First-time travelers to Asia often make the mistake of thinking they can hit more than one or two countries in a single short itinerary. Even allowing for a couple of months, trying to border-cross or puddle-jump in order to “take in all the sights” would be insanity — if not because of time constraints, then simply because such a strategy would undermine the richness and depth of all that can be seen.

Asia, as we all know, is a big place: it’s home to the majority of the world’s population (including, obviously, its two largest nations), several of history’s oldest civilizations, and a breathtaking diversity of cultures, languages, foods, religions and ideas. Any itinerary to the region is bound to be jam-packed and overwhelmed with eating, shopping, temple-viewing, museum-going, nightlife and R&R.

Instead, let me propose an alternative method: just visit Taipei.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/fish_at_taipei/

A charming, smart, cosmopolitan city that manages to be simultaneously contemporary and traditional, this tight conurbation of under three million brings together a wonderful taste of some of the best you can expect from anywhere within the region. Whether it’s food or shopping, religion or arts, getting down or merely chilling out, this town’s got it all. Here, five ways to whet your Taipei appetite. Just be forewarned: visitors tend to experience more than a hint of city envy.

1) Cuisine: Its location means that Taiwan, historically a crossroads of cultures, is home to an incredible variety of international cuisine, not to mention diverse Chinese cooking. It was once colonized by the Japanese, and to this day welcomes to a strong Korean and U.S. influence. For over 300 years, southern Chinese have been bringing their culinary chops to the island; when the Communists forced the Guomintang out, mainland Chinese from every province flocked this way as well. Ergo one of the richest collections of the best Chinese food to be found, anywhere. Did I mention that street food is king, with some of the most vibrant night markets in Asia? Shilin is one of the largest, known for sausages and stinky tofu. I mean it: dig in.

2) Congregate: Unlike its big brotherly next-door neighbor, Taiwan maintains not only a vibrant democracy and a sometimes astoundingly vitriolic free press — it also upholds freedom of religion as a matter of fact (and not just theory). Christians, Muslims, Jews congregate freely. And while the People’s Republic of China claims Buddhism as a state-certified religion, in fact it’s near death — or should I say, on its way to reincarnation?

Photo courtesy of Francisco Diez http://www.flickr.com/photos/22240293@N05/

In the Republic of China (ROC), aka Taiwan, every village, town and city — Taipei included — supports vibrant Buddhist temples, which foreigners are welcome to pass through as any local would. Likewise, Taoism is still riding the river of life here, and counts itself as a viable counterpoint to Buddhism. Even then, Chinese and Taiwanese folk religions add a layer of nuance and color to religious interpretations.

3) Culture: Taipei’s National Palace Museum boasts one of the most important — and probably the largest — collections of Chinese art in the world. Urban legend has it that there are enough treasures (taken from the Mainland by the Guomindang in 1949) stored up for there to be continually rotating exhibitions every single day of the year.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/koonisutra/

It’s not all mummified behind glass vitrines: performance art, especially contemporary dance, is cutting edge. In addition to the world-famous Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Taipei’s “Lab” enables top dancers and choreographers to come together and create new works. Chou Shu-yi, a locally born-and-bred dancer, recently won the first-ever Sadler’s Wells Global Dance Contest and participated in last summer’s Eliot Feld Mandance festival in New York.

4) Chill: Taipei’s fall will soon lead into the cold, damp winter months, which, perhaps surprisingly, are the perfect time to visit the city. A natural abundance of volcanically activated hot water springs up throughout the newly upscale Beitou, formerly known as a red light district.

While governing Taiwan during the early twentieth century, the Japanese developed hot springs resorts that reminded them of home. The area around Beitou, supplied naturally by the geothermal energy of the neighbouring Yang Ming Shan volcano, became an obvious location for the beer halls, tea gardens, bathhouses and intimate hotels so beloved of the era.

Now, thanks to the opening of a local MRT stop, the Beitou of today is characterized by its high-quality spas, good hotels, excellent living accommodation and green and lush environment. A quick soak in perfect 60ºC waters — cool beers at hand and a massage in mind — is right around the corner. Public transport awaits.

