The major city in central Taiwan has much to recommend it as a stopover for local and foreign tourists, including its architecture, museums, and – surprisingly – greenery. My first impression of Taipei City was that it was an unlivable, chaotic burg clogged with scooters, people, and exhaust fumes. That this notion was formed during…
The Mid-Autumn Festival – also known as the Moon Festival – has been one of the most important observances on the Chinese calendar since at least the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD). But the Taiwanese have been finding new ways to celebrate the holiday. The essence of the festival has always been to get outdoors and…
Specialty coffee shops have sprung up on nearly every street corner in recent years. Can they thrive in a traditional tea-drinking culture? Nobody seems quite sure when Taipei’s love affair with specialty coffee shops began. The pioneers have been around for more than a decade: Woolloomooloo, Rufous Coffee, and of course Cama, which has more…
Most visitors to the popular southeastern county focus on either the coast or the East Rift Valley, but the area’s string of scenic mountain towns also deserves attention. One moment I was reveling in the scenery, happier than I’d been for weeks. The next, I was pushing branches aside and wondering if it was wise…
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A Westerner goes to see a psychiatrist at Tzu Chi Hospital. In reasonably fluent Mandarin, he says:“Doc, you’ve got to help me. Taiwan has become too vivid for me, too noisy. I swear I’m hearing trumpets and firecrackers even when there’s no festival at the temple next to…
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…
People often ask me what’s my favorite destination in Taiwan, and I always tell them the East Coast – the entire East Coast. I love buying a train ticket from Taipei to Taitung and spending the better part of the day looking out the window at the stunning passing scenery – the mountains dropping off…
Some areas of southern Taiwan have recovered more rapidly than others from the powerful 2009 typhoon with its deadly flooding and landslides. BY STEVEN CROOK AND ERYK MICHAEL SMITH Typhoon Morakot, which smashed into central and southern Taiwan on August 8, 2009, was the deadliest, most destructive storm in Taiwan’s recorded history. The typhoon dumped…
Facebook Opens New Office in Taipei American social media giant Facebook in April opened a new Taiwan headquarters in Taipei’s Xinyi District. Dan Neary, vice president of Asia Pacific for Facebook, said his company views Taiwan as an important market and that the new office reflects confidence in Taiwan’s future. He added that Facebook will…
Is the preponderance of female executives due to the industry, the openness of Taiwanese society, or mere coincidence? For the first time, women are taking the top position as country head or general manager in nearly all of the operations of Western pharmaceutical companies in Taiwan. Women also tend to excel more broadly in those…
