If Taiwan wants to develop a cuisine scene matching its reputation for fantastic night market treats, it still has some way to go. If the world’s dining scene were a level playing field, you would expect Taiwan to be a winner. For historical reasons, it is a melting pot of the best cuisines from all…
Following the merger of Tainan City and Tainan County at the end of 2010, the special municipality of Tainan now encompasses 2,191 square kilometers (eight times the land area of Taipei) and has almost 1.9 million people. Among its far-flung attractions are the hot springs at Guanziling, and the Zengwen, Wushantou, and Nanhua reservoirs. Much…
You need rich tastes and a deep pocket to enjoy the best cuts of Pacific bluefin tuna, but Donggang’s annual festival is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. By Jules Quartly For centuries the township of Donggang (sometimes spelled Tungkang) in Pingtung County has been the final port of call for the Pacific bluefin tuna, which returns annually…
Taiwan’s diverse society fuses ancient traditions with cutting-edge modernity, and nothing underscores this duality better than the calendars seen in homes and offices. Like their counterparts in the West, Taiwan’s workers, civil servants, and students generally refer to the Gregorian calendar when making appointments and meeting deadlines. The Chinese lunar calendar, however, is used to…
Taiwan’s stunning landscape is the result of constant geological activity over millions of years. Because of the continuing collision between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Asian Continental Plate, the island’s already impressive mountains are rising approximately four centimeters per year. Like other places located where tectonic plates push against one another, Taiwan occasionally suffers…
STORY AND PHOTOS BY JANE RICKARDS Fortuntellers in Taiwan use such methods as numeric calculations based on one’s name, date of birth, or grains of rice; face or palm reading – or even birds playing pick-up sticks. On a dustry sidewalk near an old Taoist temple in suburban Banqiao, a man sites behind a red-clothed…
Chinese cuisine has an extraordinary number and variety of regional dishes, and yet most of them can be prepared with just four highly versatile kitchen utensils. Chinese people have always had a great appreciation for the written word as expressed in graceful calligraphy, and through the ages calligraphers required but a few essential tools, traditionally…
