Taiwan was named “Formosa” by 16th century European explorers, which in Portuguese means “beautiful island,” and “finely formed.” It’s the “Hawaii” of China in a sub-tropic region with mild and balmy seasons. The average temperature is in the mid 70s.

With a population of more than 23.44 million people, the residents of the island are known for their warmth, kindness and ingenuity. Taiwan is the second largest producer in the world for computer hardware. They make some of the best bicycles in the world, and have a dynamic food culture – being labeled as the “Kingdom of Fruit.”

While attending the Asia American Expo in January 2016 at the Pomona Fairgrounds, I learned about many of the Taiwan Excellence products that were on display in the brightly colored showroom. Three representatives from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles led us on a tour of the Expo. Jamie Ming-Shy Chen is the Deputy Director – General, Francis W. Hou is the Executive Economic Officer and Thomas Koh is a Specialist. They informed us that not only are these products made in Taiwan, they represent the highest standards to offer a competitive edge in the global markets.

There were 15 Taiwan brands with over 120 items at the show. This is the 3rd time that Taiwan has participated in the Asia American Expo to bring their products to California residents. Miss Teen Taiwan World – Miss Natalie Chen happily posed for photos with guests throughout the day.

Here are 7 of my favorite items that earned the special Taiwan Excellence designation –

1. Taiwan is known for their innovative bicycles. Think Bike. Think Taiwan. There were the QBicle and Volando on display with light weight frames and carbon racing wheels. Taiwan is known for their Bike Trips – Go to Super Value Tours to learn about their Taiwan Island Vacations – ww.supervaluetours.com/pagetour_queryTour.do?tourid=525&fr=supusa

2. Lien Cheng Saxophone Company has been making musical instruments since 1945. This beautiful saxophone is won the Taiwan Excellence award.

3. Sakura is known for its Chimney Range Hoods with a Smart Touch panel and slim design. The double layer BEE HIVE design with a stainless steel filter is very easy to clean. Offers energy-saving LED lighting.

4. Papago GoSafe 520 Ultra 2K dashcam helps you lead your trip, while staying safe on the road. It offers a stop and go, driver fatigue warning, motion detection and light reminder alerts features.
5. Love, Live, Dream is the logo for Adata charge lightning cables, flash drives, memory storage expansion cards for MacBook Air, external hard drives, power banks, XBOX Game Drives, light bulbs, and creative desk lamps.

5. Tatung is a leader in Multi-functional cookers that are compact and offer one-touch operation to make cooking easy. Some are smart wifi-enabled with 7 cooking modes – quick cook, brown rice, slow cook, cake, steam, porridge and stew.

6. Pringo portable photo printer is a wifi portable device to get instant photos with editing and sharing options. Like a photo on your smart phone – just attach to the Pringo and print in seconds.

7. Gold 99% Paintings are art using pure gold foil. It’s artwork that has been created for thousands of years.

We enjoyed strolling through the expo with our friends from Taiwan. Next year you should make a point to attend this event. It will stimulate all of your senses.

To learn more about Taiwan Excellence – go to www.taiwanexcellence.org

The Taiwan Trade Center, Los Angeles is located at 3660 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 838, Los Angeles, CA  90010 – (213)908-1801.