As a writer who lives in Taiwan and has traveled extensively in Thailand (most recently on an eight-day trip to Chiang Mai and the surrounding area), I thought it would be useful to compare and contrast these two countries from a travel perspective, answering the following questions:
How are Taiwan and Thailand different?
How are they similar?
Which place is better for what kinds of travel?
While Zimmern could have chosen his words (for which he’s apologized publicly) more carefully, taken in the context of the overall conversation it’s clear none of his comments were meant to disparage Chinese cuisine in America, or Chinese-Americans (in or out of the food industry). Zimmern’s respect for culinary culture and the people who work in the food industry is well-documented. As a journalist who has spent most of his adult life living in Taiwan and China and promoting their shared culinary and cultural heritage, I believe the social-media uproar over his comments are quite unjustified, and that his knee-jerk demotion should be overturned.
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Where to get western food in Taipei, suggested by Taiwan Scene and the Taipei expat community.
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Taiwan Scene Editor in Chief accompanies German TV company Maximus to Uncle Sheep Restaurant in Chiayi to watch it’s own make the world’s best goat hot pot!
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Taiwan Scene reviews Joyce Bergvelt’s Lord of Formosa, a sweeping historical novel about Taiwan’s Dutch colonial period and the life of Admiral Koxinga.
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(4/13/2018) Today is Friday the thirteenth, a date most westerners associate with ill tidings, negative omens and bad luck in general. An entire blood-soaked film franchise is based on Friday the Thirteenth’s nefarious nature, and more than a few folks avoid traveling on the 13th day of any month that happens to fall on a Friday.
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There’s no denying it – the mercury in Taiwan is dropping, especially up north. Even Siri is sympathetic. When I asked “What’s the weather in Taipei?” Siri responded in typical I-phone doggerel:
“Some bad weather coming to Taipei: Down to 9° Celsius today.”
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Today is Teresa Teng’s Birthday. I was alerted to this by the good folks at Google, who created this lovely illustration to commemorate the day.
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While the mercury dips dangerously in North America and rises in other parts of the globe for the last weekend in 2017, the forecast ion Taiwan is for cool and mostly dry around the island, or as I like to call it, cycling weather.
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If you’ve spent any time at all in Taiwan or China, you’ve probably seen Tai Chi being practiced in parks, usually in the early morning by anything from single practitioners to large, semi-choreographed groups. For the past month or so I’ve been practicing Tai Chi myself three mornings a week, and I thought I’d use this week’s column to share my experience.
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