TaiwaneseAmerican.org is pleased to announce the 2024 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes. Created in 2021 in collaboration with Taiwanese American author Charles Yu, the Prizes are intended to encourage and recognize creative literary work by Taiwanese American students, and to foster discussion and community around such work. In 2022, the prize expanded to include a separate middle school category for 6th-8th grade applicants, judged by Alvina Ling. In 2023, we added an additional category for adults in all stages of life beyond college.
Submissions may be in any literary genre including fiction, poetry, personal essays or other creative non-fiction. Submissions must be sent via Google Form and must be received by Saturday, April 20, 2024 11:59 PM PT. In order to be eligible, submissions must be from writers of Taiwanese heritage (or writers with other significant connections to Taiwan), or have subject matter otherwise relevant to the Taiwanese or Taiwanese American experience.
Submissions will be considered in four categories: Middle School (enrolled in 6th-8th grade as of the deadline), High School (enrolled in high school as of the deadline), College (enrolled in community college or as an undergraduate as of the deadline), Adult (in any stage of life beyond college). Winners and finalists will be announced in May 2024. Cash prizes will be awarded as follows:
Grand Prize Winner: $500 – one selection per age category Finalist: $200 – three selections per age category Honorable Mention: $75 – at judge’s discretion per age category
In addition, each of the winners and finalists will have their submitted work published online by TaiwaneseAmerican.org and considered for publication in a future edition of Chrysanthemum: Voices of the Taiwanese Diaspora. All participants will be offered the opportunity to participate in a virtual group session with the judges.
The confirmed judges for the 2024 Prizes are:
Charles Yu is a Taiwanese American writer. He is the author of the novels How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe and Interior Chinatown as well as the short-story collections Third Class Superhero and Sorry Please Thank You. In 2020, he received the National Book Award for Fiction. He will judge the adult and college categories.
Shawna Yang Ryan is a Taiwanese American novelist, short story writer and creative writing professor, who has published the novels Water Ghosts and Green Island. Green Island won an American Book Award in 2017. She is the former director of the Creative Writing Program at UH Mānoa. She now writes full-time in California. She will judge the high school and college categories.
Alvina Ling is Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she’s worked since 1999. She edits children’s books for all ages, from picture books to young adult. In 2021 she received the Medal for Editorial Excellence from the Center for Fiction. She will judge the middle school category.
The Prizes are named in honor of Betty Lin Yu and Jin-Chyuan Yu for their service to the Taiwanese American community, including establishment of TACL-LID Youth Camp in Southern California, co-founding of the South Bay Taiwanese-American School, the first school in the United States specifically for the purpose of Taiwanese Language instruction, establishment of North America Taiwanese Engineer’s Association, Southern California Chapter (NATEA-SC) and longtime support for other organizations including Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), North America Taiwanese Women’s Association (NATWA), and Taiwanese Association of America (TAA).
We are pleased to announce the 2023 cohort of honorable mentions, finalists, and grand prize winners of the Betty L. Yu & Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes, established in partnership with TaiwaneseAmerican.org in honor of Yu’s parents, who are longstanding Taiwanese American community leaders. In its third year, the prize has expanded to include adult writers of all life stages. Their work will be published on TaiwaneseAmerican.org throughout the year.
The Prizes are named in honor of Betty Lin Yu and Jin-Chyuan Yu for their service to the Taiwanese-American community, including establishment of TACL LID Youth Camp in Southern California, co-founding of the South Bay Taiwanese-American School, the first school in the United States specifically for the purpose of Taiwanese Language instruction, establishment of North America Taiwanese Engineering Association, Southern California Chapter (NATEA-SC) and longtime support for other organizations including Formosa Association for Public Affair (FAPA), North America Taiwanese Women Association (NATWA), and Taiwan American Association (TAA).
After a blind deliberation period, the judges have selected the following:
ADULT CATEGORY
Grand Prize Winner: Grace Hwang Lynch, “Salty Like Tears”
From the judges: “Beautifully paced with well-polished prose that is a pleasure to read.”
Finalists:
Amanda Su, “For When You Were An Octopus”
Joanna Chen Cham, “Obachan”
Honorable Mentions:
Susan L. Lin, “Gravitational Pull”
Nicholas Servedio, “Atlantic Menhaden”
COLLEGE CATEGORY
Grand Prize Winner: Gazelle Chen, “Intergenerational Language Transmission”
From the judges: “Words, ideas and emotion carefully braided together. A thoughtful, deliberate voice comes through.”
Finalist:
Ruth Tsung-Lin Lee (李宗霖), “The First Meal (of Many)”
HIGH SCHOOL CATEGORY
Grand Prize Winner: Tristan Oliver Tang, “Dan Bing”
From the judges: “This well-written, delightful piece is full of detail and color, a small slice of life in Taiwan, thoughtfully and skillfully rendered. A young voice with much promise!”
Finalists:
Jamie Su, “The Taiwanese Experience”
Mackenzie Duan, “5 Poems”
MIDDLE SCHOOL CATEGORY
Grand Prize Winner: YakuzaBaby, “Betelnut, Soldier Wolf”
From the judges: “We found this story to be inventive and evocative with a great voice and sharp writing. It’s such a poignant story about familial bonds, and ultimately a love story which comes full circle in a very satisfying way.”
TaiwaneseAmerican.org is pleased to announce the 2023 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes. Created in 2021 in collaboration with Taiwanese American author Charles Yu, the Prizes are intended to encourage and recognize creative literary work by Taiwanese American students, and to foster discussion and community around such work. In 2022, the prize expanded to include a separate middle school category for 6th-8th grade applicants, judged by Alvina Ling. This year, we have added an additional category for adults in all stages of life beyond college.
Submissions may be in any literary genre including fiction, poetry, personal essays or other creative non-fiction. Submissions must be sent via Google Form and must be received by Saturday, April 8, 2023 11:59 PM PT. In order to be eligible, submissions must be from writers of Taiwanese heritage (or writers with other significant connections to Taiwan), or have subject matter otherwise relevant to the Taiwanese or Taiwanese American experience.
Submissions will be considered in four categories: Middle School (enrolled in 6th-8th grade as of the deadline), High School (enrolled in high school as of the deadline), College (enrolled in community college or as an undergraduate as of the deadline), Adult (in any stage of life beyond college). Winners and finalists will be announced in May 2023. Cash prizes will be awarded as follows:
Grand Prize Winner: $500 – one selection per age category Finalist: $200 – three selections per age category Honorable Mention: $75 – at judge’s discretion per age category
In addition, each of the winners and finalists will have their submitted work published online by TaiwaneseAmerican.org and considered for publication in a future edition of Chrysanthemum: Voices of the Taiwanese Diaspora, and offered the opportunity to participate in a virtual group session with the judges.
The confirmed judges for the 2023 Prizes are:
Charles Yu is a Taiwanese American writer. He is the author of the novels How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe and Interior Chinatown as well as the short-story collections Third Class Superhero and Sorry Please Thank You. In 2020, he received the National Book Award for Fiction. He will judge the adult and college categories.
Shawna Yang Ryan is a Taiwanese American novelist, short story writer and creative writing professor, who has published the novels Water Ghosts and Green Island. Green Island won an American Book Award in 2017. She currently directs the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. She will judge the high school and college categories.
Alvina Ling is Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she’s worked since 1999. She edits children’s books for all ages, from picture books to young adult. In 2021 she received the Medal for Editorial Excellence from the Center for Fiction. She will judge the middle school category.
The Prizes are named in honor of Betty Lin Yu and Jin-Chyuan Yu for their service to the Taiwanese American community, including establishment of TACL-LID Youth Camp in Southern California, co-founding of the South Bay Taiwanese-American School, the first school in the United States specifically for the purpose of Taiwanese Language instruction, establishment of North America Taiwanese Engineer’s Association, Southern California Chapter (NATEA-SC) and longtime support for other organizations including Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), North America Taiwanese Women’s Association (NATWA), and Taiwanese Association of America (TAA).
When Tiffany Chang entered the Miss Taiwanese American Pageant, she embarked on an experience many alumni have described as “life-changing.” The Miss Taiwanese American (MTA) Pageant (台美小姐選拔 ) is an annual competition held by the Taiwan Center Foundation of Greater Los Angeles (大洛杉磯台灣會館基金會) to “find and encourage the next generation of leaders for the Taiwanese American community.”
The Pageant offers a seven-week cram course. Chang spent hours each weekend learning about personal style, makeup, self presentation, culture and history. “Over the course of the 7 weeks I learned more about my culture and origin of Taiwan more than I would have ever anticipated,” she shares. “The knowledge and experiences I gained through Miss Taiwanese American training are greatly valuable and ones that I will take with me throughout my life.”
Each year, upon completion of the workshops and a final performance, a court of young women is selected as ambassadors to “serve and represent the Taiwanese American community.”
Chang, crowned Queen in 2022, took this creed to heart. Like many other contestants, she was most interested in the opportunity to “build an understanding of [her] own identity, [her] Taiwanese American heritage.” Chang shared that she had been bullied early on and felt discriminated against for her Asian American identity; when she was younger, she’d lacked the self confidence to stand up for herself and often doubted her self worth:
“I realized that I could no longer remain silent and worked hard to find empowerment through gaining self confidence and finding my voice where I started my own non-profit, began Taiwanese Affinity club at school, participated in leadership council, and co-directed a multi-award winning film. The old me would shy away from [big ambitions like that] but I made a resolution to myself to actively seek out opportunities empowering others. I would like to use this pageant to inspire young individuals who are going through the same journey of struggle with confidence, mental well being, and ability to use their voice. I would like to use this platform to inspire others that failures are our opportunities for growth.”
TaiwaneseAmerican.org had the opportunity to meet with Chang, who’s now a freshman at Stanford University, at the Taiwanese American Federation of Northern California’s annual Lunar New Year Banquet just a few miles away.
