1% Recommended Weekly Report: Why Has Michelin Endured? What Taiwan's Drills Should Truly Learn From, and Other Style Perspectives

Time flies—next week marks the final week of July. Have you planned your schedule yet? Before that, take a moment to sit down and read several recent interesting articles, from re-examining the globally influential Michelin Guide to how local culture is redefining luxury travel. This week, 1% Style has selected three cross-disciplinary articles worth your careful reading:

1% Knowledge: What Exactly Does Michelin Evaluate? Re-understanding the Michelin Guide That Influences Global Restaurants

Every year when the Taiwan Michelin Guide is announced, media focus on which restaurants gained or lost stars, and social media buzzes with discussion. However, beyond the list itself, a more important question arises: Why does a travel guide originally published by a tire company over a century ago still influence the global dining industry and even shape a city’s culinary image?

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If we only understand the Michelin Guide as a 'gourmet ranking,' we underestimate its role. Since the first edition was published in 1900, its purpose was never to rate restaurants, but to serve travelers. What truly differentiates the Michelin Guide from other culinary evaluations is precisely this starting point.

In 1900, automobiles in France were still a luxury, with fewer than 3,000 cars nationwide. To encourage more people to travel by car, the Michelin brothers released a free guide containing maps, road information, gas stations, hotels, and auto repair shops—everything needed for a journey. The goal was simple: the more people traveled, the more tires would be sold. As car travel became more common, people began needing a guide to tell them 'where to stop for meals and lodging.' Gradually, the Michelin Guide evolved into the now-famous restaurant and hotel rating system. It became a paid publication in 1920 and established the full one-to-three-star system in 1931. What began as a small booklet for drivers gradually became one of the most influential culinary guides in the world.

To this day, the Michelin Guide has never abandoned its original core mission: it is a guide written for travelers.

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Urban Studies: Is Urban Resilience Drill Just a 'No Internet' Experience? From Wan-An Drill to Urban Resilience—What Should a City Really Practice?

This year’s Wan-An Drill will include a new scenario: 'mobile network disruption,' simulating communication outages during war or major disasters. But what is the true purpose of such drills? This time, 1% Style explores how cities like Singapore, Japan, and Finland build resilience through exercises, and rethinks what urban resilience should leave behind—not just a one-time experience, but a city’s collective ability to respond.

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Taiwan’s decades-long Wan-An Drill is officially entering history. Starting last year, the government merged the previous air-raid-focused Wan-An Drill with the civil defense and disaster response-focused Min-An Drill into the new 'Urban Resilience Drill.' This name change reflects a shift in objectives—not just air defense, but whether a city can maintain basic operations during war or major disasters.

Previously, drills focused on where people should go when air-raid sirens sounded. Today, the new question is: if communications fail, payments stop, logistics halt, and government services are disrupted, can a city still function?

Thus, this year introduces a 'mobile network disruption' exercise. On August 10 in central Taiwan and August 13 in the north, the NCC will simulate mobile network failures across 14 counties and cities by limiting bandwidth, causing slowdowns or partial service outages. Officials claim this tests communication resilience and helps the public adapt to life when digital services are impaired.

This arrangement has sparked debate. 'Is 30 minutes of network slowdown close enough to real war?' is one question. But from a city governance perspective, another issue is more critical: what exactly did people 'achieve' during those 30 minutes?

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Cross-Disciplinary Lab: On Taste—Luxury Travel Is No Longer Just Staying in Five-Star Hotels: How Local Culture Is Redefining Luxury Travel?

Luxury travel is expanding from accommodation services to destination experiences. From Japan’s Hoshinoya Nara Prison, which revitalizes cultural heritage, to Four Seasons, Anantara, and Marriott Luxury Group integrating local culture, natural ecology, dining experiences, and wellness into their offerings, 1% Style takes you on a journey where hotels become gateways to understanding a place, and the destination itself becomes central to travel design.

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Entering Hoshinoya Nara Prison, you’re greeted by familiar red-brick buildings, the radial layout of the prison, and the central watchtower that once served as a security hub. The difference? Today, travelers pull their luggage through the gates, welcomed not by prison cells but by rooms transformed from a nationally designated Important Cultural Property.

Guest rooms retain the original cell dimensions, the property includes a Nara Prison Museum, and the restaurant menu is themed around the Meiji-era enlightenment. Accommodation, architecture, exhibitions, and dining together form a complete experience, allowing this century-old building to re-engage with local culture in a new way.

Such designs are increasingly common in the luxury travel market. In the past, hotels provided lodging, attractions offered sightseeing, and restaurants delivered dinner. Now, more and more brands are integrating architecture, cuisine, craftsmanship, ecology, and local life into the guest experience, aiming for travelers to stay not just in a room, but within a place’s cultural context.

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This Week’s [Xiaoyao See the World]

This week’s Xiaoyao See the World starts from the new book 'The TCM Doctor’s Anti-Allergy Prescription,' inviting author Dr. Lai Wei-Zhen, a TCM physician, to discuss how traditional Chinese medicine views allergies, and how iced drinks, air conditioning, digestion, sleep, stress, and lifestyle habits affect the body.

Click here to listen to the full content!

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