I-lan Cultural Bureau,Taiwan, published a series of books with five CDs. It categorizes the Taiwanese folk opera into five elements,including,drama,crying tunes,new tunes,folk tunes and miscellaneous tunes. The CDs demonstrate the ways of singing each tune and serve as a useful approach to traditional Taiwanese opera which was one of the most important recreational pleasure for most Taiwanese elders during the past fifty years. The other element equally important for Taiwanese entertainment is (glove) puppet show. When I was a school boy, my grandma often took me to the theatre to see the opera,and so most of the tunes in the album are familiar to me.
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Once a senior female guide,in her radio interview,said that the Taiwanese landscapes are actually as beautiful as those in other countries. She sighed to say what we lack in Taiwan are beautiful houses. All the buildings and bridges are constructed rather on a practical useage than on aesthetic purposes. She was right when she uttered those words. Almost every year, we tried to survive from the natural disasters like earthquake and floods brought by typhoons. The Taiwanese government and people have to spend lots of many repair the relentless damages, and therefore there is no extra money to beautify their homes. Sincerely I hope that Taiwan will have a quick economic promotion and fewer disasters so that we will have a better life. These pictures here are some of the hotels near Farm Chin-jing in Nan-tou County in central Taiwan.
