January is the beginning of a New Year in the western part of the world and February 2011 is the beginning of the Chinese New Year! Celebrations will go on for a long time during this year.

For you to plan your leisure time well, we have the entertainment section page 29 - 34 covering both January and February 2011. For the other cities, please look under respectively city. Of course we mustn't forget the Taipei International Flora Exposition taking place until - April 25.

After all festivities you may want to enjoy a relaxing dinner with your family in a quiet restaurant, but at the same time have a drink before or after. Not to worry, please see restaurant and bar section page 21 - 24 for suggestions.

Taipei has many shopping areas, some which has specialized in certain items or segment. Please see page 25 - 26 for more details.

Taiwan International Festival of Arts is taking place February 10 - March 27. Taipei Fine Arts Museum is on top of this and offers fantastic exhibitions, as always! For further information, please go to our web page: www.taiwanthismonth.com

To be able to master different languages is of course very useful and helps us communicate with each other and understand different cultures. Children have a beautiful way of learning by playing. "A Passport to The Future" is what Taipei European School wants us to think of when we send our children to school.

Taiwan this Month helps you find the latest activities around the island, useful information and MRT maps for Taipei and Kaohsiung. The monthly free, bilingual magazine has a trilingual web page: www.taiwanthismonth.com and is also available within iPhone application TaiwanYo.

Season's Greetings,

Louise Byström
Editor-in-Chief