Tiffany Chang with Ho Chie Tsai
We chatted about the robot she’d built as the talent portion of the Pageant (“that’s like the most Stanford thing ever,” Ho Chie said). Chang had actually made three prototypes before finally creating the one that would “walk” the stage with her. In just a four-minute talent showcase, Chang shared not only how the robot was made, but also her hope that more young women would cultivate a curiosity for STEM. The robot also pays homage to the contribution of Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans: there are the famous semiconductors, yes, but Taiwan has also borne strong women leadership and pioneering immigrants in nearly every sector. The path ahead truly motivates Chang: “In 2021, 4 out of 10 technological breakthroughs were healthcare related. Telemedicine, biomedical devices, predictive diagnostics, wearable sensors and a host of new apps will transform how people manage their health. Sustainable innovation is something I am also excited about. Tackling the climate emergency has never been more urgent where we need to take actions to meet our ambitious climate targets in time. The key driver for this to happen is innovation. It is obvious we can not continue to rely on fossil fuels to stop global warming. I am excited to learn the production of our own on-demand energy and raw materials that can be replenished on an ongoing basis.”
Tiffany Chang with TAFNC President Jim Chang. Photography by Dr. Meng Horng
Reflecting upon her own identity as a third-generation Taiwanese American, Chang then shared, “it is ultimately up to us to decide who we are. Many do not realize that it is important to make the distinction between Taiwanese and Chinese for ourselves; if we don’t, others will impose it on us. The [PRC’s] regime has a political agenda to force the idea of national boundaries on the notion of culture–’everyone who shares some cultural heritage from China has to be part of us politically.’ This… is so charged because China is forcing us to [concede] our nationality based on a diverse set of cultural experiences. We must resist others to force their identity on us… we must take ownership of our own identity.”
She also thoughtfully points out that for many, identity spans more than race or ethnicity: “Identity is externally imposed and internally constructed at the same time. It is externally imposed where we ask ourselves ‘How do others perceive me?’ and it is internally constructed where we determine how we identify ourselves.”
For other young Taiwanese and Asian Americans, she offers sage words of advice – as Taiwanese identity suffers the external threat of geopolitical forces, personal identity can also suffer the external threat of stigmas like the model minority myth: “It is important to dismantle the model minority myth… characterizing Asian Americans as a model minority flattens Asian Americans into a singular, narrow narrative which does such great disservice to us. I would like to break the stigma of the model minority myth, where I would like to share that it’s okay to not be perfect AND to realize that our failures are our opportunities for growth. If we can learn from our failures, then they are actually a success where it allows us growth and self improvement.
Failures create a unique opportunity for self growth and provide opportunities to evaluate our strengths and make them even stronger. Instead of [feeling trapped by] the stereotype, young Taiwanese Americans should celebrate failures as actually beneficial and as an essential part of our self-development.”
Chang is an articulate and kind ambassador for the Taiwanese American community, and at the banquet she was able to meet with another ambassador: Taiwan’s appointed representative to the United States, Hsiao Bi-Khim.
Tiffany Chang with Ambassador Hsiao Bi-Khim. Photography by Dr. Meng HorngTiffany with her mother and grandmother.
For young Taiwanese and Taiwanese American women, inspiration is everywhere: in Hsiao Bi-Khim; in Tsai Ing-Wen, the first woman president; in the women who make up, as of 2022, 42.5% of the Taiwanese legislature. Chang holds them in high esteem, but also holds her family close to her heart: “My Ama showed me the modern society woman as she is resilient, compassionate, and innovative. As matriarch of the family, she raised two exceptional women, all of whom inspire me to find the willpower to persevere through any obstacle, especially my identity. I believe she is the true embodiment of Taiwanese values of patience, hard work, and modesty. She is my role model to being the connectional bridge to standing up as a minority and woman. I hope to utilize my grandmother’s empowerment to serve back and further empower the Taiwanese community as well as showcase women’s intelligence and leadership.”
If you’re a champion of MIT “Made in Taiwan” shopping principles (or if you need help brainstorming the perfect gift for your “I have everything I need” parents), may we suggest a peek into MBTA “Made by Taiwanese Americans.” We’re so proud to bring back this annual gift guide for the *third* time, highlighting Taiwanese American small businesses, brands, and creators. We know there’s more out there – reach out if that’s you at leona@taiwaneseamerican.org. We’re rooting for each of you!
“I started my shop as a creative outlet, aimed to spark smiles, nostalgia, and happiness. I hope that my pins, stickers, and other small goodies reminds you of sentimental moments.”
“We’re three sisters in STEM that seeks to empower other women-in-STEM through our stickers while advocating for mental wellness. All of our stickers are designed by us and are made with weather-proof and tear-proof materials.”
“I’m a Taiwanese American designer & illustrator with strong RBF (resting bitch face) and an equally strong snacking capacity. JaneLi.Co is a creative playground for me to experiment and make fun shit, so I hope you enjoy my art as much as I enjoy making it!”
“Born and raised in Canada by Taiwanese immigrant parents, I created Dear Botanicals to celebrate the beauty of the natural world I grew up with. From the oolong tea of my parents’ homeland to the scent of cedarwood from my Pacific Northwest childhood, I transform the essence of plants and flowers into beautiful objects that we can use to elevate our daily routines. Made by hand and always with great care in New England, my products make a cleansing shower into a joyous ritual. They turn constant hand washing into moments of pleasure. My products are 100% natural, small-batch, and an everyday luxury.”
“My dad’s entrepreneurial spirit always inspired me, and it was only through this experience that I realized I wanted to create something that would meet my needs and my values: an all natural, handcrafted, sustainable, eco-friendly and affordable skincare line. After a few months of research and testing, Chuan’s Promise was born.”
Love, Jude | Sheet masks born in California and made with love in Taiwan
“Love, Jude was founded by Taiwanese American skincare blogger Jude Chao. Jude launched her blog, Fifty Shades of Snail, with a review of Taiwanese sheet masks; since then, she’s maintained a 4-6 sheet masks a week habit. When the opportunity arose for her to start a beauty brand, she knew what she had to do: create the sheet masks of her dreams. In collaboration with Love Jude’s manufacturer in Taiwan, Jude developed a line of products that perfectly illustrates her ideal daily use masks. Love, Jude masks are highly effective but also highly affordable, so you can use them often. And they’re fun, because skincare should put a smile on your face.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Calming sheet mask (currently sold out; other variants available)
“This book is filled with my favorite confections with flavors inspired by my Taiwanese American background. With the encouragement of my publishers, I wrote, designed the book, and shot all the photos myself. It truly was a labor of love; I delivered the manuscript the same week I delivered my son.”
Formosa Coffee | Taiwan-grown, New York-roasted coffee
“The coffee beans we use come directly from our farms on the mountains of central Taiwan at an elevation of 3,500-4,000ft. Grown in volcanic soil, our beans produce an exquisitely smooth taste without the bitterness and strong acidity. It is a mild coffee perfectly balanced in flavor and aroma. We roast every order on the day of shipping in New York, which means you always get the freshest coffee at peak flavor.”
Formosa Fine Chocolates | Belgian technique, American artistry, Taiwanese hospitality
“We at Formosa Chocolates proudly produce luxury chocolates in the San Francisco Bay Area with Belgian technique, American artistry and tastes, and Taiwanese hospitality and gift-giving tradition. Whenever possible, we use local sustainably-sourced ingredients. We aim to create a stylish and sophisticated chocolate experience that gifters will be proud to present to recipients.”
Notebooks & Honey | Small-batch brand selling the modern carryall tote
“‘Notebooks’ referring to laptops, tablets, agendas, planners, actual notebooks and ‘honey’ referring to the babies, kids, adult kids and fur babies.” From an Atlanta-based Taiwanese American designer.
“Té is a New York-based tea company specializing in Taiwanese tea. Founded in 2012 by Elena Liao and Frederico Ribeiro, the company sources exquisite teas directly from small farmers in Taiwan. In addition to an array of loose leaf tea, Té is known for its exceptional tea snacks, including the beloved Pineapple Linzer.”
“Thanks for stopping by! I’m Julia, a California-based Taiwanese American designer who’s addicted to boba, black sesame, matcha, and cheesy bilingual jokes.”
“Each piece is designed and slow-made by me, with the core value of accessible, high-quality craftsmanship in every design. Made with 14 karats of gold-filled wire, a luxurious mix of semi-precious healing stones, and Japanese silk thread. Everything is one-of-a-kind and made in small batches. No waste. No mass production.”
Occasionally Sweet | Handcrafted Jewelry Inspired by Mother Nature
“Rooted in the founder’s childhood experience in the mountains, Occasionally Sweet is underpinned by the exuberance of the unexpected and unbounded delights our natural surroundings offer. Hence, we are here to dedicate our brand to capture the long-forgotten inner child and nurture a safe space for that spirit to thrive.”
Leira Oak Designs | Hand-made Polymer Clay Earrings
I love the idea of having the only pair of something, so I won’t be batch making any products like many other (very talented) clay earring makers. My earrings are truly one-of-a-kind! Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you find the design that speaks to you!
“This tea collection recently won the Grand Gold Prize at the 2022 World Green Tea Contest held in Japan. Tea drinkers will discover classic oolong teas from the most prominent tea regions in Taiwan, from the time-honored Dong Ding region to the premium LiShan high mountain region. Each tea leaf is strictly plucked by hand from the highest quality tea gardens. All of them epitomize timeless tasting profiles that take oolong tea connoisseurs on a palate journey through Taiwan.”
The Little Pup-up Shop | Kawaii Dog Toys and Accessories
“The Little Pup-Up Shop offers the cutest kawaii-style dog toys and accessories from unique artists and quality brands so that you and your pup can share more joy with each other every day!”
