The Deaflympics, held in Taipei September 5 – 15 was a success, not only for the athletes but also for the city. Talking to some of the medalists, from different countries, the overall feeling was that the organization, transportation, hotels etc during the games went very well. They found it easy to move around in the city with a cheap, clean and fast mass rapid transit system (the MRT). Above all they found the Taiwanese people very friendly and helpful. Congratulations to all the athletes and to Taipei, well done!

Next big event to be held in Taipei is the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo, from November 6, 2010 to April 25, 2011. The locations for this will be: Yuanshan Park, Fine Arts Park, Xinsheng Park, and Dajia Riverside Park areas. It is with great enthusiasm we look forward to this event.

For the month of October both the western and the eastern world have their own yearly celebration, Halloween and Mid-Autumn Festival or as it's called, Moon Festival. Next to Chinese New Year this is a very important time in the Chinese culture when family and friends get together to spend some time with each other to enjoy a lot of food and most of all pineapple cake. A short introduction to the Moon Festival can be found at page 43 and 44.

For the music entertainment we have many visitors coming to Taiwan during the month of October. Check it out on page 23 – 28, and the back cover.

The weather is cooling down a little bit and what can be better than to have a fun and exciting day bicycling around Tainan Waterfront? It is good for your health, environmentally friendly and you can win nice prizes with a Merida Mountain Bike as first prize! Come and join the fun on Sunday, October 18, 2009. For more details, see page 51 and 52.

Louise Byström
Editor-in-Chief