For this month’s Cover Story we bring you reports on several locations in Taiwan: the Taijiang area of Tainan, which played an important role in the Han settlement of this island; Taichung’s old town, where many old buildings are being renovated and repurposed; Kaohsiung’s Yancheng District, which owes its prosperity to the nearby port; and the little town of Xingang in Chiayi County, with its story of local regeneration. Together these present a microcosm of the history of urban and rural development in Taiwan.
“When I heard I had won, I teared up because I was so moved to be able to represent Amis cuisine from Taiwan.” So says Sera Kahengangay, head chef at the Mu Ming Restaurant and spokesperson for Indigenous Terra Madre 2023, who won a gold medal at the 2023 Oceania International Master Chef Challenge. Collecting wild vegetables is part of the traditional dietary routine of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. In this issue we visit Hualien to explore the richness of indigenous foraged foods.
Taiwan’s coffee industry has developed rapidly in recent years, and in 2023 the Alliance for Coffee Excellence held a Cup of Excellence competition in Taiwan. Of the top 20 coffees, 13 came from Alishan. Taiwan is also the biggest buyer at the Best of Panama coffee auctions. Thanks to the collective efforts of industry, government, and academia, Taiwan’s coffee has continually improved in quality, and has won a place in the international market.
Taiwan’s links with the world are also exemplified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ selection of Diabolo Dance Theater to perform their classic work Light of Life in the Philippines and Brunei. Besides promoting bilateral cultural interactions, such shows raise Taiwan’s profile in the minds of international friends. Moreover, following last month’s series of reports from Vietnam, in this issue we meet with a Taiwanese collector of Vietnamese historical artifacts, a Taiwanese businesswoman in Vietnam, workers in a Taiwanese media outlet for Southeast Asians, a Vietnamese migrant worker and painter, and a Taiwanese–Vietnamese second-generation immigrant. These stories of lively interactions reveal deep cross-cultural affinities.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Panorama is getting on board the artificial intelligence train by working with the National Applied Research Laboratories to turn our storehouse of diverse, in-depth reporting into training materials for generative AI based in Taiwan culture. This will assist the development of a made-in-Taiwan “trustworthy AI dialog engine” that can better understand and respond to users’ needs. In the future we will continue to use multiple channels, including new media, our website, our print magazines, and in-person activities, to spread the word about Taiwan’s abundant soft power.