What a Cutie | Fashionable and Functional Dog Accessories
“We are a small, Asian female owned business based in Brooklyn, NY. At What a Cutie, we specialize in high-quality BioThane gears that are waterproof, stink-proof and super easy to clean! We want to provide dog owners with dog accessories that are not only functional but also fashionable, so you don’t have to choose in between the two.”
“Each Rex Made This product is designed to last and each is a unique reflection of my happiest memories in my favorite places, with my favorite people, expressed in watercolor layered with loose sketch-like illustrations.”
Impromptu Spices | Spice Blends for Nostalgic Dishes
“Impromptu flavors for unreasonable cravings. Sometimes, you just crave a bowl of Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup with no shop in sight. Unreasonable? Not if you have an Impromptu spice blend.”
“Felicia Liang is a multidisciplinary artist and illustrator based in the Bay Area, California. Her work is inspired by the cultures and communities she’s around, as well as her own inner musings. She began drawing as a way to tell stories, with a focus on her Taiwanese American upbringing and Chinatowns in New York and California. She creates to explore her place in the world, build community, and illustrate both the beauty and weirdness of everyday life.”
Yun Hai 雲海 Shop | Premium Ingredients for Chinese and Taiwanese Cooking
“Our team helps small food businesses based in Taiwan prepare their product for commercial import to an eager audience in the United States. We intend to bring visibility to the culture, cuisine, and independence of Taiwan while offering a selection of fine and fancy ingredients for Chinese cooking.”
“Our brand is part of the Taiwanese food revolution and we want to set the standard for those who are not afraid of bold cultural dishes of creative innovation. We are the leaders in bringing modern Taiwanese food out into the open for those to enjoy conveniently at home and look forward to keeping your bellies full.”
“Felicia Liang is a multidisciplinary artist and illustrator based in the Bay Area, California. Her work is inspired by the cultures and communities she’s around, as well as her own inner musings. She began drawing as a way to tell stories, with a focus on her Taiwanese American upbringing and Chinatowns in New York and California. She creates to explore her place in the world, build community, and illustrate both the beauty and weirdness of everyday life.”
“I started my shop as a creative outlet, aimed to spark smiles, nostalgia, and happiness. I hope that my pins, stickers, and other small goodies remind you of sentimental moments.”
“We look forward to showing you highlights of our labor-of-love book making process, road to publishing, and all the fun we have along the way. (Mostly in the middle of the night after all our bitty babes are in bed and our houses are finally quiet!) We are so proud to announce our book series (in its infancy), #BittyBao – bitty books for bitty babes!”
“A Little Book of Taiwanese Eats is a lovable rhyming book celebrating the tastiest Taiwanese dishes following our phonetic alphabet, also known as ‘Bopomofo’ or ‘Zhuyin.'”
“Produced by Taiwanese American Citizens League – Leading Youth Forward (TACL-LYF), the book is a beautiful compilation of recipes written, tested, and passed down by our Taiwanese moms and grandmas around the world in collaboration with 2nd generation Taiwanese Americans. It includes suggested menus for various occasions and quick guidelines for prep time, complexity level, and significance in Taiwanese culture.”
Order Taiwanese Homestyle Cooking Cookbook ($32.99 donation per book to TACL-LYF) All proceeds directly support the annual TACL-LYF Summer Camp, a weeklong overnight camp dedicated to helping the next generation of Taiwanese American youth explore TA identity and grow as people.
“A modern, brashly flavorful guide to cooking Taiwanese-American food, from Brooklyn’s lauded Win Son, Win Son Bakery, and Cathy Erway, celebrated writer and expert on the cuisine… With 100 creative, yet accessible recipes, this book will unravel the history of this diaspora cuisine. While featuring classic dishes and well-known favorites, this cookbook also stretches this cuisine’s definition, introducing new dishes with brazen twists that are fun, flavorful, and decidedly American-born in style.”
“To show the wide breadth of capabilities of the Tatung Rice Cooker and Steamer, we put together this cookbook featuring ten traditional Taiwanese recipes, all prepared in the Tatung. It was written by Lisa Cheng Smith with recipe development support by Lillian Lin and Cat Yeh. Design by O.oo; photography by Robert Bredvad, with art direction by Stephanie H. Shih and food styling by Jessie YuChen.”
The Food of Taiwan: Recipes from the Beautiful Island
By Cathy Erway
“One of the first books published in the US to offer a comprehensive guide on the topic, The Food of Taiwan takes a long look at a fascinating cuisine. Written by half-Taiwanese food writer Cathy Erway (Not Eating Out In New York), it includes nearly 100 recipes ranging from old-fashioned homestyle dishes to the latest street-food crazes. Easy-to-follow recipes and scenic photography by Pete Lee showcase the delicious flavors of the island, to be savored by home cooks all over.”
First Generation: Recipes from My Taiwanese-American Home
By Frankie Gaw
“I wanted to write a cookbook to celebrate the first-generation Asian American experience. To reflect on an identity that reflects the resilience of the immigrant spirit through recipes and stories… Immigrants and their stories are the heart of America and are what make this country thrive. First Generation is just one of those stories and I can’t wait to share it with you.”
Noodle Taco: A Taiwanese-Mexican-American Culinary Adventure
By Peg Cheng and Marcus Donner
“Noodle Taco is a Taiwanese-Mexican-American culinary adventure that shares the cherished family recipes and stories passed down from our mothers to the next generation. Includes recipes for wontons, pork chop noodles, flour tortillas, tamales and more.”
“Miss Modi designs are an embodiment of my childhood memories growing up in Taiwan, personal stories, inspirations, and all things unique about Taiwanese and American culture.”
“Fluency in a language is most easily gained if a child is exposed within the first few years of life. I created these books for non-native speakers and like-minded parents interested in fostering the development of dual-language with their children… My mission is to add more Asian faces into the world of children’s books and to leave a legacy for my daughters by creating books where they can see themselves reflected in them.”
“The idea for Jiffy Boba started with Elvon’s aunt who owns a fish farm. At the time, the fish farm was producing tons of unutilized marine collagen. This inspired him to create Jiffy Boba — a tapioca product that supports skin and joint health made from fresh marine collagen — never from collagen powder. After many iterations, Elvon invented instant collagen boba. Unlike other boba on the market, Jiffy Boba has 1g of protein and 1,840 mg of collagen per serving. Now, it’s easy to make a delicious boba drink in 60 seconds using either a microwave or a pot of boiling water.”
“TWRL Milk Tea was founded on an obsession to make milk tea latte—a quintessential Asian drink that we love—even better. The result is a plant-based milk tea that gets its pure, clean flavor from ethically sourced premium teas rather than artificial flavors and heaps of sugar.”
“Playful pom pom jewelry and accessories inspired by Asian American food and culture. Each product is designed and hand-made with love in San Francisco.”
“The name ‘Ilha’ comes from my parents’ native country of Taiwan. When Portuguese sailors came upon the island in the 1500s, they named it ‘Ilha Formosa,’ which means “beautiful island.” I wanted to give a nod to my heritage while connecting it to my life on another beautiful island, New York City. ILHA Candles is an Asian American, female founded company. We proudly create fragrant soy candles and a variety of home fragrance products using natural ingredients and toxin-free fragrances.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick:Jasmine Green Tea Soy Candle (10% of net proceeds of Jasmine Green Tea are donated to TaiwaneseAmerican.org!)
“Founded in 2019 by sisters Yingchi and Yuchen, Mogutable (pronounced “mo-gu-table”) was born from a love of food and the experience of it — a realization that meals weren’t necessarily about the food itself, but the stories told through the setting and objects used to accompany it. Born and raised in Taiwan, and now based in Brooklyn, the sister duo were at the intersection of both American and East Asian designs. Today, Mogutable offers a number of well-designed, beautiful tableware, and home goods from Japan, Taiwan, S. Korea, and here in the U.S. that are thoughtfully curated, and then shared with those who share the same love of elevating daily routines and objects in their lives.”
We are pleased to announce the 2022 cohort of honorable mentions, finalists, and grand prize winners of the Betty L. Yu & Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes, established in partnership with TaiwaneseAmerican.org in honor of Yu’s parents, who are longstanding Taiwanese American community leaders. In its second year, the prize has expanded to include middle school participants and selections. Their work will be published on TaiwaneseAmerican.org throughout the year.
The Prizes are named in honor of Betty Lin Yu and Jin-Chyuan Yu for their service to the Taiwanese-American community, including establishment of TACL LID Youth Camp in Southern California, co-founding of the South Bay Taiwanese-American School, the first school in the United States specifically for the purpose of Taiwanese Language instruction, establishment of North America Taiwanese Engineering Association, Southern California Chapter (NATEA-SC) and longtime support for other organizations including Formosa Association for Public Affair (FAPA), North America Taiwanese Women Association (NATWA), and Taiwan American Association (TAA).
Author Charles Yu with his parents, Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu
The judges have selected the following:
MIDDLE SCHOOL Grand Prize Winner: Yakuza Baby, “Mooncakes” From Alvina Ling: “I loved this multi-generational story about a girl named Eileen who reluctantly moves with her family to Taiwan from NY, and has some trouble fitting in. Her grandmother tells her about Eileen’s great-grandmother, Ailen, who she was named after, and the mystery behind Ailen’s sister Suilin who was left behind in Taiwan after the rest of the family moved to Singapore. Eileen magically discovers notes hidden in mooncakes, as well as Suilin’s journal that reveals the tragic mystery behind her disappearance, and Eileen ultimately accepts Taiwan as her home. I was really impressed by the strong voice, vivid emotions, and the ambitious plot and structure.”