5) Karaoke: What single cultural phenomenon better unites Asia’s myriad cultures than that of gathering religiously with friends to drunkenly sing out-of-tune and out-of-tempo outdated ‘80s American pop? Denizens of Taipei do this perhaps more fervently than anyone else, often paying homage at the temple called Cash Box, or Qian Gui in Mandarin. Warning: Taiwanese sing like rock and opera stars, so bring your best game.

Originally published in the September 7, 2010 edition of TabletTalk, the weekly blog from TabletHotels bringing you updates on global living.

As proposed American offshore wind-farm projects creep forward — slowed by state legislative debates, due diligence and environmental impact assessments — China has leapt past the United States, installing its first offshore wind farm.

Several other farms also are already under construction, and even the Chinese government’s ambitious targets seem low compared to industry dreaming.

“What the U.S. doesn’t realize,” said Peggy Liu, founder and chairwoman of the Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, is that China “is going from manufacturing hub to the clean-tech laboratory of the world.”

The first major offshore wind farm outside of Europe is located in the East China Sea, near Shanghai. The 102-megawatt Donghai Bridge Wind Farm began transmitting power to the national grid in July and signals a new direction for Chinese renewable energy projects and the initiation of a national policy focusing not just on wind power, but increasingly on the offshore variety.

The 102-megawatt wind farm near China’s Donghai Bridge, close to Shanghai, heralds China’s increasing interest in offshore wind projects.

Moreover, “it serves as a showcase of what the Chinese can do offshore … and it’s quite significant,” said Rachel Enslow, a wind consultant and co-author of the report “China, Norway and Offshore Wind Development,” published in March by Azure International for the World Wildlife Fund Norway.

Planned to strategically coincide with the World Expo in Shanghai, which is being fed electricity from the offshore farm, China is ready to show the world what its own homegrown wind technology can do.

All of Donghai Bridge’s 34 turbines, 3 MW capacity each, were built by Sinovel Wind Group, China’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, though designed in cooperation with American Superconductor. The Beijing-based company began building the farm at the mouth of the Yangtze River Delta in September 2008. CCCC Third Harbor Engineering Co. Ltd., also based in Beijing, installed the turbines, completing construction in February 2010. Shanghai’s Zhongtian Technologies Submarine Optic Fiber Cable Co. Ltd. manufactured the 78 km of submarine cable.

Powering 200,000 households while reducing CO2

In China, one key challenge will be developing foundations for the soft seabed commonly found off the coast of the East China Sea, especially since “most offshore wind farms that will be developed in China will be intertidal,” said Gerald Page, managing director of Equinox Energy Partners, a venture capital firm in Beijing.

The $337 million project, located 8 to 13 km (about 5 to 8 miles) from the coast, was erected on soft seabed conditions using a multi-pile foundation structure. About eight to 10 legs are placed on concrete piles, on top of which are stacked a concrete tack and then the turbines. Shanghai Investigation, Design and Research Institute conceived the foundation.

During low tide, the turbine foundations are exposed; during high tide, they become submerged in about 5 meters (16 feet) of water. Unlike in Europe, which is much more focused on developing deepwater (greater than 50 meters, or 164 feet, deep) turbine technology, China is exploring unique foundation technology and demonstrating innovative pursuits.

The farm is expected to eventually generate an annual 267 million kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough to power 200,000 Shanghai households. China’s government claims that annually, the wind farm will cut use of 100,000 tons of coal, reducing carbon emissions by 246,058 tons.

Currently, the wind farm’s capacity is equivalent to only 1 percent of the city’s total power production of about 18,200 MW, which is generated mostly from traditional fuel-based sources, according to China Daily, the state-run English-language daily newspaper in Beijing.

Construction of the Donghai project’s second phase, on the west side of the bridge, has been approved by authorities. It, too, is projected to produce about 100 MW. An additional four farms surrounding Shanghai are currently under negotiation, and the city hopes to complete 13 wind farms by 2020, with the majority of the expected 1,000 MW capacity supplied by offshore wind farms.

