The Council for Cultural Affairs will team up with a US educational group to introduce Taiwan’s culture to 1,000 elementary schools across the US later this year as part of the Republic of China’s (ROC) centennial celebration.
The “Centenary Cultural Roadshow” will present the traditional values and diversity of Taiwan’s culture and lifestyle in square boxes called “ROC Centenary Treasure Chests” in 1,000 locations across the US.
1 million students
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Speaking at a ceremony launching the program, Council for Cultural Affairs Minister Emile Sheng (盛治仁) said yesterday the boxes would be shipped to 1,000 Adventist elementary schools next month, allowing an estimated 1 million US students to get to know Taiwan through a “One Week in Taiwan” program in September and October.
“We want to present our beautiful country to the world. This will be an interesting way for US students to get to know Taiwan better,” Sheng said.
He added that the council was looking for similar opportunities to expand the cultural lessons to Europe and other countries.
Robert Christensen, chief operating officer of Adventist Educational Holdings in Taiwan, said his organization had joined the program because “we believe Taiwan is like a hidden gem.”
“So many people have heard about it, but they don’t realize how beautiful it is or how nice it is,” he said.
POP-UP
The treasure chest, he said, is designed around a pop-up book showcasing a traditional temple street, with miniatures of Taiwanese buildings and stores, such as tea shops, food stores, temples and clothing stores.
It also contains at least 38 items representative of Taiwanese culture, including divination blocks, traditional Taiwanese puppets, Hakka flower-print fabric, lanterns, a paper umbrella, a Taipei 101 postcard, old-fashioned toys and a CD of the theme song of the ROC anniversary sung by Taiwanese pop diva A-mei (張惠妹).
These and other props will be used by teachers to introduce Taiwanese culture and give students the chance to appreciate it for themselves.
When learning about Taiwanese tea, for example, students would be able to play with tea pots and utensils included in the treasure chest.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was invited to attend the ceremony, said the roadshow would enable US students to discover the beauty and excellence of Taiwan, as well as showcase the solid relationship between the two countries.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai