Interpersonal interactions are at the heart of diplomacy, and in the age of social media, technology makes it possible to convey friendship between countries even more rapidly and widely. And it is not just frontline diplomatic personnel who can feel this warmth—every netizen can do so too. Social media not only create an avenue for direct interaction between foreign affairs agencies and citizens, they also make it possible for countries to enjoy a wider range of contacts and closer ties.
Cycling along Provincial Highway 7A from Datong to Lishan, after topping Siyuan Pass we cross from Yilan County into Taichung City. At the 46 kilometer mark it is raining heavily, and cold. But by the time we pedal to the 49 km mark, the skies are sunny and clear as far as the eye can see. In less than ten minutes, we transition from bone-chilling cold to warm sunshine, showing that a bike ride can be as volatile as life itself!
Workshops that teach how to make things by hand are all the rage. Artisans and craftspeople can often be found offering lessons in department stores and outdoor markets. This growing trend of gaining hands-on experience with craft techniques reflects changing attitudes about traditional crafts in Taiwan.
Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) offer a traditional pork chop boxed meal, but they also feature a new series of mouthwatering combos with ingredients sourced from all over Taiwan; the railroad-fan owner of Fu Jing Restaurant sells lunchboxes in his hometown; and the Satoyama Animal Train brings humans closer to Nature with charming ecological scenes. Trains transport memories, ideals, and nostalgia for home, and recount tales of goodness.
Jack Hsu is always busy. Still just 28 years old, with hair combed back on top and cut short on the sides, a pair of round, Hsu-Chih-mo-style glasses on his nose, he doesn’t carry himself in the tentative way of so many people of his age. He has a quick mind, a well-developed perspective on film, philosophy, and society, and a manner that suggests a maturity beyond his years.
Akira Higashiyama made a big splash with his very first novel, Turd on the Run, winning the grand silver and reader’s choice awards as part of the Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! (“This Mystery Novel Is Excellent!”) awards that were handed out by Japan’s Takarajimasha publishing house in 2002. Then in 2015 he won the Naoki Prize for the novel Ryu, in which much of the plot draws on the author’s own family history.
How do you extend the value of a brand? How do you forge ties with consumers? B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore’s book The Experience Economy suggests that experiences are in fact a kind of economic product, one that goes beyond traditional goods and services and creates new value for companies.
Since the invention of paper, traditionally credited to the Han-Dynasty eunuch Cai Lun, humanity has been tightly bound to the medium. Together they have written the story of human civilization. But recently these bonds have been weakening amid a decline of paper culture.
Since around 2015, when the notion of the “flipped classroom” was gaining traction in Taiwanese education, games have begun to gain increased focus in Taiwan as a new means of communicating knowledge. This trend has now come to extend into society more broadly, with both online and tabletop games that address all manner of topics and issues hitting the market.
The 2019 Premier 12 baseball tournament, organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, served as a qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Though initially not favored to do well, Taiwan’s national team, Chinese Taipei, played with discipline, intelligence, and indomitable willpower, turning in a performance that brought the entire nation to a fever pitch. The squad now once again ranks among the world’s top five, and is on the march toward competing at the Tokyo Games.
