From Quality Reads to Visiting Taiwan, A Worthy Journey Awaits
(PRWEB) June 02, 2016 -- The iconic novel by Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai, "Taipei People," was translated into English and became a popular sensation among foreigners. Over the years, foreigners have learned about Taipei through the classic novel and visited Taiwan to experience it in person. For American readers to discover the culture of Taiwan, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) San Francisco Office will be part of the Bay Area Book Festival, the largest international book fair in Northern California, over the weekend of June 4-5. The Bureau hopes to ignite the beautiful connection between reading and travel with inspiring books that lead to a wonderful life.
The international book festival will be held at the art and culture centric university town of Berkeley in Northern California. Besides book sales and new releases at the event, the organizer has invited over 300 best-selling authors from 15 different countries including Pulitzer Prize winners, to meet and greet with fans. They will also be hosting indoor/outdoor book signings and literature Lectures; One of the unique literature lectures will be titled “The Beautiful Island: Taiwan in the Literary Imagination,” where three well known Taiwanese authors, Irene Hsiao the poet, Ed Lin, and Shawna Yang Ryan along with the "Lonely Planet Taiwan" author, Joshua Samuel Brown, will talk about Taiwan’s cultural and historical tales and gourmet cuisines; Brown will also be sharing his in-depth adventures in Taiwan.
Taiwan Tourism Bureau is the only national tourism agency that will be participating in this festival. TTB San Francisco Office expressed that Taiwan has a rich tradition as well as an abundant resource of book reading. It is also the birthplace of the first 24-hour bookstore in Asia. Research shows that on average, Taiwanese read 1.7 books per month. For the people in Taiwan, reading is beyond a necessity; it is an extension of their culture. Taiwan is the only Chinese speaking nation in the world today that utilizes traditional Chinese characters as the official written language. Traditional Chinese characters retain the ideographic, phonetic and logical elements of ancient Chinese, embody the heritage of Chinese culture, and help to foster a deeper cultural sensitivity among the people in Taiwan. Freedom of speech also allows many forbidden books in other countries to be published in Taiwan. TTB hopes that by reading quality books, travelers will learn about Taiwan’s bountiful history and ethos, diversified folk cultures, ample museum collections, fine cuisines and unique humanistic and artistic environment – factors that attract culture seeking tourists to Taiwan where such experience that no other Asian countries can offer.
During the two-day book festival, TTB's booth will be on the Literary Lane with a giant Soup Dumpling installation for event goers to take pictures with. Don't forget to upload your pictures to the TTB San Francisco Office Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/itstimefortaiwan) and become a fan! Attend the Taiwan Literature Lecture then visit the TTB booth and fill out your information to enter the raffle drawing for China Airlines round-trip tickets from San Francisco to Taipei! For travelers who are planning to visit Taiwan, please contact your local travel agencies and visit TTB's website at http://www.taiwan.net.tw for more information.
Information on the Bay Area Book Festival:http://www.baybookfest.org
Air Supply Communications, Air Supply Communcations, +1 (626) 350-7888, [email protected]
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