Local companies are betting that e-scooters and the sharing economy represent the future of mobility. Imagine pedestrians walking down spacious sidewalks in Taipei, free of motorbikes. The only sounds heard are from their conversations, the whir of electric vehicles, and the chirping of birds. Cars and public transport are self-driving, but for the “last mile”…
Taiwan’s status as a just and equitable country has been burnished by its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the reasons Taiwan has done so well in halting the spread of COVID-19 is the nation’s relative wealth equality. Experts say this factor contributed to the establishment of a universal healthcare system and has led…
Taiwan’s top 12 domestic tourist areas were unintentionally revealed by the decline in travel abroad due to COVID-19 and a precipitous flood of visitors to the nation’s hot spots. Back in early April when the battle against COVID-19 was at a particularly acute stage, the Tomb Sweeping holiday provided a bit of respite from the…
What does it mean for a food to be described as “Q” and what is the derivation? A decade or so ago, the restaurant reviews by local writers in the Taiwan newspaper where I was features editor often dwelt at great length on the chewy nature of certain dishes. To vary the wording, the reviewers…
Odd, unusual, or just different, the country’s cuisine is perfectly capable of delighting and surprising in equal measure. Photos courtesy of Chopstick Travel Visitors to Taiwan may well have experienced locals gleefully offering them unaccustomed foods, in order to impress and perhaps enjoy a good-natured joke at the guests’ expense. For example, stinky tofu is…
The Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative offers the opportunity to dramatically improve the nation’s medical landscape and advance the lucrative biomedical sector with an ambitious DNA mapping project. “The best doctor cures the illness that is still obscure, the good doctor cures the illness that is about to break out, and the ordinary doctor treats the…
Taiwan and other regional players are finding it difficult to compete on the same scale as China when it comes to hosting clinical trials. Over the years, Taiwan has developed a strong reputation in the field of healthcare. It is now looking to leverage its advantages to position itself as a regional biomedical hub and…
Given the right government policy and smart marketing by local manufacturers, Taiwan’s love affair with scooters could help the environment. It’s a daily commute for tens of thousands of people, but it has also become an annual pilgrimage for electric motorcycle owners. In what is known as the “motorcycle waterfall,” scooters jostle for position like…
What used to be known as the “Petrochemical Kingdom” is now leading the fight against the production and use of plastics, or coming up with clever alternatives There was a time not so long ago when simply having a shower would typically release hundreds of thousands of plastic microbeads down the drain. Eventually they would…
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…
