New Year's Eves are always meant to be the mother of all club nights on the annual calendar, but, increasingly, extortionate DJ fees and the associated hike on cover charges, as well as the prospect of having to mingle with every clubber and his glow-stick, mean that, quite possibly, clubs and their punters have their eyes on the rest of the year for real entertainment value. Luxy, quite wisely, saw in the New Year not with a superstar DJ but the residents playing some good tunes but with a smaller than usual crowd; Champagne 3 was reportedly busier though, that, however, may have been an optical illusion given the smaller size of the venue itself. It seems that many people simply chose to avoid the bigger clubs and opt for more intimate house parties instead: a combination of a lack of taxis in the city, two-hour queues for the MRT, and the usual (and, in the event, unfounded) rumors of planned police raids put people off.
The first week of January is predictably quiet in clubland, as everyone takes a well-deserved rest from the hedonism of the other 50-odd weeks of the year. However, for those not yet satiated or for those who mean to start as they go on, a couple of things are a'happening around town.
Luxy's Sabbatical takes a couple of weeks off from its normal system of bringing over an international name. Promoter Dominik Tyliszczak, aka Hooker, says that the strategy reflects the post-New Year lull, though the decision is not simply financial: "It's hard to drag people out dancing for the first couple of weeks of January, and having someone come over and play to an empty room doesn't make sense: it's no fun for them and doesn't really show what we're doing. Also, it gives us a chance to let our local talent shine through which is important if we want to grow the scene here." Local talent is indeed showcased with residents Scotty Baller, Coffee, Hooker, and Junior and Megan on rotation over the next fortnight or so.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DIGIAHI
For something a bit more avant-garde, The Wall present New Zealand/Taiwanese band Digihai on Friday night. The six-piece ensemble name-check Primal Scream, Ed Rush and Aphex Twin as their influences, which has to be a good thing, and they play a live set of drum 'n' bass inflected electronica. Support comes from 88 Guava Seeds, and the fee for the fun is NT$400 with a drink.
Tomorrow sees Vertigo throwing down a house and electro set on wax and Ableton Live at Champagne 3 in the latest of their Digital Vibe/DJs In the Mix sessions. Cover is NT$500 with a drink; ladies get in free before midnight. Over at Luxy, it's Taiwan's only representative at Germany's Mayday festival, Reason, along with Taiwan's DMC champions in the Galleria.
This year's DJ Poll was won by favorite of the last few weeks, Kaohsiung's DJ Stan Wu. Congratulations to Stan. As of press time, Stan was unavailable for comment, though whether this is because he is celebrating his win with several bottles of champagne in a Jacuzzi or fretting over his acceptance speech is unclear. Hopefully, he'll be in touch by next week. Second and third places went, respectively, to Blueman and Glenn. In the capital, Marcus Aurelius retains his crown of thorns as the people's choice.
The year was 1991. A Toyota Land Cruiser set out on a 67km journey up the Junda Forest Road (郡大林道) toward an old loggers’ camp, at which point the hikers inside would get out and begin their ascent of Jade Mountain (玉山). Little did they know, they would be the last group of hikers to ever enjoy this shortcut into the mountains. An approaching typhoon soon wiped out the road behind them, trapping the vehicle on the mountain and forever changing the approach to Jade Mountain. THE CONTEMPORARY ROUTE Nowadays, the approach to Jade Mountain from the north side takes an
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April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and