麻豆APP

Photo by the  Office of the President Taiwan –

10 of the Most Famous Taiwanese

With 23 million people crammed onto an island that covers just more than 36,000 square kilometres, Taiwan ranks among the 20 most densely populated places in the world.

However, Taiwan is easily one of the most popular travel destinations in Asia, especially among avid foodies.

To be precise Taiwan is famous for its delicious street food, Shilin Night Market, the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival, pineapple cakes, and Taipei 101.

Taiwan is also known for its friendly locals and for being a city that is culturally diverse and open-minded.

Although the industrious island has built a global reputation for cheap electronics, this is one Asian tiger that offers far more than stickers on the backs of calculators.

Economically there’s little it has left to prove, but Taiwanese people remain a proud and determined bunch.

No country conducts surveys on its people’s identity as frequently as Taiwan.

Since 1992, the Election Study Center at National Chengchi University in Taiwan has been recording changes in the Taiwanese/Chinese identity every year.

To try to get a peek into the Taiwanese let’s take a look at 10 of their most famous people.

1.      Rainie Yang- Pop Artist

Photo by Spar Yen –

Yang Cheng Lin aka Rainie Yang was born in Taipei, Taiwan her family descended from Guangdong, China hence fluency in  Cantonese.

She attended Hwa Kang Arts School which specialized in performance arts.

Her father’s business failed and she had to start working at 13 years to help support her family financially.

She is an actress, singer, and TV host who began her career in 2000 as a member of Taiwanese girl group 4 in Love where she adopted the stage name Rainie.

The group’s popularity in the musical industry achieved limited success and was disbanded in 2002.

Yang continued to pursue her career in the entertainment industry as a TV host, hosting shows such as the variety show Guess.

In her acting career, she has played supporting roles in a series of Taiwanese TV dramas, including the highly popular pan-Asia hit Taiwanese series Meteor Garden and its spin-off Meteor Rain.

She also landed the leading role, in the Taiwanese drama Devil Beside You.

2.      Hsieh Su-Wei- Tennis Player

Photo by Andrew Campell –

Hsieh Su-Wei is a Taiwanese professional female tennis player who As of 2013 was ranked No. 23 in the WTA Tour singles rankings, the highest-ranked Taiwanese women’s singles player ever.

In 2013 Wimbledon, Hsieh won her first ladies’ double championship with Peng Shuai from the People’s Republic of China, making her the first citizen of Taiwan to win a Grand Slam title of any kind.

As the former world number 1 in doubles, Su-Wei has 2 Wimbledon doubles titles and 1 French Open doubles title for a total of 3 Grand Slam doubles titles to her name.

Hsieh Su-Wei’s style of play has shown that tennis is not all about hard-hitting, or how much heavy topspin you can apply.

Rather, Si-Wei exposed a creative side to tennis that has caught the eyes of many revealing a very unique style of play that is nothing short of pure inspiration.

She has paved the way for all unorthodox tennis players of the world, creatives and out-of-the-box thinkers to unite and return this forgotten side of the sport whose high priestess Hseih Su-Wei.

3.      Jam Hisao- Singer

Jam Hsiao is a Taiwanese Mando-Pop singer who started working as a restaurant singer while still a high school student.

In May 2007, Hsiao rose to fame after only three brief appearances in the first season of China Television’s star search show, One Million Star.

Warner Music signed Hisao’s vocal range, unique singing style, diverse music genres and astounding charisma quickly captured the attention of the Taiwanese music industry.

His popularity spilt over into mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia.

The 4^th studio album, by him, It’s All About Love, received Best Male Singer at the 24th Golden Melody Awards.

His foray into acting earned him Best New Actor Award in Hong Kong’s 31st Golden Film Award in 2012 for the movie The Killer who Never Kills”.

Jam Hsiao served as one of 4 mentors of Beijing Television (BTV’s) singing competition reality show Duets. Jam Hisao was also voted as the best music mentor.

4. Tsai Ing-Wen- President

Photo by Office of the President Taiwan-

Born in 1956, Fang-shan township, P’ing-tung county, Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen is an educator and politician who was the first female president of Taiwan.

Her involvement in government service started with her appointment as a trade policy adviser under Pres. Lee Teng-hui.

At the time she played a major role in the negotiations that enabled Taiwan to join the World Trade Organization in 2002.

Tsai was elected as a member-at-large to Taiwan’s national legislature in 2004 after she joined the DPP.

She resigned her seat in early 2006 when she was appointed vice-premier of Taiwan. She remained in that post until May 2007.

In 2008, following the DPP’s loss in Taiwan’s presidential election, Tsai was chosen as the first woman president of a political party.

She was re-elected to the post in 2010.

In 2016 she defeated Chu in presidential elections and was inaugurated as Taiwan’s first woman president.

Tsai also became only the second person to win the presidency who was not a member of the KMT (Nationalist Party).

She rattled the tense Taiwan-China relations when she placed a call to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump who overturned several decades of diplomatic protocol by becoming the first U.S. chief executive to speak with his Taiwanese counterpart since 1979.

