Bay watch: The MBBWC
Tongpan Islet, Erkan Village, the “Moses Parting the Sea” sandbar at Kuibishan… there are interesting sights everywhere you go in Penghu. To encourage travelers to explore more fully all that the islands have to offer, Penghu plans to promote more “island-hopping” tours. Chen Kuang-fu explains that each of Penghu’s 99 isles has its own unique features, so there is great potential for island-hopping itineraries. As part of this effort, this year for the first time the “Ocean Fireworks Festival” will expand beyond the county seat of Magong, with events being held in all five other townships, including Qimei and Wang’an.
Besides continuing to expand land-based tourism, Penghu also plans to develop recreational boating. Penghu has 68 harbors (mostly fishing harbors but also a few military ones) that have been largely left idle by the depletion of coastal fish stocks and the lack of young people who want to work in fishing. Taking advantage of Penghu Bay’s terrific scenery, the county government has decided to transform some of these idle harbors into facilities for pleasure boating.
In June of this year, Penghu’s first yacht marina will open in Magong City, with berths planned for up to 55 craft. In the future similar facilities will be opened in Qimei, Wang’an, Xiyu, and Baisha. People who sail to Penghu will have a variety of options of scenic offshore islands where they can dock.
At the end of June there will be an event entitled “2017 Penghu Yachting Life,” which will serve as the formal ribbon-cutting for recreational boating in Penghu, and plans are in the works for next year’s Taiwan International Boat Show to be held here. Chen Kuang-fu relates that when the boat expo was held in Kaohsiung last year, it generated business worth NT$4 billion in just four days. He has expectations that the results will be similar when the venue is shifted to Penghu.
These events will not only promote development of pleasure boating in Penghu, they will serve as warm-ups for the annual meeting of the “Most Beautiful Bays in the World Club,” to be held in October of 2018.
Penghu launched its bid to join the MBBWC in 2010, and after two years of dedicated effort, succeeded in entering the organization. Membership has allowed representatives from Penghu to meet regularly with experts from other countries to exchange views on managing the marine environment and preserving seaside cultural assets.
In early 2016, at the annual MBBWC meeting in the Philippines, Penghu beat out Barcelona to win the right to host the 2018 annual meeting. Chen Kuang-fu finds this extremely encouraging not only for Penghu, but for Taiwan as a whole.
“Our biggest strong points were ecological conservation and natural scenery,” explains Chen. Despite the archipelago’s unique marine panoramas, Penghu has had few opportunities to advertise itself to the world. The 2018 MBBWC meeting will be a prime occasion for Penghu—and indeed for all of Taiwan—to strut its stuff on an international stage.
In addition to the activities related to pleasure boating, the events that will serve as preludes to the MBBWC meeting will also include an international food festival. Chefs from around the world will be invited to utilize down-home signature Penghu ingredients such as cobbler’s tack (Glossocardia bidens), a medicinal herb, and the cobia fish (Rachycentron canadum) to produce dishes that have that authentic “Penghu zing.” On top of all that, concurrently with the MBBWC conclave, Kaohsiung will host a meeting of the Global Harbor Cities Forum, inviting scholars from many lands to discuss issues of importance to port cities.
Visitors flock to Penghu in the summer, drawn by the richness of the natural vistas. The photo shows the “Moses Parting the Sea” sandbar in Huxi Township.