When we flip through photo albums from our childhood days, the pictures call up memories both bitter and sweet. Those experiences shaped the people we have become. If we extend this notion back by 30, 50, or 100 years to images of the places where we and our families have lived, will we not find clues to the living conditions and historical events that our parents and grandparents experienced, and discover the elements that have molded the era in which we live today?
The yellow lupin, which is native to the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe, is very familiar to many Taiwanese. This flower, which in Taiwan blooms every year from late February to March, is grown in winter by tea farmers as a green manure crop. The book Lupins, the first full-length novel written by Chung Chao-cheng (1925–2020), tells the story of an artistically gifted elementary school student who is not understood by the rigid educational system and who sadly dies of an illness
The second season of Island of Mountains: Believe It or Not. This Is Taiwan!!!, made for Taiwan Public Television Service (PTS), is showing every Thursday at 9 p.m. for four weeks from June 29. On the eve of the series’ launch, PTS held an extended reality exhibition on Island of Mountains, inviting individuals featured in Seasons 1 and 2 of the program to take part and giving people a taste of Taiwan’s majestic mountain scenery through virtual reality.
A century ago, Dadaocheng was Taipei’s most important commercial district. It had a flourishing harbor, and many foreign firms and consulates were located there. This was a place where wealthy folk and celebrities gathered, and the streets were crowded with people and vehicles. Prosperous Dihua Street was lined with shops selling rice, dried foods, traditional herbal medicinal ingredients, and fabrics. Dadaocheng was always bustling, and in its time was a symbol of modern affluence.
Did you know that Taiwan’s National Greenways—the Raknus Selu Trail, the Tamsui–Kavalan Trails, and the Mountains to Sea National Greenway—are being paired up with paths in other nations to build “friendship trails?” It turns out that trails can build bridges between nations.
The Taiwanese television drama series Someday or One Day swept numerous Golden Bell Awards, and a film of the same name was released at the end of 2022. Wherever cast members appear in public, they are sure to cause a stir. The show’s popularity has attracted many people to make pilgrimages to locations where the episodes were filmed.
“To infinity and beyond!” Living in the age of Big Data, data seems to us like another universe waiting to be explored. Value-added services can turn dry-as-dust data into tools for promoting the public good, becoming a key to creating a better future.
If you visit the Taiwanese countryside, you may find groups of people like this: eager to learn, determined to achieve, and with a comradely sense of unity and mutual affection. These are Taiwan’s agricultural production and marketing groups (PMGs), which play a key role in the adoption of new farming techniques and technologies and developing new distribution channels.
Taiwan, which became known to the world in the Age of Discovery, has a history of ethnic diversity and has given rise to an abundance of stories. The growing interest in “Taiwan studies” that emerged in the late 20th century has motivated many Taiwanese to research the island.
Taiwanese-style catered banquets—known locally as pān-toh—have a distinctive history, complete with their own conventions. The dishes served at these streetside banquets carry symbolic meanings. Often marking life’s major milestones or important days on religious calendars, the pān-toh, or banzhuo in Mandarin, offers an opportunity for hosts to entertain and catch up with their guests while indulging in gastronomic pleasures.
