A Guide to Taiwan for Foreigners V

Excess of tourists!

I felt like a tourist in my own birthing country. Apart from the familiarity of relatives, Grandparents, and their house that I grew up in, most of everything else has changed. Going to shops and restaurants, people could tell that I am a 'foreigner'. I've never felt more like a Banana (perhaps I am more of one than I realised). The most striking observation while frolicking around tourist attractions was the prolific numbers of Chinese tourists. They came in busloads and busloads, traveled in groups, led by guides who would hold up their little flags high to direct the swarms of obnoxiously loud, camera donning (most complete with tripods) tourists. Like a plague of locusts: upon emerging from the buses, they would sweep hurriedly through the place (even in the museums or exhibitions), into the souvenir shops on the way out, devour the shelves clean of anything expensive (they are unimaginably loaded with cash), and back on the bus to the next stop. They stood out with their accent, their fashion, and behaviour; you can pick one straight away. On the other hand, the financial stimuli has allowed many of the tourist attractions to update and upgrade their hardware. I was much impressed by the organisation, presentation and even the marketing of these renovated tourist spots.

National Palace Museum

This is definitely the highlight of the trip. The museum reinstated the significance of Taiwan in the geopolitical importance of the area, but more so the status of Republic of China in the history of Chinese civilisation. When the exodus government retreated, one of the priority was to ship the contents of the Forbidden City to the new capital, so as not to fall into Communist hands. Which is fortunate, because much of this will not have survived the Cultural revolution.

The museum contains over 680,000 Chinese artifacts and art works, the collection encompasses over 8,000 years of Chinese history accumulated over the dynasties. It is simply put, The Chinese Civilisation. The collection was inherited by the succeeding emperors and dynasties, whoever ruled, was the owner of the treasure. From Wiki: “Today the museum is said to house some 93,000 items of Chinese calligraphy, porcelain, bronzes, landscape paintings, portraits, figurines, ancient manuscripts, books, carvings, coins, textiles, jades and precious stones. With a collection of this size, only 1% of the collection is exhibited at any given time." To see the complete exhibit would take a person 60 full years!

The most impressive artifact to me was an ivory ball of about 15-20cm in diameter, sculpted all from one piece of tusk. The surface of the ball is carved to minute details of dragons playing in the clouds, but when you take a closer look, there's a smaller ball inside, and a smaller layer, and another..., there are 15 layers of balls right down to the core of the tusk, each individually free from one another. It must have taken the sculptor decades to complete.

This tiny little boat (1.6x1.4x3.4cm) is sculpted from one single olive shell. The windows and doors on-board can be opened and closed. There are 8 people on-board, 3 poets and their respective servants, two boat-handlers. There's a little table in the centre showing a small banquet underway, with plates and cups. the bottom of the boat has a poem sculpted on it, all 300+ characters. It's eye-opening.

My visit brought back the heritage that I haven't thought much of for years. I had been an avid reader as a kid, the sense of pride in Chinese civilisation had rooted in me deeply early on. It always appeared to me though that the Old ways (the Confucian ways of Moderation) had died long ago, much like the grieve over the death of Chivalry in the West. However, seeing the history and the culture in its physical form, it's revived the pride and reminded me of the traditions that had evolved from the thousands of years of Chinese civilisation, that I am and always will be a descendant of the Dragon.

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We don't really consider ourselves 'travelling' unless it's to a destination different from the usual definition of home. That's why many experienced travelers often never visited another city in their own country. Many of the Mainland Chinese went to Taiwan to see the product of divergences: the democracy, the cultural differences, and the places they've heard so much of from the years of propaganda. To gain a travel visa, they are required to deposit $10k Yuan (Chinese Dollar) as security to the government, which is equivalent to over 50% of an average annual wage for an urban Chinese (or two years worth of income for an average rural Chinese wage). However, their itinerary was often filled with horrible 3-star hotels and expensive crappy food. Many resented with the saying: Never seeing Taiwan is a regret; but once there, you regret ever making the trip. If Taiwan is just another province, would they have gone through the same trouble?

