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Places

A man with open arms in a golden rice field

2 min readVietnam

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Thinking of Vietnam from abroad

Living away from home changes how a country looks. A short reflection on what a Vietnamese student abroad comes to see in the places he has known.

An alley in Taiwan with old buildings and greenery

2 min readTaiwan

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Taiwan, seen from Vietnam

Close on the map and familiar in many ways, Taiwan still surprises Vietnamese visitors. A look at the island through a Vietnamese lens: what feels like home, and what does not.

The arched footbridge at Sanxiantai on the east coast of Taiwan

2 min readTaiwan

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Taitung and Sanxiantai: Taiwan facing the Pacific

Far from the western cities, Taitung County is a long strip of coast, valley and mountain, home to many Indigenous communities and some of the earliest sunrises in Taiwan.

Plum blossoms on a thin branch

2 min readJapan

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Japan's four seasons as a travel calendar

In Japan the seasons are not just weather; they shape festivals, food and where people travel. A season-by-season way of thinking about when to go, from plum blossoms in late winter to snow in temple yards.

A quiet shopping street in Kobe in the morning

2 min readJapan

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Kobe: a port city between mountains and sea

Squeezed into a narrow strip between the Rokkō mountains and Osaka Bay, Kobe grew into one of Japan's great ports and one of its most outward-looking cities. A profile of its geography, history and recovery.