In honor of World Book Day, the Ministry of Culture has rolled out a series of online tours to connect readers with Taiwan's land, culture, and literature. As the COVID-19 pandemic has severely limited public activities, these handcrafted digital tracks will run throughout the year and is open to all who wish to participate.
The Ministry launched the "Literary Walking Tours of Taiwan" program to mark World Book Day in 2019. This year, epidemic prevention efforts resulted in the program being moved online, but the original two-week timespan has also been extended from April 23 to the end of the year. However, to offer hand-on experiences of participating in cultural activities, the Ministry will resume physical tours after the pandemic is under control.
On the 23rd of each month, readers will be able to watch a new cinematic piece that transports them to different destinations by visiting the "Literary Walking Tours of Taiwan" site. Accompanied by online activities, these videos seek to cultivate deeper public understanding of the people, landscapes, and history of Taiwan through the multitude of virtual travel experiences.
A tour of Taipei's Nanmen Market, the first video of the series, was released on April 23. In the short clip, Yeh I-ching (葉益青), author of a picture book on the historic marketplace, and Hsu Ya-li (許亞歷), who writes books for children and teenagers, lead viewers to explore the unique charms of the centennial Nanmen Market.
Following the route curated by the National Museum of History (NMH), which is located nearby the market, the two authors will also share their perspectives and fond memories of the buzzing market while dispelling outdated ideas about traditional markets.
Meanwhile, chosen from a pool of 275 applicants, 34 successful proposals on such literary walking tours were announced on April 23. View the acceptance list here. The key consideration, the jury panel said, was the ability to foster better understanding of Taiwan by combining reading and regional exploration.
Apart from the 34 proposals, 16 agencies and performance groups affiliated with the Ministry, including the National Human Rights Museum and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, also joined the program and curated their respective cultural tracks, bringing the total number of such routes to more than 100.
Among the tracks are several literature-inspired routes. By visiting the hometowns of Taiwan's great literary figures, including late writer Wang Tuoh (王拓), Atayal poet Walis Nokan (瓦歷斯．諾幹), and novelist Wang Wen-hsing (王文興), viewers can glimpse how they developed into exceptional writers of contemporary classics.
In addition, by partaking in these virtual tours, viewers will be able to witness Yilan's past and present, retrace the development of rail and forest industries in Chiayi, and learn about stories that were uncovered from the White Terror era.
Start exploring Taiwan at https://worldbookday.culture.tw/.