The homes of “zero waste” practitioners really aren’t so very different from those of everybody else: they just tend to be cozier and tidier. But the self-confidence and sense of abundance with which they view life can help the rest of us appreciate how wonderful life is.
“There is a kind of travel that makes dreams a reality, known as traveling by bicycle.” For this trip, we packed light, and covered a lot of ground. After first hugging the coast, our route took us on a zigzag course through the plain, and then ascended to the Fushan Botanical Garden at 650 meters above sea level.
As children, we can while away the hours with just some paper and a few crayons. Once grown, however, we can often find ourselves preoccupied with one task after another and always feeling that we just don’t have the time. We may forget to just stop for a while, enjoy a good meal, and revel in the unassuming splendor of flowers and plants around us. But in fact, sampling the flavors of life is quite simple.
Have you ever seen silver ear mushrooms that look like a profusion of blossoming white peonies but give off a fragrance like jasmine flowers? Have you ever tasted oyster mushrooms whose stems have a mouthfeel like pork jowl but whose caps have the sweet, fresh flavor of clams? Or eaten hon-shimeji mushrooms, considered in the same class as Wagyu beef, in a Michelin-starred restaurant?
The fruit marketing company “Our Table,” which is now in its seventh year, operates only online. It has been running smoothly since its inception, and not only does it enjoy good word of mouth among consumers, it has been widely recognized in the industry as a force to be reckoned with, capable of selling fruit that other vendors find too challenging.
How to get to know a city? “City story houses” have been popping up like mushrooms lately, offering new perspectives on urban life.
Old houses often serve as story spaces. The buildings encapsulate time, preserving residents’ memories and emotions. Vestiges of the past are everywhere, each scene and object a story unto itself.
Staying home much more during the pandemic, people have turned inward. They have realized that no amount of luxury goods, gourmet dishes or video entertainment can compare to Nature’s healing power. A foray into mountains or forest offers an alternative, but for those who inhabit a concrete jungle, the soothing effect of caring for flora is far more accessible.
Just as the world is focused on Taiwan’s most dynamic industry, semiconductors, a local brand of fragrant personal care products named Blueseeds has been quietly infiltrating the North American market.
Boasting natural farming methods and no added artificial chemical compounds, Blueseeds sells 200,000 bottles of essential oils a year, and sets itself apart from the flood of other Taiwanese scented product brands.
Founded 57 years ago as a producer of synthetic resins, Eternal Materials Co., Ltd. has transformed itself from contract manufacturer to innovator. As a leading producer of synthetic resins for the Asian market, the company went on to develop UV curing technologies that turned it into the world’s number-two supplier of related materials. Eternal then moved even further into the electronics sector by developing the world’s top-selling dry-film photoresist.
In 1938, when the first Fine Arts Exhibition of the Government-General of Taiwan was held, 20% of the artists whose works were selected were from Chiayi. The Japanese-language Taiwan Daily News ran a story with the headline “Chiayi Is the City of Paintings,” a sobriquet which has lasted to the present day.
