It's 5pm on an ordinary day in the week. The MRT door opens at the Zhongxiao and Dunhua stop and countless people get off. Many of them have backpacks and some are even dressed in school uniform. To any Taipei person in the know, it wouldn't be hard to guess their destination: The Eslite bookstore on Dunhua and Renai roads.
With the opening of the new flagship Eslite in Xinyi district, all this may soon change soon. Or will it?
"The flagship store first opened to the public on 12/16," said Eslite spokesman Lin I-hui (
PHOTO COURTESY OF ESLITE
The flagship store has already received much attention from avid book shoppers. For the first week, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people visited per day. Once inside, it's not difficult to understand the hype. With a total of eight floors, including two basement floors that sell the latest clothing trends and the food court, it is three-and-a-half times the size of the Eslite store on Dunhua and Renai. One of its most impressive features is that the decor of every section in the book store is designed to correspond with the category of the books.
But to the younger generation who make up a pivotal and loyal core of any bookstore's target audience, does all this matter?
"I visited the flagship store along with a few classmates during the first week," said Jeanne Lin (
Lin I-hui responded, "We were a bit rushed during the first few days but we've finished up now. All the books are in order and I'm sure the public will appreciate the nice details that distinguish us from other bookstores."
With its 10-year history, as well as being the first 24 hour bookstore, the old Eslite was an establishment in Taipei, an emblem of its sophistication. Will the new Eslite exert the same influence?
"Ask any student, or anyone in their 20s or 30s. Almost all of them will admit that the Dun-Nan Eslite played a vital role in their social or academic lives," said Bob (曾勤博), 24, a graduate student studying law. "By now, it's not just a bookstore. It's a social landmark that people in Taipei are proud of ... It's an unwritten rule among students that guys go there after class or during long summer afternoons to check out the girls."
When asked if he usually buys his books there, he shakes his head. Most students don't buy books in Eslite, he explains. They're higher priced. But with its aura of urban chic, it has become a playground for the younger generation.
Whether the new Xinyi Eslite can strike the same chord and eventually find its own identity among Taipei bookstores, the people of Taipei will soon decide. Yet one thing is certain: The Xinyi Eslite has arrived.
The store is at 11, Songgao Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei (
In 2020, a labor attache from the Philippines in Taipei sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanding that a Filipina worker accused of “cyber-libel” against then-president Rodrigo Duterte be deported. A press release from the Philippines office from the attache accused the woman of “using several social media accounts” to “discredit and malign the President and destabilize the government.” The attache also claimed that the woman had broken Taiwan’s laws. The government responded that she had broken no laws, and that all foreign workers were treated the same as Taiwan citizens and that “their rights are protected,
A white horse stark against a black beach. A family pushes a car through floodwaters in Chiayi County. People play on a beach in Pingtung County, as a nuclear power plant looms in the background. These are just some of the powerful images on display as part of Shen Chao-liang’s (沈昭良) Drifting (Overture) exhibition, currently on display at AKI Gallery in Taipei. For the first time in Shen’s decorated career, his photography seeks to speak to broader, multi-layered issues within the fabric of Taiwanese society. The photographs look towards history, national identity, ecological changes and more to create a collection of images
March 16 to March 22 In just a year, Liu Ching-hsiang (劉清香) went from Taiwanese opera performer to arguably Taiwan’s first pop superstar, pumping out hits that captivated the Japanese colony under the moniker Chun-chun (純純). Last week’s Taiwan in Time explored how the Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) theme song for the Chinese silent movie The Peach Girl (桃花泣血記) unexpectedly became the first smash hit after the film’s Taipei premiere in March 1932, in part due to aggressive promotion on the streets. Seeing an opportunity, Columbia Records’ (affiliated with the US entity) Taiwan director Shojiro Kashino asked Liu, who had
At a funeral in rural Changhua County, musicians wearing pleated mini-skirts and go-go boots march around a coffin to the beat of the 1980s hit I Hate Myself for Loving You. The performance in a rural farming community is a modern mash-up of ancient Chinese funeral rites and folk traditions, with saxophones, rock music and daring outfits. Da Zhong (大眾) women’s group is part of a long tradition of funeral marching bands performing in mostly rural areas of Taiwan for families wanting to give their loved ones an upbeat send-off. The band was composed mainly of men when it started 50
RSS