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How to Read Nutritional Labels in Chinese

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One of the biggest road blocks in my adventure to figure out what I've been eating here in Taiwan is nutrition labels. The labels offer similar nutritional information as the USA but not identically, and not in the same order, in Traditional Chinese, and serving sizes are metric. There are a few conversations on the age-old Formosa boards that offer some non-helpful tips, and some tips that are totally wrong. No, 7-11 does not list nutritional information in English, *sigh. I also ran across this very detailed but also confusing pamphlet from Hong Kong. The nutrition labels usually offer the following facts, and typically in this order: 熱量 (Re4 Liang4) Energy   ( units = 大卡 / da1 ka3 / Kcal)  蛋白質 (Dan4 Bai2 Zhi4) Protein (unit =  公克 / gong1ke4 / gram ) 脂肪 (Zhi1 Fang2) Total Fat  (unit =  公克 / gong1ke4 / gram )   飽和脂肪 (Bao3 He2 Zhi1 Fang2) Saturated Fat  (unit =  公克 / gong1ke4 / gram )   反式脂肪 (Fan3 Shi4 Zhi1 Fang2...
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A Taroko Gorge Day Trip From Taipei

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I need to confess. I've been living in Taiwan for 4.5 years now, and never visited the Taroko Gorge National Park , Taiwan's most famous tourist destination. I have been to its nearby city, Hualien, but never the sweet spot. Because it is most often mentioned on all the most very touristy lists, I wrote it off as too far to get to for too little payoff. I assumed it would be an amazing view worthy of 10 minutes of photo taking crowded with tourists, and not an entire park filled with natural wonder and options. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Taroko is located on  Taiwan's scenic East Coast , just North of the center. It can be visited as a stop on the whole East Coast, or in a day from Taipei. The park is free, so organizing transportation is the main expense. It is possible to rent a car and drive yourself, but even easier is to take an express train from Taipei Main Station via the TRA . The high-speed rail does not connect with Hualien. A ticket can be booked onlin...
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Thums Up

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one thumb on the camera and one thumb up Sometimes the invisible cola fairy visits and tells me I crave a soda. Its not common, but I've wanted to crack a can for all of 2010. Day tripping to Jackson Heights in Queens I spotted a bottle of Thums Up Cola in a battered glass bottle. I slid open the cooler door without hesitation or recognizing the optimistic name. Imported sodas often contain cane sugar (e.g. Mexican Coca-Cola) instead of high fructose corn syrup, offering a more neutral sweet flavor, rather than the sharp exaggerated sugar flavor of corn syrup. The battered bottle told the story of reused (rather than recycled) glass, an uncommon practice in America. I sensed there was special reason the soda was in Queens. Score. Its India's betel nut flavored answer to Coca-Cola. Introduced in 1977 after Coke stopped distributing in India. Later Thums up, with almost a third of the soda market, was bought by Coke to help defeat nemesis Pepsi. Its flavor is more pronounced and...
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