Last week, Taiwan announced its Chinese Character of the Year for 2025. The character chosen by voters was ็ฝท, meaning โrecallโ or โto dismiss.โ Far from being a poetic or abstract choice, the character is a direct reflection of the political turmoil that defined much of Taiwanโs year. In 2025, the word recall was everywhere.… Continue reading Taiwanโs Character Of The Year 2025: ็ฝท
If youโre learning Chinese, birthdays are a great place to start. In Taiwan, birthday celebrations are usually warm and low-key, and the language used for birthday wishes reflects that. In this article, youโll learn how to say โHappy Birthdayโ in Chinese, common birthday wishes Taiwanese people actually use, and how birthdays are celebrated in Taiwan,… Continue reading How to Say โHappy Birthdayโ in Chinese
When you think of Taiwan, one building immediately comes to mind: Taipei 101. Towering over the city skyline, itโs a symbol of national pride, ambition, and modernity. But few people know that the skyscraper we know today almost looked completely differentโand its journey from concept to iconic landmark is a fascinating story. The Original Vision:… Continue reading How Taipei 101 Almost Looked Completely Different
When friends back home picture Taiwan, they imagine temples, scooters, night markets, and bubble tea on every corner โ which, fair enough, all exist. But whenever I visit and sip my morning coffee, I inevitably hear the same comment: โIt must be weird drinking coffee after spending so much time in Asia. Donโt people mostly… Continue reading Taiwan: The Unexpected Coffee Paradise You Probably Didnโt Know About
Numbers in Chinese start off deceptively simple.You breeze through ไธใไบใไธใๅใไบ without breaking a sweat. Counting to ten? No problem. Counting to a hundred? Still smooth. And then, suddenlyโฆ You hit ่ฌ/ไธ โ and the entire number system flips upside down. Anyone whoโs learned Chinese knows this moment well. One minute youโre confidently reading prices and… Continue reading Why Chinese Numbers Feel Easyโฆ Until You Meet ่ฌ
I just came back from a spiritual afternoonโhopping from temple to temple, incense smoke in my hair, desperately trying to pray all my problems awayโand thought: why not turn this into a blog post? After all, if my worries arenโt going to disappear, I might as well turn them into content. So, letโs talk about… Continue reading Heaven Just Got 5G: A Friendly Dive into Taiwanese Religious Life
When I first moved to Taiwan, my local friends welcomed me with open arms and a list of cultural taboos designed to save me from embarrassing myselfโor accidentally summoning ghosts. They warned me about the classics: โ Donโt stick your chopsticks straight into a bowl of rice. โ Donโt point at the moon. โ Donโt… Continue reading Never Pick Up a Red Envelope in Taiwan: A Fascinating Dive Into Spirit Marriages
In Taiwan, when people exchange contact information, youโll often hear: ่ฆไธ่ฆๅ Line๏ผใงใ ห ใ ใจห ใงใ ห ใใงใ Line๏ผyร o bรน yร o jiฤ Line?โ โDo you want to add me on Line?โ Letโs explore how to say this naturally in Chinese, what it means culturally, and how Line and Instagram are used in Taiwan. What Is Line? Line is… Continue reading How to Exchange Line and Instagram in Chinese
If youโve ever been hiking in Taiwanโs lush jungles, thereโs a good chance youโve come across one of the islandโs most striking residents - the Giant Orb Weaver. With its large body, long legs, and impressive golden web, it might look like something straight out of a nightmare. But donโt worry, this spider is a… Continue reading Hiking in Taiwan: Spotting the Big Spider
When people think of Taiwanโs international relations, they often focus on its major partners like the United States or Japan, or its complex cross-strait relationship with China. But one of Taiwanโs most fascinating and heartwarming partnerships is actually with Somaliland, a self-declared republic in the Horn of Africa. Despite being separated by thousands of kilometers,… Continue reading Taiwan and Somaliland: Strategic Partners
Bubble Tea Island 