TAIPEI TO WELCOME 2013 WITH 188 SECONDS OF FIREWORKS

TAIPEI: Taipei will welcome 2013 with 188 seconds of fireworks in a show that features a phoenix-themed display signifying people's wish to wave goodbye to the old and say hello to the new. Fireworks would burst into the Taipei skyline after the countdown, with red, blue, green, purple, and golden-colored designs shooting into the sky. The annual countdown party is expected to draw some 800,000 crowd, according to Taipei City Government. Displaying both in English and Chinese on the skyscraper after the firework display will be the Tourism Bureau's slogans: "2013 Time for Taiwan" and "Taiwan--The Heart of Asia," "Time for Celebration," and "Taiwan Tourism Events." The annual fireworks show at Taiwan's tallest building and the world's second tallest is considered one of the best in the world. CNN recently named Taipei as one of the 10 best places to celebrate the new year in style, along with New York, London and Hong Kong. The Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. (TRTC), the city's metro system operator, said it expects Monday's ridership to break the 2.05 millionth passenger mark recorded last year. With hundreds of thousands of people pouring into the city's metro system, the TRTC said it deployed nearly 1,000 staff at various stations to help ease the crowd and expects them to dissipate fully around 4 a.m. The city-sponsored party near City Hall will end around 1 a.m after six hours of nonstop performance by a star-studded lineup featuring pop diva Chang Hui-mei and Hong Kong singer Aaron Kwok.