Finalists: Sophie Hsu Jaden Chen Cameron Tsai
Honorable Mentions: Katelyn Mia Kuo Jamie Su Triona Tsai
HIGH SCHOOL Grand Prize Winner: Matthew Hsu, “Parable of Gold Lucky Bakery” From Shawna Yang Ryan: “Matthew Hsu beautifully evokes San Francisco’s Chinatown in this story of an immigrant woman trying to hold her own as her bakery is terrorized by young white ruffians, only to be betrayed by those closest to her. His main character, a divorced middle aged Taiwanese woman, is spunky, resilient, and likable. The story’s surprising ending offers a nuanced view of community relationships. Overall, the story is skillfully structured and displays Matthew’s dexterity with both the craft of fiction and the emotional power of storytelling.”
Finalists: Brian Mu-En Wang Kira YuHua Tang Abigail Cho
Honorable Mentions: Ashley Tsai Naomi Zhenmei Gage Tyler Tsai Lance Young Sophia Zuo Evelyn Chou Julian Hong
COLLEGE Grand Prize Winner: Ian Yu-Hung Tseng, “Deconstructing Daan Forest Park” From Charles Yu: “Inventive from the first line, Ian Yu-Hung Tseng’s “Deconstructing Daan Forest Park” is a rich, layered story that weaves together history, culture and wordplay into something witty and evocative—it circles around its ideas without ever squarely landing on them, giving the reader an interesting perspective on Taiwan’s national identity, past and present. An impressive piece from a very promising voice.”
Finalists: Hannah Han Josephine Cheng Jireh Deng Eleanor Lin
Honorable Mentions: Anastasia Yang Priscilla Yang Phoebe Ga-Yi Chan Alton Ru
REFLECTIONS FROM THE JUDGES:
“It was an honor to read another year’s entries. Every piece was strong in different ways: whether in craft, or theme, or emotion. I really enjoyed glimpsing what was on Taiwanese American writers’ minds around the world: work ranged from melancholy sci-fi to political commentary to narratives through the perspective of non-human creatures. There were also elegant and poignant reflections on family, identity, and Taiwan. I believe our selections reveal the wide range of voices and ideas in this cohort of entries. And, again, I am so excited to see these writers emerging and for their future work! The young Taiwanese American writing community is talented!” – Shawna Yang Ryan
“Reading this year’s entries was a wonderful experience. Seeing the range of perspectives, styles, ideas and work was inspiring for me as a writer, reader and a Taiwanese American. I found something to appreciate in all entries–whether it was sincerity, passion, cleverness, wit, boldness of form or language or subject matter, it is inspiring to know that we have so many creative voices and minds in our midst. I am grateful to all who participated for giving their time and sharing their work, and I look forward to seeing the work these young people will go on to produce in the future. I hope the experience will be useful or rewarding to the student writers as well, including getting to know the judges, the folks at TaiwaneseAmerican.org and especially each other–building community is still a primary goal of this project!” – Charles Yu
“It was an honor to be a judge for the inaugural middle school category. I enjoyed reading the entries, and especially loved the variety–from fantasy and dystopian stories, to poetry, to realistic contemporary and nonfiction essays, I was really impressed by the range and skill of the authors–these works made me laugh, made me cry, and made me think. And, I found it very difficult to choose the winner, finalists, and honorable mentions–in fact, I found it more challenging than my job as a children’s book editor! It was wonderful to see how talented these young writers are.” – Alvina Ling
CONCLUDING REMARKS:
From TaiwaneseAmerican.org founder Ho Chie Tsai: In the aftermath of the Laguna Woods shooting, this past week has been a whirlwind—monitoring news, checking in on our community, fielding media inquiries, and reflecting on how we got here. As I discover more names of friends whose parents or relatives were directly impacted by this tragedy, I’m reminded of how deeply and intricately connected we are as a Taiwanese American community. Unfortunately, it just feels so tainted with sadness, grief, and trauma.
So, I just wanted to share something different, more uplifting, about the way we are connected—a glimpse into my life that also reflects the ways our community is listening, growing, nurturing, and elevating each other. I often find myself at these intersections of wonderfully talented people (most who’ve never met each other), and I’m so grateful that I get to witness the evolution of these ties that bind us.
My example starts with a message chat with Taiwan TV/media celebrity Janet Hsieh 謝怡芬 and an inquiry about the tender, yet powerful reflection piece by Jocelyn Shannon Chung, which leads to my PRIDE in recently bringing together three talented local Bay Area children’s book authors—Joanna Ho, Crystal Z. Lee, Margaret Chiu Greanias—with the help of my equally amazing TaiwaneseAmerican.org EIC Leona Chen. Then, I read an email from National Book Award winner Charles Yu to us and the team about young talented awardees Jireh Deng & Candice Wang from our Creative Writing Prizes who CONNECTED with each other in real life. In my mind, this circles right back to an announcement about a professional collaboration between Jocelyn and author/illustrator Julia Kuo.
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THIS is the beautiful interconnectedness of our COMMUNITY. All the names I’ve mentioned happen to be storytellers—but all of us, with spirit like this, have the power to LIFT each other up and RISE together. THIS is what I want you to know about the heart, the voices of 2nd & 3rd generation Taiwanese America. We trace our lineage from proud, resilient Taiwanese immigrants. This is OUR STORY.
Thank you to all participants for telling yours.
We are so grateful, so touched, and so much braver because of you.
Editor’s note: This is not a think piece or analysis of the situation as it unfolds. We are a small, deeply passionate team of Taiwanese American volunteers and we are grappling with the shock and grief of this tragedy, too. This is not something we were prepared to cover or feature.
We only hope that those directed towards our website for support/further resources can find here an organized way to access the Gofundme set up by the church congregation to support victims of the shooting, as well as additional coverage of the event.
Taiwanese Americans and our friends, we see the layers of this cruelty. You are the bravest, most courageous community. We love you so much.
Victims Fund for SoCal Taiwanese Church Shooting
From Ho Chie Tsai, founder and director of TaiwaneseAmerican.org:
This May 15th shooting in Laguna Woods, CA hits particularly close to home given that the targeted victims were Amah’s and Agong’s–elders within the Taiwanese American community–whom I’m absolutely sure my parents, friends, and networks would know.
Although I’ve never been to that church, I understand the profile of this type of Taiwanese community and Christian gathering fairly well. Also, the victims are my parents’ generation, and the young man who was killed is essentially my peer–a fellow physician, and I’m guessing a 2nd generation Taiwanese American. The bits of news that are starting to come out will definitely begin to paint a picture–one that might be confusing to a general public unfamiliar with Taiwanese American identity, history, and politics. It may even be confusing to many younger people from our community. I suspect it will become even more confusing as details about the shooter come out.
For those who are looking for more background, the following may be helpful as a starting point (not necessarily as facts for this particular event):
Although this has been reported as a “church” shooting, many in our community know that there is a strong association with the Presbyterian Church and those who identify uniquely with the Taiwanese ethnic identity. This has its roots during the 38 year martial law era of Taiwan when the Church helped to protect political activists and dissidents as they were being suppressed, punished, or imprisoned by the then ruling KMT party.
Even if one wasn’t religious, the Taiwanese Presbyterian churches in the US were often the locations where the broader Taiwanese American community still congregated as a social venue… and the earliest communities that specifically identified as “Taiwanese” (late 60’s to early 90’s) oftentimes shared the same political beliefs and a desire to support a democratic independent Taiwan. It would not be unusual to have a food-based cultural event combined with speakers on politics, history, or culture. (Given that the guest speaker was a visiting retired pastor, most likely this was a focused church congregation event)
Most of the community members who were present were aged 65+ years old. I have no doubt that most, if not all, were likely long-time American citizens, many who immigrated to the US in the 70’s as grad students, scientists, or physicians. Most would be fluent not only in English, but also the Taiwanese language and of course the Mandarin language that was forced upon them during their formative schooling years in Taiwan. Some would also be fluent in Japanese, having lived during the final years of Japanese colonialism on Taiwan. Most were likely strongly proud of their unique Taiwanese and American identities. The Taiwanese “Taigi/Taigu” language would have been the spoken language of choice and comfort among this particular generation.
This area of California has become a popular retirement destination for the aging original Taiwanese immigrants from all parts of the country. There will be some in attendance who can claim their original roots in other parts of the US, and may have moved to Orange County in the past decade or two.
When more information about the shooter is revealed and his alleged politically-motivated intentions come out, there may also be some finer nuances regarding identity politics which encompasses the wide spectrum of those who are part of the Taiwanese American community today. After all, as a vibrant democracy with a wide range of political views, yet an undetermined international status, you will find various identities and political viewpoints. And, on top of that, there is the overarching opposition to the existence of the Taiwanese identity towed by the CCP.
It will be interesting for us to find out what this news-identified “Chinese” shooter’s background actually is. Even among Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans, we know this can be an ethnic, national, or political identity set in the context of American citizenship.
* * * My heart goes out to the families affected. I’m sure in due time, I will start to hear names of friends whose relatives or networks were victimized.
The one thing I do know is that this is the resilient generation that survived and spoke up during the martial law era suppression of their freedoms, dignity, and identity. In America, this was the generation that was not afraid to attend protests in support of Taiwan and its hopes for international recognition. This was the generation that knew they could be spied upon, blacklisted, detained/imprisoned when visiting their homeland pre-1987, or even killed for their political beliefs. There is no doubt in my mind, regardless of age, that in this horrific moment, they would rise up and fight any threat to their existence–they are stronger than you know.
This is the community I love and respect.
The shooting at Irvine Presbyterian Church in California reminds us that political violence against Taiwanese people is real. But it also shows how courageous and selfless Taiwanese will stand to protect each other, even in the face of death.
The collective heartbreak is personal and political, historical and ongoing. The loss can only be communicated by the way I’ve seen my ama pound her chest with her first and wail in pain. Taiwanese American stories have too often been shrouded by a calculated maze of geopolitical ambiguity and violent conflation of Taiwanese and Chinese identity.
