It is only after leaving home that we gradually understand what homesickness means. In 1996 calligrapher Chu Chen-nan was awarded a government scholarship to study in France. When he first arrived at the Cité Internationale des Arts, he looked around and saw only a camp bed and a simple desk. The rigors of actual life compared to the splendor of the capital of fine arts that Chu had imagined left him feeling somewhat at a loss.
The tree-shaded Minsheng Community in the Songshan District of Taipei City is home to an unusual, fashionable restaurant located in a spacious former home in a parkside apartment building.As night falls and the restaurant’s goose-yellow lights come on, the scent of cooking food causes passersby to pause. But this is no ordinary restaurant. A meal here throws open the halls of memory and transports you back to your childhood….
Dr. Andrew Yang, the first person of Taiwanese heritage to seek the Democratic Party nomination for US president, is the son of immigrants from Taiwan. Yang has a background in law and the tech industry. What ideals for social transformation is he bringing to American politics?
It’s late fall in Hsinchu, and the November winds are bringing news of the harvest. At Fu Le Fishing Village, the fishponds stretch into the distance, but there’s not a person in sight and the only sound is the susurration of the wind. The local fish farmers are having a big day elsewhere, gathered at a nearby fish processing facility.
Shows from Hakka TV have been nominated for Best Television Series at the Golden Bell Awards every year since 2008. Hakka serial dramas cover a variety of topics from adaptations of Taiwanese literature to life and death, mental illness, and rural school closures. Over time, Hakka TV has improved on the choice of subject matter, the scriptwriting, and the casting, enabling one quality story after another to make their way onto the screen.
Who loves Taiwan the best? Farmers who cultivate jelly figs and researchers who study fig reproduction will all reply: “The jelly-fig wasp!” The fig wasp that pollinates the jelly fig can only survive and reproduce in Taiwan, giving Taiwan a unique product—the jelly fig, from which we make aiyu jelly.
Cai Rongxing was born into a famous Yilan woodcarving family. His father, Cai Huotu, was the winner of a Folk Art Heritage Award, and Cai learned his superb craftsmanship directly from his father and elder brothers. Besides sculpting temple furniture like his father and brothers, Cai is especially skilled at making cake molds and rice-cake molds. He insists on carving them by hand, and hopes to pass down cake-mold making far into the future.
DEBE faces a wall on a street in Long Beach, California, pointing a can of spray paint at it. A graffiti artist from Taiwan, he was invited to participate in the annual street art festival POW! WOW! Long Beach, which sees some two dozen walls across the city decorated by artists from around the world.
Taiwanese society has long put academic education on a pedestal, while undervaluing vocational skills. This bias is not only evident in the education system, it also appears in all corners of the job market. But in truth people with professional skills are the foundation and central pillar of society. From baking to plumbing to electrical installation to welding, each profession requires its own special skills.
While many people make a living from the sea, there are few who speak out on its behalf. Many people know how to exploit the sea, but don’t understand the problems of overfishing and marine trash that are making the once beautiful oceans a scene of devastation. Wang Ming-hsiang loves the sea with a passion. He is both fisherman and diving instructor, but also a great spokesperson for the sea.
