Burt Wolf: Travels and Traditions

Taiwan - A Sense of Place - Part 4 (11x7)

Uitzenddatum: Feb 12, 2011

In 1869, Francis Galton, an English anthropologist argued that all talent was the result of heredity. No matter what the skill - from painting a great picture - to inventing a perfect recipe - it was always the result of the genes you received from your parents. Today, we know that he was smart, but wrong. What we are is the result of the interaction of our genes and our environment and our biology is continually altered by our environment. In these programs, Burt interviews a number of famous Taiwanese-Americans who grew up in traditional Taiwanese homes and immigrated to the United States, including an internet billionaire, a top Hollywood director, and a man who builds 6 million bicycles every year. Then, Burt travels to Taiwan to look at the key influences on their lives including one of Taiwan's most famous museums, a train that travels at over 150 miles an hour, big budget martial arts movies, a restaurant that presents dishes based on famous works of Chinese art, and one of the world's greatest choreographers. Burt tries to discover how the early life of these successful people affected the way they think now.