Increases to the minimum wage, lower birth rates, and an aging population are leading to higher costs and labor shortages for retailers. Will automation save the day? There’s a rather whimsical image of Taiwan floating around online. Entitled “Actual View of an Average Taiwanese Street,” it shows a few cartoon figures walking around a landscape…
As retail sales spike upward, new-style outlets and malls cater to millennial shoppers who want entertainment and Instagram-friendly backdrops more than bargain-basement prices. It’s a golden age for outlets and malls in Taiwan, with a number of brassy mega projects completed and more developments on the horizon. Despite the rapid growth of online retailing, people…
The island is a cornucopia of delights for cyclists keen for the call of the open road, mountain adventures, Pacific Ocean vistas, and myriad cultural highlights. Every Sunday Lin Kun-you gets up before dawn and puts on his spandex uniform of fitted and padded cycling shorts, short-fingered gloves, and an aerodynamic road cycling helmet. His…
Taiwan offers a wealth of options for helping to improve wellness and mindfulness. In many countries, religious and spiritual retreats have become a counterweight to the relentless march of progress and materialism. The trend is especially evident in Taiwan, which is known for being a beacon of religious freedom and one of the world’s centers…
In the process of becoming an innovative industrial design hub, Taiwan has had to quietly overcome entrenched ideas about a perceived lack of creativity. A focus on innovation and style is transforming Taiwan into a center for post-industrial design. Local design talents work behind the scenes to create cutting-edge electronic products for the world’s major…
Meal delivery is changing rapidly and growing exponentially due to the online-to-offline revolution, which offers easy online ordering, customized offerings and speed. Thinking Curry (微想咖喱) operates out of a back alley on Wuxing Road, not far from Taipei 101. Providing the option of three curry flavors – Indian, European, or Japanese – it was so…
Warning: Do not serve alcohol to minors. When you drink, don’t drive. A food conglomerate that makes acclaimed whisky has introduced a Taiwan-flavored craft gin that is set to make a splash on the rocks or in cocktails. Pure spring water flows from Snow Mountain (Hsuehshan) and seeps into the sedimentary rock aquifer at the…
Some time ago my mother-in-law started urging me to buy a house. She did so by relating the Chinese folk tale Five Sons (五子登科), from which derive the five modern “necessities of life”: silver (money), wife, children, house, and car. Without doubt, housing has been the most expensive and fraught of the five necessities. First…
A massive social housing program is viewed as the means for the Taipei municipal to build an integrated smart city. The development of smart housing– utilizing Taiwan’s strengths in the ICT (information and communications technology) sector – is central to the Taipei City government’s blueprint for the future. The plan also matches the national government’s…
The most popular beverage in the world is made to perfection in Taiwan, from bubble teas at roadside vendors to the most expensive high-mountain choice grade oolong. The playbill for a Broadway production in the early 1900s pictures a waiter serving a gentleman and two impeccably attired ladies in some undefined but leafy and upscale…
