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Jiufen Old Street: A 2022 Pandemic Profile from a Taiwanese American Tourist

·September 21, 2022·8 min read

If you've heard of Jiufen, you might know it is the site of filming for many Taiwanese movies, most notably City of Sadness. You might have heard it has wonderful teahouses, and maybe from a friend you heard to try the taro balls there. But you probably first and foremost know it as where Hayao Miyazaki allegedly drew inspiration from in Spirited Away, the hit animated movie about a girl who loses her parents in the spirit world Read More

“Beitou Witch Magic Festival” Criticized Over Depiction of Indigenous

English Events Life

·September 8, 2022·4 min read

A cultural event in Beitou has been criticized regarding Indigenous representation. Namely, the event, the “Beitou Witch Magic Festival”, draws on the history of female Indigenous mediums in Beitou Read More

Rainie Yang Controversy Prompts Netizens to React by Posting Photos of Seafood on Social Media

English Life

·September 6, 2022·4 min read

A recent scandal involved singer Rainie Yang claiming not to be Taiwanese, but a “Guangdong person that grew up in Taiwan” on a Chinese program. Yang claimed this despite being born in Taipei in 1984 Read More

Kinky Community Musical: Tongzhi Politics Meet BDSM, Asexuality, and Polyamory

English Events Life

·September 2, 2022·9 min read

This past weekend, BDSM Company hosted four performances of “Kinky Community Musical 2.0" at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park. Written by Della Wang and directed by Hsiao-I Lu, "Kinky Community Musical 2.0” is a revised version of Wang’s first “Kinky Community Musical,” which debuted in late April 2019 just weeks before the legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan. Featuring mesmerizing rope-binding scenes, catchy tunes in the form of twelve original songs, and gripping script writing, the play tells an intertwined love story of four main characters that pushes the boundaries of tongzhi politics to further incorporate Taiwan’s BDSM, asexual, and polyamory communities Read More

The Politics of Food and the Pelosi Visit

English Life

·August 10, 2022·3 min read

Although most discussion of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan has been about the geopolitical implications, a bizarre undertext to the visit was the frequent times that food came up as part of political attacks Read More

What’s Behind Pingtung County Offering Bounties on Invasive Species?

English Life

·July 23, 2022·2 min read

Pingtung County recently began offering cash rewards for local residents that bring in an invasive vine, as part of an effort to prevent its spread. The vine, Mikania micrantha, is among the world’s 100 most invasive species, and is known for its ability to rapidly spread, even from branchlings, and it smothers native species by blocking access to sunlight Read More

Tankies Praise Hong Kong Police After Supreme Court Ruling

English Life

·July 2, 2022·2 min read

The latest online blow-up by authoritarian leftists–commonly referred to as tankies–proves a bizarre one Read More

Calls to Auction Off the Sun Yat-Sen Portrait in Legislature?

English Life

·June 28, 2022·1 min read

At a time in which calls to remove authoritarian symbols have more often led to proposals for the removal of the Chiang Kai-shek statue in the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, pan-Green legislators have recently called for the removal of the Sun Yat-sen portrait in the legislature Read More

What Would “Cultural Sovereignty” Mean for Taiwan in an Age of Digital Media?

English Life

·June 22, 2022·3 min read

Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te made comments at the recent National Culture Congress earlier this month that might strike as somewhat unusual Read More

Taiwan Reliant on Voluntary Measures to Contain COVID-19

English Life

·May 28, 2022·3 min read

As COVID-19 spreads throughout Taiwan as part of the current outbreak, what may be particularly of note is the degree to which the outbreak has interfaced with personal behavior Read More

評論：漂泊的巴黎

English Life

·May 21, 2022·1 min read

艾先生的作品對時尚所做出的評註，正是讓人眼睛為之一亮的地方。他的攝影作品是戶外經過了風吹雨打的時尚海報，這些海報想要表達的時尚宣言，看起來很空虛。 Read More

Review: Drifting Paris

English Life

·May 10, 2022·6 min read

Fashion is where Cèdric Alviani’s work shines in its commentary. The photographs were of outdoor fashion posters. Having been through the elements, the fashion statements the posters aimed to make look hollow. The superficiality associated with fashion photography in this context looks absurd. The colorful photographs scream out criticism of our contemporary consumerist world. This subversive commentary of our contemporary “fast fashion” culture is very self-aware, and in fact, is how the exhibition introduced itself Read More