The San Francisco Giants hosted a special Taiwanese Heritage Night on May 1 at Oracle Park in San Francisco, where they faced off against the Colorado Rockies. The event was mainly sponsored by Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications Tourism Administration. This year marked the second time the Giants have organized a Taiwanese heritage event. At the baseball game, two professional athletes of Taiwanese descent were invited to throw the ceremonial first pitches. One was Pan Cheng-tsung, a professional golfer from Taiwan and bronze medalist in the 2020 Olympics. The other was Taiwanese American basketball player Kaitlyn Chen, a guard for the Golden State Valkyries, whose parents both immigrated from Taiwan. Before the game officially began, the Jolly Dance troupe from Northern California performed a traditional Hakka dance. The National Taiwan University Alumni Association of Northern California also participated by singing the U.S. national anthem, symbolizing the cultural ties between Taiwan and the United States as well as the ties between their people. Ming-Chi Scott Lai, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco, told the media before the game that he hopes the celebration of Taiwanese culture can help unify and strengthen the bonds within overseas Taiwanese communities. “Together, we can promote Taiwan, market Taiwan, and let more Americans see Taiwan, get to know Taiwan, and be inspired to travel there,” he said. Sylvia Li, director of the San Francisco office of the Taiwan Tourism Administration, said at the event that baseball is popular in both Taiwan and the United States. “Through sports exchanges, we can promote more tourism and interaction between our two countries,” she said. Outside Oracle Park, spectators of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds gathered for the event. The Epoch Times spoke with some of them. James Tapscott, an African American baseball fan whose wife is Malaysian, said he has visited Taiwan six times and has watched professional baseball games there, including matches against teams from Nicaragua and Brazil. “I really enjoyed the country,” he said. David Wu, who was born in the United States and works in education and high tech in the Bay Area, shared that his parents are from Taiwan and that he has been traveling there since childhood. “Every year during San Francisco’s Taiwan Day, I get excited, I always come, and I always show my support,” he said. Daren Handoko and Sabrina Wu, a couple attending the event, had a different reason for being there. Handoko, a San Francisco native working in financial management, said he brought his girlfriend—who had only been in the city for six months—to help her meet more people from Taiwan. “I want to help her adjust to life in San Francisco,” Handoko said with a smile. Andrew Yin, a tourist from Taipei visiting California, said it was a delightful surprise to stumble upon a Taiwan-focused event during his trip to the Bay Area. “It’s such a coincidence, and I’m really happy and excited,” he said. In the game that day, the Rockies edged out the Giants with a score of 4–3.