Taiwan has been through the highs and the lows in aquascaping! Having won back to back IAPLC Grand Chiampion in 2005 and 2006, they are one of the aquascaping super powerhouse in the mid to late 2000s and arguably one of the strongest aquascaping nations alongside Japan and Hong Kong during that period. The main reason behind their success during that period, was none other than their local aquascaping club : 水舞 (Taiwan Aquatic Dancing Club). 水舞 was one of the strongest aquascaping club ever existed and perhaps the only one capable of challenging CAU from Hong Kong back in their glorious day! Layouts from 水舞 is synonyms with Elegance and Gracefulness, in constrast with the highly impactful and poweful layouts often associated with CAU, these 2 clubs ruled the aquascaping world for a good 10 years - mid 2000s till mid 2010s.
However, the momentum somehow dwindle around middle of 2010s - specifically during a 3 years of "dark period" between 2015 and 2017, the fall is drastic, from a powerhouse to a virtual bystander in the world of aquascaping during that 3 years.
They were no stranger to Top7 individual ranking back in their heydays but the last time a Taiwanese scaper enter the top7 was already 5 years ago (2014)! The reason of this decline is remarkably similar with what happened to Hong Kong: the deminishing of their local aquascaping clubs, in the case of Taiwan, 水舞 was near non-existence in recent years after almost all their top members stop competitive aquascaping.
However, they recaptured the world's attention again in 2018, with 3 of their top scapers entering top27 individual ranking and it propeled Taiwan to World Number 3 in the Nations Challenge last year.
Their success in 2018 is owing much to the "youth movement". All 3 top scapers from Taiwan were entering Top27 for the very first time - spearheaded by a relatively newcomer debuting at World #9!! It is obvious that Taiwan is now entering a transition period, there are still a few experienced scapers active in the scene but the future of Taiwan in the Nations Challenge is now very much depending on the development and stability of their younger generation.
When we talk about "Taiwanese Aquascaping style", some people would associate it with aquarium that has artificial bridges, sunken pirate ships or some figurins....although this is still very much popular in Taiwan commercial scaping scenes but obviously it is not what makes Taiwan a top3 nation in the IAPLC challenge. Aquascaping style in Taiwan, can be divided into 水舞 era and post 水舞 era. During the period when 水舞 was still dominance, layouts from Taiwan were more artistic with amazing sense of elegancy, fine attention to details and flawless composition skill. In the post 水舞 era, Taiwan produces more contemporary and modern layouts, bold and daring, more "energy" and dynamic. Perhaps this is the result of their youth movement!
Strength and weakness
Taiwan as a traditional aquascaping powerhouse, although most of their top scapers are no longer doing competitive aquascaping, but their presence in the country still provide a lot of hope and moral support to the younger generation. Knowing that Taiwan was once at the top of the world, it instills belief and faith to the young scapers that it is within their reach to recapture the same height as their legends. excellent planting skill has always been one of the strength from Taiwan too!
One of the weakness in Taiwan aquascaping scene, seems to be the unity and sense of "togetherness" among the Taiwanese scapers. Everybody for himself - this pretty much describes the situation in general. In the post 水舞 era, there isn't any strong group or leadership who can unite the Taiwanese scapers, everybody is doing their contest layout behind closed door without discussing it with friends or members, although this may not necessary brings a negative impact, but in long run, we believe that it will cost more harm than good.
Author: IAPLC Nations Challenge
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