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A Different Kind of Education

Our cover story this month explores “alternative education.” Looking outside the existing educational paradigm, we visit several non-typical learning venues, including the Taiwan Insect Museum, curated by beetle breeding expert Ko Hsin-ping, as well as Tamorak and Pinanaman, two community scho......

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Living Well in Stressful Times

As spring approaches, Taiwan Panorama suggests some opportunities for good living in areas such as environmental protection, leisure activities, and flower arranging. A “Cooking & Living” workshop can help you experience the joy of cooking. With a “Northbirds” workshop, you can observe and dra......

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Hidden Champions of Taiwanese Industry

In today’s unpredictable world, Taiwan is home to some enterprises which, though not household names, nonetheless play an in­dispens­able role as genuine “hidden champions.”  Among these firms, there is one with a product range of over 100,000 abrasive wheels and other machining tools, and ano......

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Cradles of Indie Music

Before online video platforms, musical artists presented their work at live events such as campus music competitions, music festivals, and live house performances. Although these days music fans can instantly get access to music online, there is no replacing the feeling of a live performance. ......

Featured Story

Taiwan: Veggie Heaven!

Perhaps you have noticed the increasing vitality of Taiwan’s fruit and vege­table trade. Besides traditional markets and super­market chains, there are neighborhood organic food shops and weekend farmers’ markets in many locations, all displaying a huge variety of fruits and vegetables in seas......

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Life in the Post-Covid Era

The eruption of the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted social order and daily life. But it has also inspired the rise and transformation of many industries. Moreover, well-known people from all walks of life are being affected by the pandemic in ways that are causing them to rethink the links bet......

The Xiluo Bridge

The Xiluo Bridge, which links Changhua County with Yunlin, its southern neighbor, was once the second longest bridge in the world. It spans the Zhuoshui River, considered the dividing line between northern and southern Taiwan. Seen from the air, the red steel structure and the river bed combin......

Finding a Way Forward for Education in Taiwan

More than ten years ago I wrote my first academic paper on education, analyzing the impact of government regulations on schools’ freedom to teach, and presented it at a national conference. Later, a series of studies I did on the legality of religious education under Taiwan’s regulatory framew......

Immersion in Amis

Tamorak and Pinanaman Community Schools

The different ethnic communities living throughout the island of Taiwan once spoke their various tongues and practiced their diverse cultures. Gradually, no matter where they hailed from, by learning from the same textbooks and speaking the same language, they shed their local color. Fortunate......

An Insect Museum for the Children

Beetle Breeder Extraordinaire Ko Hsin-Ping

When Ko Hsin-ping entered graduate school in the Department of Entomology at National Taiwan University after taking top marks in the entrance exam, he dreamt of becoming a professor and returning to teach at his alma mater. But after he received his master’s degree he chose to set up in busin......

Working Their Magic

Covestro and LIS Reinvent Science Education

Alternative science education fosters scientific under­standing through fun experiences. Yet the field’s ample use of dramatic scientific experiments is but a means, for the actual goal is to engender “chemistry” among the participants themselves. The Covestro MagicMaterial School helps hearin......

Trekking for Self-Discovery

The Taiwan Wilderness Education Association

“Wherever we go in the mountains… we find more than we seek.” —John Muir Trekking in the mountains is a demanding pastime. For some trekkers, those demands are the point. They love that the pursuit requires them to be mutually supportive, to confront their weaknesses, and to become better comm......

Rhythmic Architecture

The Wave Tower of San Sin High School

In 1963 Lin Chiung-yao, founder of Kaohsiung’s San Sin High School of Commerce and Home Economics, commissioned archi­tect Chen Jen-ho to design classrooms with tiered seats, to give her students a better view of their teachers and the blackboards. Chen grappled with structural challenges, a t......

Yunlin Past and Present

Cycling Taiwan’s Western Plain

Yunlin is Taiwan’s leading agricultural county. The local culture has developed and prospered in little towns surrounded by vast stretches of farmland. Riding between fields, through towns and again into fields, following rivers and streams, Yunlin offers cyclists the fragrance of fresh vegeta......

Looking Beyond Oneself

DNA Expert Alex Chen

New Taipei City police officer Alex Chen uses identification technology to provide leads to criminal invest­igators. A 2020 recipient of the Examination Yuan’s Civil Service Outstanding Contribution Award, Chen applies the same technology to the difficult task of identifying homeless persons a......

A Kurd in Taiwan

Zanst Othman’s Life Journey

Even though the Kurdish people, like the Taiwanese, live in Asia, talk of them often stays focused on stereotypes like war, refugees, terrorist attacks, and ethnic cleansing. Zanst Othman, who comes from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region and married a woman from Taiwan, has written a book abo......