biandang

plural biandangs

1. A Taiwanese lunchbox.

   How much do Taiwanese love railway biandang? Enough that for many years, the number-one complaint to the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) was that “the biandang keep selling out before I can get one!”

   2013 February, Chang Chiung-fang, translated by Geof Aberhart, “Selling Nostalgia: Taiwan’s ‘Railway Biandang’”, in Taiwan Panorama, Taipei, archived from the original on 21 May 2025

   4 more examples

   Biandang culture is a unique aspect of Taiwanese culture. Rather than going out to eat during office lunch hours or chucking down a sandwich at your office desk, next time join your Taiwanese colleagues for a biandang at the office eating area.

   2009 May, Amy C. Liu, “Biandang: Traditional Taiwanese lunchboxes”, in Taiwan A to Z: The Essential Cultural Guide, Taipei: Community Services Center, published November 2009, →ISBN, page 26

   Heyuan is more enjoyable with a companion or two, but if dining alone, plate meals or a biandang (便當) can be had for NT$80, and there is a long list of fried rice and stewed dishes with rice from NT$65 to NT$90.

   2010 December 10, David Chen, “RESTAURANTS: Heyuan 和園川味經濟小吃”, in Taipei Times, Taipei, archived from the original on 29 Jun 2018, page 14

   In Taiwan, the biandang, a term adapted from the Japanese bento to describe a premade lunch box, has been very popular since before the Second World War. Biandangs are closely associated with rail travel because they are sold in train stations as a whole meal that can be purchased quickly and eaten neatly on board.

   2014, Megan Elias, “Classic Lunch Fare and Cultural Importance in the United States and Around the World”, in Lunch: A History (The Meals Series), Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 49

   “Like our ticket prices, our biandang prices haven’t increased for many years,” [Michael] Lee said. […] “The more inaccessible a place is, the more there is a need for biandang,” she [Wang Jue-yao] said.

   2016 September 10, “Retro Taiwan lunchboxes cash in on train nostalgia”, in Arab Times, Al Shuwaikh, Al Asimah, →OCLC, page 22