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Shampooing, Taiwan StylePhotos - New Southbound Policy
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Shampooing, Taiwan Style

Gripping a little bottle in one hand, a stylist adroitly squeezes diluted shampoo onto a customer’s hair, quickly works up a lather with skillful fingers, then washes the hair while also massaging the customer’s scalp, chatting with them throughout. Then the stylist finishes with a blow dry and sends the customer off feeling a hundred times better than before they came into the salon.

Have You Had Your Herbs Today?—Welcome to the World of Taiwanese HerbsPhotos - New Southbound Policy
Enlarge Have You Had Your Herbs Today?—Welcome to the World of Taiwanese Herbs Photos

Have You Had Your Herbs Today?—Welcome to the World of Taiwanese Herbs

When visiting Taiwan, has a Taiwanese friend ever treated you to a cup of cool, refreshing herbal tea on a hot summer’s day? Go to Herb Lane in Taipei’s Wanhua District and you will find that the street of small shops offering hundreds of types of herbs very much resembles Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter books.

Service Is Our Second Name—Taiwan’s Amazing Convenience StoresPhotos - New Southbound Policy
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Service Is Our Second Name—Taiwan’s Amazing Convenience Stores

Taiwan has more than 13,000 convenience stores, with one for every 1,582 people according to a 2021 survey by the Mirai Business Research Institute. This places Taiwan second only to world leader Korea, where the figure is 1,200.

Seducing Global Palates: Taiwan’s Hand-Shaken DrinksPhotos - New Southbound Policy
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Seducing Global Palates: Taiwan’s Hand-Shaken Drinks

In January 2023 Google celebrated bubble tea with an interactive doodle, bringing this iconic Taiwanese treat to the notice of the world. Each of Taiwan’s hand-shaken drinks shops has its own unique character, and the beverages they sell brim with creative ingenuity. Let’s see how Taiwanese drinks have taken the world by storm.

Let’s Go to the Night Market!—A Movable Feast of Taiwanese TreatsPhotos - New Southbound Policy
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Let’s Go to the Night Market!—A Movable Feast of Taiwanese Treats

The island of Taiwan, though not especially large, is home to more than 300 night markets. Unfurl a map of Taiwan and take a look at the townships—more than two-thirds of them are host to at least one night market. The high density of night markets reflects the enthusiasm of Taiwanese people for food culture.

A Vegetarian Paradise—Taiwan’s Meatless SuccessPhotos - New Southbound Policy
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A Vegetarian Paradise—Taiwan’s Meatless Success

It’s no secret that the Taiwanese are passionate about food. This devotion to culinary delights, coupled with Taiwan’s cultural diversity, guarantees the island’s prestige as a gastronomic paradise. Our vibrant culture is characterized by dietary variety, and vegetarian foods have enjoyed a rapid rise in popularity in recent years.

A Cradle of Mandarin Language Learning—Taiwan as the World’s Leading HuayuPhotos - New Southbound Policy
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A Cradle of Mandarin Language Learning—Taiwan as the World’s Leading Huayu

Many people believe that Mandarin Chinese (also known as Huayu) is one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn. But do you know what? You only need to know 3,100 characters to match the reading skills of a native speaker.

Fantastic Voyage—A Sustainable, Circular Materials BankPhotos - New Southbound Policy
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Fantastic Voyage—A Sustainable, Circular Materials Bank

In 2002, German chemist Michael Braungart and American architect William McDonough published Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, which proposes achieving sustainability by emulating the circular processes of Nature. Their idea was to orient design around a circular system of reuse that turns waste into “nutrients” that can be fed back into the system.

Signs of the Times: Shop Signs’ Place in Taiwan’s StreetscapesPhotos - New Southbound Policy
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Signs of the Times: Shop Signs’ Place in Taiwan’s Streetscapes

In 1930, Kuo Hsueh-hu painted Festival on South Street, which depicts the vitality and clamor of a street scene—including countless shop signs—in Taipei’s Dadaocheng area, and makes viewers feel as if they are right there rubbing shoulders in the crowd. In 2017, the Japanese magazine Brutus put out a special issue on Taiwan, with a picture of Tainan’s Guohua Street as its cover.

Sweet!—Tangcong Candy and the Golden Age of SugarPhotos - New Southbound Policy
Enlarge Sweet!—Tangcong Candy and the Golden Age of Sugar Photos

Sweet!—Tangcong Candy and the Golden Age of Sugar

In Taiwan people eat candy at the Lunar New Year and at weddings, while in Taiwanese Hokkien the phrase “eat sweet things” is an auspicious saying used to wish others well. It is precisely because candy has a sweet taste that it symbolizes felicity and good fortune.