An industry’s itch to expand

The “Development Plan on Emerging Energies” released July 20 outlines wind production goals through 2020 by the Chinese government.

According to the plan, offshore wind power is expected to reach 30 gigawatts, and coastal provinces were required to start drafting offshore wind-grid implementation plans. This includes Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces. In the next three to four years, according to the Azure-WWF report, in total, 514 MW should be installed along this coastline. As of March this year, pipelines accommodating 17 MW were already installed between Donghai and a pilot wind project in Bohai Bay near Tianjin.

Offshore wind potential along China’s coast. Photo courtesy of Azure International.

The expected long-term cumulative pipeline, at 13.7 GW, is nearly halfway to the estimated 2020 goal, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the Mandarins are fully behind renewable technologies and warmly welcoming a greener future.

“The top-level people are cautiously optimistic,” explained Andrew Grieve, a senior researcher at J Capital Research, an equities research company based in Beijing. “They are far more optimistic on the local and provincial level.”

Behind closed doors, industry insiders hear buzz and speculation that coastal provinces’ plans far exceed the existing Chinese central government’s plans.

Grieve stressed that the real force for wind comes from manufacturers that are itching to expand the market. “Comparatively speaking,” he said, “the central government is the most conservative of the lot.”

All this is without official numbers, as the 12th Five-Year Plan (for the 2011-2015 time period) has still not been formally unveiled. It remains in final draft form, and though the original release date was slated for March, approval keeps moving backward. Analysts expect the implementation date should, at the latest, arrive on Jan. 1, 2011.

The central government’s aim was to hit 10 GW by 2010, a goal that was quickly surpassed.

“Industry is either going to take their number and beat it, or government is going to have to step in and calm down growth,” Grieve said. Rumors support the latter, but given historical trends, the former would seem more likely.

The Azure-WWF report describes the offshore wind energy generation potential in China as huge — calculated as 11,000 terawatt-hours, similar to that of the North Sea in western Europe.

“China has the largest wind resources in the world, and three-quarters of them are offshore,” Barbara Finamore, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Beijing office, told Scientific American.

The existing industry is nowhere near that large. As Grieve explained, “apart from the 1 gigawatt of bids this year, there are no central government national targets for offshore wind, although possible national targets of 5 gigawatts by 2015 and 30 gigawatts by 2020 have been suggested.” The provincial government-proposed provincial offshore development plans amount to 10.2 GW by 2015 and 22.7 GW by 2020.

The growth in China’s wind manufacturing market remains focused on the domestic market — for now. Dheeraj Choudhary, who runs Parker Hannifin Corp.’s Global Renewable Energy business unit, said “60 to 70 percent of wind turbine market growth has come from domestic manufacturers, and not the international guys.”

Joanna Lewis, an assistant professor of science, technology and international affairs at Georgetown University who works as a China program adviser to the Energy Foundation, agreed: “No one has nearly as much capacity [as China] installed in the world.” As a result, there is still “very strong demand for wind turbines in China, and they’re not at stage where supply exceeds demand.”

Eyeing markets abroad

Talk to wind turbine and technology experts and manufacturers, and they see a day not too far off when Chinese-produced (and in some cases, Chinese-invented) turbines will service foreign markets.

Anthony Fullelove, project manager for North Brown Hill Wind Farm, based in Sydney, Australia, expects that his country, as well as Europe and the United States, will see a sharp increase in turbines sourced from China — as the technology rises to meet global standards and prices drop — to make wind farms viable especially in a generation sector without a carbon price.

“Turbine manufacturers in China are starting to look for markets abroad upon seeing Chinese market getting tighter and tighter, with more companies selling in China,” Lewis added.

For the time being, Chinese manufacturers still work hand in hand with foreign engineers and designers. But that is starting to shift.

“Reliance is much lower,” noted Choudhary. Instead, Chinese manufacturers look to foreign companies to provide subsystems and components. All of China’s top five turbine manufacturers have worked with foreign engineers yet retained the intellectual property rights on the technologies.

