Ah! If I stand one day on top of the world, will I be happier than how I feel right now? -- "How to Own a Corner" (躲進世界的角落)

Taiwan's best-known author-illustrator Jimmy Liao 幾米 is marking his 10-year milestone in creating and publishing picture books well-loved by adult readers.

At the opening of the "Never Ending Story" exhibition at the Eslite Bookstore in Sinyi District recently, Liao sat shyly in the shadows, choosing to let others do most of the speaking.

As soon as he was put in the spotlight, the highly accomplished artist proved incapable of preventing the floodgates of tears from opening a few times. He did not expect so many people who touched his life to gather in one place to help him celebrate his phenomenal success. Tied to his name are 30 book titles. Even the doctor who once led the hospital team who took care of him when he was battling against deadly cancer of the blood was there to congratulate him.

The important occasion called for the launching of a new book. "How to Own a Corner" (躲進世界的角落)seemed a perfect title for someone with a claim on his own niche in the world of illustrated books.

People working closely with Liao helped him let familiar characters of his fantasies leap out of the printed pages to decorate and perk up for more than one month several open-air sites in Taipei like the Huashan Culture Park, the Taipei Arena, the Red Playhouse, the Taipei Stadium Construction Site, the Sungshou Park, the Shin Kong Mistukoshi Department Store and the Eslite Bookstore in Sinyi District.

Avid fans charmed and touched by Jimmy Liao's witty and philosophical approach in drawing his dream world are being treated to an outdoor treasure hunt starting in Taipei and continuing in major cities like Taichung and Kaohsiung in the rest of Taiwan. Eslite Bookstores in Taichung and Kaohsiung will be the venues of the touring exhibition "Never Ending Story."

Protagonists in the love story "A Chance of Sunshine" (向左走, 向右走) also titled "Turn Left, Turn Right," appeared briefly frozen in time in front of the Eslite Bookstore in the Sinyi District. Caught by a sudden heavy downpour during a fateful encounter in a city park, a love-struck pair exchanged telephone numbers in the hope of staying in touch. But in the story, the rain blurred or washed away the hurriedly scribbled numbers, aborting forever the chance of another rendezvous. The two never realized that they were actually neighbors.

White rabbits gathered almost discreetly in a corner at the next-door Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in the Sinyi District. Down the road, a bigger-than-life rabbit loomed in the shadows at nightfall, almost stunning pedestrians just like the enormous mysterious white-furred animal lurking in Liao's "Sound of Colors" (地下鐵).

In this particular tale, a blind girl embarks on an adventurous subway trip while on her way to her 15th birthday party. This extremely popular book was published in 2001 and was subsequently adapted for the movie screen by award-winning director Wong Kar-wai. Li Huan-hsiung directed the staged version at the National Theater in Taipei. Meanwhile Li also just directed "Turn Left, Turn Right - A Musical" at the Taipei Arena last weekend. The production, which was a highlight of the Taipei Arts Festival this year, will be shown in Macau this Christmas.

Many readers have been curious about the ubiquitous presence of rabbits in Liao's illustrated books. Liao remarked: "I have been asked often about my rabbits. I have no special reason for putting them there. Rabbits are simply adorable! They are mysterious, too. My first book, 'Secrets in the Woods' (森林裡祕密), tells the story of a little girl and a rabbit. My readers like the rabbit very much. So I make it appear also in my succeeding illustrated books."

He went on: "In a way, this shows simply an author's playful handling of characters. The male character in 'A Fish with a Smile' (微笑的魚) turns up in 'A Chance of Sunshine.' The man and the woman in 'A Chance of Sunshine' appear also in 'The Forgetful Moon.' (月亮忘記了). Just about all my storybook characters find a place in 'Sound of Colors.' Within the same time frame, many different stories are unfolding. Brushes and encounters in life are common. People walk into one store. They take the same subway train. And so forth...."

Jimmy Liao, a design graduate from the fine arts department of the Chinese Culture University, used to work in an advertising agency. In fact, he stayed there for 12 years. As was the practice at his workplace, he adopted an English name, Jimmy (幾米 in Chinese) and this went on to become his professional name after he quit his job to embark on a freelance publishing career.

One day an old fortune teller predicted that Liao would experience money flowing like water into his life in 1995. But instead of riding high with good fortune, Liao got struck down by severe pain in his left thigh. After nearly fainting on the street, he landed in the emergency room in a hospital. The doctor's diagnosis was that he had leukemia. And so began his painful process of chemotherapy treatment. His insurance claims just poured in.

Such a big blow sharpened his somewhat melancholic sensitivity to the harsh realities of life. This was something he naturally brought into his creative art. But he did not sink completely into despair. The upshot was that his whimsical and poetic moments gave birth to beautiful ideas, which were finally even brightened by sparks of hope, and all these got expressed in illustrated books of great appeal.

Of his creative output, he candidly admitted that he gravitated towards the West for his inspiration. Western culture simply fired his imagination.

International publishing houses like Bungeisha and Shogakukan in Japan, Samtoh Publishing Company in Korea, Nanmeebooks Publications in Thailand, Liaoning Education in China for the edition in simplified Chinese characters as well as Little, Brown and Company in the United States have sought the translation rights to several books in recent years. English, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean and Thai aside from Chinese have been the languages in which his works have been published.

The Jimmy Liao phenomenon led to the selection of this middle-aged talent as one of the 55 most creative individuals in Asia by the Studio Voice Magazine. The Discovery Channel featured him as one of the six most representative Taiwanese personages.

As the father of a daughter, Liao would like very much to create children's books. But confining himself to just 42 pages, as dictated by the publisher, has proved quite a challenge. But he is getting there. Walker, a British publishing house, will launch "The Monster Who Ate Darkness" in English worldwide in October.

"The Perfect Kid" (完美小孩) is an illustrated book due for publication fairly soon, too. Jimmy Liao would so far only unveil one six-frame drawing featuring profiles of a child, who is an angel with a temper.

Meanwhile commercial products from notebooks to slippers to playing cards have been spin-offs brought by the success of Jimmy Liao's books. His hordes of fans and followers not just in Taiwan but also abroad ensure their marketability.