Challenging one’s limits, working up a sweat, changing one’s routine – these are all trends now taking Taiwan by storm. Running stands out as the most obvious example. Ten years ago, there were fewer than 100 road races but there were 512 last year, according to the new sports media outlet “Running Biji.” Though the 2016 number was slightly down from the previous year, an average of roughly 10 races were still held per week. Vivid Lo, insight research director at Dentsu Aegis Network, says consumers’ growing emphasis on their own mental and emotional well-being has opened the door to many commercial opportunities. As with running, painting, flower arranging, or DIY experiences all offer people the chance to embrace life and reduce their stress levels, she observes. The global Vegan movement craze has also caught fire in Taiwan, with people not only eating vegetarian but opting for clothes, cosmetics, or other items that do not harm animals. Twenty-eight-year-old blogger Bluesomeone is one of the Vegan faithful. “If everybody has a little more empathy for others and makes a small contribution to the world, happiness will be sustained for a long time,” she insists. She has extended her support to products and services that embrace fair trade and eco-friendly practices, believing that achieving a balance between people and the environment is a form of “well-being.” This pursuit of a healthy body, mind, and spirit has emerged as a “new treasure” in which many consumers are now willing to invest considerable time and money and a “new gold mine” for companies. The catchphrase embodying then new phenomenon, “Wellness is the new luxury,” has been highlighted in Forbes, Vogue, and the New Yorker, reflecting how the world has redefined what it means to be precious. “In principle, health is something basic,” says Wei-gong Liou, a sociology professor at Soochow University and an expert on the sociology of consumption. But at a time when the world seems on the verge of collapse, afflicted with food safety scandals, the threat of lifestyle diseases, and climate and ecological change, “human health has turned into something precious and elusive.” “Wellness as the new luxury” has also created a lucrative commercial niche. In its report on the Top 10 Global Consumer Trends for 2017, market research firm Euromonitor International said that as “material things” have paled as indicators of achievement, wellness has become the new status symbol in the eyes of many consumers. “Healthy living is becoming a status symbol, as more consumers opt to flaunt their passion for wellness through paying for boutique fitness sessions, “athleisure” clothing, food with health-giving properties, and upscale health and wellness holidays,” the report said. International accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers said the global wellness and fitness market was worth nearly US$1.49 trillion (about NT$45 trillion) in 2015, while Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs has estimated that the revenues of the domestic health and wellness services sector will double to NT$281.9 billion by 2025.