Summer’s representative Taiwanese cuisine: Tainan’s aiyu temporarily tops the list

Reported by You t
ru / Compiled by staff

To identify the most iconic summer dish in Taiwan, the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications recently featured aiyu, a well-known local favorite, inviting 10 businesses around the Tropic of Cancer to create innovative aiyu dishes. The public was encouraged to vote online for Taiwan’s top aiyu dish. Currently, the top three aiyu creations are Tainan’s Osmanthus Pineapple Aiyu, Mango Supreme Aiyu, and Chiayi’s Brown Sugar Slush Aiyu, with over 2,000 people casting their votes online within just a few days.


▲The Tourism Bureau launches an aiyu event. (Photo / Provided by the Tourism Bureau)

The Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications stated that the recently launched “Aiyu Showdown” campaign is the prelude to the “Taiwan Summer Solstice 235” series of events. The aim is to use the familiar aiyu to rekindle the public’s desire for diverse summer recreational activities. At the same time, the bureau expressed gratitude for the support of the “Aiyu Showdown” campaign—shortly after its launch, netizens responded with reports of various creative aiyu dishes from different regions. As a result, a special PK round was introduced, where the public can nominate creative aiyu dishes to challenge the existing 10 representative aiyu dishes. Each PK round will feature a five-day popularity vote, and the winners will move on to compete for the title of Taiwan’s top aiyu dish.

In addition, to strengthen the brand identity of “Taiwan Summer Solstice 235” and engage the online community with the trend of mobile technology, highlighting new summer travel topics, the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has also launched the “Give Me 235 ! Weekly Prizes Await!!” online campaign starting today. This allows the public to showcase their creativity—simply by finding the ever-present numbers 2, 3, and 5 in daily life, participants can enter a weekly lottery to win one of thousands of Summer Solstice gifts.

The Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications noted that in novels, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting “Mona Lisa’s Smile” holds hidden secrets; in everyday life, numbers are equally ubiquitous. The “Give Me 235 ! Weekly Prizes Await!!” campaign invites the public to capture the 235 around them—whether it’s bus number 235, a weight of 23.5 kilograms, or creative representations of 235 using the human body or objects—to create endless fun and novelty.