[Editor’s Note] On the Tracks of Time

On the tracks of time, a good year arrives.......

Art Director Hwarng Wern-ying: A Labor of Love

“For me, The Assassin actually started in 1998, after Flowers of Shanghai was released….” Hwarng Wern-ying has worked with director Hou ­Hsiao-­hsien for 20 years, of which ­Hwarng spent 12 planning and preparing for The Assassin. The sense of realism that comes through inside the frame comes ......

Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Aesthetic: Painstaking Realism

The Assassin, which earned both the official Best Director award at Cannes and a fringe award for best soundtrack, lacks dazzling special effects or implausible feats of gravity defiance. Nevertheless, the postproduction work required over a year to finish, because getting the Tang Dynasty det......

Hou Hsiao-hsien—Freedom Amidst Constraints

The name of Hou ­Hsiao-­hsien has been virtually synonymous with Taiwanese cinema for many years now. A movie by Hou invariably features sparse dialogue, muted colors, passions held in check, and a deeply aesthetic feel. Through Hou’s lens, the performances show a quietly assured power, and th......

Learning Huayu in Taiwan

—A Journey of Boundless Possibilities

Lukas Engström is a Swedish national based in Taiwan. Shortly after he started to learn Mandarin Chinese here, he visited a soft drinks bar to buy a cup of pearl milk tea. While in the queue, he kept repeating to himself the Chinese phrases he had to say to the staff. When at last he gave the ......

Soothing Taiwan’s Sweet Tooth

Stories of Local Pastries

Rivaling Willy Wonka’s legendary chocolate bars, and laden with even more stories than Marcel Proust’s madeleine cakes, Taiwanese pastries continue to satisfy our sweet tooth. With their origins in traditional Chinese confectionery, they are made with local ingredients rich in cultural meaning......

Tradition and Innovation:

The Protean Power of Instant Noodles

Who invented instant noodles? In Taiwan, we come across the forerunner of instant noodles, the world’s first instant noodles with sauce packets containing sumptuous chunks of meat, as well as those featuring distinctively local recipes that make use of Chinese medicinal herbs and huadiao, a cl......

A New Trend in Medical Tourism

—Healthcare and Health Maintenance in Taiwan

Hospitals in Taiwan possess high-end medical technology and equipment, and Taiwan is a world leader in certain specialties, including liver transplantation and reproductive medicine. Institutions here provide very cost-effective healthcare services and have a competitive advantage against the ......