Why waiting for a plane is a pleasure at Taoyuan International Airport

“Can’t move the mountain?
Build a road. Road blocked?
Start climbing! Can’t climb?
Shift mind!” – Master Sheng Yen, 108 Adages of Wisdom

Twelve years ago, I wrote – and The Moodie Report, as it was then called, published – a book called Ever Rich at 18.

It told the extraordinary story of Taiwanese company Ever Rich Duty Free’s 18-year rise from a start-up to one of Asia’s most successful and forward-thinking travel retailers.

It wasn’t your standard corporate narrative. Here was a fascinating fusion of the personal (the remarkable life journey of Ever Rich Founder & Chairman Simon Chiang), the commercial, the cultural and the compassionate.

The last of those traits had – and still has – found remarkable expression in an exemplary Corporate Social Responsibility ethos and programme that runs like a bloodline through the company.

Fast forward to this week and Ever Rich, Simon and I are a dozen years older, the first two I suspect in rather better shape than the writer, although visiting this marvellous destination always reinvigorates me.

Do the math and you will quickly calculate that Ever Rich turns 30 this year, a landmark that represents a three-decade success story, often in the face of considerable odds.

None greater, of course than COVID-19, which from the time of the first confirmed case on 21 January 2020 led to a near total shutdown of travel to and from Taiwan over a protracted period and more than 19,000 deaths.

From March 2020 to October 2022, Taiwan imposed strict entry and quarantine restrictions, measures that devastated multiple aspects of the travel industry, none more so than a customer-facing sector such as travel retail.

Ever Rich Duty Free acted with typical speed, adaptability and compassion (towards both its staff and society) during that grimly extended hiatus and has been steadily recovering since. It hasn’t been easy and it still isn’t today – as with most of Asia the downtown duty-free sector is very tough, thanks to a severely reduced Mainland Chinese spend.

But that hasn’t stopped the innovation conveyor belt. As well as talking about our coverage of Ever Rich Duty Free’s 30^th anniversary this week, I had the opportunity to visit Taoyuan International Airport Terminal 2 (and fly into and out of T1). I attended the inauguration of T2’s new-look central duty free shopping zone and floor food & beverage area in November 2019, just weeks before that first COVID case.

That development represented the NT$1 billion (US$31 million) first-phase investment in an ultimate NT$3 billion (US$93 million) terminal reconstruction, work that has continued since and given birth to what I consider among the world’s great air terminal experiences.

Together with President Kevin Chiang, Section Manager Claire Ma and members of the Ever Rich Duty Free team, I toured the company’s resplendent T2 C zone commercial (retail and food & beverage), cultural (themed waiting lounges that deserve a whole book rather than a paragraph written about them; heck I call them experiential pleasure lounges) and operational (under a unique concession model, Ever Rich also runs public service areas such as information desks, washrooms and more) facilities.

In my view, no airport in the world better encapsulates the much talked-about, often poorly served concept of sense of place as the Taipei gateway. Ever Rich’s philosophy, commitment and quality of execution has been integral to that standing. T2, as I hope the photos below show, truly captures the heart and soul of Taiwan.

Look out for my extended coverage of the development and Ever Rich Duty Free’s 30-year tale of achievements later this year. I promise you a compelling read.

For once in the frenetic whirl of my professional life, I took an extra day here to see some of the attractions and sights of this fantastic city. That included a long time bucket list visit to Yangmingshan National Park, just a short drive from the city and famed for its active volcanoes, waterfalls, hot springs and panoramic views that threaten to take your breath away if you have any left from all that walking.

They say each season brings a different type of beauty to Yangmingshan. February and March is flowering season when the famed cherry blossoms and rhododendrons welcome the spring with an exquisite collective greeting.

From Yangmingshan it’s just 5.5 kilometres to another mandatory stop, the National Palace Museum, said to house the world’s largest collection of priceless Chinese art treasures, some 600,000 pieces encapsulating some 5,000 years of history.

Food is, of course, also an intrinsic part of Taiwanese culture and no visit to Taipei is complete without a visit to the famed Din Tai Fung, one of the great names of Asian cuisine, a place where customers queue for up to two hours to taste the xiaolongbao (steamed pork dumplings) and other delights.

Or take in, as I did, Addiction Aquatic Development (上引水產), a seafood lover’s nirvana in Zhongshan district.

It offers a choice of ten dining styles, including hot pot restaurant Le Peng (樂烹鍋物, literally ‘happy boil’); an al fresco charcoal grill restaurant; a sushi option; and a seafood bar inside a supermarket adjacent to a sprawling array of temperature-controlled tanks almost bursting with the weight of fish, crabs and other shellfish, from which you can make your choice for dine-in or take home.

Washed down with a glass or two of Alsacian Riesling, you’re in epicurean heaven. Normally, I would simply hope to come back here some time. With 2025 being Ever Rich Duty Free’s 30th anniversary year, this time it’s guaranteed. ✈