Exploring the Fusion of Business, Culture, and Religion in Taiwan: The Heart of Asia

Archive for May, 2025

Friday, May 23rd, 2025

Taiwan: Day 3 – Temples and the National Palace Museum

On day 3 of our trip to Taiwan we visited Lungshan Temple, a Buddhist and Taoist temple a short drive away from our hotel. I was really excited for this visit as I had seen dozens of pictures of East Asian temples before and they always looked beautifully designed and constructed. Lungshan did not disappoint – there was a waterfall and koi fish pond lining either sides of the area, and we walked through a gorgeous archway as we entered the square. There was a bell tower and drum tower, and the buildings themselves were were really intricately made. The […]

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Posted by on May 23, 2025

Thursday, May 22nd, 2025

Day 2 in Taiwan

Today started out very different from yesterday. We had the opportunity to visit two very different companies, and hear more about the economy in Taiwan, as well as the economic relationship between the US and Taiwan.  Our first stop was to AIT, American Institute in Taiwan, in which Christian Koschil gave an insightful overview on many aspects of the Taiwanese economy, as well as, explained what the AIT does. I found it interesting that the AIT serves as a de facto embassy of the US since Taiwan is not officially recognized as a country. I also enjoyed learning about how […]

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Posted by on May 22, 2025

Thursday, May 22nd, 2025

5/22

Today we visited two temples. The first, Lungshan temple, is a Buddhist and Taoist temple located in Taipei. I learned many traditional aspects of Buddhist and Taoist worship, including that in temples, you always enter at the side with the dragon, and leave at the side with the tiger. People who visit the temple often bring offerings, including flowers, incense, and vegetarian foods. This is because non-vegetarian foods are indicative of a blood sacrifice, something unpleasant to both the offeror and the deceased. I also noticed how the offerings at Lungshan were always placed on a red plate before being […]

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Posted by on May 22, 2025

Thursday, May 22nd, 2025

5/21

Our first stop this morning was at AIT, the American Institute of Taiwan. We heard from Christian Koschil, who told us about the mission of the AIT, as well as his position in the organization and how the history of Taiwan has impacted the organization’s mission and goals. What I found most interesting from his presentation was the distribution of FDI into Taiwan. Taiwan’s top source of FDI is green energy, primarily in wind, followed by solar. However, Taiwan still imports nearly 97% of their energy to meet their high demand for energy in the semiconductor and technology industry. I […]

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Posted by on May 22, 2025

Thursday, May 22nd, 2025

5/20

When traveling across the world to a new continent, there will inevitably be differences in culture. Some of the largest culture shocks I experienced on my first day in Taiwan revolved around the language and food. Although English is a lingua franca, there are still many street signs and labels that are only in Chinese. This creates barriers for non-Chinese speakers to navigate Taiwan. Furthermore, I found it hard to choose my meals when the labels were in Chinese, and there are many foods I am unfamiliar with.  Furthermore, within our first few hours here, we saw some symbols resembling […]

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Posted by on May 22, 2025

Thursday, May 22nd, 2025

Taiwan Day three (5/22)

Today (5/22), we explored some of the temples around Taipei. We first started at Banka Lunghan Temple. I first noticed the waterfalls when we walked into the temple, this is something I also noticed when we were at a temple we found last night. All the temples we have seen so far have koi Fish, which are way bigger then any I have previously seen. Additionally, the trees at the front of the temple appeared to look to Bonzi trees, but I do not think they were. One thing that I found interesting is when people who were coming into […]

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Posted by on May 22, 2025

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