"These days, in place of the go-getting attitudes of Beijing, Seoul and Hong Kong is an embrace [in Taiwan] of a relatively modest lifestyle, where nature, a decent croissant and rare vinyl increasingly trumps having the latest Rolex.
"This isn’t the city I grew up with. As a child of Chinese parents living in the US, I found visits to Taipei only made America’s clean, green streets more appealing. But that has changed. Since moving to Asia nearly 14 years ago, obligatory family visits to a gritty city have turned into voluntary trips to a place where I can count on a relaxing weekend spent browsing bookstores and eating good food.
Note:
(a) Part of the same report, as a teaser, is published in China real time on the same day titled "Travel: Taipei, Asia’s Answer to Portland, Ore."
(b) "44 South Village in Taipei’s Xinyi District"
(i) The old photos:
四四南村介紹. Pacific Business Center 太平洋商旅, undated. http://www.businesscenter.com.tw/zh-tw/story/44-south-village.htm
(ii) "a farmer’s market called Simple Market" 簡單市集
(c) Huashan 1914 Creative Park 華山1914文化創意產業園區 http://www.huashan1914.com/about/history.php?cate=about
(i) its director LEE Chang-Fang I can not find his name in Chinese.
(ii) "Urban Simple Life, the park’s biannual music-design-food festival"
簡單生活節
(iii) The report states, "Handed over to the privately run Taiwan Cultural-Creative Development Co, Huashan reopened in 2007."
台灣文創發展股份有限公司
(iv) The report also comments "this past November saw the opening of Spot, a NT$90 million cinema run by the government-backed Taiwan Film and Culture Association, where Mr Hou serves as an honorary chairman."
光點華山電影館 http://www.huashan1914.com/exhib ... hp?cate=&id=795
(vi) "VVG Thinking, the latest venture by Grace Wang, an interior designer"
(A) There is no Chinese name for VVG Thinking, where VVG stands for "VVG(Veryverygood)餐飲集團."
(B) Grace WANG 汪 麗琴
* lumière (French: noun feminine): "light"
(ii) 侯孝賢
(e) Eslite 誠品書店 www.eslite.com
(f) The report says of 華山1914: "Built by Japanese colonialists in 1914, the distillery, one of the island’s largest, produced sake and plum wine until its closure in 1987. For a decade, it lay fallow as officials tussled over its fate."
fallow (adj):
"1: left untilled or unsown after plowing
2: DORMANT, INACTIVE —used especially in the phrase to lie fallow" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallow
(g) The report mentions "the indie-minded designers selling their wares at stores such as Good Cho’s in 44 South Village and Huashan’s 1914 Connections."
(i) Good Cho 好，丘
"At a daily press briefing on Monday, China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing had told Japanese officials it was 'strongly dissatisfied' that Taiwan officials were placed in the same area as diplomatic envoys. * * *
"The handling of Taiwan under the current ruling Liberal Democratic Party is a sharp contrast with how the Democratic Party of Japan, in power a year ago, dealt with the matter during the first anniversary memorial.
"The DPJ — which took control of the government in 2009 promising closer ties with Beijing — kept Taiwan off the list of countries present at the first memorial service on March 11, 2012. Instead, Taiwan’s representative was seated in the general seating area, crammed together with other “private sector representatives.”
Note:
(a) Tōko SEKIGUCHI 関口 陶子
(b) Yoshihide SUGA 菅 義偉
(i) 菅義偉 http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8F%85%E7%BE%A9%E5%81%89
(currently 内閣官房長官 Chief Cabinet Secretary)
(ii) suge 菅 【すげ; すが(ok)】 (b): "sedge"
(c) Tokyo's 1972 declaration with Beijing, with regard to Taiwan,
(i) officially known as
(A) in English: Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China
(B) in simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国政府与日本政府的联合声明
(C) in kanji: 日本国政府と中華人民共和国政府の共同声明
"2. The Government of Japan recognizes that Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China.
"3. The Government of the People's Republic of China reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People's Republic of China. The Government of Japan fully understands and respects this stand of the Government of the People's Republic of China, and it firmly maintains its stand under Article 8 of the Postsdam Proclamation.