Taiwan cities also shine
For the past few years the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has also invited several cities with close ties to Asia-Pacific countries, such as New Taipei City, Tainan, and Taoyuan, to join in the cultural exchanges of Asia-Pacific Culture Day. MOFA has invited these cities, which have sister city or friendship agreements with cities in partner countries for Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, to set up booths at the event to let more people appreciate Taiwan’s cultural power.
There is a passage in the book Our Struggle by the Indonesian writer Yohanes Arif Wibowo that reads: “Let us continually be aware of and remember our hopes and goals wherever we are, from Brunei to Taiwan / In order to achieve our myriad dreams / It is certainly very arduous / But everything must start from here.” This quotation comes from a collection of bookmarks, compiled by the Taipei City Foreign and Disabled Labor Office, featuring selections drawn from works that have won the Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants over the years. The bookmarks were available free of charge at the booth of the Taipei City Government, adding a rich literary tone to Asia-Pacific Culture Day.
The theme adopted by the New Taipei City Cultural Affairs Department was even more unique. They used the slogan “mobile museums” to attract families to their booth next to the main stage. Activities on the first day were led by the Shihsanhang Museum of Archeology. They allowed children to reassemble broken pottery to get a feel for cultural restoration work, and even adults joined in the fun. The second day it was the turn of the Yingge Ceramics Museum, which entertained children enormously with its specially made mosaic puzzles.
Tainan, which greatly values exchanges with other cities, appeared at Asia-Pacific Culture Day for the third year running. Each year it has taken an important historic building in Tainan as its theme, from the Chikan Tower in 2016 and the Hayashi Department Store in 2017 to the Anping Tree House in 2018 (with a model of the house as installation art). The city’s booth introduced Tainan’s history, culture, and major tourist attractions in several languages including English and Japanese. There was also an activity on both afternoons in which people could get prizes for correctly answering questions about special features of Tainan. They could win such things as Cheng Gong potato chips, Tainan-themed wangzaibiao (round printed cards similar to those used in the milk caps game), and pencil cases in the shape of milkfish. There was great excitement at the scene, attracting not only large numbers of foreign tourists, but many Taiwanese as well.
One of the ways that the hospitable people of Kiribati welcome guests from afar is to place handmade shell necklaces around their necks.