2022-08-02

[The 8th most-watched movie on Netflix]

Incantation is a Taiwan-made found footage horror movie that excelled at the domestic box office. It was recently made available on Netflix. Though most of its subject matter is specific to Taiwan, that hasn’t stopped the movie from shooting its way up the streaming service’s global rankings.

[Escape from the airport]

A British man on a traveler’s visa couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Taiwan, so he hatched an elaborate plan to make it seem like he left the country. Some say he did it to stay with his girlfriend. Others say he just loved Taiwan that much. Unfortunately, authorities caught him, and he now faces a lifetime ban from entering Taiwan. 

2022-07-12

[Any publicity is good publicity!]

An art exhibition in Tainan drew widespread social media attention after religious groups voiced concern that the show might conjure evil spirits. While detractors tried to get the show canceled, the widespread media coverage only drew more public attention. When the show finally opened last week…visitors formed lines around the block to check out the blasphemy.   

[He’s cleaned over 150,000 traffic mirrors…for free]

After witnessing a traffic accident at age 68, Chang Hsiu-hsiung realized the fender bender he saw could have been avoided if the nearby traffic mirror was clean. Since then, Chang has been riding around northern Taiwan cleaning traffic mirrors out of the kindness of his own heart. Earlier this week, Chang’s family announced that he passed away at the age of 80. Today, we remember this man who made the world a better place.

[A piano in the bathroom]

22-year-old Chinese-Belgian YouTuber Ceylan stirred some controversy when he tweeted that Taiwan’s houses are ugly. In this week’s Hashtag Taiwan, we think the guy might have a point. 

[The president “blows up” the Internet]

Last week, President Tsai Ing-wen visited a marine brigade to make sure Taiwan’s armed forces were ready to defend the country. To many people, though, safety was not the main takeaway of Tsai’s trip. It was the pictures of her holding a rocket launcher.

[Northern or Southern?]

As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, people are no doubt getting ready to eat plenty of zongzi (粽子), or sticky rice dumplings. Taiwan has two popular versions. And this time each year, people online fight over which is better.

[His name was John Cheng]

In this week’s episode, we pay tribute to a man who saved lives by laying down his own. 

Gofundme for Dr. John Cheng’s family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-dr-chengs-family