A Multidisciplinary Approach to Combining Handicrafts and Design

How do you turn the abundant bamboo of Nan­tou’s Zhu­shan (literally, “bamboo mountain”) Township into highly designed, meticulously made products? Judy Lo, creative director of the design firm Pin­yen Creative, has an answer: work hand in hand with Nan­tou artisans to apply a contemporary des......

The Hengchun Peninsula—A Green Treasure Store of Culture and Creativity

Coming to the Heng­chun Peninsula at the southern tip of Taiwan, you find yourself at the tail end of the Central Mountain Range, where long, narrow plains are intermixed with hills and plateaus, and a skirt of coral divides the land from the surrounding waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Ba­shi......

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......

Lin Peiru: Farming with Motherly Love

All of Mother Nature’s children have been harmed by accumulations of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, but there is one mother farmer who has adopted a maternal attitude toward nurturing the land, eschewing conventional agricultural techniques and sticking determinedly to organic practices.......

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......