Meanwhile, as China moves forward with installing water-based wind farms as well as developing its domestic technological know-how, not a single offshore wind turbine is in use in the United States.

Though the 130-turbine Cape Wind project, in Nantucket Sound off the coast of Massachusetts, has received federal approval, several potential regulatory and judicial hurdles lurk. Similarly, the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission recently approved a power purchase agreement proposed for the Block Island farm off of Rhode Island, which would start with an initial eight turbines as a model, yet Attorney General Patrick Lynch (D) has vowed to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.

When discussing the creation of an Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium in February, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said it currently takes seven to nine years for offshore wind project to receive approval. At this point, Cape Wind is moving into its 10th year of negotiations.

In comparison, China’s Renewable Energy Law was implemented in January 2006. By November 2007, the Bohai model turbine was installed. So important was the Donghai farm to the Chinese Communist Party, it footed the bill to ensure the project would be completed in time for Expo 2010 in Shanghai, during which time China has the eyes of the whole world watching.

Originally published on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 by E&E News in ClimateWire.

How are you rebranding?
Once we receive government approval, we’ll become Timor Air. That means new website, logos and uniforms to build domestic and international awareness for Timor Air as East Timor’s first airline. Tickets will be sold on global ticket distribution systems.

Currently, you fly to Singapore only. What other destinations will Timor Air serve?
We’ll start operations to Australia, including Darwin, Brisbane and Sydney. There will be flights to Hong Kong, and in Indonesia we’ll go to Denpasar and Jakarta.

What about domestic services?
During the first part of 2011, we’ll start flying to Baucau, Ocussi and Suai and eventually we’ll fly to Los Palos.

Originally published in the October 2010 issue of Monocle magazine.

Today this metropolis of more than twenty million is racing ahead in another arena: eco-consciousness. The mission of the city’s 2010 World Expo is urban sustainability. It’s home to China’s first offshore wind farm, the first outside Europe. And the local green movement goes beyond business borders. Peggy Liu, founder and chair of the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, asserts that “China is going from the manufacturing hub to the cleantech laboratory of the world.” The same might be said of developments in the areas of fashion, food and lifestyle.

Fashion

Shokay International

“As the most cosmopolitan and fashionable city in China,” points out Carol Chyau, CEO and founder of Shokay International, a clothing line sourced from silky soft Tibetan yak fur, “it is no surprise that the eco-friendly community is strongest in Shanghai.”

The company, co-founded with Marie So, aims to be socially sustainable as well as environmentally conscientious. In addition to sourcing raw yak fiber directly from nomadic herders to boost incomes in the community, Shokay is helping to preserve local culture, engaging in community development work, and promoting sustainable usage of the environment — the fiber is a renewable resource, shed annually.

FINCH

Eco-conscious fashion label FINCH just released its first line this summer, but the two female founders have over twenty-two years of combined experience at international fashion labels back in New York. After five years in China designer Heather Kaye decided it was time to take the stifling pollution in her adopted hometown into her own hands. “There’s so much manufacturing going on right here, but it’s difficult if you’re an independent, small-scale, eco-conscious designer.”

By using organic fibers grown without pesticides or toxic chemicals, incorporating special low-impact dyes and controlling for other chemicals, Kaye explains, “we’re educating sewers, pattern-makers, factory-workers who we’ve trained in our manufacturing practices.” FINCH is looking to establish a manufacturing collective. “That way, sustainable companies can work on a smaller scale and it’s viable business-wise.”

Nest

Located in a revamped factory in Shanghai’s artsy neighborhood of Taikang Lu, Nest showcases handcrafted housewares, clothing, stationery and furniture from local designers who embrace the earth-friendly ethos. In addition to their selection of Shokay and FINCH products, a popular choice is EcoBibi, whose founder, the eponymous Bibi, focuses on “products that can minimize waste and be reusable and are good for the environment.” Beautiful soaps, candles and bags round out the collection, whose profits are in part used to develop a health program for women and mothers from underprivileged communities throughout China.

