In the first few decades after retreating from the mainland, the Republic of China on Taiwan needed to shine as brightly as possible in foreign spotlights to keep alive the idea (or some might say fantasy) that the government on Taiwan really did represent all of China, the most populous nation on earth. And so, for today’s episode, we turn to one of Taiwan’s biggest promotional efforts abroad; its largely forgotten appearance at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City.
Cover image by Wilford Peloquin - 6405 NY World's Fair 16 1964 / Wikimedia Commons
Colorized by AI/Eryk Michael Smith. Original photo below.
Learn about Mr. Yang Cho-cheng (楊卓成), Master of Chinese Classical Architecture
For Yang's English Wiki page click HERE.
Read: China Goes to the Fair (Taiwan Today Publication Date: June 01, 1964 ) Image below from this article.
NEW YORK TIMES May 31, 1967: Chinese Nationalist Pavilion At Expo 67 Ruined by Fire
Below: The Unisphere and surrounding areas in 1964 (ROC pavilion to the right)
Below: The Unisphere, one of the fair's remaining structures. It was built for the 1964 New York World's Fair, in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, New York City. Via Wiki Commons.
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Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.