# Women in Taipei (台北女子图鉴)
**Women in Taipei** (台北女子圖鑑) is a 2022 Taiwanese drama series produced for Disney+, adapted from the 2016 Japanese web drama *[Tokyo Girl](https://www.edgepedia.org/tokyo-girl)* (東京女子圖鑑), that follows a woman from Tainan who moves to Taipei and spends two decades building a career and love life in the capital.[1](https://asc.tainan.gov.tw/index.php?id=59&modify=message) Directed by Li Yun-chan (李芸嬋) and led by Golden Horse Award-winning actress Gwei Lun-mei (桂綸鎂), it was one of Disney+'s flagship original Taiwanese productions, and it became one of the most discussed Taiwanese dramas of 2022 largely because of the backlash against its depiction of north-south differences.[2](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2022/10/04/2003786413)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 台北女子圖鑑 (Taipei Nü Zi Tu Jian)[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/67621/women-in-taipei) |
| Platform and dates | Disney+, premiered September 21, 2022; finale November 23, 2022[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/67621/women-in-taipei) |
| Format | 11 episodes, roughly 48 to 50 minutes each, spanning about 20 years of the lead character's life[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/67621/women-in-taipei) • [4](https://www.mirrormedia.mg/story/amp/20220929insight003) |
| Lead and director | Gwei Lun-mei as Lin I-shan; directed by Li Yun-chan (Robin Lee)[1](https://asc.tainan.gov.tw/index.php?id=59&modify=message) |
| Source material | Licensed adaptation of the 2016 Japanese web drama *Tokyo Girl*, starring Asami Mizukawa[1](https://asc.tainan.gov.tw/index.php?id=59&modify=message) |
| Production | Sequoia Entertainment; total budget over NT$100 million; about three years of preparation; filmed May 1 to December 12, 2021[4](https://www.mirrormedia.mg/story/amp/20220929insight003) • [1](https://asc.tainan.gov.tw/index.php?id=59&modify=message) |
| Reception | Heavily criticized in Taiwan for stereotypes of northern and southern Taiwan; IMDb rating 4.8/10[2](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2022/10/04/2003786413) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22173072/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and structure
The drama follows Lin I-shan (林怡姍), a competitive, stubborn young woman raised in Yongkang, a district of the southern city of Tainan, who dreams of making a life in Taipei. She moves north against her mother's wishes, staying first at her aunt's apartment near Yongkang Street in Taipei, a deliberate echo of her hometown's name. Unsuccessful interviews, a colleague who frames her, and a quarrel that forces her out of the apartment teach her that she is still an outsider in the city.[6](https://www.disneyplus.com/zh-tw/browse/entity-2ff7aacf-8273-474a-92a4-3fbe85efd93c)
Each episode is tied to a Taipei district and to a stage of adult life. Episode titles map the protagonist's path through the city: Ximending for fast-food relationships, the East District for office power dynamics, the Ren'ai Roundabout, Xinyi District, Dazhi, and Chifeng Street, before the story moves to Singapore for two episodes and returns to Taipei for the finale.[7](https://www.roku.com/whats-on/tv-shows/women-in-taipei?id=81c3859bcb40516899fa15a127d3530e) Across 11 episodes the story covers roughly 20 years, taking I-shan from a new graduate through workplace struggles, a series of relationships including an open relationship, a low-key wealthy partner, a no-marriage stance, and an age-gap romance, until she becomes one of the Taipei women she once admired.[6](https://www.disneyplus.com/zh-tw/browse/entity-2ff7aacf-8273-474a-92a4-3fbe85efd93c)
## Production
The series was produced by Sequoia Entertainment (紅杉娛樂), part of the Gerdy Group, with co-production from Super Entertainment and Pili International Multimedia, and was one of three launch dramas Disney+ promoted for its Taiwan service.[4](https://www.mirrormedia.mg/story/amp/20220929insight003) Producer Lai Yu-tung said preparation took three years and that a survey of a thousand people made Gwei Lun-mei the first choice for the lead, chosen for an actress who fit both film and series formats and carried a sense of Taipei urbanity.[8](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202209200285.aspx) It was Gwei's first television role in 14 years.[9](https://news.tvbs.com.tw/entertainment/1871951)
