With the COVID-19 pandemic showing tentative signs of slowing down, we’re all wondering when Taiwan’s borders will reopen. Taipei City’s tourist industry is on tenterhooks for the return of international visitors. Now the city’s Tourist Bureau has launched a new double-decker bus venture. But unlike the last tourist bus set to roam the capital, this new bus even offers passengers a meal.
A waitress sets down a luxurious dish to the accompaniment of light jazz. This almost could be a hotel restaurant, but nope – it’s a bus.
Lin En-ju
FTV reporter
The double-decker Taipei Restaurant Bus gets all its menu items from famous hotels. They’ve even put these glass holders on tables, to stop glasses from wobbling when the bus is on the move, so you can enjoy the scenery in peace.
The Taipei Restaurant Bus runs from Taipei City Hall MRT Station past Taipei 101 and the Tao Zhu Yin Yuan building. Then it heads on to Xinyi Vieshow Cinemas and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall before returning back to station. Three buses run daily, offering either afternoon tea or dinner service. The menu is different and so is the price - $1,000 or $1,800.
Hsu Wei-chao
Taipei Restaurant Bus manager
We train the staff in managing the jolts of the bus, that’s the first point. Secondly, when our bus chassis drops low down, our speed will reduce as well, to 20-40 kilometers an hour. There’s no problem with transporting the meals in transit.
Tsai Ping-kun
Deputy Mayor of Taipei
The route it follows is, in fact, the route we plan for the 2023 Taipei Festival of Lights. We expect that if the pandemic comes under control, Taiwan’s borders may be able to reopen six months from now. International tourists will be able to enter, which will be a great help for Taipei’s tourist industry.
The new restaurant bus is a whopping 12 times pricier than a normal double-decker tourist bus. Will anyone want to foot the bill? That remains to be seen. But whether it’s this or something a little more quotidian, Taipei will make the most of the end of the pandemic, whenever it comes.