The issue of Taiwanese sovereignty stems from the composition of its population, and the history of its inhabitants. I feel that a short breakdown of this confusing history is necessary, and according to my understanding this is how it goes. The first record of Taiwan in Chinese history dates around 800AD during the Three Kingdom Period. It was a hotbed for pirates and rebels, and throughout Chinese history there were mentions of military actions to suppress the piracy in each dynasty (funny I have always hated growing up among the descendants of criminals and pirates, now I'm living among them again (...I jest...)). Even with several attempts of rebellion in Ming and Qing Dynasty, Taiwan was so far away from the power central of Imperial China that its geopolitical importance only became a reality in the recent centuries. The indigenous population arrived in Taiwan thousands of years before the first Han Chinese arrived and the Hans were mostly migrated from South Eastern Chinese coastal provinces. These people would go on to identify themselves as the first settlers of the island, and regarded the later-comers as foreigners.

The Republic of China was founded a democracy on the grave of Imperialistic China in 1911, while still a fledgling, it was thrown into the fires of war with Japanese invasion (Second Sino-Japanese War from 1936-45). In the midst the war, the communist party ambushed the young democracy and started a civil war which would end with the Nationalist government retreating to Taiwan. The exile left the Mainland for the Communist party to consolidate its powers, who eventually established the Chinese Government today; whilst the Nationalist government regrouped in Taiwan, it would never regain control over the Mainland again, resulting in the stand-off today. These exodus of ex-military and government officials stayed and settled, but would be regarded as foreigners. Due to elections in recent years, politicians inflammed the division between the two groups, fueling the country into renewed heights of disgust towards each other, all for political gains. Much like the Bush administration dividing US into the Blue and Red states in his second election. I am a descendant of the exodus, born to the land and never felt like a foreigner, until recently that is.

A Guide to Taiwan for Foreigners IV

Excess of Temples

The small island is filled with temples. The primary religion is a mix of Buddism and Taoism, but most other religions have found themselves here. These places of worship aren’t just humble, old broken buildings where one goes to pry and clear thir minds. Some temples are so rich; they are gargantuan in size, immensely detailed features decorate the architecture and many of them centuries old.

Chung Tai Monastery, you could see it from kilometres away as you approach it in the small country winding roads. Only built in 2001, the scale is breath taking; it was the tallest Buddist temple in the world for a couple of years. The monastery is one of the most important one on the island, not only in religious sense, but political as well. The campus includes various Halls and quarters, monks, accommodation for the pilgrims, restaurant, and its own museum! The museum has a huge collection of thousands of statues of deities in stone, wood or copper sculptures, some of which dates to hundreds of years BC. It’s even got its own website

One of the four guardians in the main hall, it’s about 5 stores tall. The Budda is of course, more impressive still.

This is one of the oldest temples in Taiwan. It’s been there for at least 300 years when the first settlers founded the port-side city. One of my uncles grew up around the town and gave me a nice tour of it. The rich details of the architecture showcase the arts of Chinese sculpture and masonry. It is treasured and protected as a heritage site now.

A Guide to Taiwan for Foreigners III

Excess of Work

This is a land of miracle based on magnificent feats of hard working. Its economy became a powerhouse in Southeast Asia in the 1990’s, the abundance of ‘Made In Taiwan’ goods gradually put the small island on the map. But the economic boom of the 80’s and 90’s did not come by chance, with no natural resources, the people worked with good old-fashioned hard work and long hours. As a kid, I seldom see my dad at home. He would have left for work before I get up in the morning, and arrive home after I’ve long lost in dreams. A 12 hour working day is a norm here. While I was there, my aunt who is a sales/market manager at a software firm, worked 14 hours almost everyday, 6 days a week, not including the constant ringing of her phone with clients on the other end of the line. When my 15 year-old cousin did her Highschool Entry exam (for High achiever classes), the amount of study materials piled up to two 160-cm high lots, each as tall as she was. My aunt has a pic of it. A typical child studying in secondary schools would leave by 7AM for school, and come home around 9PM after after-school tuition. For the medicine-aspired girl, she would have to obtain top grades in her bursary exam in all the 15 or so subjects comprised of both humanties and science topics. Not including all the other activities she’s meant to have on her CV, preferably with publications. Who the hell expect Highschool kids to have publications?

