Tainan’s 2008 Dragon Boat Festival was held yesterday at the Anping Tainan Canal with both the NCKU IIMBA students and NCKU Chinese Language Center participating. The Duanwu Festival is a Chinese traditional and statutory holiday. It is a public holiday in mainland China and in Taiwan, where it is known as the “Duanwu Festival”. The Duanwu Festival originated in ancient China. There are a number of theories about its origins. Today, the most commonly accepted version relates to the death of poet Qu Yuan in 278 BC despite a number of competing theories. (Wikipedia) There was a big festival of street food next to the canal… …

… is something I know very little about. Although there is a very strong stereotype from both Taiwanese and foreigners about Taiwanese parents I would dare say that Taiwanese parents tales that I hear prove to me time and time again that stereotypes are not always relevant and that by following those stereotypes in our interactions with others we lead them into fulfilling the role they might not naturally take. Remarkably, this week, within 20 minutes of each other, I’ve heard two such stories. The …

347 is a special number, Buddha knows why, so Tainan decided 347 years for Koxinga’s conquest of Taiwan is a good occasion for a grand event to celebrate freeing the island from the Dutch. Koxinga, otherwise known as Cheng Kung (/Gong) is an extremely important figure in Tainan, almost if not already at the position of a local God. The festival was taking place in his big and beautiful Koxinga shrine.    A new statue of Koxinga was unveiled in front of the shrine.  …

This is the 4th post on the topic of Taiwanese music and musicians. Previous posts include : Mandarin Chinese music - More great singers I listen to in Taiwan - Wong Faye, 陳綺貞 Pop Chinese music in Taiwan continued : Joi Chua (蔡淳佳) and Jay Chou (周杰倫) Taiwanese music - Recommended Mandarin Chinese artists from Taiwan - 張惠妹, 張懸, 楊乃文 A-Mei is something slightly different. An Aboriginal Taiwanese gifted with a great voice and unique charm, she’s made her way up to become one of Taiwan’s best known Mando-Pop super-stars. …

My health since I’ve arrived in Tainan has been on a terrible up and down rollercoaster. Almost every month I experience one or two health issues that I have no idea what they’re related to, and every once in a while there’s one that really puts me down. It’s allergies, viruses, chronic fatigue, Buddha knows what else, but it all seems to overcome my body’s defenses as if they don’t exist. I try to live healthy, staying away from unhealthy food by eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, taking …

Money burning is a long long tradition of the Taiwanese people, being an inherent practice in many Chinese culture rituals. Living in Tainan, one of Taiwan’s most traditional cities, I get to see alot of money burning. Yesterday, as I was sitting down at one of my regular coffee shops I noticed something going on behind me on the other side of the glass window. I took out the camera and just situated it down pointing at them. There you have it, a hour of video of Taiwanese folks in Tainan burning money till …