The supporting cast was unusually large for a Taiwanese drama, with about 20 prominent actors in featured roles, including Wang Po-chieh (王柏傑), Kimi Hsia (夏于喬), Cosmos Lin (林思宇), Chang Hsiao-chuan (張孝全), Rhydian Vaughan (鳳小岳), Cheryl Yang (楊謹華), Tien Hsin (天心), and Wu Chien-ho (巫建和).[10](https://www.elle.com/tw/entertainment/drama/g40987314/women-in-taipei/) Asami Mizukawa, lead of the Japanese original, recorded a video cheering on the Taiwanese version before its premiere.[11](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202209140095.aspx)
## Backlash and criticism
After the first episodes aired in September 2022, the series drew a wave of negative commentary in Taiwan that itself became a news story. The *Taipei Times* reported that the show was being panned online for stereotypical depictions of the differences between northern and southern Taiwan, and that some viewers harassed its two screenwriters online.[2](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2022/10/04/2003786413) The *South China Morning Post* described criticism that the series portrayed southern Taiwanese women as "slow" and relied on other stereotypes.[12](https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3201799/disney-series-women-taipei-criticised-portraying-southern-taiwanese-women-slow-and-other-stereotypes)
Much of the criticism focused on the Tainan material. Commentators noted that the script depicts Yongkang, Tainan, as a rural place of fish farms, when in fact Yongkang is an urban district of Tainan, and that the show reduces Tainan to impressions of sweets, pastry specialties, and small-town food without field research, ignoring the old capital's strong local pride.[13](https://www.taisounds.com/news/content/107/36402) Viewers also flagged anachronisms, such as the heroine carrying a paper notebook to find addresses in the smartphone era, and dialogue that asserts "Taipei people are cold" and "southerners cannot read the room," which critics said exaggerated a north-south divide in a small island.[14](https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E5%A5%B3%E5%AD%90%E5%9C%96%E9%91%91-%E8%A2%AB%E7%BD%B5%E7%88%86-%E6%84%8F%E5%A4%96%E7%82%B8%E5%87%BA-%E5%A0%86%E5%9C%96%E9%91%91-%E6%96%B0%E5%8C%97%E7%94%B7-045353516.html) A Tainan city council candidate from Yongkang who had lived the north-south move herself said the show treated the resource gap and environmental differences between northern and southern Taiwan as too thin and too superficial.[15](https://news.nextapple.com/politics/20220928/01838310469A05CC353D6DC369EADD7B)
The controversy also drew defenses. Music producer and lyricist Hsu Chang-te (許常德) called the series a bad film by his own standard of stereotyped characters and preachy, unrealistic plotting, but suggested it might nonetheless be the best-watched series of the period given its cast and Disney+ backing.[16](https://newtalk.tw/news/view/2022-10-04/826656) On the PTT TaiwanDrama board some viewers offered positive takes even amid the dominant criticism, and several industry figures and actors spoke publicly about the hard conditions behind Taiwanese drama production.[17](https://uptogo.com.tw/%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83/%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E5%A5%B3%E5%AD%90%E5%9C%96%E9%91%91%E7%88%AD%E8%AD%B0/) Director Li Yun-chan responded that ten of the eleven episodes were about metropolitan women rather than only the north-south question.[18](https://news.nextapple.com/entertainment/20221002/018392ABBF1EE074C9058871C05DFE5B)
