TAIPEI Autumn 2016 Vol.5

Fun, Green, Early Autumn Walks –

Harvesting a Full Year of Good Times

The countdown to the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade is now officially less than 365 days. The members of one of the country’s hottest musical groups, Nine One One, are serving as spokespersons for the games. They are inspiring examples, having pursued their dreams with faith and determination, and they want to pass on the “never give up” Taiwan essence to one and all. In the United States, the NBA’s Jeremy Lin was the focus of the famed “Linsanity” wave. Since then he has had some down times and has switched teams a number of times, but maturity has brought perspective and he has been able to overcome his mental struggles, giving new inspiration to both fans and athletes.

Taipei City is blessed with “one-day green living experiences,” as it is surrounded by mountains with rivers running through its heart. Just slip on your sneakers, head out your door, and in no time you’ll find yourself traversing mountain trails or riverside pathways, embracing the green life, all in the outskirts of the city! Accompanied by the cool autumn breezes, TAIPEI invites you to go for a walk.

We’ve specially mapped out three LOHAS walking routes for you: on the city’s east, visit Xiangshan, Hushan Creek, Zhongqiang Park, and 44 South Village. On the south are Fuyang Eco Park, Qingtian Street, Taipei Water Park’s Water Garden Organic Farmers’ Market, and Treasure Hill. On the north, check out the Taipei Public Library Beitou Branch, Taipei Expo Farmer’s Market, Neishuangxi Nature Center, and Jiantanshan Hiking Trail. Along these green corridors, the lovely scenery of cool autumn is being ushered in.

Taipei sports a comprehensive transportation network, its public bus, metro, and YouBike services offering unbeatable convenience, enabling quick and easy access to all attractions for citizens and domestic and international visitors. It’s no doubt hard to imagine that almost right next to Taipei 101 is a beautiful mountain hiking trail along which you are likely to see Taipei tree frogs, Muller’s barbets, and Formosan blue magpies; or that beside MRT Linguang Station is a dense low-altitude forest; or that just a short walk from MRT Xinbeitou Station is one of “The 25 Most Beautiful Public Libraries in the World” – the aforementioned Taipei Public Library Beitou Branch, Taiwan’s first diamond-class green building. This is a place well worth visiting.

A cosmopolitan international city, Taipei boasts a splendid legion of cafes that in turn boast rich variation in individual style and personality. In this issue’s All About Cuisine section we take you on an exploration, spending time in quiet old buildings transformed into cafes where the hand-brewed coffees are richly aromatic and the air brims with history. Industrial, country village, Nordic – the distinctive style of each reflects the character of the respective owners, who pour heart and soul into their enterprises, adding richness of flavor to the food and drink, as well as the lives, of their patrons.

The literature and history of a city depicts the richness and depth of local life. In 2015, writer Akira Higashiyama, who was born in Taipei and raised in Japan, won Japan’s prestigious Naoki Prize for his novel Ryu. Taipei is a key source of creative nutrition for him, and in this book he describes the everyday life of ordinary people. This book is filled with magical, exotic vignettes, and a flood of images depicting the Taipei landscape in a bygone era. After World War II, Taiwan-born Japanese were repatriated to Japan with their families. Many, however, looked on Taiwan as their spiritual home, and beginning not so long ago, with time slowly healing the wounds of history, former students of one school started visiting Taipei and their alma mater in regular pilgrimages. Their smiles on recalling precious old memories have become this city’s most precious memories.

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