September 28 is the birthday of Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, and appropriately it is also celebrated as Teachers’ Day in Taiwan. On his birthday, people in Taiwan pay tribute to the great educator to remind us to always uphold and maintain the traditional virtue of respecting our teachers.
Read More
WORDS BY Tu Hsinyi TRANSLATION BY Joe HenleyPHOTOS BY Huaug Jianbin, Liang Zhongxian The well-known Taipei Xia-Hai City God Temple (台北霞海城隍廟), Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺), and Zhaomingjing Temple (照明淨寺) in Taipei are meccas for people looking for love or marriage, attracting not only Taiwanese but also foreign tourists. Are you still seeking your significant other? The romantic Qixi (Chinese…
Read More
According to Taiwanese folk tales, Zhinu, also known as the Seven Star Maiden (七娘), will reveal a book listing all the unmarried men and women on Qixi (the day of July 7 of the lunar calendar) each year
Read More
There’s no shortage of things to do in Taipei’s dynamic capital city, but if you’re only here for a short time and need to winnow it down to six must have experiences, these are our picks:
Read More
As one visits temples in Taiwan, the traditional architecture and the decorative crafts of the interior always leave one in awe. Each temple looks and feels like a huge art installation made by way of extraordinary skills, and each of them showcases the devotion and uniqueness of the craftsman.
The Guo-Chen family is one of the few families specializing in the craft of mortar shaping in Taiwan today, and at the head of the family is Master Guo Gengfu (郭亘富).
Read More
The Baosheng Cultural Festival (保生文化祭) is an excellent opportunity to immerse yourself in Taiwanese culture. Originally a birthday party for Baosheng Emperor (保生大帝), the god of medicine, the festivities have grown into a two month-long celebration of Taiwan’s history and culture. At the center of it all is Dalongdong Baoan Temple (大龍峒保安宮) in Taipei, where the deity Baosheng Emperor celebrates his birthday during the third lunar month.
Read More
we’d like to offer a few suggestions for outdoor activities that’ll actually make you glad you visited our beloved subtropical island during the hottest part of the year.
Read More
Taiwan has thousands of temples, ranging from large multi-story buildings bearing multiple shrines and countless deities to small single-shrine structures barely big enough to fit a single god. Taiwanese temples can be dedicated to Taoist, Buddhist or Confucian beliefs, and often times multiple faiths (and deities) coexist peacefully under one roof.
Read More
If you want to know more in general about a foreign place, you want to ask a local. If you want to know more about the culture and history of a foreign place, you want to ask a local expert. Travel in Taiwan recently did just this, paying local historian Zhuang Yong-ming a visit to learn more about one of Taipei City’s oldest districts, Dadaocheng, before going on an exploration tour of the area.
Read More