“For deities to flourish, you need people to worship them and people to carry them when they go out on tour.” So said Lin Mei-rong, a researcher at the Academia Sinica’s Institute of Ethnology, in an interview with Taiwan Panorama. Pilgrimages of the goddess Mazu attract a great many participants each year, and this issue’s Cover Story focuses on themes related to these processions, including the pilgrimages themselves, palanquins and their bearers, temple culture and cuisine, and pilgrimage souvenirs.
Meanwhile this issue’s Global Outlook section looks at the ongoing cooperation between Taiwan and the Philippines in the fields of vulcanology, oceanography, typhoon forecasting, and seismology. Another report examines the venues of some major discoveries from Taiwan’s prehistory: the Eluanbi archaeological sites. Involving prehistoric people as well as later indigenous peoples, the sites have yielded many fascinating artifacts to draw the attention of the world.
Cuisine in Taiwan is the cumulative result of generations of immigration. It not only represents the memories of this land, but is part of the kaleidoscope of world history. Our article explores Taiwanese foods that are seemingly foreign in nature, such as Mongolian barbeque, General Tso’s chicken, and moon shrimp cakes, but in fact are authentic “made-in-Taiwan” dishes.
We also visit some internationally renowned Taiwanese technology companies that are striving to boost global information security using means ranging from anti-fraud databases to conducting digital identity authentication based on facial recognition and document verification. As Authme CEO Andy Lee tells us, “This is a problem that the whole world faces, but Taiwan is outstanding in this area…. If we find solutions to the problem here, we can promote them around the world.”
In November 2023, after five years of preparation, a set of “friendship trails” agreements were signed between Taiwan’s Tamsui–Kavalan Trails and Japan’s Miyagi Olle Trails. This means that the trail markers of the partnered trails will appear on each others’ routes.
Chou Sheng-hsin, chief executive director of the Taiwan Thousand Miles Trail Association, which mediated the agreements, says: “Walking is a kind of in-depth tourism that enables one to really get to know a locality, to shop in its specialty stores, to try local cuisine, and to interact with residents.” What interesting anecdotes arose from the Taiwan–Japanese collaboration process? Did you know that one can see Guishan (Turtle Mountain) Island from some of the Tamsui–Kavalan Trails, and there is also a Turtle Island in Miyagi Prefecture? What are the unique features of these friendship trails? Read the article in this month’s issue.
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