We come from elders who endured decades of silencing of the trauma that shaped their lives, resisted linguistic erasure and immigrated to a new land where they passed their resilient hope to their descendants. We carry their forged hopes, voices, pain, resistance and stories with us.
I cannot change the past. I cannot undo the fact that the reason why my family ended up on Taiwan was for reasons connected to the agenda of a military dictator who terrorized the ancestors and families of many of my close friends — and even some of my extended family. I cannot change the conditions that lead to me being here, in this place that my family and I now call home. I do not think that it benefits anyone — me or those victims of this systemic violence — to stew in guilt or shame, to try and self-flagellate myself. We do not have a choice about how and to whom we are born and raised. But we do have a choice in how we decide to live. While I may not have been born in Taiwan or raised as a “Taiwanese” person, I recognize that my personal story and that of my family is deeply and inexplicably intertwined with Taiwan, that it is the place my family lives now, and it is the place we will continue to be. I have chosen to cast my lot in with them, here on this beautiful island.
When Taiwan was under martial law, Presbyterian church leaders helped hide pro-democracy advocates who were challenging the authoritarian state under the then-ruling Kuomintang.
“When Taiwanese began to flee to the United States, Taiwanese Presbyterian churches became these community centers for the independence cause in the United States,” Nachman said. “These Presbyterian churches became the base of operations for many pro-independence movements.”
Chou’s choice of target – a Presbyterian congregation – is also telling due to the denomination’s longstanding ties to Taiwan’s pro-democracy and independence movements.
“While it is the largest denomination in Taiwan, it still represents a small closely-knit community that punches above its weight in cultural and social influence both in Taiwan and among the US Taiwanese community,” said SueAnn Shiah, a Taiwanese-American community organiser pursuing ordination in the Presbyterian Church.
In a testament to the complexities of Taiwanese identity, the facts that have come to light about Chou have only ignited more debate. According to one line of argument, we should call him Chinese because that’s how he identifies, how he thinks. And his thinking reflects a colonial, Chinese-supremacist ideology that has sought to eradicate Taiwan’s languages and culture. To call him Taiwanese is to erase the efforts of Taiwanese nationalists to claim and uphold an identity that has been violently suppressed; to call him Chinese is to help foreground an ongoing decolonial struggle.
What is unusual about the incident is to what extent a hate crime committed by second-generation waishengren against members of a presumably benshengren congregation would be unheard of in Taiwan today. Such an incident seems more characteristic of the past, in which sub-ethnic tensions in Taiwan were stronger. In today’s Taiwan, lines between benshengren and waishengren are blurring, with third-generation waishengren mostly identifying with Taiwan rather than China, and intermarriages between waishengren and benshengren having been culturally accepted for decades.
Pan-Blue and pan-Green communities often coexist in the US, but do not interact. It proves rare for such communities to directly come into conflict; even when the presidential candidates of both the pan-Blue and pan-Green camps in Taiwan usually visit the US before elections to conduct meetings with US government officials and to raise funds from the Taiwanese American community, one rarely sees counter-protests between each political camp, for example.
At the same time, diasporic communities sometimes preserve the politics of decades past, from when they left their home country. This may have been the case with Chou.
News of the shooting was widely circulated in Taiwan on Tuesday, with local media highlighting Chou’s ties with the pro-unification group. Pro-democracy politicians blamed Beijing’s rhetoric around reunification for “radicalising” Chou into committing the violent act.
“These extremist groups or individuals could infiltrate and damage Taiwanese communities under the influence of others,” legislator Freddy Lim wrote.
The Kuomintang, which is more pro-China than the ruling Democratic Progressive party, issued a statement condemning the violence, but did not touch on Chou’s political stance.
Dr Wen Liu, assistant research professor at Academia Sinica, a Taiwanese government research facility, blamed the incident on Beijing’s rhetoric in recent years.
“Beijing’s pro-unification campaign has been sending out dehumanising languages such as ‘annihilating the people and saving the island’ and dismissing the Taiwanese independence movement as a violent separatist crime,” Liu said.
China claims the self-ruled democratic Taiwan as its own territory and has since Tsai’s election in 2016 blamed her for “pro-independence moves”. In recent years, Beijing’s reunification rhetoric had become increasingly militant, as Taiwan sought to align itself with western powers and rejoin the United Nations system.
“I have very visceral memories of potlucks where aunties would cook traditional dishes and play matchmaker for the young adults,” said Chen, editor of Bay Area-based TaiwaneseAmerican.org, the website and nonprofit serving the Taiwanese American community.
“Uncles who were retired engineers would help kids with calculus and SAT prep. Church was also a place where everyone figured out life in a foreign country together – from jury duty and homeownership to their kids’ college applications.”
But, she also views the church as “a political space.”
“Especially in the (Taiwanese) Presbyterian Church, there is a theological commitment to activism, to fight against injustice,” she said. “Churches became sanctuaries for pro-democracy groups.”
The Taiwanese American community is reeling with shock after a mass shooting at a Taiwanese church in California. The shooting has triggered a wave of condemnation in Taiwan and is raising questions about politics and identity both here and in Taiwanese communities abroad. Reporter Rik Glauert spoke to Leona Chen, editor-in-chief of Taiwanese American.org, based in California. He began by asking her how the Taiwanese American community has reacted to the shooting.
In the California case, “I think this arose from a collision of a lot of tensions about Taiwanese identity and Chinese identity and Taiwan-China tensions, but it took form in this specific way because of the gun violence that is in our country,” said Leona Chen, editor in chief of TaiwaneseAmerican.org, a website and nonprofit group serving the Taiwanese American community.
“I would urge that this not be used to further anti-Chinese sentiment or inflammatory rhetoric or further scapegoating of Asian Americans,” she said. “We also don’t want this to take away from other instances of gun violence recently.”
A sudden bang made Shih Chen Jiaotong drop the stack of freshly folded laundry she had been carrying to her bedroom on the third floor of the Sifang Hospital. Another bang resonated through the building, where Jiaotong lived with her husband, Shih Jiangnan, and their daughters. It seemed to have come from downstairs. Jiaotong stepped over a few stray shirts and headed toward the stairway, trying to make out the sounds’ origin.
As she reached the second floor, the hospital ward, muffled shouts joined the cacophony. She felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned around to see her eldest daughter, Shih Lingyu, behind her. “What are those sounds?” Lingyu asked, “It’s already past curfew.”
Jiaotong glanced at the clock hanging on the wall – 8 p.m. “Let’s go check it out,” she replied as she continued down the stairs to the first floor. Lingyu followed closely behind.
“Quick! Open the door for us!”
A group of men stood outside the glass front doors, knocking and yelling repeatedly. Noticing the cotton-padded military uniforms of six of the men, Jiaotong realized that the group belonged to Chiang Kai Shek’s military. Stories of robbery and rape by corrupt KMT soldiers raced through her mind, and a moist layer of sweat gathered on her palms. Her husband, sick in bed with malaria, was definitely in no position to defend the hospital and family.
Although the sun had already set, light from a nearby lamp reflected off the sharp bayonets at the tip of the men’s rifles and caught Jiaotong’s eye. Turning around, she motioned at her daughter to wait by the stairs, away from the doors.
“We need to see a doctor,” shouted one of the two men in plainclothes, “Let us in!” The men’s stiff glares penetrated through Jiaotong, and she felt relieved that a set of glass doors stood between her and the soldiers. Although the group claimed they only sought medical treatment, a knot formed in her chest as she watched one of the soldiers adjust his grip on his rifle. His hand had moved closer to the trigger.
Jiaotong stepped forward, cleared her suddenly dry and scratchy throat, and announced, “The doctor is sick today. He cannot see patients.” The man standing at the front of the group glanced to his left, making eye contact with another soldier.
Glass shards shot through the air. To protect herself, Jiaotong quickly twisted and brought her arm up to shield her face. The sound of thousands of tiny daggers hitting the ground like a twinkling downpour rang through the first floor of the hospital. The two soldiers had kicked down the doors, smashing the glass that once gave Jiaotong her only sense of safety. Backing up, she moved toward the stairs and put her arm in front of Lingyu, shielding her daughter from the men.
“We don’t have much here. There’s no use in robbing us,” Jiaotong declared, hoping that her acting would convince the soldiers. Her voice wavered. She thought back to earlier in the week, when her husband had come home with money from selling the Shuangcheng Street properties and stored it in his closet upstairs. Trying to swallow the growing lump that seemed to block her throat, Jiaotong stared at the men, who had ignored her and stepped through the doorframe.
The soldier at the front of the group, who seemed to be the leader, marched toward the stairs, pushing past Jiaotong without a second glance. Realizing that these men had not come to rob the hospital, she asked, “What do you want from us?”
He turned around and replied, “We just want to ask Dr. Shih Jiangnan some questions,” before continuing up the stairs. Following him, the rest of the men climbed the stairs as well. The sounds of glass shards crunching under their black military boots punctured the otherwise silent night.
A wave of dread washed over Jiaotong; she knew she should have stopped her husband from becoming too involved in his mission to help overseas Taiwanese soldiers return home. Jiangnan had told her, “You are too afraid of death. If all Taiwanese were as afraid of death as you, then what would we do?” Now, she feared that her nightmares had become reality. Soldiers had come to take her husband.
Minutes later, Jiaotong and Lingyu arrived outside of Jiangnan’s room on the second floor of Sifang Hospital. Jiaotong noticed that the room, usually empty and spacious, looked much smaller than normal; the six uniformed men stood around Jiangnan’s hospital bed, while the two plainclothes guarded the entrance, blocking Jiangnan from Jiaotong’s view. She tried to push her way in, but the men did not move.
