This is a fantastic read for anyone who’s already perused all the guidebooks and now wants to delve into some of the deeper historical contexts behind important people, places and mind-bending customs in Taiwan.

Seasoned travel writer Steven Crook, who has written for basically every magazine and newspaper in the region, first penned this memoir with the subtitle “Taiwan, As It Seemed To Me” in 2001. War God is a classic for sure, a compact, 133-page treasure for hard-core… Read more...

The ‘Transformative Yoga Retreat’ will take place on the beautiful south coast of Kenting, Taiwan, with Hatha/ Kundalini/Ashtanga certified yoga teachers and Reiki masters: Lisa Furtado, Mayna Chien and Emily Anjali O’Sheehan, the weekend of February 11 and 12, 2012.

Kaohsiung Yogi is hosting a weekend retreat of detoxification, rejuvenation and transformation. At a comfortable southern B&B, surrounded by space and nature, there will be a balance of traditional yogic practices with the luxuries of modern living.

All are invited to practice yoga, meditate and breathe. Cultivate a state of inner peace and purity. Nourish… Read more...

A heads-up for all foreigners who love driving recklessly — Taiwan cops are finally getting savvy

After a spate of recent high-profile cases involving deaths of innocents, Taiwan police are cracking down on drunk driving (or drink-driving if you prefer). This includes reining in foreigners under the influence, who have until recently enjoyed a certain marginalization and therefore immunity in matters of traffic violations. This is mainly due to the customarily poor English-speaking ability of most police officers, who in the past found dealing with foreigners ‘tai mafan‘ – too much trouble.

But things… Read more...

During a recent visit to the Foguang Shan Buddhist Monastery in southern Taiwan, the Ven. Miao Tan shared her story of entering the monastery. After “having doubts about life”, she came from Singapore to live and practice Buddhism, and learn “the value of life.” After becoming disillusioned with working in the hotel industry, she started asking herself questions, like: “Why am I here?” and “Do I really want to work this way?” She attended a gathering with guest speakers from Taiwan, and decided to enter the monastery to learn about Buddhism.

This is… Read more...

By Trista di Genova, The Wild East

The Fo Guang Shan (‘Buddha Light Mountain’) Monastery in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan opened to the public this month its new memorial to the Enlightened One, an 108m-high, 1,780-ton copper statue that is the largest of its kind in Asia. The monumental effort entailed three months of assembly, using in total 800 tons of metal.

The monument’s cost is hard to calculate since the project was the result of “a million well-wishers” –individual donations from supporters around the… Read more...

As W.E. predicted, KMT President Ma Ying-jeou won a fairly close election against DPP challenger Tsai Ing-wen. With a 74% turnout rate, Ma won with about 780,000 votes, or 4-5 percent over Tsai, 51.5% to her 45.6%. In Tsai’s concession speech, she resigned as DPP chair to take responsibility for her party’s defeat; supporters could be seen at the rally crying in frustration.

Ma, in an acceptance speech delivered in the drizzling rain, thanked his wife Chow Mei-ching for always challenging him, and Taiwan voters, adding that his administration would meet with other parties… Read more...

Tomorrow is a big day for the people of Taiwan. There is no such thing as a ‘vote from abroad’ here, so all 23 million people, if they want to vote, must travel to their hometown. This makes it difficult for some to vote, particularly for ‘green’ voters (DPP, Democratic Progressive Party) who typically dominate in the South, which may effect the outcome.

Their choice of president is the incumbent Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九, ‘horse english 9′) of the Kuomintang (the awkwardly antiquated ‘Chinese Nationalist Party’) and DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文, Tsai English).… Read more...

The New York Times editorial, “To Save Our Economy, Ditch Taiwan”, has raised my hackles – I always warned Taiwanese independence advocates that the US would sell them out, and here it is literal.

I have not been following the pre-election campaigns, but rather rely on my Taiwanese friends to give their boiled-down version of what’s in the news. More significant than public statements, I think, is the glimpses I have gotten on under-the-table long-term developments, by way of friends and acquaintances in government and business. Recently some… Read more...

If you are like me, you are trying to learn Chinese, the REAL spoken-in-the-streets kind of Chinese. But all your Chinese-speakin’ friends won’t answer your questions about how to say all the important stuff, because they don’t want to teach you ‘Bad Chinese’! (Of course, THEY want to learn all the bad words in English!)

I have a few truly cool Taiwanese friends, however, who will give me a straight answer, and I’ve compiled an introductory lesson here on all the most useful down-and-dirty words we’d all like to know!

Ni yo bing, ah? —… Read more...

There’s this little place deep in the Heart of Banciao
where they admittedly have some great shui-jiao
but some lousy, cheese-emporium-like service.

When I ordered some curry dumplings,
they said they were all out – mai wan le
so I tried to score some Korea-style dumplings
and they were out of those
and leek dumplings, too.
They were all out of everything
except nine pork dumplings.

So I said, “Okay, I’ll take those.”
It took a long, long time. I took off my jacket
and scarf, and… Read more...