Food

Downstairs with David Laris

In Shanghai, “every hip young Western chef is doing local food,” says Crystyl Mo, dining editor of Time Out Shanghai. And there might be no more hip a Western chef than David Laris, the mastermind behind Laris Restaurant on the Bund, the restaurant concepts at The Opposite House in Beijing, the first-ever Barbie Café (seriously) — and now Downstairs.

Based at URBN Hotel — itself known for a commitment to sustainability as well as good design sense — the focus here is “all about sustainable living — from where the food supply is sourced to the uniforms of the service staff,” explains Christina Kao, one of the team members. Whenever possible, the menu features ingredients that are organic, homemade and traceable to the farm.

Sir Elly’s

It’s also not just independent eateries that are serving up local, organic or veggie-friendly cooking: at The Peninsula Hotel Shanghai, Sir Elly’s, the high-end Western eatery with expansive Bund-side views, is demonstrating a commitment to these nascent food trends. Dalian beef cheeks are served with smoked cherry coulis, gnocchi and asparagus. Additionally, the prix-fixe lunch menu’s appetizer sampler (gazpacho, squash panna cotta, romaine salad and slow poached egg) is almost entirely meat-free — and the chicken wings in the salad were happily held for yours truly.

Gongdelin

Chinese chefs are going local as well. In Shanghai this harks back to the days when the original recipes were developed — centuries before Alice Waters. The Song Dynasty and its literati, mostly based in Suzhou and Hangzhou, focused on locally sourced and conscientiously prepared dishes, a philosophy which has returned in restaurants like Gongdelin, a high-end, Buddhist-friendly all-vegetarian chain. Many of China’s famous meat dishes are recreated here using soy- or gluten-based stand-ins. Chicken’s feet, Peking duck, even mock seafood — all are prepared with the meat-free eater in mind.

Ji Xiang Cao

Less pricey than “Godly” (as Gongdelin is also known), Ji Xiang Cao, whose name means “lucky grass” in Mandarin, also seeks to please the Buddhist palate. Don’t be put off by the imitation antiques — this cozy spot is authentically Chinese and vegetarian, and seeks to please in earnest. Delicious tofu, cold sesame noodles and a wonderful rendition of the famed Sichuanese “mouth-water chicken” (koushui ji) make it worth your while.

Lifestyle

Eco Design Fair

Now in its third year, this twice-annual fair brings together the country’s most influential and important eco-conscious organizations, lifestyle product brands and their designs. The goal is to furnish the locals with the tools and products they need to nudge their lifestyles in a more sustainable direction. The fair also builds community through such activities as a ten-kilometer bike ride through the city, the “Shanghai Street Bikes” photo exhibition, and Shanghai Roots & Shoots, a Chinese-based non-profit which plants trees around the country.

Jiashan Market

Providing a green, sustainable living environment for all Shangainese jumping on the eco-conscious bandwagon is the challenge that Jiashan Market aims to overcome. An integrated work/life/business community designed by BAU Architecture, the market’s six old factory buildings were refurbished based on sustainable practices, including re-using materials, double-glazing windows and thorough insulation to diminish energy loss. Rooftops are planted with gardens, and businesses located on-site ensure that tenants needn’t travel far to answer their commercial needs.

All this movement in the green direction could still improve. “Compared to major international cities, [Shanghai] still has a long way to go,” says Shokay founder Carol Chyau. “Most people who are designing and buying these products are still primarily expatriates and Chinese returnees. I would love to see the day Chinese consumers start purchasing such products.” Keena Fletcher, the head of design at Shokay, agrees: “the Chinese are not yet on the sustainable fashion bandwagon.”

Photos and text by Manuela Zoninsein.

This blog was originally posted on August 17, 2010 in Tablet Talk.

The best way to soak it all up is on the ground, via a day-long walking tour that introduces the city’s must-see structures below 23rd Street. It is here that the young at heart play, providing the only visual competition for the soaring skyscrapers above.

To view the rest of the article, including guide for a full-day walking tour, where to eat and where to continue celebrating into the night, view Lower Manhattan On Foot:

Originally published in the June/July 2010 issue of Escape!

