May 6 to May 12Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from
Sipping champagne and nibbling fried dumplings, Shanghai’s rich and influential posed by Louis Vuitton signs at a runway afterparty — a lavish affair designed to win customers in China’s crucial market.China is the world’s biggest spender in the luxury sector, accounting for half of global sales. Bu
The swing of a talon and a flurry of feathers leaves a rooster motionless, a cockfight bout viewed as cruel by many but which binds disparate Indian forest communities together.India is renowned for its fanatical cricket obsession but in the central state of Chhattisgarh, cockfighting draws the crow
Moritz Mieg, 22, lay face down in the rubble, the ground shaking violently beneath him. Boulders crashed down around him, some stones hitting his back. “I just hoped that it would be one big hit and over, because I did not want to be hit nearly to death and then have to slowly die,” the student from
A breakout moment in Hollywood can happen at any age and stage. This summer at the movies, there are plenty of talents to discover, from the formerly incarcerated man whose story inspired the film he stars in to the It bully whose childhood dream of playing an ape in a movie came true.Here are five
It’s a musical mystery that has been confounding the internet for years. But an ultra-catchy 80s-sounding song that seemingly no one could identify has finally been tracked down — in a 1986 adult movie.A snippet of the song, known as Everyone Knows That — a low-quality, warped recording that neverth
By far the most jarring of the new appointments for the incoming administration is that of Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) to head the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). That is a huge demotion for one of the most powerful figures in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).Tseng has one of the most impressive r
In the hills outside the Tajik capital Dushanbe, shepherd Bakhtior Sharipov was watching over his flock of giant Hissar sheep.The breed, prized for profitability and an ability to adapt to climate change, garners celebrity status in the Central Asian country, which is beset by a shortage of both mea
There was an awkward moment during a Q&A session at a book launch in Taipei a couple of months ago. Following his presentation, an author who was visiting Taiwan to promote his work, was challenged about a statement on one of his slides that there had been “no political assassination” during Taiwan’
When picturing Tainan, what typically comes to mind is charming alleyways, Japanese architecture and world-class cuisine. But look beyond the fray, through stained glass windows and sliding bookcases, and there exists a thriving speakeasy subculture, where innovative mixologists ply their trade, ser
Arjan Smit gazes out over his tulip fields, a riot of red and pink flowers he has cultivated all his adult life and part of a family business his grandfather started in 1940.The 55-year-old has seen many changes over a long career but he says climate change is making an all-consuming profession even
Noa Kekuewa Lincoln remembers when he first encountered unique Hawaiian sugarcane varieties in 2004. The fresh stalks, bursting with color, might have sprouted from Willy Wonka’s imagination, not the soil.Lincoln, a kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) expert in Indigenous cropping systems and an assistan
Functional beverages — or drinks promoted as offering mental or physical benefits beyond hydration — are growing in popularity around the world. Hundreds of companies have jumped into the market, hoping to get some buzz with trendy and sometimes unfamiliar ingredients.Here are some of the latest one
Last week, Viola Zhou published a marvelous deep dive into the culture clash between Taiwanese boss mentality and American labor practices at the Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) plant in Arizona in Rest of World. “The American engineers complained of rigid, counterproductive hierarchies at the company,”
April 29 to May 5One month before the Taipei-Keelung New Road (北基新路) was set to open, the news that US general Douglas MacArthur had died, reached Taiwan. The military leader saw Taiwan as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” that was of huge strategic value to the US. He’d been a proponent of keeping i
My previous column Donovan’s Deep Dives: The powerful political force that vanished from the English press on April 23 began with three paragraphs of what would be to most English-language readers today incomprehensible gibberish, but are very typical descriptions of Democratic Progressive Party (DP
Years ago, I was thrilled when I came across a map online showing a fun weekend excursion: a long motorcycle ride into the mountains of Pingtung County (屏東) going almost up to the border with Taitung County (台東), followed by a short hike up to a mountain lake with the mysterious name of “Small Ghost
If you haven’t heard, capybaras are having a bit of a moment. The hashtag #capybara has over 10 billion views on TikTok and counting. Viral videos circulate of these big fluffy rodents engaging in sometimes ridiculous, sometimes hilarious behavior — surfing down the river on a crocodiles’ back or ba
The “one country, two systems” principle has been Beijing’s paramount approach to Taiwan since 1982. Taiwanese and Chinese are described by Beijing as compatriots who come from the same “family” and shoulder the same responsibility to revive the “glory of the Chinese nation.” The words “home” and “f
Come Home, My Child (2023), by Taiwanese independent filmmaker Jasmine Ching-Hui Lee (李靖惠), will be making its Asia premiere next month at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival (TIDF). In this intimate documentary, Lee explores the life of Mama Yang, an elderly Chinese woman living in New Yo