External Links - Spectral Codex

March 29th, 2016

Last updated November 16th, 2024

This page features links of interest to readers of this site. Think of it as an expanded “blogroll”, a tradition that began in the early days of blogging as a friendly way to connect and share traffic. Not many people bother maintaining such lists anymore but I enjoy having a list around if only for personal reference and making recommendations.

Taiwan Links (English)

Josh Ellis Photography: a photography blog with deep insight into lesser-known places all around Taiwan, with special emphasis on Japanese colonial sites.
Hidden Taiwan: a fantastic blog about obscure historic, abandoned, and outdoorsy stuff in Taiwan authored by illustrator Tom Rook.
Formosa Ex: interesting sights around Taiwan; Jay shares plenty more interesting finds on his Instagram too.
Spiritual Travels: Nick Kembel’s mindful travel and photography blog is absolutely packed with useful tips and information. He also runs Taiwan Obsessed.
New Bloom Magazine: politics, activism, youth culture, and social commentary from a leftist perspective.
Taiwan Trails and Tales: a fantastic resource for hiking around Taiwan.
Words From Taiwan: interesting posts about Taiwanese society by Min Chao.
Steven Crook: published travel author and regular Taipei Times columnist based in Tainan County.
Out Recordings: regular bushwhacking reports from around southern Taiwan.
Taiwan Quest: a blog about moving to Taiwan. Plenty of everyday content.
Foreigners in Taiwan: travel, history, culture, and commentary.
Taiwanderers: two British travel bloggers documenting Taiwan.
Station in the Valley: a newer blog about cycling in Taiwan.
Taiwan Hikes: another great resource for anyone interested in hiking in Taiwan.
Taiwan Starts Here: tourism resources about Taiwan.
Taiwan Scene: a wide-ranging group blog/magazine with articles about food, travel, culture, history, and more.
Frozen Garlic: detailed election and political analysis from Taiwan. Essential reading for anyone interested in Taiwanese domestic politics.
Poagao’s Journal by photographer and filmmaker TC Lin, who merits his own Wikipedia page.
A Broad and Ample Road: an excellent newsletter often touching on Taiwanese domestic politics and social commentary.
Taipei Air Station: strongly focused on the experiences of US military personnel in Taiwan during the Cold War.
Taiwan Outdoors: outdoor and adventure travel in Taiwan; primarily a tour company, but there are some useful guides here too.

The following sites have not been updated in years but still have plenty of interesting content:

Taiwan In Cycles: a bicycle touring blog by Andrew Kerslake. Not updated since 2018.
The View From Taiwan: a long-running blog by Michael Turton. Not updated since 2018.

Taiwan Links (Chinese)

Just A Balcony: extensive surveys of Taiwan’s cultural assets.
The Thief of Places: regular posts about obscure and old sites all around Taiwan; his Facebook page is also a wealth of location information.
Shepherd’s Wolf (放羊的狼): an excellent Chinese language resource for anyone interested in the history of mining in Taiwan.
Wild Land Travel (野地旅): NTNU teacher and prolific blogger Yu Mu-ti (游牧笛) documenting innumerable sites all around Taiwan in great detail (in Chinese).
Tony Huang: local history and culture from the friendly host of an informative channel on YouTube.
CW Hung (飛行場の測候所): a long-running and well-informed blog about historic sites, railways in Taiwan, and many other topics.
Penghu Info (澎湖知識服務平台): an incredible resource documenting the history and culture of Penghu.
Taiwan Air Power: online since 2006, this blog dives deep into the history of aviation in Taiwan, with special emphasis on World War 2. It is mirrored here.
Fake Literary Youth (假文青的廢墟散步): urban exploration around Taiwan.
Egghead’s Fantasy World (蛋頭的奇想世界): another road blogger from central Taiwan.
Yao Jui-Chung (姚瑞中): educator and multi-disciplinary artist famous for documenting mosquito halls, disused and abandoned structures built with taxpayer money in Taiwan, among many other interesting projects. See his Wikipedia entry for more.

The following sites have not been updated in years but still have plenty of interesting content:

Writing Taichung (寫作中區): mainly focused on the many historical sites in Central District, with hand-drawn illustrations of many classic Taichung landmarks.
Exploring The Uncharted: documenting the many roads of Taiwan.
Lost Wolf’s Ruins Adventure (迷路狼的廢墟探險): urban exploration around Kaohsiung.

East & Southeast Asia Links

Vietnam Coracle: extensive travel guides to Vietnam.
Colonial Korea: amazingly in-depth examinations of colonial architecture in South Korea.
Offbeat Japan: exploring the less exposed side of Japan’s many interesting sites, including ruins, by Jordy Meow.
Southeast Asian Theater Project: a kindred spirit documenting the disappearing cinemas of Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and the surrounding region. Not updated since 2020 but he is very active on Facebook.
Abandoned Kansai: urban exploration in Japan.
RandomWire: a sublime photo-oriented blog documenting travels around Japan and East Asia.
China’s Forgotten Places and Urban Dystopias: urban exploration in the Middle Kingdom. Not updated since 2019.

International Links

Tobias Johnston: photographer with an excellent eye for neglected places; his Instagram is also worth following, as is his new Micromosa project.
Traveling Circus of Urbanism: thoughts and perspectives on art and urbanism from around the globe. The mapping features of this blog heavily inspired my own work here on this site.
Ex Utopia: global adventures with a focus on post-Soviet spaces in Eastern Europe with good photos and great writing.
Places Journal: an astounding collection of photo-essays and articles about architecture, urbanism, and the built environment.
Microship: personal blog and digital archive from the original digital nomad.