Vegetarianism

“Taiwan is known as the vegetarian paradise.” Soon after arriving in Taiwan recently, I was told this by quite a few people. There are over 1,500 registered vegetarian restaurants on this little island smaller than West Virginia, with a population of 23 million people. Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China, was originally named Formosa by Portuguese explorers, which understandably means “Beautiful Island.”

As non-meat restaurants proliferate in China, diners are flocking to them for many reasons: flavour, nutrition, ethics, faith, culture, fashion, food safety and environmental concerns. Zhou Wei reports.