## Reception and aftermath
Aggregated viewer scores reflected the backlash: the series holds 4.8 out of 10 on IMDb from more than 200 votes, and a widely shared PTT review cited a Douban score of 5.7.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22173072/) • [19](https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/TaiwanDrama/M.1667829819.A.069.html) Rotten Tomatoes lists no critic or audience ratings for the series.[20](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/women_in_taipei) The show streams on Disney+ and Hulu internationally.[20](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/women_in_taipei)
The title also entered a wider cultural conversation. A photo book, *Tai-Niu: The Most Marginalized Taipei Women's Guide* (台女Tai-Niu：最邊緣的台北女子圖鑑), published around the drama's run, took the phrase "Taipei women's guide" in a different direction, profiling 20 Taipei women across generations to push back against the pejorative use of "Tai-niu" for Taiwanese women.[21](https://www.cna.com.tw/culture/article/20221107w001) The Tokyo original had already spawned licensed Chinese adaptations, *Beijing Women in Beijing* (北京女子圖鑑) and *Shanghai Women* (上海女子圖鑑), making the Taipei version part of a broader East Asian franchise of city-specific women's dramas.[22](https://stat.moc.gov.tw/Research_Download.aspx?idno=1174)
## References
1. [臺南市政府影視支援中心: 台北女子圖鑑](https://asc.tainan.gov.tw/index.php?id=59&modify=message)
2. [Streaming series sparks dismay, Taipei Times (October 4, 2022)](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2022/10/04/2003786413)
3. [Women in Taipei, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/67621/women-in-taipei)
4. [《台北女子圖鑑》多元選角 華麗卡司在地化翻新日劇IP, 鏡週刊 Mirror Media](https://www.mirrormedia.mg/story/amp/20220929insight003)
5. [Women in Taipei (TV Series 2022), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22173072/)
6. [觀看台北女子圖鑑, Disney+](https://www.disneyplus.com/zh-tw/browse/entity-2ff7aacf-8273-474a-92a4-3fbe85efd93c)
7. [Women in Taipei, Roku episode list](https://www.roku.com/whats-on/tv-shows/women-in-taipei?id=81c3859bcb40516899fa15a127d3530e)
8. [台北女子圖鑑桂綸鎂演20歲北漂族 自認眼神最難揣摩, 中央社 CNA](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202209200285.aspx)
9. [桂綸鎂新作：北漂青年闖蕩《台北女子圖鑑》, TVBS](https://news.tvbs.com.tw/entertainment/1871951)
10. [Disney+《台北女子圖鑑》演員陣容超夢幻, ELLE Taiwan](https://www.elle.com/tw/entertainment/drama/g40987314/women-in-taipei/)
11. [「台北女子圖鑑」開播倒數 東京原版女主角越洋加持, 中央社 CNA](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202209140095.aspx)
12. [Disney+ series Women in Taipei criticised for portraying southern Taiwanese women as 'slow', South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3201799/disney-series-women-taipei-criticised-portraying-southern-taiwanese-women-slow-and-other-stereotypes)
13. [《台北女子圖鑑》為何惡評如潮到引起關注？, 太報 TaiSounds](https://www.taisounds.com/news/content/107/36402)
14. [《台北女子圖鑑》被罵爆...意外炸出一堆圖鑑, Yahoo Taiwan News](https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E5%A5%B3%E5%AD%90%E5%9C%96%E9%91%91-%E8%A2%AB%E7%BD%B5%E7%88%86-%E6%84%8F%E5%A4%96%E7%82%B8%E5%87%BA-%E5%A0%86%E5%9C%96%E9%91%91-%E6%96%B0%E5%8C%97%E7%94%B7-045353516.html)
15. [感嘆《台北女子圖鑑》太單薄太表面, 壹蘋新聞網](https://news.nextapple.com/politics/20220928/01838310469A05CC353D6DC369EADD7B)
16. [《台北女子圖鑑》爭議延燒！許常德批劇情「脫離現實」, Newtalk](https://newtalk.tw/news/view/2022-10-04/826656)
17. [刻板印象與時空錯亂？《台北女子圖鑑》爭議大剖析, UpToGo](https://uptogo.com.tw/%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83/%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E5%A5%B3%E5%AD%90%E5%9C%96%E9%91%91%E7%88%AD%E8%AD%B0/)
18. [專訪｜桂綸鎂《台北女子圖鑑》掀南北之爭負評不斷, 壹蘋新聞網](https://news.nextapple.com/entertainment/20221002/018392ABBF1EE074C9058871C05DFE5B)
19. [台北女子圖鑑 觀眾心得, PTT TaiwanDrama](https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/TaiwanDrama/M.1667829819.A.069.html)
20. [Women in Taipei, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/women_in_taipei)
21. [台北女子圖鑑邊緣版 看見城市角落的好球, 中央社 CNA](https://www.cna.com.tw/culture/article/20221107w001)
22. [台灣戲劇作品IP應用調查, 經濟部統計處](https://stat.moc.gov.tw/Research_Download.aspx?idno=1174)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Hong Kong and Taiwanese serial drama*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license