5.  Ang Lee- Film Maker

Photo by Nicholas Genin –

Born in 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee is one of today’s greatest contemporary filmmakers.

Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to receive a B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Masters Degree in Film Production at New York University.

At NYU, he served as Assistant Director on Spike Lee’s student film, Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads.

After Lee wrote a couple of screenplays he eventually appeared on the film scene with Pushing Hands, a dramatic-comedy reflecting on generational conflicts and cultural adaptation, centring on the metaphor of the grandfather’s Tai-Chi technique of “Pushing Hands”.

The Wedding Banquet was Lee’s next film, an exploration of cultural and generational conflicts through a homosexual Taiwanese man who feigns a marriage to satisfy the traditional demands of his Taiwanese parents.

He is a versatile director who is not afraid to confront controversial issues.

6.      Ruby Lin- Actress

Photo by Funchunliu –

Ruby Lin Xinru is a Taiwanese actress, television and film producer, and singer.

3 years after Lin made her acting debut in a TV commercial, she became a household name for her role in the TV series My Fair Princess which was highly popular in East and Southeast Asia.

She followed the success with other hit series including The Duke of Mount Deer (2000), Romance in the Rain (2001), The Glamorous Imperial Concubine (2011) and The Way We Were (2014) among others.

Since 2010, she started producing TV dramas and TV films starring herself, both in mainland China and Taiwan.

Heartbeat produced in 1999  was her debut album. She has since released 6 albums that were produced between the time of debut to the year 2008.

According to Apple Daily, Lin was the third highest-earning Taiwanese drama actress in 2011 and the top-earning in 2012 and 2013.

7.      Jerry Yan- Actor & Model

Jerry Yan born Liao Yangzhen is a Taiwanese actor, model and singer.

 In the popular Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden and Meteor Garden II he was the lead actor.

He is also a former member of the boy band group F4.

After winning the 1998 TVBS modelling Competition and Men’s UNO modelling competition Yan turned to professional modelling in 2000.

Consequently, he began filming advertisements and starring in music videos. Jerry began his acting career with a supporting role in “Spicy Teacher”.

In 2004, Jerry released his debut solo album, Jerry for You.

The album was awarded as one of the “Top 10 Selling Mandarin Albums of the Year” at the IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards, presented by the Hong Kong branch of IFPI.

He also won the “Best Album” and “Best Newcomer” (for the Hong Kong/Taiwan region) awards at the China Top Music Awards.

8.      Wang Jianming-  Baseball Pitcher

Wang was born in Tainan, Taiwan, China on March 31, 1980, is one of the famous pitchers of US-based baseball players.

At elementary school, he enjoyed co-curricular activities and joined the basketball team due to his height. 

Wang gained a lot of experience while in high school under the tutelage of legendary Coach Zhang Xijie.

 his training was with 4 other high achieving baseball players Which laid a solid foundation for him.

The 4 are Guo Hongzhi, Hu Jinlong, Luo Jinlong and Wang all formerly based in the US.

Wang signed as an amateur free agent with the Yankees in 2000 working his way up the Yankees’ minor league system for several seasons until his MLB debut in 2005.

With his hard sinker, he was one of the best starting pitchers for the Yankees in 2006 and 2007, winning 19 games in both seasons and leading the American League in that category in 2006.

9.      Joe Chen –  Actress

Photo by   Wukong  –

Chen Chiau En, known also as Joe Chen, is a Taiwanese actress, singer and model.

She is the co-leader of Taiwanese group 7 Flowers and is also the first female member of the talent agency Jungiery.

Her interest lies mainly in acting and writing and she does well in both fields.

She was the female lead inThe Prince Who Turns Into a Frog . 

Additionally, she was a hostess for Treasure Hunter.

In a new drama Fated To Love You  (2008) she once again was elevated to stardom.

For her role in Fated to Love You, Chen  was nominated for Best Leading Actress in a Television Series at the 43rd Golden Bell Awards.

Her popularity rose in China, where she gained a large number of fans when she appeared in Swordsmen(2013).

10. Yani Tseng- Golfer

Photo by Keith Allison –

Yani Tseng is a Taiwanese professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.

She is the youngest player ever male or female, to win 5 major championships.

Further, in the Women’s World Golf Rankings, for 109 consecutive weeks, she was ranked No.1 

Tseng was the top-ranked amateur in Taiwan from 2004 to 2006.

The highlight of her amateur career was winning the 2004 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, defeating Michelle Wie in the final.

Tseng is a 15-time winner on the LPGA who is 4 points shy of the LPGA Hall of Fame.

In 2021 she made a comeback to the game.

Tseng wants to prove to herself and everyone else that she can still play golf at the highest level.

She is a  powerful yet sensitive player who is treated as a celebrity in Taiwan.

Taiwans’ most famous people are their most important asset as they spread the essence of Taiwan to the rest of the world.

Diplomatically, Taiwan and a larger neighbouring country are locked in high tension relations.

However, through their icons above they demonstrate to the world their self-determination to be identified as Taiwanese.