Taiwan in 100 Books
November 2nd, 2020
Hoping to visit Taiwan when the pandemic eventually ends, and thinking of reading up on the island in the meantime? There’s no shortage of English-language books about this East Asia country. In fact, there are so many you may not know where to start. Since moving to Taiwan from his native New Zealand in the […]
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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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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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Nature in a Nutshell: Taiwan’s Botanical Gardens
February 28th, 2020
Not every nature-lover coming to Taiwan has time to immerse themselves in the mountainous interior. For those who can’t spare more than half a day away from the big city — or who prefer carefully-managed ecosystems to true wilderness — botanical gardens are excellent places to understand why Taiwan has been called a ‘biodiversity hot-spot’. […]
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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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Waterbird Wonderland: Taiwan’s Unique Natural Wonders, Part 3
December 15th, 2019
It’s not just humans who find Taiwan’s cooler months exceptionally comfortable. Between October and April, millions of migrating birds reach the island via the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, drawn by plentiful food and lowland temperatures that seldom dip below 12 degrees Celsius. One of the most interesting avian visitors is the endangered Black-faced spoonbill, of which […]
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The Purple Butterfly Valley: Taiwan’s Unique Natural Wonders, Part 2
November 16th, 2019
Between now and next March, a mountainous district in Greater Kaohsiung will justify its alternative name. Maolin is also known as ‘the Purple Butterfly Valley’ because late each autumn hundreds of thousands of lepidopterans migrate from the colder northern half of Taiwan to this perennially sunny corner of the island. For some of the butterflies, […]
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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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Taiwan in Colours: Blue
July 4th, 2019
Taroko Gorge, perhaps Taiwan’s finest natural attraction, is one of those places where Mother Nature avails herself of almost every hue on her palette. The layers of marble, schist and gneiss range from near-pure white to dark grey. There are creamy browns, near silvers and even diluted golds. But at the bottom of this breathtaking […]
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Island of Trees: Taiwan’s Magnificent Woodlands
June 20th, 2019
Here’s a statistic that astounds many who’ve never visited Taiwan: About 58% of the main island is covered by trees or bamboo, with stands of hardwoods accounting for more than half of this area. That’s a higher percentage than in the US, Canada, or Brazil. The figure for the UK is a mere 12%. This […]
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New Taiwan Photo Book: Ilha Formosa Taiwan in 100 HDR Panoramic Images & Scripts
May 8th, 2019
If you think the photos accompanying this blog post are stunning, you’re not alone. They’re just a few of the hundred pictures Sherman Cheng selected for inclusion in his stunning new book, Ilha Formosa Taiwan in 100 HDR Panoramic Images & Scripts. Cheng, who retired a few years ago after a career in a multinational […]
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No Cyclist Knows Taiwan’s Roads Better: Chatting With Nathan Miller
October 29th, 2018
‘Taiwan offers some of the best cycling in Asia. The network of roads that wind throughout the mountainous terrain is a hill-climber’s dream come true,’ says Nathan Miller, an American who’s been pedalling around and across the island for a decade. It’s fair to say Miller is a hardcore cyclist. ‘I have seven bikes: two […]
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