10 Fun Facts About Taiwan

This video was trending a while ago on facebook, but LEONCHI brought it up in his blog, we thought we should also include it here.

A few things to make clear about the video though:

2. Taiwan is NOT part of China
Here, “China” refers to the People’s Republic of China 中華人民共和國.

4. Taiwan is the first democratic country in Asia
The first democratic country in Asia is the Republic of China (ROC) 中華民國, established in 1912. To understand the relationship between ROC and Taiwan, read Taiwan the Complicated.

10. Taiwan has just reached its 100th birthday
Here “Taiwan” is used interchangeably with the “Republic of China”. Read more about the ROC Centennial Celebration.

Taiwan’s President traveled to the inaugural mass of Pope Francis

PETER MACDIARMID / GETTY IMAGES

Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九總統 departed Taipei for the Vatican on March 17 to attend the inaugural mass of the newly elected Pope Francis 教宗方濟, at the invitation of the Holy See. The Holy See 教廷 is currently the only European country that has formal diplomatic relationship (established in 1932) with the Republic of China 中華民國 (commonly known as Taiwan). This was the first time a ROC President attend the inaugural mass of a newly elected pope. Former ROC President Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁 attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005. The Taiwanese delegation consisted of President Ma, First Lady Chow Mei-ching 周美青, National Security Council Secretary-General 國家安全會議秘書長 Jason C. Yuan 袁健生, Fu Jen Catholic University President 輔仁大學校長 Vincent Han-Sun Chiang 江漢聲, and Deputy Foreign Minister 外交部常務次長 Vanessa Shih 史亞平. The delegation was seated between the delegations from Chile and Costa Rica, in alphabetical order, representing China.

Discover the Four Seasons of Taiwan

This video features the beauty of the four seasons in Taiwan. DVD and blue-ray of the full-length documentary can be purchased from the CommonWealth Magazine Online Bookstore 天下雜誌網路書店.

The Beauty of Taiwan – Time lapse

Convenient Stores in Taiwan

Many people do not know this, but one of the reasons that many Taiwanese people living abroad miss Taiwan is because of how convenient life can be. Moreover, we miss the convenient stores. You might wonder, what’s so special about convenient stores? The ones you can find in the US are usually the place you go to when you don’t have time to do proper shopping and need something quick, or they are just next to a gas station that you happen to stop by. Not that they are so much different in Taiwan, but the convenient stores in Taiwan really do offer a lot relative to the size of the store as well as the staff.

Convenient stores 便利商店 in Taiwan are not just for convenience, but almost a necessity. There are more than 9 800 convenient stores all over Taiwan. In an area of 35 980 sq km and a population of 23 million, Taiwan has the highest density of convenient stores in Asia-Pacific, possibly also in the world. To put this into perspective, just imagine one convenient store on every block of street in Taiwan. You will also find them in sports arena, universities, MRT stations, hospitals, train stations, and airports. It’s not unusual to find two convenient stores, sometimes of the same brand, across the street from or within a couple hundred meters of each other, or even next to each other.

A 7-Eleven right next to a FamilyMart

Life of Pi nominated for 11 Oscars & 9 BAFTAs

Related reading in CNN: Why does Ang Lee winning an Oscar mean that much to Taiwanese people?

UPDATE (2/24/13): ANG LEE WON THE BEST DIRECTOR OSCAR!!!!

UPDATE (2/24/13): Mychael Danna of Life of Pi won the Oscar for Music/Original Score!

UPDATE (2/24/13): Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott of Life of Pi won the Oscar for Visual Effects!!

UPDATE (2/24/13): Claudio Miranda of Life of Pi won the Oscar for Cinematography!

UPDATE (2/10/13): Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer, and Donald R. Elliot of Life of Pi won the BAFTA for Special Visual Effects!

UPDATE (2/10/13):  Claudio Miranda of Life of Pi won the BAFTA for Cinematography!

UPDATE (1/13/13): Mychael Danna of Life of Pi won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score – Motion Picture!

Life of Pi 少年Pi的奇幻漂流 is a 2012 adventure drama film directed by Taiwanese Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee 李安. It is based on the novel of the same name by Canadian author Yann Martel. Life of Pi tells a story of a 16-year old boy named Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel, who survives a shipwreck in which his family dies when moving from India to Canada, and is stranded in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

Based on an adapted screenplay by David Magee and stars Suraj Sharma as Pi, the film has many scenes of Taiwan. The film crew began their principal photography in India for two weeks or so, and then moved to Taiwan for five and half months. Animals from the Taipei Zoo 臺北市立動物園 were used in the film, the ocean scenes of the film were shot at a giant wave tank built by the crew in an abandoned airport in Taichung 台中, and the island and beach scenes were shot in Kenting National Park 墾丁國家公園 in Pingtung 屏東, where Ang Lee was born.

International Events – Early 2013

Taipei International Book Exhibition 2013 第二十一屆台北國際書展

Currently fourth largest in the world and the largest international book exhibition in Asia, the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) was established in 1987 and is to be held in the spring of every year. Taking place at all three exhibition halls of the Taipei World Trade Center 台北世界貿易中心, TIBE features book of all genera for all ages from Taiwan and all over the world. Belgium will be featured as Guest of Honor of the 2013 TIBE. TIBE will start on January 30, 2013 and ends on February 4, 2012. (January 30 is professional only.)