Welcome to part two of the three part series on the Taiwan Design Expo.  We didn’t spent too much time in the exhibition halls, as most were pretty crowded.  That’s not to say there wasn’t any interesting stuff.

The theme of this year’s expo is essence and pieces conveying this meaning are spread around the eleven halls of the old Taichung Winery that have been renovated to function as exhibition halls.

While walking from one hall to the next, Mark and I discussed how great it was that the city of Taichung decided to renovate the old, unused buildings of the old winery for their current purpose instead of selling them off to the highest bidder to construct another shopping mall, housing complex, or parking lot.

In the 1980s, about one out of every three saxophones in the world was produced in Taiwan [Check out NPR’s Saxophones from Taiwan Aiming for the Pros].

For more information on the event, check out the official website.