We started off day 14 with a visit to Studio 76, an entertainment tech company that creates, adapts and peruses original story IPs on global, multi media platforms, which I was pretty excited for as I really love watching movies and was excited to learn about the production process and how that looks in Taiwan. To be honest, it quickly became clear that the production’s main objective was to generate revenue rather than make quality movies, as the majority of the movies the company was producing were extremely digestible and unoriginal, and the owner himself said he broke into the industry to make money. While I see how effective Studio 76 is from a business standpoint, I think it’s also representative of the growing issue of quantity over quality in the entertainment industry today. While the company visit wasn’t my favorite, I really enjoyed our time in Jioufen. The drive up to the town was absolutely gorgeous and there were stunning views from the city – mountains cascaded all around and you could see the coast below, with rocks jutting out of the ocean. The city itself was also really charming and you could really see in the architecture and layout how it inspired Spirited Away. The film is one of my favorites and I really love nature and scenic views, so traveling here was definitely a dream come true for me – I already want to come back! After our time in Jioufen we traveled to Xinyi District to write wishes on hot air balloons and send them off into the sky, which was a lot of fun. Something I really wanted to see in Taiwan was some of the nature and the island’s mountainous regions, and I’m really grateful I got to explore some of these gorgeous areas, especially as there aren’t many places like this where I live. Overall it was a beautiful day, and I definitely want to revisit to this part of Taiwan!
