The publishing industry is a fount of creativity and wisdom. Taiwan publishes 40,000 titles a year, and has long been a center of Chinese-language publishing. The photo shows Eslite bookstore. (Jimmy Lin)

The year 2011 was dominated by crises both at home and abroad. The economy was weak, and people felt gloomy. And yet amid great fears and doubts, we find ourselves marching into 2012, sensing the great power in marching toward one’s dreams.

Economic crises didn’t let up for a single day all year. The European debt crisis remained unsolved. The To­hoku earthquake hit Japan, causing a devastating tsunami and the nuclear disaster in Fu­ku­shima. The death of Steve Jobs took a real bite out of Apple. And ever-mutating type-B influenza wrought havoc as a silent killer.

But glimpsed from another angle, 2011 was also a year in which the people of Taiwan witnessed so many dreams attained: the International Flora Expo opened with great splendor, golfer ­Yani Tseng became the youngest women’s world champion in history, and You Are the Apple of My Eye by Giddens Ko shockingly surpassed Stephen Chow’s Kungfu Hustle as the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in Hong Kong’s history.