For several years now, thousands of sets of twins have gathered in Twinsburg, Ohio as part of a nationwide festival celebrating the nature of twindom. People magazine did a feature about the annual festival, as did scores of newspapers across the US. Now a similar celebration is coming to Taipei, thanks to Dr. Chuen Chang, a twin herself (see last paragraph, below), who works in Taiwan as "a mental health promoter."
Twins Day in Taipei is set for Nov. 11, double eleven in calendarspeak (11/11), with Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬-^?E) proclaiming the day a special city festival. On the following day, Nov. 12, which is Sun Yat-sen's Birthday and a national holiday, Chang is hoping to lure 3,500 sets of twins to Taipei's City Hall Square to form a symbolic "tree of twins."
Chang says that Taiwan has about 250,000 sets of twins, so finding 3,500 shouldn't be too hard.
Want to join in the fun? Call the Taipei Twins office at (02) 2397-0800, extension 8348, for more information.
By the way, Taipei Times reader Joel Aronson, who lives in the US and is the father of twin daughters, told Off the Beat by e-mail that for the last two years, Chuen and Jean Chang of Taiwan have won the "Twins Coming Farthest Outside USA" award at the Twinsburg festival. That's Dr. Chuen Chang, mentioned above.
Quake makes GIO Web site a big hit
Taiwan's Government Information Office has enjoyed a higher profile in cyberspace thanks to the 921 earthquake. The GIO reports that people from overseas have accessed the office's Web site more than 30,000 times since the quake. The Web site includes statements from the government on quake relief and reconstruction, as well as related reports from domestic news media (word is, the GIO has even swiped some Taipei Times graphics).
Overseas surfers who have visited the GIO Web site hail from 95 countries, with the greatest number of hits coming from the US, followed by Japan, Canada, Singapore, Britain, Germany, France and Australia. The English-language Web site "Taiwan Headlines" can be found at www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw. The GIO is scheduled to launch a Spanish-language Taiwan page by the end of the year.
Call for help: Emmanuel Baptist Orphanage
Dear Off the Beat: I am looking for people who were in the Emmanuel Baptist Orphanage in Taipei in the 1960s and 1970s. My parents operated the orphanage and all contact has been lost with the "children" there. If any readers can help me locate any of them, please e-mail me at:
dave_breeden@yahoo.com
-- David Breeden, US
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