Taipei City Government

Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-Je was invited by Lienchiang County Chief Liu Tseng-Ying to attend the Matsu Aromatic Liquor new product launch press conference at noon on December 12. According to Ko, Matsu features an abundant history as a former warzone and also boasts a diverse natural landscape. He is most impressed by the island’s cleanliness and tidiness; therefore, he recommends Taiwanese citizens visit Matsu to enjoy the leisurely and slow-living vibes. He also wished Matsu’s new products great success in Taiwan.

Ko commented that when he visited Matsu in September this year to exchange city administration experiences, he realized that Matsu is blessed with an abundant history as a former warzone, and it also has diverse natural landscapes to form rich tourism resources. Consequently, he hopes to help market the beauty of Matsu by screening Matsu’s tourism promotional films on the lightboxes and TVs of Taipei Metro, allowing more people to appreciate the magnificence of Matsu.

The mayor mentioned that he is most impressed with Matsu’s clean and tidy environment. Of all the places he has visited in Taiwan, Matsu came across as one of the cleanest municipalities, which impressed him tremendously. In particular, County Chief Liu is a public health physician, and he has mentioned a concept before known as “dry before clean”. Therefore, before the opening of the Nanmen Temporary Market, he demanded the fish vendors to keep the ground around them dry, and this is considered an important inspection item. It is evident that Ko has learned plenty of knowledge from County Chief Liu thanks to his professionalism and dedication to county administration.

The new Matsu product series is created by combining Matsu’s renowned liquor with mussels, chocolate, and chicken soup to produce a creative new flavor. Ko mentioned that when he visited Tunnel 88, he thought to himself that Matsu’s unique natural wine cellar definitely has remarkable potential for development, and its reputation may eventually surpass Kinmen’s Kaoliang Liquor in the future.

Mayor Ko believes that under the leadership of County Chief Liu, together with Matsu’s rich wartime history and natural landscape, tourism marketing will be a cinch. He has visited Matsu before; hence he highly recommends domestic tourists enjoy a leisurely, slow-living journey in Matsu. Roughly 6 million Taiwanese tourists visit Japan annually, and Ko believes that even if 1/10 of them can visit Matsu instead, the local tourism industry will receive a tremendous boost. Rather than spending money in Japan, why not let fellow Taiwanese people earn a profit. Lastly, he wished Matsu’s new products huge success in Taiwan.