‘The Tiger Awakens’: An observer’s view of the Sunflower Movement

Trista di Genova / Politics & Commentary March 30, 2014 I don’t read the newspapers or watch TV, since I lost my job in the media. Now I prefer to just show up and ask questions, and listen to what people say. On the way to Taipei, now, and to

Read more

Touring Taiwan’s outlying islands

An excerpt of the Lin Yang (of the DPA, Deutsche Presse-Agentur) interview with Trista di Genova, who has traveled to and written about her fascination with history and culture on Taiwan’s outlying islands, so far Orchid Island, Green Island and Kinmen. Lin Yang’s travel story will be published in the

Read more

Kinmen: Now the Battle is for Tourism, part 4/4

By Trista di Genova / published 2005 in Travel & Culture magazine in its abridged form “EVERYWHERE IS A MUSEUM” This year, Kinmen made international headlines when Kinmen was transformed from a former battlefield into an international art exhibition. A hundred thousand visitors came to Kinmen to see some of

Read more

Kinmen: Now the Battle is for Tourism, part 3/4

By Trista di Genova / published 2005 in Travel & Culture magazine in its abridged form THE BATTLE OF GUNINGTOU The Chinese Nationalist army (KMT), led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), defeated the Japanese in Nanking, but lost the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong’s Communists. The KMT then “took

Read more

2-28 Massacres: Remembering the dark side of Taiwan’s history

Feb. 28, 1947. A confrontation occurs between agents of the Monopoly Bureau and a woman cigarette vendor; in their view she is illegally selling cigarettes, and they try to confiscate her life savings. Onlookers intervene on her behalf and one officer opens fire as they flee, killing one of the

Read more

Predicting who will be Taiwan’s new president

POLITICS / The Wild East 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

Read more