Taiwan In Colours: Yellow
September 22nd, 2020
Here in Taiwan, the hottest part of the year is coming to an end and we can begin to look forward to autumn. Yellow is the colour traditionally associated with the end of summer, and also a prominent feature in temples and shrines, especially those on the Buddhist end of the religious spectrum. The reasons why […]
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Taiwan’s Delectable Dumplings
June 17th, 2020
Taiwan offers the adventurous gourmet a mouthwatering range of dumplings. They come boiled, fried and steamed. Some are filled with pork, others shrimp paste, vegetables or even soup. The surrounding carbohydrate is often a thin skin or dough — but it may be glutinous rice. Life of Taiwan clients often ask to try the renowned […]
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Dragon’s Whiskers, Empty Hearts and Goose Leaves: Taiwan’s Scrumptious Greens
April 8th, 2020
Official statistics don’t reflect the scale and variety of vegetable cultivation in Taiwan. Many farmers who focus on rice or fruit also grow seasonal greens which they share with relatives rather than sell. City-dwellers cultivate scallions or cilantro in balcony boxes. Few Taiwanese buy frozen or canned vegetables, preferring to shop in the traditional morning […]
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2020: The Year of Mountain Tourism
January 6th, 2020
For its size, Taiwan is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. Nearly one-third of the island is a kilometre or more above sea level, while a tenth is above 2,500 m (a statistic where Taiwan matches Alpine Switzerland). No fewer than 258 named peaks top 3,000 m — a stunning total, given […]
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Taiwan In Colours: Green
October 5th, 2019
As soon as you leave Taiwan’s cities, you’ll see plenty of green. The island straddles the Tropic of Cancer, and seldom lacks for sunshine or precipitation. Plots of land which are neither built on nor cultivated are soon taken over by grasses and weeds, then bushes and eventually fast-growing trees. Since the 1970s agriculture has […]
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Came for the Movies, Returned for the Cuisine: An Interview with Food Writer Matt Gross
May 30th, 2019
Acclaimed Taiwanese directors like Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang can take credit for more than award-winning movies like as The Puppetmaster and Yi Yi: A One and a Two. Back in the early 1990s, their films inspired in one American a profound curiosity about Taiwan which has turned into an ongoing love affair with the […]
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Embracing Obsessions: Foodie Journalist Clarissa Wei
December 13th, 2018
Clarissa Wei is a Taiwanese-American journalist who describes herself as ‘obsessed with traditional ecological knowledge, and trying to learn as much as I can about the plants and foods that indigenous Taiwanese people ate, and how they processed them’. Over the past ten years, Wei has written dozens of articles about the cuisines and culinary […]
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Tainan: The City That Never Changes (But Keeps Getting Better)
November 8th, 2018
The ancient city of Tainan is very close to Life of Taiwan’s heart. Between them, the founding team has lived in Tainan for well over half a century. The great appeal of Tainan, the reason why visitors come back again and again, is that it never changes. The former capital’s most famous landmarks, such as […]
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New Taiwan Food Book: A Culinary History of Taipei
October 10th, 2018
This is a very personal entry. I’m delighted to announce that this week sees the publication of A Culinary History of Taipei: Beyond Pork and Ponlai by Rowman & Littlefield. This book, which I co-wrote with Katy Hui-wen Hung, is the first English-language book that attempts to answer the questions: What do the Taiwanese eat, […]
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Dodging Raindrops in Central Taiwan
July 10th, 2018
Central Taiwan enjoys an equitable climate yet heavy rain is possible between late May and early September. The region’s major population center is Taichung, a municipality that now stretches from the coast to the high mountains. The city is growing faster than any other major settlement in Taiwan and has benefitted from some major infrastructure […]
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Mango Madness and Other Tasty Reasons to Visit Taiwan in the Summer
June 7th, 2018
Summer isn’t the most comfortable of seasons in Taiwan. In urban areas, the mercury often hits 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit) and these temperatures are usually accompanied by high humidity. But for travellers who enjoy the vibrant colours of the hot season—think lushly green foliage in the hills and maritime shades of blue at […]
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Adore Pork? You’ll Love Taiwan
May 14th, 2017
Taiwan has been called a ‘hog island’ and for good reason. In places like Pingtung County, the density of pig farms far exceeds that of anywhere in North America or Europe. Because local consumers prefer fresh to frozen meat, the sight of swine being trucked to market isn’t unusual. As recently as the late 1960s […]
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