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On the morning of March 30 local time (evening of March 30 Taipei time), President Tsai Ing-wen toured Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry in New York City, a store opened by young Taiwanese-Americans, as part of her transit stop in New York en route to visit diplomatic allies in Latin America. President Tsai listened to Yun Hai founders Lillian Lin (林思妤) and Lisa Cheng Smith (鄭衍莉) explain their motivations for opening the store and introduce the uniquely Taiwanese products sold at the store, where she also tasted dried pineapple from Kaohsiung City's Gangshan District.
Afterward, President Tsai proceeded on foot to Win Son Bakery, where she listened to Josh Ku, a young Taiwanese-American and one of the bakery's founders, introduce the shop's specialties. The president personally ordered food there, sampling some Taiwanese-style food such as stuffed rice roll (fan tuan) and donut.
President Tsai held an in-person discussion with six groups of young Taiwanese-Americans in art, education, cuisine, and other fields, including Yun Hai founders Lin and Cheng Smith, Win Son Bakery founder Ku, bilingual actor Leo Yu-Ning Chang (張佑寧), Té Company tea store founder Elena Liao (廖梓君), CUNY Hunter College faculty member Dr. Ming-Ying Li (李明穎), and Yoseka Stationery store founders Neil Ni and Daisy Chen, during which the president listened to their experiences and stories of developing their careers and starting businesses in the US.
During the discussion, the young Taiwanese-American participants each shared their opportunities and motivations to found businesses and chase their dreams in the US. All expressed hope to use their strengths in their respective fields, and to integrate their cultural background in Taiwan while promoting Taiwan in the US. President Tsai lauded their courage in chasing their dreams, and encouraged them to continue to work hard and introduce Taiwan to even more people across the world.
Interactions among those in attendance created a lively atmosphere at the discussion. President Tsai shared her favorite Taiwanese foods, and said that when choosing gifts for the guests, she specifically selected uniquely Taiwanese tea sets and tea leaves in the hope of promoting Taiwanese culture for the world to see.
