Wang Fu-tsai (right) got more than just new knowledge from the community college; she also found her calling in botanical research. This photo shows Wang, who heads Yungho Community College's Environmental Beautification group, giving local residents a guided tour of one of the group's projects. (Chuang Kung-ju)

In the six short years since Taiwan's first community college was opened in 1998, over 80 more such schools have popped up across Taiwan. You can now find them everywhere from up in the mountains, to the outlying islands, and Aboriginal tribal lands. Student numbers at the colleges are up to nearly 100,000 a semester. The speed and sheer energy with which these colleges have taken off really is another string in Taiwan's bow.

Given that they are called "community colleges," you could probably guess that their main objective is to take knowledge and fundamental concepts from ordinary colleges and universities and make them more accessible to the community as a whole. This focus is the most obvious difference between community colleges and the "continuing education" classes at universities, art classes, and community education groups. The stated goal of Taiwan's community colleges is the "training of a modern citizenry" and-by establishing socially-minded courses-giving the citizenry the knowledge and ability to serve society.

One might wonder, how could one hope to achieve such lofty ideals in today's materialistic, busy society? After six years of experiment and adjustment, how far have community colleges come in making these ideals reality? And what kind of reactions have they been the catalyst for?

Our tale starts one dusk in Taipei County's Yungho City, where the packed traffic and bustling crowds remind one of birds hurriedly flapping about trying to get back to their own nests. Meanwhile, on Yungli Road, people file into Fuho Junior High.

Across the schoolyard, under the warm glow of the lights, with the sounds of jazz music floating down the cafeteria corridor, several middle-aged men and women sit around tables and chat. At another table, two women discuss their homework. From behind the counter, the lovely cafeteria lady brings out some freshly baked snacks and some delicious-smelling noodles, sharing small-talk with her classmates.

This relaxed scene is in fact the well-known "creative cafe" of Yungho City Community College. Every day, students from Yungho and neighboring Chungho City come to chat and exchange ideas, or meet up with friends new and old. On the walls of the cafe hang photos and watercolors by the students, and if you look up you can take in the post-modernist ironwork lamps. The counter was the work of the woodwork class, and the cafeteria lady is not just a volunteer worker-she's also a student from the home economics class. Everything about the cafe is the work of the students, and visitors can't help but be drawn in by the college's vibrant academic culture.