Healing Young and Old Through Art

Father Hugo Peter

More than four decades ago, Father Hugo Peter traveled from his native Switzerland to Taiwan, where he held painting and arts and crafts classes for a group of people with special needs on ­Penghu. Their angelic smiles captured his heart, and he abandoned aspirations to preach in his own churc......

The Angel East of the River

Father Maurice Poinsot

Maurice Poinsot, 85, is a priest at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Hua­lien County’s Yuli Township, and is currently the oldest priest from the Paris Foreign Missions Society in Hua­lien. He has lived among Taiwan’s native peoples for more than five decades, writing a French‡Amis diction......

Director Fung Ming-chu’s Hopes for the NPM’s Southern Branch

“I am proud of my colleagues at the National Palace Museum, and proud of the museum’s Southern Branch.” The night before the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum opened for scheduled visits, NPM director Fung Ming-chu sat down for an interview with Taiwan Panorama, revealing her inner......

Compassion at the Thai–Myanmar Border: Sylvia Lin

Twenty years ago, a Taiwanese woman named Sylvia Lin took her simple ideals to the Thai border town of Mae Sot. There she has lived ever since, aiding Burmese migrants and refugees, and venturing deep into the back country to assist local women and children. When asked why she does so much, Li......

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......

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 ......

The Taiwanese Camino:

Mazu Pilgrimages

The activities that take place in Taiwan each March to celebrate the goddess Mazu are the island’s most boisterous folk culture events. For seven to nine days and nights, people follow Mazu—Taiwan’s “number-one goddess”—on pilgrimages and “tours of inspection.” Walking in these processions pro......