You make certain choices in life, some out of your will, some not as you have wished. I studied drama in university and participated in the production of the commercial movies and documentaries directed by my professor. I feel that I have learned a lot from documentaries. It put me to contact with real things, people and places when I was still very young. I acquired a lot of wisdom from the people I met. I accumulated work experience and hands-on learning. I had some achievements with documentaries and gradually focused on this.

I was already filming documentaries when PTS was still in the preparatory stage. I met many people in the process and ideas just kept coming. I developed the storylines from the people I met in filming or from day to day life. Social media was not available in the old days, so it was down to human contacts. My own network covers a variety of subject matters and this includes what I am good at, such as culture, history and art. I draw inspirations this way.

Art and culture were relatively quiet, lifeless and unconfident in that era because of wars. Mr. Lin Hwai-min is the first generation after the Second World War. Young people at that time were somewhat disapproving of traditional arts. I experienced a strong culture shock when I studied overseas. What are the cultures and characteristics of my own town? This was also the reason why Mr. Lin Hwai-min founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre to create our own dance and music. I was one of his students and deeply influenced by him. We began to understand our traditions. When I was making the documentary, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre was already a famous brand. I wanted to tell its story and its inception. I wanted to record how we found our bodies and developed our own artworks.

I did a few hundred clips to cover the 30 years of Cloud Gate's history. I went abroad with them and each tape was one hour in length. I had to process 300 to 500 tapes. It took five to six hours to review an one-hour tape. I had to do the scripts for each frame. After that I worked every day for ten months. The scripts piled up to 15 to 20 centimeters tall for more than 500 tapes. A summary was made to describe the contents of each tape. When this was completed, the editing framework was developed. I divided it into three parts, to document Mr. Lin Hwai-min's creative journey in three stages.

Cloud Gate dancers can squat very low, can dance with one foot, and can lift their feet easily. Their training starts with meditation. They carry the Buddha statue wherever they go, and the first thing when they arrive in a place is to set it up. Before going on stage, they warm up their bodies and meditate in front of the Buddha statue in order to calm down and stay focused. This is very rare among dance groups around the world. Also, Cloud Gate dancers are good in expressing the flowing rhythm of calligraphy. They are different from western dances who seek to move their legs as far and as high as possible. However, Cloud Gate dancers move slowly from the ground up, back and forth. These I think are the characteristics of Cloud Gate dancers.

On the trip to Prague, all the members of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre suffered food poisoning. Almost everybody was running a fever, vomiting and having diarrhea. Even Mr. Lin Hwai-min was not looking good. One or two of them were not able to perform. Dancers had to rush to the toilet during breaks. Surprisingly, because the performance of the dance as Water Moon emphasised on imaginary performance and lingering body movements, this unexpected episode made the overall performance even more outstanding! I left earlier than scheduled after the show and entered a hospital in New York. That was a really difficult time.

Everything in life comes with a reward, although such rewards may not materialize immediately and may take a long time to gradually unfold. "Cloud Gate 30" is a massive undertaking because it condenses a history of 30 years into three episodes. It took time to classify and categorize 300 to 500 hours of video. It was a great training for me to streamline a large amount of data into defined contexts. The editing and cutting were so tedious that it was a test on my patience and willpower. All the hard work made it easier for me to deal with difficulties going forward.

The challenge is on physical stamina and personal discipline. My health has not been great, and that food poisoning was hard on me. Most of us had food poisoning and it was rough. I spent one month editing each section, on time and no delay. Any delays would accumulate. I made sure I completed it within one month by working 10 hours per day. No ifs or buts. Some people work excessive hours and disrupt daily life because they suddenly have a lot of ideas. However, most artists are very disciplined. They want their bodies in the best status and have a regular life.

I do not feel any different in the past or for now regarding Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. As an internationally renowned dance group, their training, administrative requirements and performance details such as costumes, music and stage design are all top notch. Once dancers are on stage, they only present their very best. It was the case under the leadership of Mr. Lin Hwai-min and will be the case after Mr. Cheng Tsung-lung takes over. The only difference may be different styles and aesthetic approaches.

Diligence, professionalism, discipline and passion. These are important things in life. It is about devotion and keep going forward. Things happen and there are ups and downs in life. When in pains and frustrations, you should stay confident and believe in what you are doing must be done. This is because you suffer even more if you quit and if you stop being yourself. Most of the people in Cloud Gate Dance Theatre share this dedication. These are the key success factors for them.