1839 Contemporary Art Gallery (1839當代藝廊) is an easy art space to miss. Located down a side-street in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) the gallery doesn’t exactly scream “come in.” But the discreet facade and somewhat pedestrian setting of 1839 deflects those who are not seeking out the Aladdin’s Cave of
Few scenes are more representative of rural Taiwan than a mountain slope covered in row upon row of carefully manicured tea plants. Like staring at the raked sand in a Zen garden, seeing these natural features in an unnaturally perfect arrangement of parallel lines has a certain calming effect. Snap
Taiwan’s vibrant contemporary art scene is set to become the center of attention this month with the return of Taipei Dangdai (台北當代藝術博覽會). Known as “Taipei’s global art fair,” Taipei Dangdai opens its doors to the general public at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center (南港展覽館) Hall 1, today. Presente
Fans of the Planet of the Apes franchise may still be mourning the 2017 death of Caesar, the first smart chimp and the charismatic ape leader. Not to worry: He haunts the next episode, the thrilling, visually stunning Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.We actually start with Caesar’s funeral, his bod
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they sign
There is no doubting Mark O’Neill’s affection for Taiwan. Throughout this book — his first to focus exclusively on the country — he praises the “warmth, friendship and humor” Taiwanese showed in welcoming “the Big-Nose” and making him feel safe and comfortable during two-and-a-half years here as a s
Imagine feeling like an elephant is sitting on your chest, you can’t breathe, there’s a sense of impending doom and the pain is so intense you want to die.You’ve just been stung by a tiny Irukandji jellyfish.While you are unlikely to die, toxicologist Jamie Seymour of James Cook University in Austra
Standardized shipping containers arrive in and leave from Taiwan in vast numbers. In 2021, Kaohsiung — the country’s busiest port — handled 9.86 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units).Almost all of these rectangular boxes are 6.1 or 12.2m (20 or 40 feet) long, 2.44m (8 feet) wide and either 2.59m (
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Ta
The worsening rivalry between the world’s two most powerful countries that has in recent years spread across the world, has now extended beyond the terrestrial, into the realms of the celestial.As China has become deeply enmeshed in strategic competition with the US — while edging towards outright h
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Austra
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’