In April, fog comes and goes around the five main islands of Matsu, and sea mists often force the closure of the airport or cause takeoffs and landings to be delayed. But this is precisely the time of year when many bird lovers choose to visit Matsu. Their goal is to see a fowl that has come to be called “a bird of myth and legend”: the Chinese crested tern.
Some recent popular television series have drawn on history for their plots, including Seqalu: Formosa 1867 and Gold Leaf. If you found these stories interesting, you are sure to find Keelung as portrayed by José Eugenio Borao Mateo equally fascinating. That is because his research is not simply an exploration of the past, but also tells the story of the amazing reunion in Taiwan of “a new immigrant of Spanish ancestry” and “Spaniards from history” after a hiatus of more than 300 years.
The Taiwan Film Festival UK & Nordic (TFF) is entering its fourth year. Launched in London in 2019, it seeks to move to a different Nordic country every year. Though the plan has been disrupted by Covid-19, this year the festival is on track to be held in Norway, where it will continue to introduce European audiences to Taiwan through film.
The triennial Wangye Welcoming Ceremony in Pingtung’s Donggang Township has been attracting large numbers of domestic and foreign tourists in recent years. Yet way back in the 1980s, before Wangye worship in Taiwan had received much scholarly attention, a young American academic named Paul Katz began to conduct in-depth research into the history of Wangye ceremonies in Pingtung. He pioneered research in the field.
Scientists hope that in their research careers they will make a “once-in-a-lifetime” discovery that can change the world. Dr. Hsing Yue-ie, a distinguished research fellow in the Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology at the Academia Sinica, had just such a standout experience in her more than 50 years of agricultural research when she heard the scientific name of a Taiwanese cereal crop.
Since the Age of Discovery, Taiwan’s unique geographic position within East Asia has attracted many Westerners to its shores, including missionaries charged with spreading the gospel.
During the 20th century these missionaries introduced modern architectural forms popular in the West into Taiwan, while adapting them to local conditions and available building materials, resulting in the construction of many churches that differ greatly from those in predominantly Christian countries.
The Internet is rife with misinformation in the form of text, videos, and images. Indeed, falsehoods are far more abundant than truth. In the past, fact checkers were on their own, and just used their own common sense to categorize suspect items and decide which to look into first.
In biology, the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus established a binomial system, still used today, that gives organisms two-part names comprising a “generic name” (the name of the genus to which a species belongs) followed by a “specific epithet” (the name identifying the species itself within the genus); in scientific usage this name is further followed by the name of its author (the researcher who named the species and published its description).
In 2021, Taiwan ultramarathon runner Lo Wei-ming finished second in the world’s longest certified road race, the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race, setting a new record for Asian runners. Athletes from around the world were not only in awe of Lo’s focus, they were also greatly interested in the “Y Sandals” (thong sandals) that he was wearing on his feet. The idea that someone would run a marathon in sandals became an international topic of conversation.
In Tamsui, Taiwan, more than 11,000 kilometers distant from the township of Zorra in the Canadian province of Ontario, there is a Mackay Street, and June 2 is “Dr. Mackay’s Day.” George Leslie Mackay (1844–1901) was the first missionary sent overseas by the Canada Presbyterian Church, and he contributed much to Taiwan in the fields of religion, healthcare, and education.
