Taipei Travel

Creative City

Taipei Lights Up!
 

On these gradually warming days of early spring, one can see that Taipei is indeed a city full of creativity – empowered by wide-ranging specialty industries and the new thinking of the younger generation. In this issue, the cover story introduces the transformation of old traditional eateries, and there are also stories of startups in handmade shoes, creative clothing, cultural and creative products, and floral design.
 

“Let’s break the mold!” says 2018 Taipei Lantern Festival art coordinator, He Jingyang, who is better known as A-Fu, acoustic guitarist and band leader of Sodagreen. This year’s lantern festival exceeded past participation by inviting more than 200 artists, who brought to the festival more creative energy than ever before with their excellent art works. We see how these young interdisciplinary artists applied their various talents in presenting the beauty of a traditional festival.
 

This issue of TAIPEI also shows you how to use Taipei Fun Pass to travel around northern Taiwan. Within the validation period of this pass, you can take public transportation to see the flower blossoms of Yangmingshan, visit Beitou for the Long Nice Hot Spring, the neighborhood’s oldest existing bathhouse. Moreover, you can wander around the Jodori area along Zhongshan North Road to experience its atmosphere of past and present, and stroll the back alleys of Chifung Street, enjoying the intermingling of old and new. You never need to waste time buying transportation tickets, and thus, you have more time to explore Taipei within the validity of the pass!
 

Surely, in senior journalist Nojima Tsuyoshi’s eyes, food is Taiwan’s most attractive feature, especially the soymilk stores, which one can find on almost every corner, and the inexpensive street food. This correlates with the dish Jiao Tong recommends: Taiwanese salty congee, which has a taste that everyday people truly appreciate. Also in this edition, we include in-depth reports on two chefs, who have special ways of pursuing their craft: Jewel Tsai, sharing her homemade banquet tradition, and Vincent Chen, who pays strict attention to his ingredients and shares with us his idea of a natural diet. Enjoy!