09/06/2026
Our day started bright and early as we headed out of the campus area to Taijiang National Park, which was a 30 minute drive away from our hotel. We arrived at the park and got onto a boat to go on a tour of the local mangroves. Along the way, we saw local fishermen, got to pull up our own fishing nets, observed a variety of native birds, and learned about how fishing plays a role within the local economy. A mechanical engineering professor that volunteers at the national park told us about the types of sensors and monitoring that was being done to manage the park and the balancing act between bringing economic prosperity to the area and conservation.
We then visited a nearby town called Anping, which reminded us of a fishing village, because every local business was selling handmade shrimp chips. Continuing on in our learning of local history, we were taken on a tour of the Anping area, which deepened our understanding of much of Taiwan’s past occupation. Our tour ended at the Anping Tree House, which wasn’t really a house in a tree, but more of a tree that had overgrown its way into a house, a beautiful intersection of nature with architecture.
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Boat tour!
 | Pulling up a fishing net
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| Trying out calligraphy |
09/07/2026
Another day of heavy brainstorming! We began by presenting our initial ideas to the class and going through 3 rounds of critique in order to further establish our product and ironing out our final details. We were introduced to another circular design tool, this one encouraging us to consider different questions when it comes to the user experience and giving us product ideas. After a long day in the classroom, we took the night to rest up, grab dinner, and walk around before our free day!
09/08/2026
Our last free day in Taiwan and our group was scattered around Tainan, exploring all the parts. A small group went to the Ten Drum Cultural Village to look around at the old sugar mill buildings, go on rides, and watch a traditional drum performance. A few others worked in a cafe on design projects and went to Shennong street at night. Another group ventured out to do some thrift shopping and walking down small alleyways, popping into various shops. Our free day was also taken advantage of to do some cosmetic changes… from red hair dye to ear piercings to acupuncture. Because we didn’t have any scheduled class time, most groups decided to meet up at night to touch base and make progress before our next critique session in the morning.
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| Exploring Tainan coffee shops |
Ten Drums Cultural Village
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Shennong at night!
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09/09/2026
With two days until our final presentations we used the Circular Design Evaluation Pack, the last of the Use2Use tools. We presented our current creations for critique and continued to make progress on what we had planned, having some good discussions that caused us to consider design decisions and if we wanted to keep moving forward in that direction.
After lunch we took a walking tour around the West Central district to see the Tainan Confucius Temple, a few Japanese colonial era buildings including the Hayashi Department store, a design shop, The Spring, and Asakusa shopping center. We learned about the different architecture decisions made when war was a concern and the effort that went into restoring these buildings in more recent times.
Tainan Confucius Temple
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