the celebration of taiwanese american heritage week in nyc since 2002
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At the "Passport to Taiwan" event each year, participants can sample local delicacies from in Taiwan, observe dough figurine makers and calligraphy masters at work in the arts & crafts area, learn about various organizations and agencies, play children’s games, learn about traditional Taiwanese toys in the interactive area, fold cranes in the kids workshop area, and learn more about Taiwan and Taiwanese Americans in the exhibition area.

 

Origin of the Event

 
In 1992, President Bush signed Act HR5572, which named May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. In 1999, Congress designated the second week in May as Taiwanese American Heritage Week to recognize the contributions of Taiwanese Americans. President Clinton later issued a proclamation to congratulate the Taiwanese American community.

To answer the Congress for this generosity for the designation, Taiwanese American organizations throughout the US started a campaign to organize events to introduce Taiwan and Taiwanese Americans. New York answered this call with "Passport to Taiwan", a festival that comprised of stage performances, delicacies, presentation of organizations/government agencies, arts & crafts, games & interactive area, children’s workshops and art installations from Taiwanese artists in NY.

Since the initiation of "Passport to Taiwan" festival in 2002, it has become the most important event for TAA-NY as well as the Taiwanese American community in the New York Tri-State area. Tremendous resources have been gathered in order to make the event successful. The festival has since become the largest outdoor Taiwanese event in the entire United States.  In New York, the event is viewed as the most organized and entertaining Asian festival and is considered as the largest Mandarin speaking festival in the city.

NEW!! 2008 Yearbook
 
2006 Brochure 2005 Brochure 2004 Brochure 2003 Brochure 2002 Brochure
 
Outcomes/Impact of Activities

United States is the great land of immigrants. Some call it a melting pot; some view it as "salad bowl", as a mix of ingredients but each still maintains its own characteristics. Lacks of understandings often results in hatred and misapprehension among different ethnic groups. Asian Americans are especially prone to the situation because of skin color or the way language is spoken. Taiwanese American and the Mandarin speaking community, as a subset of Asian American are weak in presenting the case to the public.
 
When Asian American Heritage Week was designated in 1979, discrimination against Asian American was in much more seriously situation then today. In 1992, when the week became the month, discrimination towards Asian American still exists in some fashion. Most of the time, such discrimination arises from misunderstandings of one's culture and tradition; especially there are several nationalities/ethnic backgrounds when it comes to Americans with Asian origin.

Therefore, it is crucial to educate the public about different types of ethnicities and Passport to Taiwan is here to do just that for Taiwan and Taiwanese Americans and other ethnicities.

There are not many Asian related festivals in New York. Most of the festivals are for certain country and very rarely that anyone outside of the community knows about it. Passport to Taiwan, now in the ninth year has the experience and knowledge to create a big and presentable event. The location is ideal and exposure is guaranteed!

It is important for any ethnic marking personnel to know that there is no such race called "Asians" in the dictionary. With backgrounds from many countries, the markets need to be opened up one by one. Passport to Taiwan provides that bridge to the Mandarin speaking niche and Taiwanese American have proven to be the pioneer in doing so.
STATISTICS

Union Square is a transportation hub where several major New York City subway lines converge and over 150,000 people traverse daily. Based on the number of souvenirs passed out at previous Passport to Taiwan festivals, it is estimated that over 10,000 have attended the Passport to Taiwan festival in a single day.

The Union Square Farmers Market, with over 1000 fresh produce items, attracts on average, 60,000 people a day. Per week, that works out to close to quarter of a million people per week. The park is an ideal location for big events and major advertising. According to surveys done at the "Passport to Taiwan" festival, about 30% had come to the festival because they had heard about it through word of mouth, or had seen newspaper, radio, or television advertisements.

Each year this number grows bigger as more people learn about "Passport to Taiwan."
On Taiwanese Americans…

Taiwanese Americans are relative newcomers to this great nation of Immigrants. Records indicate arrival in small numbers in early 1900's with steady immigration after the 1950's. Initially, most came for advanced studies but many decided to stay and make the US their home. In 1979, Taiwanese immigrations surged when Congress allocated quota of 20,000 per year for Taiwan. Data from the 2000 Census shows there are more than 500,000 Taiwanese Americans; the majority being immigrants with a sizable and growing American-born population. It is believed that census data only reflects parts of the population because it does not carry an option of Taiwanese.