuring 13 kilometers in length connecting Taipei County and Toucheng, Yilan County. With the tunnel, travel time from Taipei to Yilan was reduced down from three hours to 40 minutes.
At the same time, the county saw the emergence of a wide range of tourism facilities, such as hot spring houses, bed and breakfasts, leisure farms, hotels, restaurants, and museums, all of which helped the county to attract even more tourists, thus increasing tourism revenue by 20 percent.
Besides visiting the museum, tourists can also take whale-watching trips off the coast of Yilan, as well as viewing Guishan Island or Turtle Island, considered by many as the spiritual symbol of the county. The islet, emerging out of the sea like the back of a turtle, is easily seen from various angles in the Toucheng area.
The museum also promotes the county’s cultural diversity. While the county is somewhat isolated from the outside world, various groups call this place their home. Today, Han Chinese, who came to the county some 200 years ago, account for the bulk of Yilan’s population.