Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational buil
For three decades Joe Lau has tied his racehorse training career to the rising and falling fortunes of the Macau Jockey Club, but in a few days it will all be over.On April 1, horse racing in the southern Chinese casino hub will be consigned to history after the club’s concession from the government
The book 32 New Takes on Taiwan Cinema includes film reviews by 29 contributors. The collection of critical articles begins with an overview by the three editors then proceeds to present the articles in chronological order. The films, the editors tell us, have been selected for their ability to arou
Throughout the world, free-roaming dogs and cats are a major threat to wildlife.It’s hard to say which of these two carnivores is worse. According to an estimate published in 2013, free-ranging cats kill between 1.3 billion and 4 billion birds and 6.3 billion and 22.3 billion mammals (mainly rodents
Le Van Tam is no stranger to how the vagaries of global trade can determine the fortunes of small coffee farmers like him.He first planted coffee in a patch of land outside Buon Ma Thuot city in Vietnam’s Central Highland region in 1995. For years, his focus was on quantity, not quality. Tam used am
When Yasushi Sasaki moved from Japan to Belgium at the age of 19, he spoke not a word of French and had no clue what he would do with his life.Last month, at the age of 52, he was named Brussels’ chocolatier of the year by the prestigious Gault&Millau food guide — no small triumph in a country that
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not
March 25 to March 31A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for h
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan,
Bhavani Mani Muthuvel and her family of nine have around five 20-liter buckets worth of water for the week for cooking, cleaning and household chores.“From taking showers to using toilets and washing clothes, we are taking turns to do everything,” she said. It’s the only water they can afford.A resi
A sultry sea mist blankets New Taipei City as I pedal from Tamsui District (淡水) up the coast. This might not be ideal beach weather but it’s fine weather for riding –– the cloud cover sheltering arms and legs from the scourge of the subtropical sun.The dedicated bikeway that connects downtown Taipei
Lottery shops in China are ditching bland storefronts to reinvent themselves as hipster hangouts, with slogans that tempt youngsters hit by an economic slowdown with the lure of getting rich quick.“We should still have dreams, who knows one day they may come true?” reads one sign at one lottery stor
Forty years after Ghostbusters and following a string of sequels that never measured up to the 1984 original it’s fair to wonder, well, who else ought we to call? It may be time to, if not give up the ghost entirely, at least give a flip through the ol’ rolodex.But as the lackluster 2021 installment
When it comes to vehicles hitting pedestrians, the blanket term “accident” doesn’t cut it for the activists behind Vision Zero Taiwan. “We have … mistaken accident for acts of nature, forgetting their human-made origin,” reads the text for an event on Saturday organized by the group to commemorate v
As Hong Kong passed a new national security law, the city that evolved from a swampy fishing village to a financial center embarked on another transformation, one that may redefine its role on the world stage and the liberties of its citizens.For the government and supporters of Beijing, the legisla
When I saw the title of this book, I prejudged it. “Another writer who thinks ‘breaking away from China’ is the lens through which Taiwan must forever be viewed,” I thought.That assumption was way off. Instead of dwelling on the island’s proximity to China, author Jonathan Clements delights the pro-
For one afternoon, on Antioch’s main street and tranquil riverbank, the fragrance of burning incense was paired with the sound of Buddhist and Tao chants. Their cumulative calming energy was meant to be a balm of sorts to soothe the racial and religious hate that cast a shadow on Antioch’s legacy.An
Motoring across the calm waters of the South China Sea, Taiwanese captain Lu Wen-shiung recalls the old days, when Chinese and Taiwanese fishers used to meet behind rocky headlands, anchoring their boats out of the authorities’ sight, to share a meal. There was less surveillance then, and the two si
The Picasso Museum in Malaga, the southern Spanish city where the artist was born, will opened a new exhibition yesterday which groups his works according to theme instead of by period.The show — which runs until March 2027 — brings together 141 Pablo Picasso works that the artist kept for himself,
From a rocky perch a larger-than-life rendition of a female protester, clad in a hard hat and a gas mask, gazes over a city in turmoil. Known as Lady Liberty Hong Kong, the statue was hauled to the top of Lion Rock during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. It was meant to be her final resting place. B