University Student Missing on Mount Jade

A search and rescue team climbing a steep slope in snow on Mount Jade in Taiwan

February 21, 2016February 21, 2016 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment

A 21 year old man is missing in snowy conditions after slipping and falling while attempting to reach the peak of Taiwan’s highest mountain, Mt Jade ( 玉山; Yù Shān). Search and rescue teams have been scouring the area in snowy and foggy conditions but have yet to find any trace of the man. The student of National Taiwan Sport University set out to climb the summit Friday morning February 19 with a group of friends. National Park authorities advised

A collapsed building in Tainan City after the earthquake of February 6, 2016

Disaster

February 6, 2016February 6, 2016 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment earthquake, earthquake search and rescue, Tainan

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake centered in Kaohsiung County awoke residents a few minutes before 4AM this morning February 6, 2016. Three people have died and 160 hospitalized at the time of writing, with the number expected to rise as rescue workers penetrate collapsed buildings. Authorities are still working to assess the extent of the damage as the President heads to Tainan, which appears to have taken the brunt of the damage. Several residential buildings housing hundreds of families have collapsed.

Traffic Accidents

January 31, 2016October 19, 2016 Phillip Charlier 3 Comments fatal accident

An American cram school teacher died in Hsinchu yesterday January 30, after being knocked over by a scooter and run over by three vehicles. According to police and media reports, Kane Renner, 32 was walking home around 4AM Saturday morning after having drinks with friends. While walking on the side of the road he was hit from behind by a scooter which sent him flying into the center of the road. It was dark and raining at the time. Poor

Weather

January 24, 2016January 24, 2016 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment snow, taipei, weather, Wu lai

At the time of writing, Taipei is under the influence of cold front originating in the arctic regions and flowing down through Siberia, to produce some of the coldest temperatures experienced in at least a decade. New Taipei City’s Wulai District saw snowfall Saturday night. The same district was subjected to severe damage from a tropical typhoon last summer. Wulai-snow by wildeastmagazine

Zhou Ziyu poses with the Korean and Republic of China (Taiwan) flags on a Korean variety show

Media Issues

January 21, 2016May 13, 2016 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment Chou Tzu-Yu, cross-strait issues, Republic of China flag, Taiwan flag, Zhou Ziyu, 周子瑜

Netizens on China’s most popular web board Tieba declared war on Taiwan media Facebook pages today in the wake of the controversy caused by Taiwanese performer Zhou Ziyu (Chou Tzu-Yu) showing of a Taiwanese (Republic of China) flag on a Korean variety show last year. Zhou Ziyu is 16 years old and a member of the K-pop girl group TWICE. Netizens declared the attack would start at 7 pm tonight (January 20, 2016), and would include Apple Daily, SET TV, and the Scoop Community.

Media Issues

January 12, 2016January 12, 2016 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment

One of the big issues in the Taiwan media this week is the controversy over ‘Three Siblings Pudding’. The Kaohsiung based brand was created by a teenage girl and her twin younger brothers. The siblings were orphaned when their mother died a few years ago. They lived with their grandmother who couldn’t afford to keep them so they learned how to make pudding, created the brand, and marketed their product on Facebook. Controversy erupted when the brand became too successful. The

Injured people are seen at the scene of an accident on the national highway near Tainan in Southern Taiwan December 29 2015

Stupid Stuff

December 30, 2015May 13, 2016 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment Tainan, traffic-accident

A man arguing with his girlfriend pulled the handbrake while they were traveling at over 90 km/h on the freeway south of Tainan City yesterday. A taxi carrying 6 passengers managed to stop before hitting the first car, but was slammed by a truck traveling behind it. One of the passengers died and 8 people were injured in the accident, including 5 seriously. The 43 year old woman was driving the car and returning to Kaohsiung with her 29 year

Culture

December 16, 2015December 14, 2017 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment

A pigeon-napping extortion ring has been busted after three months of investigation by police. The suspects were nabbed in the mountains of Miaoli County, where investigators found money, drugs, and nets with dead birds hanging in them. The thieves used their knowledge of topography and pigeon-flying routes to place the nets and also used fireworks rockets to frighten birds into the nets. They had managed to catch over 100 birds, some of which died, either in the nets, or while being

Peanuts are seen occupying both sides of a main road in Yunlin County Taiwan, November 2015

Culture

November 18, 2015 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment farmers, harvest, peanuts, Yunlin

November is peanut harvesting season in Taiwan, and in Yunlin County, peanut farmers take over the roads beside their fields to sun-dry their peanuts. On some roads, they leave one lane open for traffic, but in some cases, they take over the whole road, erecting a barrier at either end, forcing drivers to make lengthy detours. This traditional practice is drawing complaints from motorists who face the inconvenience of finding an alternative route to their destination. Farmers state that they

A bomb is seen going off in Liucheng China, September 30 2015. The government has denied a terrorist attack

Regional

September 30, 2015October 1, 2015 Phillip Charlier 1 Comment bombs, China, Guanxi Autonomous Region, liucheng county, terrorism

Liucheng County, in China’s southern Guangxi Autonomous Region, suffered a series of 15 bombings targeting various public, mostly government buildings, leaving 7 dead so far and more than 50 injured, many of them fighting for their life. The bombs began detonating at around 3.50 pm local time and targets included a shopping mall, prison, a county government office, supermarket, transport station, hospital, staff dormitory, vegetable market and center for disease control. The government has denied that it was a terrorist attack, and

John Bon Jovi and band arrives in Taipei at Taipei Taoyuan Airport Sunday, September 27, 2015.

Culture

September 28, 2015 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment bon jovi, taipei concert, typhoon dujuan

Tonight’s (Monday September 28) Bon Jovi concert has been cancelled due to Typhoon Dujuan. John Bon Jovi and fellow band members arrived in Taiwan last night to find the Taipei municipal government had issued a stop-work order for Monday. Stop work orders are issued in Taiwan during typhoon events in the interests of public safety. Thousands of Taiwan’s Bon Jovi fans have been looking forward to the first Bon Jovi concert in Taiwan in 20 years. Bon Jovi last performed

University Student Missing on Mount Jade

Destructive Earthquake Strikes Taiwan’s South

American Teacher Dies After being Hit and Run Over

Snow in Taipei

China’s Netizens Declare War on Taiwan

The Great Pudding Controversy

Lover’s Quarrel Leads to Freeway Havoc: 1 Dead, 8 Injured

Pigeon-nappers Nabbed

Motorists Complain about Peanut Farmers Occupying the Roads

Chinese Autonomous Region Rocked by Bombings

Bon Jovi Taipei Concert Cancelled