Behind them, she could see the leader hold up a sign for her husband to see. She leaned left to see past the man at the entrance, but he simply stepped to block her view again. She ran her fingers through her hair and turned around. Jiaotong could see her unease mirrored in Lingyu, who bit her lip and looked back up at her mother with wide eyes.
Recalling the money hidden in Jiangnan’s closet, she ran up to the third floor and back. Waving the stack of cash in the air, she tried to catch the soldiers’ attention. “Please, take the money and let him go,” she pleaded. After only a brief glance in her direction, the soldiers in the room turned back to face Jiangnan, who had gotten up from his bed. Surrounded by the men, Jiangnan exited his room and slowly headed down the stairs.
As he slipped into his coat, Jiangnan said only one thing to his wife: “For hospital affairs, ask Mr. Xu Qiang to cover the diagnoses and treatments.” The soldiers took him out of Sifang Hospital.
Although a nighttime breeze flowed through the empty space where the glass doors once stood, Jiaotong felt hot and sweaty. She insisted on going in the car with her husband, but the soldiers refused. Lingyu tried to make her way through the men that surrounded her father, but a soldier pushed her back. “Kid, you have no business here,” he warned in a flat, harsh voice.
Standing outside of Sifang Hospital’s smashed doors, Jiaotong put her arm around her daughter. Sharing a sinking feeling of disquiet, they watched the soldiers’ car turn and disappear from sight. They would never see Jiangnan again.
Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) is the daughter of two Taiwanese immigrants. Born and raised in Hawaii, she visits Taipei every summer and winter. Cosette is a recent graduate of Punahou School and incoming first-year student at Harvard College. As the great-granddaughter of Dr. Shih Jiangnan, the second Taiwanese to earn a doctorate in medicine and an activist killed in the 228 Massacre, she began writing “The Story of Shih Jiangnan (施江南傳)” as a high school sophomore and published the biography in her senior year.
From Cosette: Based on my great-grandmother’s recollections, this work of creative nonfiction captures the night that my great-grandfather, Dr. Shih Jiangnan (施江南), was taken from his home by KMT soldiers and never seen again.
Editor’s Note: Cosette’s book, “The Story of Shih Jiangnan 施江南傳” is available for purchase here.
How should a nation reckon with its sins? On the 75th anniversary of the 228 Massacre in Taiwan, and in the midst of ever-greater geopolitical distress, we invite our community to reflect with us on life under and after authoritarian violence. History is rife with the patterns of misinformation masquerading as prophecy; ego presented as hope; fear as our moral compass.
In Green Island Secrets, Professor Chung-chih Li writes, “how one feels about the 228 incident becomes the guiding factor in the formation of their political position.” I suggest this next step: what we do with that position determines the trajectory of our humanity. And how we talk about the past, how we name each violence, determines whether we choose healing or erasure.
In speaking with diasporic Taiwanese, I notice the impulse to turn systemic amnesia inwards. “My parents never talked about it with me,” they might say bitterly. “I never learned it in schools.” But silence is not inherently a tradition, or a small matter of miscommunication between parent and child. It is a longstanding playbook of authoritarian regimes: to abuse a generation and then gaslight its descendants.
We are somebody’s descendants. We will become someone’s ancestors. May we do them both justice.
If you didn’t know that the KMT government killed about 20,000 Taiwanese people in a one-month span in early 1947 and imprisoned about 140,000 more during the 40 years after, that’s no accident. In Part 1, we share what we’ve learned from our research about the 228 Massacre and the period of martial law afterward called White Terror. In Part 2, we share the way that the 228 Massacre and White Terror were handled since these events ended and the parallels to how governments handle similar events like the Tulsa Race Massacre and the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Since it’s the 75th anniversary of the 228 massacre we will be dedicating two episodes to this topic. In this first episode today, my guests Wei-Wei Chang, Michi Fu, Tsuann Kuo and Josephine Pan represent different backgrounds and generations of Taiwanese women. Each will share their personal perspectives and experiences related to 228, and thoughts on the societal impact of 228. Next week Michi and Tsuann will return to discuss their work with 228 survivors and their families through the Transitional Justice Commission.
On February 28, 1947, the arrest of a cigarette vendor in Taipei led to large-scale protests by the native Taiwanese against the corruption and repression of Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalist government, which had come over from China after Japan’s defeat by the Allied forces in 1945. Following the protests, troops that Chiang’s government secretly sent from mainland China rounded up and executed an entire generation of leading figures, including students, lawyers, and doctors. Scholars estimate that up to 28,000 people lost their lives in the turmoil. During the “White Terror” of the subsequent years, the Nationalists ruled Taiwan under martial law, which ended only when democratization set in during the mid-1980s. The “228 Incident” remains a defining event in the political divide that exists in Taiwan today.
It may not be surprising that the KMT still refuses to confront the crimes of its past. The 228 Massacre is sometimes downplayed, with claims that the DPP and members of the pan-Green camp are exaggerating the scale of the incident. Sometimes it is claimed that the victims of the 228 Massacre were communist spies, to justify the actions taken against them. Otherwise, it is claimed that the 228 Massacre is an incident that got out of hand, but that it is an aberration from the actions of the KMT party-state, rather than an incident representative of its fundamental violence.
Each year, on the eve of 228, memorials of Chiang Kai-Shek are vandalized in protest against the dictatorship of the past. James X. Morris comments on the symbolism of these actions and how the rest of the Taiwanese public has reacted to these statements.
Children, parents, and grandparents sit down to talk about their memories of the 228 Incident and what role it plays in their lives. (Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles)
Taiwan Bar was founded in 2014 as a digital content creator dedicated to making topics such as Taiwan’s history, law, and philosophy easier to understand. In this video, Taiwan Bar approaches the 228 Incident from a political, economic, and cultural perspective to provide a fundamental understanding of the events and circumstances that culminated in the massacres. (Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles)
How did the Formosan people get to know what exactly happened in the year 1947? At that time, there wasn’t any internet, television, so people could only know by press and radio. By the horizon of Formosan intellectuals, we shall witness the story of the 228 incident. (English Translation: Kuan-Wei Wu 吳冠緯, Zong-You Ke 柯宗佑)
Since the lifting of Martial Law in 1987, the Taiwan government has not formally issued a finding on the truth of the “White Terror Period.” Therefore, it is still unclear who perpetrated state violence and how many victims were tortured, imprisoned, or even executed during the authoritarian period. The current scope of the truth investigation also lacks a gender perspective as there are no comprehensive documents about historical accounts of women’s victimization under authoritarian rule. This lack of a comprehensive truth investigation of past wrongdoings makes the current discourse on transitional justice an easy target of political manipulation that could impede social reconciliation. Immediate legal reforms on access to the national archives could offer opportunities to usher in a new era for transitional justice by building a foundation for a historically accurate and comprehensive collective memory, hence a new narrative for Taiwan’s future.
Wen-chen had a bold personality and was not suited to strict organization of life. He did not join any political group throughout his life. However, he was a person with an extremely strong sense of equality and justice. He sympathized with the poor in Taiwan and hated the trauma caused by the Kuomintang’s ‘provincial’ discriminatory policy and dictatorship and repressive rule.
In other words, what happened to Eric Garner and what has happened to Black Americans so many times is, in fundamental ways, not that different from how the Taiwanese 228 Incident — as it is known for the mass violence that started on February 28 — began. On February 27, 1947, representatives from the recently self-installed Republic of China government in Taiwan went to a tea shop to confiscate cigarettes from a woman who had been selling them illegally. The authorities hit her in the head with the butt of a gun and injured her, causing a crowd to form. An agent shot into the crowd, killing one bystander. Thus began a night of unrest that would be quelled in the subsequent months and years through extreme violence. The exact number of Taiwanese who were disappeared is not known, but it is believed 30,000 or more people were murdered and many others who were incarcerated for decades before returning unrecognizable to their families.
Rather than weighing specific actions or comparing the scale of brutality, it may be more instructive to consider the emotional state of the local populace during the lead-up to these events. In gauging the public mood and uncovering the violations to which they have been subjected, we find hints of a broader narrative on communities, democracy, and the search for dignity.
The 75th anniversary of the 228 Incident is coming up. The massacre was one of the worst in Taiwan’s modern history. TaiwanPlus spoke to Dr. Huang Cheng-yi, a member of the Taiwan Association for Truth and Reconciliation and research professor at Academia Sinica. We began by asking whether Taiwan is in a position to prevent a repeat of history.
The 228 Incident was an anti-government uprising in 1947 that left tens of thousands of people dead. Pan Mu-chih, a doctor, was one of them. Bing Wang spoke to Pan Mu-chih’s son, Pan Hsin-hsing, who tells us how 228 left an indelible mark on his family.
Chiang Kai-shek’s crackdown on opposition sent thousands of Taiwanese into exile. Rik Glauert talks to Strong Chuang, who was blacklisted from returning to Taiwan when in the United States in 1965, and his son Tim Chng about what transitional justice means for them.
Formosa Betrayed is a detailed, impassioned account of Chinese Nationalist (KMT) misrule that remains the most important English-language book ever written about Taiwan. Author George H. Kerr lived in Taiwan in the late 1930s, when the island was a colony of Japan. During the war, he worked for the U.S. Navy as a Taiwan expert. From 1945 to 1947, Kerr served as vice consul of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Taipei, where he was an eyewitness to the February 28 Massacre and the subsequent mass arrests and executions. As well as chronicling KMT repression during the early years of the White Terror, Kerr documents widespread corruption, showing how the island was systematically looted. Formosa Betrayed has served as a foundational text for generations of Taiwanese democracy and independence activists. It has an explosive effect among overseas Taiwanese students; for many, the book was their first encounter in print with their country’s dark, forbidden history. A 1974 Chinese-language translation increased its impact still more. It is a powerful classic that has withstood the test of time, a must-read book that will change the way you look at Taiwan.
