With more than 30 books to her credit, she not only has a large number of readers in her native Taiwan, but her works also have an impact in Chinese-language communities in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, and North America.

[7][8] Like most mainlander refugees who migrated to Taiwan around 1949, with "no agricultural heritage to rely on, no family network to seek help from, no ancestral background or social status to lean on, and no local language and knowledge to navigate with," Lung's parents made a determined investment in the education of the next generation.

The book went through 24 reprints in 21 days, garnering so much attention that poet Yu Kwang-chung referred to its impact as that of a "tornado" (the phrase in Chinese, Longjuanfeng, was a pun on Lung's name).

[30] She resumed her writing career and published two books in 2003, Yinse Xianrenzhang: Long Yingtai Xiaoshuo Ji (銀色仙人掌: 龍應台小說集, Death by the Silver Cactus: A Collection of Short Stories) and Miandui Dahai de Shihou (面對大海的時候, When Facing the Sea).

In July of the same year, she established the Lung Ying-tai Cultural Foundation, a platform dedicated to promoting civic engagement and fostering intellectual discussions through lectures aiming to broaden the perspectives of the youth.

[3] In January 2006, Lung wrote an open letter to Hu Jintao following the closure of Bing Dian (Freezing Point), an influential weekly magazine in China, for publishing anti-CCP content.

[35] This letter, titled, Qing Yong Wenming Lai Shuifu Wo (請用文明來說服我, A question of civility, an open letter to Hu Jintao), criticized Hu's decision to shut down the magazine and the Chinese Communist Party's suppression of the freedom of speech in China: "When I have to make a choice between Taiwan and the mainland, it really is not as hard as you think: whichever system holds those values I believe in will be my country; whichever functions against those values I will despise and reject.

"[37] From 2008 to 2009, Lung Ying-tai served as the inaugural Hung Leung Hau Ling Distinguished Fellow in Humanities at the University of Hong Kong.

The book is a collection of 74 works of prose capturing the journey through life, "from the loss of her father to the aging of her mother, the departure of her son, the concerns of her friends, and the companionship of her brothers.

Her words delve into the depths of human experience, exploring themes of failure and vulnerability, loss and release, as well as the enduring bonds and profound emptiness.

I just want to show you that when you dismantle the apparatus of state, what’s inside are these individuals.”[4] Through this book, Lung hoped her readers recognize "an entire generation of people who silently suffered enormous trauma, crushed under the iron wheel of history," paying tribute to "all those who were trampled upon, humiliated and destroyed in that historical epoch."

[43] Her policies were driven by approaches such as "rooted in the soil," "internationalization," "cloud-based," and "value-driven," that is, connecting with the grassroots to serve the general population, expanding internationally with Taiwan's soft power, embracing cloud technology to fuse culture with cutting-edge science, fostering an innovative industry ecosystem and enhancing the aesthetic economy.

[49][50][51] On December 1, 2014, Lung tendered her resignation from the ministerial post citing her aging mother as the main reason, with political and media hostility as contributing factors.

In addition to her writing career, Lung is an eloquent speaker in both Mandarin and English, receiving frequent invitations to deliver talks worldwide, often drawing a large audience.

In the preface, Lung said she was skeptical about whether writing still held relevance after witnessing the collapse of an era and the disillusionment of values during her public service experience.

[56] Lung moved to Chaozhou, a small town in southern Taiwan, in 2017, where she developed her first novel, Da Wu Shan Xia (大武山下, 2020, At the Foot of Mount Kavulungan).

[57] "With the boundless curiosity of a child, the tenacity of an investigative field researcher, the ethereal and graceful prose of a literary artist, and the profound and majestic language, Lung paints the world of Da Wu Mountain… She explores philosophical reflections on life and displays a deep concern for the land and its culture.”[58] "The fundamental skill of any writer is to enable readers to see things they wouldn't have seen otherwise," says Lung.

"[65] In an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, Lung said she wished that politicians in Beijing have enough wisdom to understand the situation deeper and to see into the future with longer views and perspectives” in their dealings with Hong Kong.

[66] As cross-strait military tensions escalated, Lung posted a message on Facebook, highlighting the destructive impact of war on civilization, and concluded with “No matter what you say, I am anti-war.” This statement sparked a debate in Taiwan, where people have become politically divided with polarized views about the future of the island.