She is only 21 years old but already has 4 ½ years of working as an “entertainment provider” under her belt. Now fluent in both English and Thai while studying Mandarin Chinese, this confident young lady and I sat down this week for a cup of coffee and she told the entire story of her […]
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WoWasis visits Taiwan’s National Museum of Prehistory in Taitung
Although it’s not the easiest place to find (see our GPS coordinates below), we here at WoWasis think the National Museum of Prehistory in the southeastern Taiwanese city of Taitung is definitely worth a visit in you’re in the area. The building itself is gorgeous, designed by noted architect Michael Graves, and the displays are […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis drives Taiwan’s Northeast Coast National Scenic Area
Beginning just 50 km east of Taipei is what we here at WoWasis believe to be one of the most scenic drive in Taiwan, the Northeast National Scenic Area route, along Provincial Highway 2. Here, you’ll see marvelous sea views, wonderful geological formations, and several lighthouses. It starts at Nanya, and runs 66 km south […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis visits the Taiwan Theater Museum in Ilan (Yilan)
Just a few km south of the northeastern Taiwan city of Jaosi is Ilan (Yilan), home of the Taiwan Theater Museum. Formally opened in 1990 as the Taiwanese Opera Museum, its exhibits include artifacts relating to Taiwanese and Beiguan Opera, and Puppet theatre. In the opinion of your review team here at WoWasis, the puppets […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis visits hot springs and the Sietian Temple at Jaosi (Jaoxi), Northeastern Taiwan
If you’re driving south on the eastern Highway 2 from the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area, a refreshing stop is at the city of Jaosi (Jaoxi), just north of the city of Ilan (Yilan). Jaosi is famous for its hot springs and temple. We’d recommend seeing the Sietian (Xietian) temple first, then staying, kike your […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis visits Taipei’s Xingtian Temple and fortune tunnel
There’s more than first meets the eye at Taipei’s Xingtian temple. It’s deity is Guangong, patron saint of merchants. The temple itself has soaring, ship-prow roofs adorned with carved dragons, and inside you’ll see people standing in line to get blessed by nuns in blue robes, who wave incense onto the clothes of visitors in […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis takes the Jiji Railway excursion train in Central Taiwan
It’s been said that the excursion train running 20 minutes up the mountain from the town of Jiji is Taiwan’s most popular scenic railway. It could be, because even on a Tuesday, it was packed. This narrow-gauge railway was built to haul logs to a sawmill, but no more, now it just hauls people. You […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘Woman Islands,’ Taiwanese fiction by Chung Wenyin
Chung Wenyin is one of Taiwan’s most prolific writers of fiction. Originally published in Chinese in 1998, Women Islands (2011, ISBN 978- 986-82340-1-7) now appears translated into English. This novel is the tale of a young Chinese woman torn between familial responsibilities, her own personality, and the fact that she’s unprepared for the job market […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis visits the Chaotian Temple in Beigang, Taiwan
Located a few km northwest of the central Taiwanese city of Chiayi is the city of Beigang, where the flamboyantly exotic temple of Chaotian is situated. It’s one of Taiwan’s most important temples dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu, the deity of one of the major folk beliefs in the coastal provinces in Taiwan and […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘Formosa in Fiction,’ by Rolf-Peter Wille
Rolf-Peter Wille is a German writer that has lived in Taiwan since 1978, which makes 33 years as of this writing. He is also a pianist who has performed all over the world both as soloist as well as in a piano duo with his wife, Lina Yeh, who also serves as one of the […]
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