HUAN MEI THEATRE, A NATIONAL TREASURE IN TAINAN CITY

Under the trend of 3-D technology in the movie industry, Chuan Mei Theatre located in

Tainan City still maintains its old theatrical style. Instead of computer-generated tickets

and high-end plush sofas, moviegoers are handed out hand-stamped paper tickets and

seated on traditional mental chairs, but the most eye-catching piece of nostalgic in this

theatre is the hand-painted movie poster, 3 square meters, hanging above the entrance.

Nowadays, the 61-year-old Yan Jhen-fa is the last practitioner who devoted himself to

the hand-painted poster which was once a popular artistic form in Taiwan.

Mr. Yan was sitting in his makeshift studio on the sidewalk in front of the theatre, working

on an action-packed posters advertising “World War Z”, on a weekday morning. “We

have to enlarge the painting from a smaller original, so you have to know how to scale

the picture and recognize the special features of the characters”, he explained.

Theatre owner Wu Jun-cheng said

that Mr. Yan making those posters as

advertisement is not really the trend

in movie industry, but it is pretty

worth paying Yan 20,000-30,000 NT

Dollars a month for hand-painting

two or three movie posters per week.

He said:”we think the oil paintings

bring a certain atmosphere to our

theatre, and Yan paints it so well that

we do not want to give up this

tradition.”

The posters and the theatre’s overall simplicity achieved great popularity.

“I took my children here to experience the atmosphere of old movie theatre,” said an

audience, Miss Chen. “For sure, there are many movie theatres that have better interior

designs, but the tickets are relatively expensive that it makes no sentimental value. Chuan

Mei Theatre, on the contrast, has quality but no luxury.”

In recent months, Mr. Yan’s artistic form has become dramatically popular throughout

Tainan, Taiwan’s oldest city. He now holds painting classes on weekend and attracts

more than 40 students. Even though he doubts that any of them will be able to follow his

steps and later become a full time painters specializing in making movie posters. While

he reflects on his 40-years-carrer: “It is a tough work and needs a lot of patience, but still,

I’m just glad to spread my love of painting to more and more people.”

DREAM MALL SET TO OPEN IN TAINAN, FALL 2014

Nanfun Dream Mall held a contract signing ceremony with retailers on the 30th of

September, and it is estimated to open in fall 2014.Other than shopping, its services will

also include hotels, movie theatres, modern restaurants, gyms, and supermarkets. It will

operate 24/7, 365/year and is expected to become a luminous pearl in Tainan

metropolitan area.

The first phase of development of Dream Mall covers an area of 285000 square ft., with a

total gross floor area of 1939349 square ft. The main buildings will be Nanfun Dream Mall,

Hotel Royal, and Headquarter of Tainan Spinning Co., Ltd. Moreover, the second phase

of development will cover an area of 487500 square ft. which will include a complex

development of other hotels, second shopping mall, and high-end condominiums.

“Nanfun Dream Mall will innovationalize the management model of shopping malls in

Taiwan. The mall will combine hotels, movie theatres, trendy restaurants, gyms,

supermarkets, independent elevators, and will be open 24/7 all year long.”, said Po-Ming

Hou, General Manager of Tainan Spinning Co., Ltd.

After its opening, the mall will also combine with a 523000 square ft. recreational park to

hold medium-large scale of events and will provide 5 main functions of shopping, eatery,

entertainment, recreation, and the arts. Brand stores, well-known restaurants, and unique

brands will be available on every floor to provide Tainan a new and exciting retail

destination and satisfy consumers’ needs.

BAIHE CULTURAL FESTIVAL HELD IN TAINAN UNTIL OCTOBER 19

This is the first year that Baihe integrates rural rejuvenation communities to launch a

cultural festival for four consecutive weeks. At the day of opening ceremony, the elders

of Pinpu lit torches from a hot spring, where natural gas is able to produce fire in the water,

and then they passed them to government officials and special guests. The torches were

transferred through the restored Guanziling’s ancient walkway to rural rejuvenation

communities. It is a symbol that the transmission of traditional culture passed down from

the elders to younger generation.

Baihe is a place where people can see kapok in the spring, lotus in the summer, cultural

festival in the autumn, and hot springs in the winter. With a wide variety of cultures,

including the life of rural and parade formation, Baihe culture festival is mutually

organized by local district office, the Siraya National Scenic Area Administration,

Department of Transportation, The Council of Agriculture, the Tourism Bureau and others

communities, said Lai, Ching-Te, Mayor of Tainan City.

The series of Baihe cultural activities

launch starting from the Moon

Festival, including the scented

sachets from the Hushan Community,

a bamboo handicraft festival at the

Dajhu Community, a lion dance

competition and a green-faced lion

mask exhibition respectively by the

Jhument and Jhaoan Communities,

an old traditional housing tour of

Ganjhai Community, and the

traditional ceremony of Pingpu in

Liuhe Community.

Mayor Lai invites everyone to participate Baihe cultural festival and has mentioned that

Hong Kong tourists especially fancy Tainan due to the fact that Hong Kong has lots of

residents crowded into a small area and they have a fast-paced daily life that is often

stressful; therefore, they like to come to Tainan and enjoy the slower pace of life, the

natural and astonishing landscapes and experiencing the life of rural community. He

hopes that the government and the district office will be able to work together for those

who are interested in experiencing and exploring Tainan’s unique local cultures, lively

parade formation and vivid lifestyle of rural villages.

SALTY PORRIDGE OF RICE

Salty porridge of rice is one of the common foods in Taiwan. In Tainan, it can be found

nearly everywhere in the city. In the ancient time, as the housewives were always busy

during their day works and lack of time preparing a full table of meals; therefore, they

found it convenient to prepare salty porridge of rice. It is easy to make salty porridge of

rice by just mixing all the ingredients together in a pot and waiting until it’s finished. In fact,

salty porridge of rice is abundant in various types of nutrition. It includes vegetables,

meats and also starch. Cabbages, carrots, mushrooms, garlic and green onion are

always the indispensable ingredients for salty porridge of rice.

People can also order different kinds of salty porridge of rice, such as one with maw, one

with fish sausages, one with narrow barred Spanish mackerel, one with milky fish, one with

oyster and the combined one. For the first-time taster, we suggest them to take the

combined one so that they can try all kinds of seafood. In addition, salty porridge of rice

could be not only your breakfast but also your lunch and dinner. Therefore, do not

hesitate to take a bowl of salty porridge of rice. With several chopped green onions and

shallot added, the flavor will absolutely be unforgettable.

Tainan Foreigner Assistance Center