Excess of Services

Another excess was the services provided. In restaurants, there are waiter/waitresses that serve you as if they are your slaves. The cup would never go half-empty for longer than 5 minutes. They respond to your ever call within seconds. We went to a steak house famous for their services; from the door opening, to pulling chairs (even for men), you were treated like a prince. When my steak came, the waitress offered to cut mine up for me! The desert was served with the standard introduction as well as suggestions on how you would go about eating it. The exuberance is shown ultimately in the luxuries of department stores. The malls in Australia are grand in size, but in terms of variety, choices, brands, there is no match to a department store.

The concentration of brands, variety of goods, and the sheer scale of it makes you wonder how we manage to save on average much much more than Western countries. The shop assistances are almost aggressive in terms of service though. Soon as you step in the vicinity, the amount of attention paid to you, they might as well be your personal fashion advisor. Sorry, I am just a poor student taking a look, probably won't end up buying anything.

I don’t normally like shopping, but I do have a soft spot for bookshops. Large bookstores can be found to operate 24/7. The one I went to had several floors of display dedicated to stationary alone. There were gadgets you'd never even dreamed of needing but once you know that it exists, you can't go without. We've come a long way since the days of brushes and ink bottles. We went to one of the bookshop one night at 10PM and didn't get out until 2AM. I totally lost track of time. But that was a common occurrence, and never fear, cause supper was just around the corner, with freshly made soymilk (you have never tasted soymilk until you've had it from TW, the stuff here are just...disgraceful) and dumplings fresh off the frying pan. And the thing is, at 2AM, the place is packed.

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A Guide to Taiwan for Foreigners II

This is a land of excess and passing fads. The standard attitude is: you like this? Great, let me get you 10o’s of these until you’ve had so many that you absolutely loath it, then let’s move on the next hip thing. It’s like that new hit song on the radio played over and over, day in and day out. The people are very hospitable, often too hospitable that they forget there’s a limit to how much goodness one can take. This way of living is shown in every aspects of life: food and wine; work and play.

Excess of Food

The food is sensational not only from its taste but, it’s economical as well. Being an Asian country, a gourmet meal comes cheaper than a dodgy hamburger from McDonalds here. From Grandma's home-cooked banquet where my plate is constantly being refilled, to posh all-you-can-eat buffet that address quantity without sacrificing quality. The gastronomic pleasures never cease to be fulfilled here. When I said posh all-you-can-eat buffet, I mean 5-star hotel restaurant serving lobsters, oysters, and other expensive seafood. When did you last see gourmet chefs behind the counter making your dish to order in a buffet?

What do you do with your hands while roaming the Night-markets or commercial districts? You fill them with snacks to stuff your face with of course! The street food culture here is comparable to Hong Kong or Singapore. Vendors populate a whole district in some places, hundreds of stands as far as the eye can see. They are mostly easy to eat finger foods: grills, fried stuff, anything and everything braised in master stock, pastry, takoyaki, Chinese pancake, various dumplings, buns...etc. A huge fried chicken fillet of 30cm in diameter, much like a chicken parmie without the cheese, would cost about $2 AUS. I walked around with food in my hands while checking out other stands. Of note, smelly tofu is the equivalent of Blue Vein Cheese in terms of strong smell and taste. Fermented tofu that is fried till crispy on the outside, and soft and squishy on the inside; usually served with pickled vegetables. Whole streets permeate with smells that flirt with the nostril, the sound of frying and the clanging of woks, then the mouth-watering presentation of the colours, the variety of choices, and all obtainable quick and cheap with just one shout of order away. It's a hellish nightmare of a place for anyone on a diet.

Taiwanese cuisine has branched off the traditional Chinese route and taken on more Japanese and Western influence than any other Asian cuisine. Japanese restaurants are everywhere to be seen, as well as other Asian cuisine. One thing I can complain about is that due to the American influence, most coffee places serve filtered coffee. The sparse Italian Espresso cafes do not do it justice. Many Western cuisines takes on local twists though, and acquire a taste that fits the locals.

