TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The 2026 Taitung Expo (台東博覽會) closed on Thursday (Aug. 20) after attracting more than 1 million visitors over 49 days. A traditional sailing vessel built by Indigenous craftspeople from three Pacific Island nations served as a centerpiece exhibit.
The "Mata No Riyal" (海洋之眼), meaning "Eye of the Ocean," completed a 56-day circumnavigation of Taiwan in June. The vessel was then displayed at the expo. The voyage marked the first time a boat constructed using ancestral techniques from Guam, Palau, and Taiwan successfully navigated the island without modern navigation equipment.
Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) visited exhibition venues on the expo's final day. She said the event, which drew 1,028,163 visitors, represented "important encouragement" for the county.
"The ocean has never separated islands," Yao told TVBS News during the boat's departure in May. "It is the widest road connecting Austronesian peoples."
Ronald Acfalle, a Chamorro craftsman from Guam, designed the vessel based on the traditional flying proa. Hsieh Fu-sheng (謝福生), a Tao boatbuilder from Taiwan's Orchid Island, joined the hull planks using hundreds of hand-carved mulberry wood pegs. Cinaw Liu Yu-yi (劉裕義), an Amis tribal leader from Taitung's Citong community (莿桐部落), bound the outrigger platform with bamboo and rattan.
The boat departed Xinlan Fishing Port (新蘭漁港) in Taitung on May 6 after two weather delays. A crew of 15 sailors — selected from 46 applicants after 200 hours of navigation training — guided the vessel counterclockwise around Taiwan. Halishluw Nick, a navigator from Palau, joined the predominantly Taiwanese crew.
"We sailed Taiwan primarily using non-motorized, traditional navigation methods," navigator Chang Ye-hai (張也海) told local media before departure. "We only used engines when necessary to enter and exit ports."
The vessel traveled more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) along Taiwan's east coast, stopping at ports including Chenggong, Changbin, Shitiping, and Hualien. It rounded the northern tip at Tamsui before returning south along the west coast. The crew faced a stationary front, heavy rain, and strong currents.
When the vessel returned to Xinlan Fishing Port on June 30, Deputy Commissioner Wang Chih-hui (王志輝) greeted each crew member with a flower garland. "This voyage proved that Austronesian maritime culture is not history lying in a museum," Wang said. "It is alive and full of vitality."
The voyage was part of Taitung's "Indigenous Boatbuilding and Seafaring Talent Cultivation Program" (原住民造舟及航海人才培育計畫). The initiative began three years ago with an earlier vessel called "Taluwan" (達璐岸). Officials described the effort as positioning Taitung as the "homeland of Austronesian culture."
Yao said the boat would help recover ancestral maritime routes. "This boat will not only recover our ancestors' lost sea routes, but also convey the spirit of 'the ocean is a road' to all of Taiwan," she said at the May departure ceremony.
The expo featured nine exhibition zones, 23 themed exhibitions, and more than 200 events across Taitung County. The boat project's cost and funding sources have not been disclosed. ◼