By John Hancock, in Beijing Special to The Wild East Democracy and free expression are thriving in China — in cyberspace. While Big Brother asserted himself in 2009, this did not prevent foreign ideas from invading his Internet space and there has been a renaissance in self-expression, comparable to the
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Expat Chat: Being Black in Taiwan
Andre Mangongo is a priest with the Catholic Church from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has been in Taiwan four years. If you don’t speak Chinese, don’t know anything about the culture or language, it’s a shock, isn’t it? I’m sharing from the experience of 4 years. When you
Read moreWhat a Taiwanese taxi driver thinks of foreigners
Name: Huang Zhen-yuan Job: Taxi driver Age: 48 Where do the foreigners in Taiwan come from? They come from everywhere. I consider my wife a foreigner. She came from mainland China. To me anyone who is not born in Taiwan is a foreigner. However, I should tell you that my
Read moreExpat Chat: 'Having Kids in Taiwan'
Eryk Smith, 32, is an American writer who’s been in Taiwan over 10 years. ERYK: We had our child at Tai An, the Seven Day Adventist Hospital, only four months ago. The doctors and nurses all spoke English fluently, and overall the service was excellent. We paid just over NT$10,OOO
Read moreDear MeiGui: What's Up With Nudie Photo Albums?
Dear MeiGui; Not only are my local colleagues making my experience as an English school teacher a misery, but so are the other foreign teachers. I’ve only been here for three months, and already want to go back to Vancouver. It all started at a “getting-to-know-you” party in October. I
Read moreTaiwan's true asset is its people, says Saudi ambassador
By Trista di Genova Originally published in The China Post as part of the “Know Your Trade Rep” series Mr. Talal Abdulsalam began working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983, and studied at the Institute of Diplomatic Office for two years, graduating with a diploma qualifying him to
Read moreThem bones! A Taiwan-French connection
by Dan Bloom Special to The Wild East According to a recent article in the New York Times, a finger bone from the body of the late Li Tien-lu, the great puppetmaster of Taiwan, was buried in France under a plum tree outside a private home north of Paris. In
Read moreOne Taiwanese Would Kiss All of Paris
by Dan Bloom Special to The Wild East A kiss just a kiss. Or is it? A Taiwanese woman named Ya-ching Yang has become famous around the world for a blog she set up about pursuing 100 kisses from Parisian men. Based on a whim she had three years ago,
Read moreOn a Lighter Note: Top 10 Pickup Spots in Taipei
My room-mate, a Kiwi, just moved from Hualien to Taipei, and asked me where he could find a girlfriend? What kind of girl, I asked. He said a ‘down-to-earth, nice girl.” So here is my Top 10 list of pickup joints around town where my room-mate and other single foreign
Read more'OH, IF ONLY I COULD TEACH'
EXPATCHAT Compiled by Trista di Genova, published in The China Post 12/28/08 Another huge hurdle here in Taiwan: teaching qualifications. Everything’s cool if you have a Bachelor’s degree from an English-speaking country, but if you don’t you’re kind of screwed here. One Scottish expat hasn’t finished his degree; his friends
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