For over 400 years, Taiwan has suffered at the hands of multiple colonial powers, but it has now entered the decade when its independence will be won or lost. At the heart of Taiwan’s story is the curse of geography that placed the island on the strategic cusp between the Far East and Southeast Asia and made it the guardian of some of the world’s most lucrative trade routes. It is the story of the dogged determination of a courageous people to overcome every obstacle thrown in their path. Forbidden Nation tells the dramatic story of the island, its people, and what brought them to this moment when their future will be decided.
Taiwan’s 400 Year History: The Origins and Continuing Development of the Taiwanese Society and People | Su Beng
Taiwan’s 400 Years of History was the first, most comprehensive book written on the subject, but it was immediately banned in Taiwan. The 2000+ page Chinese language version of the book, was published in 1980. This seminal book has and continues to influence generations of Taiwan independence activists.
Taipei, February 28, 1947: As an uprising rocks Taiwan, a young doctor is taken from his newborn daughter by Chinese Nationalists, on charges of speaking out against the government. Although he eventually returns to his family, his arrival is marked by alienation from his loved ones and paranoia among his community. Years later, this troubled past follows his youngest daughter to America, where, as a mother and a wife, she too is forced to decide between what is right and what might save her family—the same choice she witnessed her father make many years before.
Milo Thornberry believed God called him to be a missionary to teach history and live the faith he professed. Taiwan wasn’t his choice, but it was where the Methodist Church sent him at the end of 1965. “Fireproof Moth: A Missionary in Taiwan’s White Terror” is a 65,000-word account of how becoming friends with Peng led to a double life, one in which Milo taught church history at Presbyterian seminaries, and the other in which he and his wife secretly collaborated with Peng and two of his former students in a variety of human rights activities, all of which were illegal and some of which were considered capital crimes under martial law. The constant threat of discovery by Chiang’s secret police gave Milo his own taste of the White Terror. As a political narrative, the author’s portrayal of life in the White Terror casts an eerie shadow on contemporary relations between the United States, China, and Taiwan.
Elegy of Sweet Potatoes is a thinly-fictionalized version of Tsai Tehpen’s experiences as a political prisoner. Names are changed, dates are fudged, but the narrative here is true to life. A compelling story full of rich description, pathos, and odd moments of humor, it is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the realities of martial law in “Free China”.
Taiwanese ethnic and national identities are modern (and unlikely!) developments borne out of the double experiences of colonial rule by the Japanese empire (1895 – 1945) and Republic of China (the Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang/KMT occupants who fled there in 1945 after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War, and instituted martial law in Taiwan until 1987)
Co-hosts Annie and Angela decode the distinction among people whose families come from Taiwan: who identifies as Chinese and who identifies as Taiwanese, and why. Our journey begins when we combine Wikipedia research with questions we’ve never asked our moms until now.
However, in some ways it is somewhat unusual that the term “White Terror” came to be used in Hong Kong. The White Terror carried out by the KMT was justified under the auspices of Cold War anti-communism, in which the KMT claimed that those it imprisoned and executed were Communist spies loyal to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). By contrast, the CCP is precisely the political force that protesters in Hong Kong are contending with. Behind the actions of the Hong Kong government are the directives of the CCP from afar. Consequently, there is a certain irony that the term “White Terror” has come to be used instead of, say, “Red Terror”—though many of the individuals who have engaged in physical violence against demonstrators have worn white clothing during the attacks they carried out.
In her debut collection BOOK OF CORD, Leona Chen confronts the loss of Taiwanese identity through colonization and emigration. As she acknowledges her heritage and claims herself as Taiwanese American, “a radical act” with “profound implications,” her poems explore histories both recognized and erased. She composes her narrative by way of a series of fragmentary lyric poems in English that is interspersed with Taiwanese Hokkien. BOOK OF CORD is Chen’s protest, journey of self- discovery, and rallying cry for the Taiwanese American community. Or, as novelist Shawna Yang Ryan writes in her comprehensive introduction: “The history she depicts is implied and embodied, making it emotionally accessible to readers unfamiliar with Taiwan’s history and deeply affecting to those who are familiar. This is a powerful inscription of an effaced history.”
Who gets to be Taiwanese? Solidarity with Migrants & Indigenous Peoples
When I was little, I was called the “child of the Communist spy.” I’ve always remembered with reverence my father’s last written words: “The government can’t continue to treat us unfairly, suppress us, and control us, all because of this event.” My uncle Tibusungu’ Muknana (武義德) spent 23 years in jail because of 228.
One of the leaders of the Sunflower Movement in 2014, Lin Fei-Fan, draws attention to indigenous activists, who fight for a community oft overlooked in the discussions of transitional justice.
The future of Taiwan will be decided by self-determination of the Taiwanese indigenous peoples and all the people who live on our motherland. No government, political party, or organization has the right to negotiate with any foreign power in an attempt to surrender the control of the traditional territory of ours, the indigenous peoples of Taiwan.
Migrante, the story of a Filipino fisherman, one of thousands in the Taiwan fleet, paints a stark picture of the reality facing the migrant workers of the world — people who exist outside the public eye.
For Further Research (Academic Texts & Databases)
Harrison, M. (2007). Legitimacy, Meaning, and Knowledge in the Making of Taiwanese Identity. Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9780230601697
Yang, D. (2020). The Great Exodus from China: Trauma, Memory, and Identity in Modern Taiwan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108784306
Fleischauer, S. (2007). The 228 Incident and the Taiwan Independence Movement’s Construction of a Taiwanese Identity. China Information. doi:10.1177/0920203X07083320
Dawley, Evan N. “The Question of Identity in Recent Scholarship on the History of Taiwan.” The China Quarterly, no. 198 (2009): 442–52. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27756461.
“We are in year seventy-two of revolutionary time and counting. This is the moment that the nascent, unrealized Republic of Taiwan lives or dies. Whether we will reach year seventy-three or year one hundred depends not least on the investment of those who care about Taiwan and their commitment to meeting the challenges and contingencies that fortune will throw our way.”
“February 28, 1947 seems so long ago when you’re only eighteen. But the shadow of the martial law remains, and I see it in my grandparents and in my parents. For my peers, whose families never left Taiwan, martial law defined their lives and informed their memories. They weren’t allowed to talk about it. The government distorted the facts. And now that cracks are forming in the propaganda, they no longer know how to talk about it. It’s one thing to learn about a politically fractured country. It’s another to live in it, to have a shattered sense of history and identity.”
“How one feels about the 228 incident becomes the guiding factor in the formation of their political position. This holds true for an entire generation, and the generations to come.”
If you’re a champion of MIT “Made in Taiwan” shopping principles (looking at you, first-gen aunties!), may we suggest a peek into MBTA “Made by Taiwanese Americans.” We’re so proud to bring back this annual gift guide for the second time, highlighting Taiwanese American small businesses, brands, and creators. We know there’s more out there – reach out if that’s you at leona@taiwaneseamerican.org. We’re rooting for each of you!
Support independent bookstores and TaiwaneseAmerican.org by purchasing print books from Bookshop.
Take 5% off Impromptu Beef Noodle Soup with promo code TAORG.
Take 15% off TWRL Milk tea with promo code TAORG. New customers only and through 12/25/21.
Take 10% off The Formosa Coffee with promocode TAORG through 1/1/21.
Gifts for your fancy auntie
Mogutable | Curated, well-made objects for everyday life
“We are Yingchi and Yuchen, the people behind Mogutable. Originally from Taiwan, we are a Brooklyn-based sister duo. Our shop features a selection of unique, well-designed, aesthetically-pleasing objects, sourced from our favorite artisans, locally and internationally.”
Uniqlay Ceramics | Reimagining handmade tableware to celebrate diversity, culture, and deeply-rooted family traditions
“Though the food we eat is a big part of our identity, culture and heritage, tableware options available are falling behind. Even though so many brands have made loud statements on diversity, there isn’t a whole lot of action. Celebrating cultures and representing minority female artists underpins everything we do at Uniqlay Ceramics. I am a firm believer that your culture and how you eat should be a source of comfort and pride. ”
Formosa Fine Chocolates | Belgian technique, American artistry, Taiwanese hospitality
“We at Formosa Chocolates proudly produce luxury chocolates in the San Francisco Bay Area with Belgian technique, American artistry and tastes, and Taiwanese hospitality and gift-giving tradition. Whenever possible, we use local sustainably-sourced ingredients. We aim to create a stylish and sophisticated chocolate experience that gifters will be proud to present to recipients.”
Yun Hai Shop 雲海 | Premium ingredients for Taiwanese pantries
“Yun Hai 雲海 offers a selection of premium ingredients for Chinese and Taiwanese cooking. We source directly from artisans, farms, and soy sauce breweries in Taiwan. Terrain, technique, history, and humanity come together in the traditional foods we distribute.”
ILHA Candles | Fragrant, hand-poured soy candles, made with love in Queens, NY
“Shop our custom scent we created in collaboration with TaiwaneseAmerican.org, an organization that connects and represents the diverse experiences of the next generation of the Taiwanese American community.”
10% of net proceeds of Jasmine Green Tea will be donated to TaiwaneseAmerican.org, an organization that connects and represents the diverse experiences of the next generation of the Taiwanese American community.
The Wax Apple | A collection of handcrafted goods and everyday objects from Taiwan
“Grandmother had a driver who had taken her around for thirty years, and he was my ride too if I wanted to go out to the countryside. She would always want to come, though. Grandmother was never a homebody. I don’t think she’d spent a whole day inside her entire life. We’d go out to look around and she’d be on her phone calling people, like cousins and father’s accountant’s wife. How could they say no about joining us for lunch? She had been a teacher in the small town where she met my grandfather, and together they had traveled everywhere. One trip, she brought back gold rings with elephant hair embedded in them. She gave me one, and I found another rummaging through her things, and wear them both every day. If you went over to her house, grandmother would ask, “Did you eat yet?” and suddenly there would be pineapple cake or maybe a sliced wax apple, stuck with tiny forks. The Wax Apple is all the things that are like a day with my Grandmother in Taiwan.”
