Cloud Gate Dance Theater, a renowned Taiwanese dance company, announced Tuesday winners of its 2010 Wanderer program, which provides subsidies for budding or experienced artists to travel abroad or to take time off to gain artistic inspiration. Twelve people from a total of 220 applicants have been selected to participate in the program next year, according to a press release from Cloud Gate Dance Theater. 'Although these wanderers have different backgrounds, they share the same fervent passion to travel to foreign countries and to explore inspirations,the press release said. The 12 wanderers include Taiwanese opera actress Lee Pei-ying, stage actor Kao Ming-chien, art designer Wu Sheng-lin, theater stage and costume designer Li Huei-lin, social worker Chen Yu-ching and others. Lee will go to Shaanxi, China to learnQinqiang, one of the oldest Chinese operas. Wu, who owns a free publication called the Lantern, will visit Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tibet to exchange ideas with local youth on independent publishing. Li will go to Okinawa, Japan to learnbingata, which is a kind traditional resist dyed cloth, made using stencils and other methods, while Chen will study human rights development in Burma. The 2010 Wanderer program is geared toward budding and professional artists under the age of 35, as well as people under the age of 45 who are involved in social service and have an enthusiasm for literature, music, performance arts, image art or public service. Winners will be awarded a grant of NT$80,000 to NT$150,000 (US$2,428 to US$4,553), plus return tickets, visa fees and insurance fees for a 60-day trip to China, Japan, Turkey, India or Burma in 2010. The Wanderer program was initiated in 2004 by Cloud Gate Theater founder Lin Hwai-min and has been sponsored since 2006 by Stan Shih, founder of the laptop- manufacturing giant, the Acer group. Since then, a total of 53 Taiwanese artists, including this year s 12 winners, have obtained grants under the program. 