Enhance your Experience
Everything you need to know before your trip to Taiwan
Reading suggestions
The Stolen Bicycle
by Wu Ming-Yi
On a quest to explain how and why his father mysteriously disappeared twenty years ago, a writer embarks on an epic journey in search of a stolen bicycle and soon finds himself immersed in the strangely overlapping histories of the Japanese military during WWII, Lin Wang, the oldest elephant who ever lived, and the world of antique bicycle collectors in Taiwan.
Hunter School
by Sakinu Ahronglong
Ahronglong is a direct descendant of the Paiwanese people, an indigenous Taiwanese group who occupied the island long before Japanese rule. This book is a retelling of the author’s childhood and the skills he learned, in a tragic, but ubiquitous story of cultural deflation.
Notes of a Crocodile
by Qiu Miaojin
Set in the post-martial-law era of late 1980s Taipei, Notes of a Crocodile depicts the comingof-age of a group of queer misfits discovering love, friendship, and artistic affinity while hardly studying at Taiwan’s most prestigious university.
Green Island
by Shawna Yang Ryan
A stunning story of love, betrayal, and family, set against the backdrop of a changing Taiwan over the course of the twentieth century.
Two Trees Make a Forest
by Jessica Lee
Combining an immersive exploration of nature with captivatingly beautiful prose, Jessica J. Lee embarks on a journey to discover her family’s forgotten history and to connect with the island they once called home.
Forbidden Nation
by Jonathon Manthorpe
An excellent, well-written book covering the complex and expansive history of Taiwan. Spanning its time under Japanese rule to the current day and everything in between. Articulately explaining how and why Taiwan is as it is today.
Taiwanese cinema
Eat Drink Man Woman
Directed by Ang Lee
A delicious comedy about food, fatherhood and family ties as a widower struggles with accepting his three daughters’ newfound appetite for boys, an interest that begins to break the family apart with hilarious and often touching results.
A City of Sadness
Directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Set in the picturesque old mining village of Jiufen (pictured left), A City of Sadness is the story of a family embroiled in the “White Terror” that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s.
Monga
Directed by Doze Niu
Monga is a dynamic and powerfully impressive Taiwanese gangster film set against the stunning backdrop of Taipei in the 1980s, as a group of teenagers become men and fight to survive amongst the gangs that run the old Monga quarter – present day Wanhua District – of the city.
Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale
Directed by Wei Te-Sheng
Wei Te-Sheng’s epic film retells an extraordinary episode from 20th-century history which is little-known, even in Taiwan. A rare exploration of the indigenous Taiwanese experience during Japanese rule, the movie comes in two parts, the second film being called ‘The Rainbow Bridge’. This film remains the most expensive production in Taiwanese history.
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Before you get here, we want to help you prepare as much as possible, so you can focus on the experiences that matter once you’re on the ground.
From transport to shopping to our recommended reading list, this Taiwan pre-departure guide will provide everything you need to know about Taiwan and our services.
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