The novelty factor also plays a big part. One of the new fad while I was there was egg tarts that come still in the eggshells. They carefully crack the egg at the top, makes the filling, pour it back into the shells and finish with the tarts in the original eggshell. You eat it with a spoon. An example for the passing fad culture: couple of years back some celebrity combined egg tarts and Portuguese tarts into a new breed of Portuguese egg tart; it turned into a rave overnight. Specialty bakeries that make only these tarts opened one after another, hundreds of them took the whole island by storm. But when the trend dies down, the whole hundreds of shops close down within a couple months.

Then there's the pressure to innovate. We went to a winery that had everything ranging from sausage, ice blocks, cake, pastry, sweets, jelly, and crackers with the wine in it. Not all ideas work of course, but I did learn a lot about rice and barley based Chinese wine as oppose to grape-based Western wine. I don't know much about beer, but we had 'raw beer' over there that expires within a couple of weeks. It tastes lighter on the tongue, more refreshing and not as bitter than the average pint. There are even flavoured beers of various fruits.

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A Guide to Taiwan for Foreigners I

The past 6 weeks had been my holiday term at uni, the last long holiday I will have as a medical student. So while my colleagues slaved away in their respective rotations playing doctors, I went home for a month. Where is home? When I tell people that I am going home, I typically have to explain which one I meant by it. I went to NZ for a couple of days, then off to Taiwan for 2 weeks where my dad and most relatives are. The point of this post is actually, my observations of Taiwan. It may be strange for a person to 'observe' his own homeland. A land that I was born in, lived for 13 years, and left without much thought of the place. I did of course have many attachments, but as a child dealing with constant departures of loved ones, I quickly learned to deal with those emotions. Since then, home to me had been the century-old Victorian villa in Auckland until recent. This trip gave me a new perspective of Taiwan. Somehow being away for so long gave me a somewhat neutral disposition from which I observed, things I never really saw or thought about before.

Republic of China (Taiwan) circled in red. Short of putting glitter around it, it was hard for the world to pay attention to this tiny island half the size of Tasmania. Until about 19'70s and 80's most maps do not have the detail to include Taiwan. But then it became an economic powerhouse, goods and electronics 'Made In Taiwan' eventually put it on the map.

The confusion

To begin, we should address the elephant in the room, it's not part of China (...let me finish). In the sense that Taiwan has its own Government, Parliament (for entertainment really), Military, Constitution, Laws, naively funded Health Care System (with both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine)...etc. Despite the same cultural lineage and similar ethnic background (Hans is the majority in the population, and indigenous minorities who share the same ancestry as Maoris and other Polynesians) as Mainland China, the last century of political turmoil, WWII, and civil war has driven the two sides substantially further away from each other than the narrow Taiwanese Straight ever could. Heavily influenced by the surrounding countries and Globalisation (especially Americanisation), the Island had transformed into a cultural chimera with an identity very different from the Mainland. The Taiwanese people today resemble so very little of Chinese people from the Mainland. In fact, the distinction is so great that Taiwan has become one of the most popular travelling destinations for Chinese (I will explain that point in later paragraph). On the one hand, the country wants to celebrate its achievements in politics, economics, and cultures independent of China; but on the other, it cannot separate itself from the ancestral ties which governs the Chinese values that fundamentally affects every Taiwanese. It's like a teenager, eager to declare his independence, but not quite ready to leave home. To better understand the issue of sovereignty I included a short history paragraph at the end, one could argue that ROC is the rightful ruler of China...but let’s avoid the politics for now.

This is a land of excess and passing fads. The standard attitude is: you like this? Great, let me get you 10o’s of these until you’ve had so many that you absolutely loath it, then let’s move on the next hip thing. It’s like that new hit song on the radio played over and over, day in and day out. The people are very hospitable, often too hospitable that they forget there’s a limit to how much goodness one can take. This way of living is shown in every aspects of life: food and wine; work and play.

Read on...