Marc Atchison visits the tiny Taiwanese island of Kinmen, which sits in the shadow of mighty China and deals with the threats of invasion each day while trying to enjoy a normal life.

Contributor Mark Stachiew visits Taiwan during the island's annual Lantern Festivals and discovers the events lights up all those involved.

TAIPEI — A wall of iPhone photographers crowd around a glass case in the National Palace Museum snapping pictures of one of Taiwan’s greatest treasures — a cabbage.

TAITUNG, TAIWAN - We had only five kilometres left to cycle that day, but it was hot, our muscles were complaining and the long road ahead of us sloped upwards, reminding us that we’d have to work that much harder to get to our final destination.

JIOUFEN, TAIWAN – A famous painter lives in this old mining town that clings to a mountainside. He took a different road to artistic fame. Hsi-hsun Chiu is not just famous for what he paints but what he paints with — hot asphalt.

KINMAN ISLAND, TAIWAN - For more than 60 years, it rained bombs on this tiny island.

WULAI, TAIWAN — Two unsuspecting tourists are coaxed on stage by some lovely local dancers and allow themselves to become part of the show at the Aboriginal Heritage Centre.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN - All we ever seem to hear about this “treasured island” caught between two countries and two cultures is political strife.

TAMSUI, TAIWAN - The concierge at Taipei’s Sherwood Hotel questions my decision to make an early morning trek to this riverside town located at Taiwan’s northern tip.