Decorative Tiles and Red Brick

A Taiwanese Architectural Dialogue

Look up while visiting a traditional Taiwanese san­he­yuan, or courtyard home, and you might see decorative tiles dotting the roof ridge or the walls. These tiles were an ingenious finishing touch added to lovely old Taiwanese buildings, their visual interplay with the ordinary red brick aroun......

A Cultural Rebalancing Act— The National Palace Museum’s Southern Branch

The Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum combines a broad general focus on Asian art and culture—the first major national-level museum in Asia to do so—with a special emphasis on local Taiwanese culture. Eagerly awaited by the nation’s people, the museum finally opened its doors at th......

Charm Villa—A Fishy Feel for the World’s Teacups

“Don’t raise a goldfish in a cup,” enjoin the lyrics of an old Taiwanese song. It’s a phrase often heard when friends get together for a few drinks, meaning that you need to drink up and leave your glass empty—really nothing at all to do with goldfish. However, since around 2013 there have in ......

Going Barefoot—One for One

Buying a pair of shoes can be simply another consumer experience in your local department store—or it could be one that changes the life of a child. During her missions abroad, Mimi Chen has seen many children who were forced to give up their education just because they didn’t have shoes to we......

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 ......