Remaking Zhushan

Ho Pei-jun's Recipe for Small-Town Renewal

Ho Pei-jun, president and founder of Town­way Cultural and Creative Corporation, started out with operating the “El Patio del Cielo” guesthouse in Nan­tou County’s Zhu­shan Township. From there he has gone on to organize work exchanges (in which people exchange labor or ...more

The Age of Co-living

9floor Creates Convivial Communities

While traditional notions of raising children to continue the family line and to take care of you in your old age may be falling out of favor in the modern era, every one of us still faces the inevitability of sickness and ageing. Even if you marry, there’s still the chance you’ll be spe ...more

Golden Awards Ceremonies

Channeling the Private Sector's Design Capabilities

We’ve all spent time staring expectantly at the TV screen during awards broad­casts. Which superstars will attend the show? Who will win this year’s awards? It’s a big deal, like following celebrities or going to a concert. Awards shows are endlessly enjoyable fodder for after- ...more

A Ride to the Clouds

Cycling Through Wutai Township

The American writer Ernest Hemingway once said, “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and can coast down them.” For this latest in our series of articles about cycling in Taiwan, in early spring we set our sights on ...more

Art Conservator Leo Tsai

Setting High Standards for Art Restoration

In 2014, Leo Tsai (a.k.a. Tsai Shun-jen) launched his “traveling with door gods” activity. He and his team had deftly restored four paintings of door gods made by the famous temple artist Pan Li-shui, after which they received endorsement from Inter­national Architectural Paint Resea ...more

Documentaries of the 1960s

A Pioneering Decade for Taiwanese Cinema

Documentary films flourished in 1960s Taiwan. The films focused on such themes as family life and the routines of city dwellers, and often played out against a backdrop of the social issues of the time. What kind of era was it? What was on the minds of the directors of that day? Let us explore these ...more

Training Top-Flight Doctors:

Chang Gung Hospital’s Microsurgery Program

It is not yet 7 a.m., but already the conference room of the Plastic Surgery Department at ­Chang Gung Memorial Hospital is filled with doctors preparing to take part in a morning micro­sur­gery discussion meeting. They include surgeons from many different countries, who share their expe ...more

Taichung, Future Capital of Smart Manufacturing

The manufacturing sector is always changing to reflect contemporary trends of technological development. Since the steam engine ushered in the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, machines have been gradually replacing the power of man and beast. The Second Industrial Revolution at the end of ...more

The Beauty of Creation

Gentle Birthing in Taiwan

Have you ever asked your mother about the circumstances of your birth, or asked other family members about theirs? We are taught all our lives that the day we were born was a great trial for our mothers. Certainly it takes a heroic effort for a mother to give birth. But aside from the physical suffe ...more

Making Beauty Part of Life

An Alternative Classroom Landscape

If a classroom contained a sofa or its exterior became a cave, what kind of scene would that be? These are examples of the classroom landscapes created for children by teacher ­Huang Kuo­ping of New Tai­pei City’s ­Chong De Elementary School. When textbooks have boxes to fill ...more