By Manuela Zoninsein

Shanghai, China-

China has installed the first major offshore wind farm outside of Europe.

In China, most offshore wind farms likely will be built in intertidal areas.

Located in the East China Sea, near Shanghai, the 102-MW Donghai Bridge Wind Farm began transmitting power to the national grid in July. The farm, which is slated to expand in the coming years, eventually will generate annually 267 million kilowatt-hours of electricity—enough to power 200,000 Shanghai households. It currently is supplying power to the Shanghai Expo and serving as a showcase project at the five-month-long international event.

The $337-million Donghai Bridge farm signals a new direction for Chinese renewable-energy projects and the initiation of a national policy focusing on offshore wind power. China’s first full-size farm is “quite significant,” says Rachel Enslow, wind consultant and co-author of the report “China, Norway and Offshore Wind Development,” published in March by Azure International for the World Wildlife Federation Norway. “Especially now, with the Shanghai Expo, it serves as a showcase of what the Chinese can do offshore.”

All of Donghai Bridge’s 34 turbines, 3 MW capacity each, were built by Sinovel Wind Group, China’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, and designed in cooperation with American Superconductor. The farm, located eight to 13 kilometers from the coast, was erected on soft seabed conditions using a multipile foundation structure, with eight to 10 legs placed on concrete piles, on top of which are stacked a concrete tack and then the turbines. Shanghai Investigation and Design Institute developed the foundation.

Construction Challenges

Indeed, one of the major challenges in China’s wind-power-generation expansion is the creation of foundations for the soft intertidal seabed. Unlike Europe, where turbines often sit 50 to 100 kilometers from the coast, “most offshore wind farms that will be developed in China will be intertidal,” explains Gerald Page, managing director of Equinox Energy Partners, a venture capital firm in Beijing. Intertidal turbine foundations are exposed during low tide and become submerged in about 5 meters of water during high tide.

Neither monopile nor jacket foundations—which often are used in medium- and deep-offshore sites in Europe—can be used in China because the seabed beyond China’s intertidal zone is “made of soapy, soft material,” explains Enslow. Installation of the turbines also will prove difficult, as large boats and equipment can’t operate in shallow water—and the intertidal area in China is usually less than 15 m deep.

Despite these obstacles, China was determined to move forward. “China wanted to show, ‘Hey, we can do this, too,’ ” says Enslow. Beijing-based Sinovel began building the farm in September 2008; CCCC Third Harbor Engineering Co. Ltd., also based in Beijing, installed the turbines, completing construction in February 2010. Shanghai’s Zhongtian Technologies Submarine Optic Fiber Cable Co. Ltd. manufactured the 78 km of submarine cable.

China’s government claims that, annually, the farm will cut use of 100,000 tons of coal, reducing carbon emissions by 246,058 tons. Presently, the farm’s capacity is equivalent to only 1% of the city’s total power production of around 18,200 MW, which is generated mostly from traditional fuel-based sources, says China Daily, the state-run English-language daily newspaper in Beijing. Construction of the Donghai project’s second phase, located on the west side of the bridge, has been approved by authorities. It, too, is projected to produce about 100 MW.

Charging Ahead

What the U.S. doesn’t realize, says Peggy Liu, founder and chairwoman of the Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, is that China “is going from manufacturing hub to the clean-tech laboratory of the world.” Several offshore wind-farm projects are proposed in the U.S., including one off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., and one off Block Island, R.I., but they are moving slowly due to state congressional debates and environmental concerns.

Meanwhile, the Chinese offshore wind industry is poised and ready to move forward with a cumulative pipeline of 13.723 GW in place, according to the “Development Plan on Emerging Energies,” a government plan announced on July 20 that outlines wind production goals through 2020.

As of March 2010, pipelines accommodating 17 MW were already installed between Donghai and a pilot wind project in Bohai Bay, near Tianjin; in total, 514 MW should be installed along China’s coastline—including the Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces—in the next three to four years, according to the Azure-WWF report. The cumulative pipeline is already half way to the estimated 2020 goal of 30 GW, and, in April, provinces were required to start drafting offshore wind-grid implementation plans.