Founded by Chinese and Taiwanese American Joanna Linton, Rae’s Roots is an herbal and supplement brand designed for moms. She came up with the idea for Rae’s Roots after having her second child, when the stress from trying to balance life, work and being a mom to a toddler and a newborn resulted in four trips to the emergency room. Linton realized she had been ignoring her own health, and turned to the Chinese herbal teas she had grown up on, with ingredients like ginger, rosehips, and Hawthorn Berry, to help manage fatigue and burnout.
Mina Learns Chinese “I Love Boba!” | Bilingual Children’s Books
Frustrated by the lack of engaging, accessible Chinese books with Pinyin and English, Katrina Liu created her own book series, the most recent of which is “I Love Boba! 我愛珍珠奶茶!” Liu identifies as Chinese and Taiwanese American; her husband is third-generation Chinese American. Katrina can speak some conversational Mandarin Chinese; her husband speaks only English. Neither read nor write Chinese, which is what makes this venture so special: these books aren’t developed for parents to teach Chinese to their children, but so parents can learn the language alongside them.
Bitty Bao | Bilingual board books, by Taiwanese American mamas
“In our own book finding experience, we found it difficult to come by many options for cute Chinese bilingual books, with pinyin, zhuyin, and traditional characters that showcase our culture while supporting language learning at all levels.”
Eyes that Kiss in the Corners | Joanna Ho, ill. Dung Ho
A young Asian girl notices that her eyes look different from her peers’. They have big, round eyes and long lashes. She realizes that her eyes are like her mother’s, her grandmother’s, and her little sister’s. They have eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea, crinkle into crescent moons, and are filled with stories of the past and hope for the future.
Drawing from the strength of these powerful women in her life, she recognizes her own beauty and discovers a path to self-love and empowerment. This powerful, poetic picture book will resonate with readers of all ages.
Eyes that Speak to the Stars | Joanna Ho, ill. Dung Ho (Pre-order)
A young Asian boy notices that his eyes look different from his peers’ after seeing his friend’s drawing of them. After talking to his father, the boy realizes that his eyes rise to the skies and speak to the stars, shine like sunlit rays, and glimpse trails of light from those who came before–in fact, his eyes are like his father’s, his agong’s, and his little brother’s, and they are visionary.
Inspired by the men in his family, he recognizes his own power and strength from within. This extraordinary picture book redefines what it means to be truly you.
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners received three starred reviews and was embraced as breathtaking, lyrical, and poignant. This companion volume is sure to be welcomed with equal joy.
“Patty Panda Gets a Potty” is a bilingual picture book. It is an homage to my pandemic potty training experience with my older daughter last spring, and has shout outs and scenes to Taipei in it.” This book is a perfect addition to the multilingual bookshelf celebrating a childhood milestone that transcends cultures.
886 | New York influenced Taiwanese food with locally sourced ingredients
“886 is Taiwan’s international calling code. A concept by Eric Sze and Andy Chuang aiming to fuse their Taiwanese upbringing with American modernization.”
“I realized there are a lot of talented women jewelry designers from my Asian heritage who aren’t able to cross the cultural gap to America. So I started Miss Modi to serve as that bridge. As food is typically the first bridge between cultures and given the worldwide popularity of Boba and Xiao Long Bao, our Taiwanese Street Food collection literally flew off the shelves when we debuted it in Los Angeles last year. For me as a Taiwanese American, it truly made me so proud to see that these little things that bring back sweet, warm memories of my life in Taiwan were now so widely loved and accepted by non-Taiwanese here in America.”
Pauline Ang and Olivia Chen, UC Berkeley alumni and friends for 20+ years, have always had a passion for a healthy lifestyle, sustainability and a love for Asian milk tea. As self-proclaimed foodie moms, they wanted something better to drink for themselves and their kids rather than the high-sugar, high calorie bubble/boba tea options that are currently out in the market — hence Twrl Milk Tea was born!
Twrl is a premium plant-based milk tea (tea latte) that is amazing in taste, made with organic fair-trade tea from small family farms, with only 45-50 calories and way less sugar compared to other ready-to-drink beverages including traditional boba/bubble tea drinks. It’s also nitro-infused for a smoother and creamier taste — without additional fats or creamers! Since Twrl is made with pea milk, it is also (top 8) allergen-free and can accommodate almost all types of diets including gluten-free, keto, nut-free, and dairy-free.
Use promo code TAORG through till 12/25 for 15% off, new customers only. One time use. Excludes: Twrl Me Up, 6 pack Variety Pack and Hojicha Roasted Green Tea 12-pack.
“A spice blend for the hearty taste of Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup. Suddenly, you want beef noodle soup. Impromptu. On everything. The forward-note is umami, followed by a sweetness, giving way to licorice flavor, and leaves a slight spice numbing after-note. Amazing on artisanal bread dipped in olive oil or sprinkled on fried eggs.”
“In April of 2021, we ran a Kickstarter campaign to collect preorders for dried fruit sourced from independent farmers in Taiwan, who were negatively impacted by the sudden ban China put in place on Taiwanese pineapples.
In 30 days, we raised over $100,000 from 1,000 backers, and were able to purchase over 14 tons of fruit from small farmers vulnerable to political trade volatility between China and Taiwan.
Now our dried Golden Diamond Pineapple, Irwin Mango, Pearl Guava, and (yes) Wax Apple are available to the public. Plum Powder and a traditional Taiwanese Market Tote were part of our rewards, too!”
The Formosa Coffee | Taiwan-grown, New York-roasted coffee
“The coffee beans we use come directly from our farms on the mountains of central Taiwan at an elevation of 3,500-4,000ft. Grown in volcanic soil, our beans produce an exquisitely smooth taste without the bitterness and strong acidity. It is a mild coffee perfectly balanced in flavor and aroma. We roast every order on the day of shipping in New York, which means you always get the freshest coffee at peak flavor.”
Annie’s T Cakes | Vegan, Gluten-free Pineapple Cakes
Annie’s T Cakes is a bakery selling vegan Taiwanese and Chinese snacks. And we’re starting with the internationally beloved pineapple cake! Annie’s T Cakes pineapple cakes are plant based, gluten free, and upcycled. Overall, a more sustainable alternative to this favorite, traditional food.
When an American woman inherits the wealth of her Taiwanese family, she travels to confront them about their betrayals of the past in this stunning debut by Lyn Liao Butler. Lexa Thomas has never quite fit in. Having grown up in a family of blondes while more closely resembling Constance Wu, she’s neither white enough nor Asian enough. Visiting her father in Taiwan as a child, Lexa thought she’d finally found a place where she belonged. But that was years ago, and even there, some never truly considered her to be a part of the family. When her estranged father dies unexpectedly, leaving the fate of his Taiwanese family in Lexa’s hands, she is faced with the choice to return to Taiwan and claim her place in her heritage . . . or leave her Taiwanese family to lose their home for good. Armed with the advice of two half-sisters (one American and the other Taiwanese, who can’t stand each other), a mother who has reevaluated her sexuality, a man whose kisses make her walk into walls, and her self-deprecating humor, Lexa finds the courage to leave the comfort of New York City to finally confront the person who drove her away all those decades ago. With fond memories of eating through food markets in Taiwan and forming a bond with a sister she never knew she had, Lexa unravels the truth of that last fateful summer and realizes she must stand up for herself and open her heart to forgiveness, or allow the repercussions of her family’s choices to forever dictate the path of her life.
A witty, warm, and irreverent book that traces the lives of two young Taiwanese American women as they navigate friendship, sexuality, identity, and heartbreak over two decades. Best friends since second grade, Fiona Lin and Jane Shen explore the lonely freeways and seedy bars of Los Angeles together through their teenage years, surviving unfulfilling romantic encounters, and carrying with them the scars of their families’ tumultuous pasts. Fiona was always destined to leave, her effortless beauty burnished by fierce ambition–qualities that Jane admired and feared in equal measure. When Fiona moves to New York and cares for a sick friend through a breakup with an opportunistic boyfriend, Jane remains in California and grieves her estranged father’s sudden death, in the process alienating an overzealous girlfriend. Strained by distance and unintended betrayals, the women float in and out of each other’s lives, their friendship both a beacon of home and a reminder of all they’ve lost.
Shang-Chi by Gene Luen Yang Vol. 1: Brothers & Sisters | Gene Luen Yang, ill. Dike Ruan
THE MASTER RETURNS! An ancient and evil secret society has stayed in hiding since the death of their leader, Zheng Zhu. But now his successor has been chosen to shift the balance of power in the world…Zheng Zhu’s son, Shang-Chi! Witness the Marvel Universe’s greatest fighter return to a world of death and destruction he thought he left behind long ago…and discover the secrets to Shang-Chi’s past that will change his world forever Don’t miss out on this epic tale of family, betrayal and justice as the incredible team of Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese), Dike Ruan (SPIDER-VERSE, BLACK CAT) and Philip Tan (UNCANNY X-MEN) launch a new chapter in the legend of Shang-Chi!
Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes | Linda Shiue
San Francisco based physician and chef Linda Shiue hasn’t met a fruit or vegetable she doesn’t like. Linda founded a popular vegetable-forward teaching kitchen to inspire people to cook for health. Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable Forward Recipes is her first cookbook.
I Dream of Popo | Livia Blackburne, ill. Julia Kuo
When a young girl and her family emigrate from Taiwan to America, she leaves behind her beloved popo, her grandmother. She misses her popo every day, but even if their visits are fleeting, their love is ever true and strong.
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