Ilha Formosa Taiwan Where Mountains Meet the Sea (2008)

Some stills from this short (40-min) documentary, with no spoken language, only music.

OK, I lied, it's image-heavy. Some stills have subs with explanation what is shown. I kept some, because so little is known about this small country.

See, China, what did I do here?

TV Series Opening 21: Mars

I've always liked number 21 so I waited for this to post the opening to the series everybody knows I love.

Taiwan songs

I've been going through a list I made this month when  was roaming the YouTube in search of a nice music and I thought about sharing some Taiwanese music I came across that didn't make any list or couldn't be included into any TT. I could easily make 50 posts only with Jay Chou's songs, but here I tried to put some reins on my smiling stupid face.

Tzuyu drama - a historical background

Pop-culture tries to stay oblivious to politics and history, which is hard, especially in such volatile region as East Asia, where every country is hating its neighbors, while maintaining diplomatic, economic and cultural relationship. Russia and Japan still do not have peace treaty signed, ending the WWII, North Korea and South Korea are in the same situation since 1953 having only signed the armistice, North Korea kidnapped Japanese citizens and some never returned, S. Korea and Japan fight over Dokdo/Takeshima, China and Japan fight over Diaoyu/Senkaku and Taiwan was erased from world maps in 1972.

That's why I love history. It helps to understand the dynamics in some regions or countries, it provides a background to what is happening now, in 21st century. But the tricky part with the history is this: it's always written by the victors, so one needs to be extra critical when it comes to the sources. It helps to read from various perspectives, even if it's a little tiring. In the latest spat over a tiny flag held by a tiny girl, no side is without a fault.