Category: Taiwan

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Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations, 1917-2017

Catherine Lee

Today is THE day, the climax of 5 days of celebrations, and as I write this, events are ongoing, with firecrackers and drums and trumpets and singing and offerings and all sorts of activity, and being attended by nearly everyone in the whole town. And all in the rain and cold!  It’s been like this all weekend, but hey, when there’s a festival in town, a bit of rain and cold won’t stop anyone. But this was the scene on Thursday, the last time that the sun appeared in Sanzhi! Two weeks ago, I wrote here about the preparations for the … Continue reading Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations, 1917-2017

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Pop idols @ Taiwan-Style!

Catherine Lee

Been doing a bit of research among some of our students in the 15-17 year age group to find out who their pop idols are ~ part of my English conversation classes, so bringing you up to speed, here goes! Top of the list by far for everyone are the boy bands from S. Korea – all brought together on TV talent shows and promoted by the mega-entertainment industry that is so big in S. Korea.  And currently top of the list of all of them is BTS.  Super Junior is long over, now it is BTS.  Our girls say … Continue reading Pop idols @ Taiwan-Style!

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Street Art @ 淡水老街 Tamsui Old Street ~ love it!

Catherine Lee

Discovered some wonderful new (to me, that is) street art on the walls of Tamsui Old Street area 淡水老街 today ~ including this one of Dr. George Mackay, first Presbyterian missionary to northern Taiwan (1844-1901), who arrived in Tamsui in 1872 and stayed here more or less until he died.  Early photos show him going off on trips armed with dentist equipment for pulling out teeth, and Bibles to share the Gospel… wonder what he’s think of this painting done in his honour? Then up behind the famous Matzu Temple are some steps and walls painted with famous local scenes….. … Continue reading Street Art @ 淡水老街 Tamsui Old Street ~ love it!

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Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations ~ Coming Up Soon!

Catherine Lee

Two weeks ago the plot of wasteland opposite where I live suddenly sprang into life.  Trucks full of bamboo poles arrived.  People came.  Cranes and trucks and people and – well, action!  One week later, and this was the view from my front gate last Sunday…. Happening now right outside my house is the ongoing construction of a huge 4-storey structure, the site of a forthcoming 醮 (pronounced ‘jiaò) and loosely translated as meaning a Taoist Ritual.  Copy this character ‘醮’ into Google images and you’ll see plenty of examples of what it might look like in a few weeks … Continue reading Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations ~ Coming Up Soon!

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Four Four South Village 四四南村, Taipei

Catherine Lee

There’s no escaping Taipei 101 ~ it towers over everything in the Xinyi District of Taipei ~ including the old military dependents’ village of Sisinan 四四南村 (Four Four South Village), which is high on the list for tourists, who love taking photos of Taipei 101 and in front of the coloured doors. The buildings have a lot of character…. But it’s really hard to get all of Taipei 101 and the old buildings in the photo – diagonal is the best! Ah yes, blue sky, warm temperatures, what a great autumn so far ~ and Taipei’s looking great! Continue reading Four Four South Village 四四南村, Taipei

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Street Art @ Ximending 西門町, Taipei

Catherine Lee

Ximending has long been THE trendiest area of Taipei for night life and street fashion ~ and of course Street Art.  I was there yesterday checking it out…. Just outside the main shopping area, down the back alleys of Kunming Street ~ and the walls are covered in graffiti of every kind.  Sometimes it’s just a section of the wall…. And sometimes the whole length of the wall…. It’s constantly changing, there’s new stuff appearing all the time, so what was there last year may have long gone by the time you get to go there again. Actually, I’m very … Continue reading Street Art @ Ximending 西門町, Taipei

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Taiwan’s North Coast Kite Festival 2017 @ Baishawan Beach 白沙灣, Shimen District ~ YES!

Catherine Lee

Privileged to live so close to one of northern Taiwan’s best beaches, and today is THE day!  Every year we have a kite festival on Baishawan Beach 白沙灣 in Shimen District 石門, with thousands of people, hundreds of kites, lots of sun and hopefully lots of wind.  This is the scene this afternoon, with the lighthouse on Taiwan’s northern tip in the far distance… Last year’s blog post about the kite festival 2016 is here.  This year’s kite festival is a bit different.  Although it’s being held all this weekend, in fact yesterday was a working day for most people … Continue reading Taiwan’s North Coast Kite Festival 2017 @ Baishawan Beach 白沙灣, Shimen District ~ YES!

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Ju Ming Sculpture Park and Museum 朱銘美術館, Jinshan, Taipei

Catherine Lee

A sunny Saturday afternoon in September and what better place to go than Ju Ming Sculpture Park, officially known as Ju Ming Museum and only 20 km from here round the northern coast, with stunning views over the sea and mountains.   This was the main entrance today… My first visit there was in November 2016 (see my blog post here) ~ and I was very impressed.  It houses all the incredible art work of Ju Ming 朱銘, the world famous Taiwanese sculptor, born in Miaoli, Taiwan in 1938. The park is big – and on a sunny day, it’s a bit … Continue reading Ju Ming Sculpture Park and Museum 朱銘美術館, Jinshan, Taipei

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Rainbow Grandpa and his Beautiful Rainbow Village 彩虹眷村!

Catherine Lee

Rainbow Village 彩虹眷村 on the outskirts of Taichung is such an amazing place – it’s easily the most attractive set of buildings in the whole of Taichung ~ YES! It’s the last remaining few houses of a Veterans Village, built for the old soldiers and their families who came to Taiwan after 1949. Most the houses are already gone, demolished and the land redeveloped, but old Mr. Huang (Huang Yong-Fu 黃永阜), known as ‘Rainbow Grandpa’ (彩虹爺爺), was not letting that happen to his village. Now aged 95, he decided to start painting the remaining houses a few years ago, and … Continue reading Rainbow Grandpa and his Beautiful Rainbow Village 彩虹眷村!