Popular cultural interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan strait seem to have become trendy these days. Taiwan's pride and joy, Patty Hou (
Meanwhile, musically conservative pop songs imported from China, such as Mouse Loves Grains (
Local horror flick The Heirloom (
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
During a promotion event for his latest work The Myth (神話) in Malaysia last week, Jackie Chan (成龍) dropped a bombshell when he announced that he would put an end to his glorious days as a kung-fu actor in five years, and would like to further his film career as a producer and director. It's a smart move for the 51-year-old action star, since he will find it increasingly difficult to keep up with the acrobatics now he's nearing 60.
Chen has also expressed interest in making documentaries on environmental issues after his retreat from action movies. So fans, prepare yourselves to see Chan happily surrounded by big cuddly animals on the wild side in the near future.
Chan's announcement of a career shift came two months after Jet Li (
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Hong Kong beauty Rosamund Kwan (
Another pop star that will make her sexual counterparts die of jealousy is Taiwanese singer Zhang Qing-fang (
Momko Tao (陶子), however, has suffered a series of setbacks lately. Not only was she criticized for being too self-centered to work with other people, but her new album also suffered surprisingly lackluster sales. Now the critics are complaining about her performance in the TV drama A Detective's Tale (偵探物語). The production team said Tao was a big headache on the set as she is a headstrong person who wanted everyone to listen to her. At a press conference to clear her name, Tao said is quoted as saying in the Liberty Times, "It really hurts to be misunderstood. For a moment, I seriously wanted to put an end to my entertainment career."
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located