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Trailing the Past

Stories of the Laoguanlu Historic Trail

In my memories, Grandmother’s coat always gave off a gentle fragrance of camphor. This honor was reserved for precious clothing that she would only wear on formal occasions, and so mostly remained hanging in the closet. This fragrance once made Taiwan the world’s “camphor kingdom.” Peng Hung Y......

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The Earth God:

Guardian of Home and Harvest

According to Taiwanese folk belief, the Earth God is a guardian that watches over the soil. He is as “grassroots” as a divinity comes in Taiwan. When it comes time for farmers to pray in spring for good crops, and to give thanks in the autumn for a bountiful harvest, they may craft a handmade ......

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Where the Secular Meets the Sacred:

Taiwan’s Church Buildings

Christianity was first introduced to Taiwan in the early 17th century. In more recent times, since the mid-19th century, the indefatigable efforts of Western missionaries have inspired generations of Taiwanese believers, and the teachings of Jesus Christ have taken root here. But what about ou......

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Public Buildings for Today’s Needs:

Pingtung County Library and Tainan Public Library

The American architect Louis I. Kahn, who was widely praised for the beautiful libraries he designed, once said: “How precious a book is in light of the offering, in the light of the one who has the privilege of this offering. The library tells you of this offering.” The libraries that Kahn de......

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Nostalgic Journey

Japanese-Era Buildings in Hualien

“The wise love water, the benevolent love the mountains.” It just so happens that of the two main north‡south roads through Hualien County, one follows the coast while the other runs between two mountain ranges. This month, our occasional “Cycling Taiwan” series takes us to Provincial Highway ......

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Multicultural Hengchun Peninsula

Cycling Provincial Highway 26

Taiwan Provincial Highway 26 is a coastal road that circumnavigates the Hengchun Peninsula. Cycling along it, on one side you see the bright blue sky merging into the ocean, while on the other there are towering green mountain ridges. When you ride into small towns and wander around, it feels ......

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Journey of Memories

Cycling the Chianan Plain

Cycling through the Chianan Plain along Taiwan’s oldest highway—Provincial Highway 1—the places we pass are bastions of prosperity pioneered by our forebears: irrigation reservoirs, cattle markets, bust­ling districts around train stations…. This journey follows the central artery through the ......

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Encounters in the Clouds

Cycling Through the Heartland of Hsinchu’s Timber Industry

American author Ernest Heming­way once wrote: “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.” Though not large, Taiwan ranges across more than 3,000 meters of elevation. Its peaks and valleys, coastlines and v......

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Taiwan's Jeweled Crown

Cycling the North Coast

Not far from Taipei City, Taiwan’s North Coast has been shaped over the millennia by orogeny and volcanic activity, as well as erosion wrought by ocean waves and wind. That combination has made for a winding coastline, varied and intermixed geologic strata, and marvelously shaped rocks. Like a......

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Sea, Plains, Rivers, and Forest

A Cycling Journey Through Yilan

“There is a kind of travel that makes dreams a reality, known as traveling by bicycle.” For this trip, we packed light, and covered a lot of ground. After first hugging the coast, our route took us on a zigzag course through the plain, and then ascended to the Fushan Botanical Garden at 650 me......

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Cycling the Miaoli Coast

Wind, Sea and Sunsets

Our story can be traced back to 1922, when the coastal railroad (offici­ally known as the West Coast Line) was opened to traffic. The movement of goods between north and south brought prosperity to cities and towns along the rail line. Since the construction of the freeways, goods have been tr......

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Navigating Tainan’s Soundscapes

ViVo Creative Culture Workshop

Shaped by various governments including the Dutch, the Ming loyalist Koxinga and his heirs, Qing-Dynasty China, Japan, and the ROC, Tainan boasts a rich cultural heritage. Its historic street foods continue to cast a spell on tourists from far and near. Tainan promises visual and gastronomic d......

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Yunlin Past and Present

Cycling Taiwan’s Western Plain

Yunlin is Taiwan’s leading agricultural county. The local culture has developed and prospered in little towns surrounded by vast stretches of farmland. Riding between fields, through towns and again into fields, following rivers and streams, Yunlin offers cyclists the fragrance of fresh vegeta......

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Creating Spaces for Encounters:

Architecture for the Common Man

Why are buildings erected? Structures are built to provide spaces that meet various needs of people in daily life. But buildings are never just functional spaces. For architect Chiang Le-ching, who has many years of experience in the field of public infrastructure, no matter whether she is des......

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Seeing with a Landscape Designer’s Eye

—Rediscovering the Beauty of Ilha Formosa

Ecologist E.O. Wilson proposed that humanity has an innate affinity for nature, a trait he called “biophilia.” As the people that build bridges between mankind and nature, facilitating happy interaction between the two, one could consider landscape designers to be ambassadors of biophilia.......

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A Ride to the Clouds

Cycling Through Wutai Township

The American writer Ernest Hemingway once said, “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and can coast down them.” For this latest in our series of articles about cycling in Taiwan, in early spring we set our sights on the s......

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Mountain Ridges, Autumn Leaves

Cycling Provincial Highway 7A

Cycling along Provincial Highway 7A from Datong to Lishan, after topping Siyuan Pass we cross from Yilan County into Taichung City. At the 46 kilometer mark it is raining heavily, and cold. But by the time we pedal to the 49 km mark, the skies are sunny and clear as far as the eye can see. In ......

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Seeking Harmony Between Mankind and Nature:

The Taiwan Ecological Network

Twenty years ago, a farmer in Sanzhi named Yang Wenshi discovered the rare Taipei frog (Hylarana taipehensis) in his lotus fields. To give this unusual creature a chance of survival, he decided to switch from conventional farming to eco-friendly cultivation. Now, whenever summer comes around, ......

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Riding Through Qimei

If you take the ferry from Ma­gong, with a brief stop at Wang’an Island it takes about two hours to get to the southernmost island of the ­Penghu archipelago: Qi­mei. The most convenient way to travel around the island is by motorcycle. Most of the tourists who come to Qi­mei are on an island-......

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The Back of the Mountains

Cycling Provincial Highway 11

Surrounded by the Central Mountain Range, the Coastal Mountain Range, and the Pacific Ocean, the Hualien‡Taitung area has long been known in Taiwan as “the back of the mountains,” and is blessed with a unique natural environment. This place gives refuge to people from many other locations, who......