NEW TAIPEI – As my taxi drove through the quiet lanes of Taishan District in New Taipei, it was hard to imagine that the sleepy north-western Taiwanese suburb was once a key player in the production of the world’s most famous doll – Barbie.  

I thought I had gotten the address wrong when the taxi pulled up to the shabby office building that houses the Taishan Doll Industry Museum, an exhibition space which pays tribute to this slice of Taiwanese history.