When Lee Yuan-tseh, one of the winners of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, returned for a visit to his hometown last December, Hsinchu was hit by a veritable whirlwind of reporters, officials, and well-wishers who poured into the normally quiet little city for the big event.
「李遠哲旋風」顯然在新竹市造成相當大的震撼。向來寧靜、樸實的小城，一下子湧進了一堆記者、官員、遠道而來自稱是李遠哲朋友者，以及看熱鬧的人，氣氛弄得沸騰不已。「我那日回家，以為失火了呢！路上全塞滿了車」，一名家庭主婦描述一九八六年諾貝爾化學獎得主李遠哲返鄉的情景。