Hung Te-ching, an alumnus of Dept. of Spanish, whose blog stood out from 10,247 Chinese blogs around the world, won the first prize of 2008 annual blog awards held by China Times for the vast Chinese-language blogosphere, and was awarded with the cup, certificate, as well as 30,000 N.T. Dollars.

Hung indicated that when all the prizes of other categories were announced, she had prepared herself for not winning any prize. “However, in the end, it turned out that I got the first prize. I just couldn’t believe that!” Because of her husband’s work, Hung needs to live in Vietnam for a period of time, which gives her more chance to know this country. She pointed out that many Taiwanese people associate Vietnam only with the image of Vietnamese brides. Hence, she tried to use Vietnamese point of view to introduce the various aspects of Vietnam, so that more and more people can know this thriving and flourishing country.

In her blog, Hung introduced the art history of Vietnam through a painting, and dug out the rugged history of Cao Dai, a Vietnamese religion, from the words of a character in the novel. The judges of the contest were really impressed by her reflection through the observation of daily life, and suggested that anyone who would like to travel in Vietnam could visit Hung’s blog first to experience its cultural depth. Hung also hoped that she can publish a book in the future in which she will share the experience of her three-year Vietnamese life. ( ~Shu-chun Yen )