YeinJee's Asian blog

Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment

Taiwanese Culture and Traditions

World record for simultaneous foot massage

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2016 participants (1008 reflexologists and 1008 tourists) have set a new Guinness World Record in Taiwan on July 1 for having “most people receiving foot massage (reflexology) simultaneously.”

Tourists who volunteered for the event came from various countries, including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong etc.

World record for most people receiving foot massage (reflexology) simultaneously in Taiwan
The world record attempt at Taipei Arena, Taiwan (Image from Huaxia)

The attempt was organised by Taiwan Tourism Bureau to promote health tourism Reflexology is a popular practice in Taiwan for relaxation and improving general health; the activity is gaining popularity among foreign tourists in recent years.

There were no previous attempts made on this category; Guinness have set the requirement to have at least 400 participants with treatment for at least five minutes on each foot… which were met by the folks without much sweat.

Taiwanese aboriginal dance

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An aboriginal dance performance (video) in Hualian, during my Taiwan visit in late April. The video quality is rather poor because I was recording using a digital camera and not a viewcam, but it should be pretty cool if you have not witnessed similar stuff before…

There are about a dozen aboriginal tribes recognised in Taiwan, not sure which particular tribal dance it was.

The Taiwanese aborigines’ culture actually shares similarities with the aborigines in South East Asia, including my homeland Malaysia. They are all considered as Austronesian people who shared the same ancestors some thousands of years ago.

In fact, the bamboo-stick-dance in the video can be seen in Philippines and Malaysia-Borneo as well. It’s a small world after all :)

Nan Tian Temple, Suao, Taiwan

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Nan Tian Temple (Nantiangong) in Suao is one of the most famous temples in Taiwan with its 200kg pure gold Mazu figurine as well as another Mazu figurine carved from a piece of huge jade.

Nan Tian Temple in Su Ao, Taiwan
The rooftop of Nan Tian Temple and the small port opposite the temple

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Taiwan Modern Toilet Restaurant

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Toilet themed restaurants are not new in Taiwan; it has been around since 2004 or earlier, with people dining in a toilet like ambience and eating from mini toilet bowl.

I always thought that the business idea won’t last long; but with the huge exposures by media and bloggers… seems that these eateries are becoming a bizarre food icon from Taiwan, something like fugu in Japan and live octopus in Korea.

Below are pictures from Modern Toilet, a food chain that operates 12 toilet themed restaurants in Taiwan; these pics are from its outlet in Shilin, Taipei…

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