Glowball, the genre-bending festival by DJ-producer Sonia Calico, is redefining Taiwan’s electronic music with global beats, queer performance, and distinctly local flair — turning the dancefloor into a bold cultural statement.
Once overlooked as a mere gateway to Alishan or Penghu, Chiayi is now emerging as a destination in its own right—offering a nostalgic food scene, rich cultural heritage, quirky museums, and lush urban nature that are drawing more and more travelers to linger longer.
A nostalgic, slow-travel journey around Taiwan via its conventional rail network reveals fading towns, cultural landmarks, and resilient communities, offering a glimpse into the island’s evolving rural landscape and enduring railway heritage.
In Taiwan’s rural towns and coastal villages, spontaneity is still a traveler’s best friend. This vivid, rain-soaked journey through Taitung and beyond explores the unspoken generosity of small-town hospitality—and the joys (and minor perils) of going accommodation-free during peak season.
Taiwan’s hotel sector is struggling to recover in the post-pandemic era amid a surge in outbound tourism, labor shortages, and stiff regional competition. With occupancy rates lagging, especially outside Taipei, and a shrinking domestic workforce, the industry faces mounting pressure to adapt or risk long-term stagnation.
Once a frontline outpost, Matsu is now redefining itself through culture, creativity, and a new generation returning home. This richly woven story traces the islands’ evolution from military secrecy to artistic revival.
What begins as a scenic escape becomes a rich journey through mountaintop sunrises, historic trains, enchanted forests, and firefly-lit evenings in Alishan and Fenqihu—Taiwan’s mountain retreats full of slow beauty and quiet charm.
While crowds flock to Thailand or Bali, a lesser-known Pacific escape awaits just a three-hour flight away – serene, unspoiled, and still under the radar. Story and photos by Dinah Gardner Taipei winters are depressing. Every year, I fantasize about heading to a tropical island to escape the cold, damp, and gray weather that settles…
In Taiwan, where preserving historic buildings is uncommon, a new generation of distinctive lodgings is redefining the travel experience—military housing turned group retreat, a literati garden estate, a Kaohsiung family home-turned-hostel, and a presidential hideaway reborn as a boutique hotel.
Labubu’s rise from niche collectible to global fashion and pop culture icon reveals how Asia’s ‘ugly-cute’ aesthetic is reshaping consumer behavior, emotional expression, and the intersection of art, luxury, and fandom.
