One of the Biggest Outdoor Jade Bazaars in Asia

Nestled below an elevated passage called Jianguo Overpass (建國高架道路) in the central part of Taipei City, the Taipei Jianguo Holiday Jade Market (臺北建國玉市) boats one of the biggest outdoor jade bazaars in Asia. Housing about 1,000 vendors set up along aisles of tables, the windowless weekend jade bazaar is seemingly a cave. Please watch the ...

Billy Shyu

10 Benefits of Sitting Cross-Legged in the Lotus Position

Sitting cross-legged is regarded as the most basic form of meditation postures. How you sit will affect the level of tranquility you reach during meditation. For a beginner, this is a very important foundation. 10 benefits of sitting cross-legged Everyone can achieve sitting cross-legged in the lotus position, with the legs crossed, even if you ...

Hermann Rohr

A Buddha statue.

The Ghost Festival Celebrations in Taiwan

The Ghost Festival is celebrated in the seventh lunar month, which falls between August 22 and September 19 this year, is a very important month for people living in Taiwan because it is the so-called “Ghost Month.” Legend has it that the gates of hell are opened on the first day of the lunar month ...

Billy Shyu

The Origin of White Peony Tea

White peony tea (白牡丹茶; bái mǔ dān chá) is classified as white tea. The shape of the tea is like a flower of green leaves, with a white center of fine fluff. As it is brewing, the green leaves embrace the bloom like a flower, and thus it got the name white peony. White peony ...

Billy Shyu

How China AI Experts Could Get Ahead of Google by 2030

Over the past few years, China AI experts have shown quite a steep development curve in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) research. In the coming decade, they intend to overtake their international competitors and become the No. 1 player in the AI market. It was not long ago that China was considered to be ...

Hermann Rohr

The Beautiful Silhouette Animations of Lotte Reiniger

Charlotte “Lotte” Reiniger was a film director, an animator, and a trailblazer for women in the film industry. Lotte Reiniger was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1899, and throughout her life, she made over 40 films. She also made one of the world’s first animated features, The Adventures of Prince Achmed. Her films are most ...

Jessica Kneipp

Hong Kong Protester Numbers in Support of the Jailed Students Reaches Peak

Three prominent young leaders of Hong Kong’s democracy movement were sentenced on August 17 to 6-8 months in prison. This comes as a major setback for the semi-autonomous Chinese city, which is struggling for greater political freedom under China’s Communist Party rule. In spite of this, support for the jailed students keeps increasing. Joshua Wong, ...

Hermann Rohr

Joshua Wong and a fellow protester.

Why the U.S. Needs to Deal With China’s Theft of Intellectual Property

Free trade with China is failing the U.S. because of the Chinese government’s unfair trade practices, says an American professor of economics. Brian Brenberg, an associate professor of economics at The King’s College in New York, said the idea of free trade with China is threatened by Beijing’s theft of intellectual property (IP). “China is one ...

James Burke

7 of the Best Hidden China Travel Destinations

Here are seven of the best hidden China travel destinations, which are not so famous and thus are far less crowded. Yi Chun in Heilongjiang: Appreciate the lingering charms of autumn Yi Chun (伊春) is the definition of a quaint forest town. It is in the region of the Lesser Khingan Mountain Range (小興安嶺), which ...

Armin Auctor

Roof line of an ancient Chinese building as seen through the trees with changing leaves in fall.