Danshui

The port town of Danshui lies north of Taipei, where the Danshui River meets the ocean.  The name is usually pronounced Dan-Shway, however it is spelled in Pinyin English many different ways, including Danshui, Tamsui, Danshuei and others.  Taiwanese Chinese can be confusing.  The city was settled by the Spanish in the early seventeenth century and was more important than Taipei for several hundred years.   The Taipei MRT system runs the entire way to Danshui and due to the transportation ease; it is a popular weekend travel location for the people of Taipei.

The red brick Fort San Domingo was constructed by the Spanish in 1629 and later occupied by the Dutch, Chinese and British.  It was the British consulate until 1980.  Scottish Canadian missionary George Mackay was highly respected for his work in the 19^th century.  He constructed hospitals, churches and universities around Taiwan and spent much of his time in Danshui or Tamsui, whatever the city is called.  The red brick Aletheia University, also called Oxford, is now a museum dedicated to Mackay’s work.  A bust of Mackay is featured in the town center.

Fisherman use the port to access the Straits of Taiwan and Pacific Ocean.  As you can see by the picture, it is important to plan your fishing excursion based on the tides.  There is some commercial port activity nearby. 

As in any Taiwan city, the street foods are fantastic.  We ate little quail eggs, deep fried animal body parts and the most wonderful ice cream dish I have ever tasted.  A thin rice “tortilla” is filled with ground peanuts, cilantro and ice cream, and then rolled like a burrito and it becomes a nice handheld treat.

Our day trip to Danshuei or Tamsui or whatever the city is called was one of many discoveries that my wonderful wife has made possible.

 

Tea Culture of Taiwan

Taiwan has a significant history of tea consumption and it is an important part of their culture.  Certain green tea species are native to Taiwan and were found growing wild in the central part of the island by Europeans.  In the early 17^th century, the Dutch controlled Taiwan and the lucrative tea trading routes from Asia to Europe.  The Dutch encouraged Chinese to immigrate to Taiwan as farmers, including tea cultivation. In 1683, Taiwan came under the loose control of the Chinese Qing Dynasty and tea cultivation continued to expand.  In 1895, the Japanese took control of the island and introduced black teas.

There are numerous small towns in Taiwan that cater to tea industry tourism.  We took a gondola ride to the top of a mountain and then hiked down into a tea plantation to watch the farmers harvest tea.  Local restaurants serve tea, but also cook with the plant.  I enjoy the fried rice with tea leaves. 

Visiting the towns where tea is grown reminds me of visiting wine regions around the world.  Tea is found drying on tarps in the streets, “fermenting” or oxidizing in yards and for sale at hundreds of tea shops.  A “Tea Master” has a museum dedicated to the tea trade, and of course offers tastings and tea for sale.  My favorite tea of Taiwan is Oolong , which has a following around the world. 

Taiwan exports green tea to the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong and Great Britain and the black teas are shipped primarily to Russia and Turkey.  I enjoy tea almost as much as wine, so living in Taiwan has been a treat.

Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake is the largest lake in Taiwan and a popular tourist attraction for Taiwanese and mainland Chinese, and at least one American.  There are small towns on both sides of the lake, with numerous hotels and restaurants, and a number of boats that take passengers back and forth.  The lake is important to the aboriginal people that have lived in this area and a burial ground is located on the small island of Lalu. Much of the island is now submerged due to the raised lake level created by a hydroelectric dam.

After Chiang Kai-shek fled China and established his government in Taiwan, the dictator spent considerable time at Sun Moon Lake.   During the time he spent there, government decision making officials also transferred from Taipei to the resort area.  Chiang Kai-shek had a pagoda built as a memorial to his mother, which creates a nice photo.

In 1999, a strong earthquake struck the area, toppling buildings in Taipei 150 km away.  More than 2,400 people were killed.  This is significantly less than the number of Taiwanese that Chiang Kai-shek murdered, however it is a reminder of the earthquake danger of the island.  A photo of a collapsed temple nearby Sun Moon Lake is posted below.

It is the banana season in Taiwan and I never realized how many different times of bananas there are.  This is one of my favorite fruits, though I am more cautious since biting into a banana and finding a live worm.

The day trip to Sun Moon Lake was very enjoyable and of course we ate numerous foods from the street vendors.  The street is my wife’s restaurant and I love it too.

Motor Scooters of Taipei

Taipei and all of Taiwan has an ingrained motor scooter culture.  The majority of adults ride inexpensive 2-stroke engine scooters as their primary transportation.   There are over 11 million registered scooters in Taiwan for a population of 23 million, and many more unregistered.  That suggests the Taipei area with a population of 8 million has over 4 million scooters.  The primary negatives of living in Taipei are the air and noise pollution, both mostly attributable to scooters.  I used to ride Harley Davidsons, so I’m not really an anti-bike guy, but the scooters are obnoxious.

The government of Taipei understands the issues; however they have trouble getting the people to change.  For many years, scooters were the only reasonable way to travel inexpensively.   Taipei installed their mass rapid transit system over the past 10+ years and it is really a great system.  However, most citizens of Taipei still ride their scooters.  Taiwan subsidizes electric scooter purchases, but more than 95% of the scooters sold are the noisy, polluting fossil fuel burning variety.  It will take a major government policy change to move the culture.

The scooters are used by all ages.  You will see a 75 year old man and wife riding, a teenager with his girlfriend, a women with her two small children, etc.  I expected I would see many scooter accidents, but have seen only two so far. The riders go wherever they want.  They take over sidewalks; sidewalks are not for pedestrians.

Scooters are an important business.  In our neighborhood, we have a Yamaha dealer, several repair shops, a seat refurbishment shop and the Best Helmet Plaza.   How can they call themselves the Best?  Well they have the largest selection of Hello Kitty helmets in Taipei, which I think makes them the best.  The seat refurbishment business is amazing to watch.  I walk by the shop several times per day and it is run by a family (father, mother and son), and it is open 7 days per week 12 hours per day.  Scooter riders hang out at the shop similar to HD riders in the U.S. at the dealerships.  The most popular selection for an after-market seat is the Playboy rabbit logo.

Motorcycle gear is a fashion statement in Taiwan.  The picture of the man in full leathers on the beach is a common sight.  Leather jackets with laughable designs keep me entertained.  The funniest leather jacket I have seen is a Johnny Depp looking pirate with two thumbs up.  Below the pirate was the “gang” name of Happy Twinkie.  There are real gangs in Taiwan.  The anti-gangster unit of the government has taken down three gangs so far: The Heavenly Way, the Bamboo Union and the Four Seas.  The police have some very fast scooters, to chase the gangs. So far I haven’t read about any impact to the Happy Twinkies.

Love Motels

We hosted a Professor this past week from a respected university.  Since my blog policy is to avoid identifying locations and people by name, including myself, let me say this Professor is from the Palo Alto California area.  We had a great time with him and our conversation included the love motels of Taiwan. 

Similar to Japan, the love motels are big, big business in Taiwan. Today’s love motel evolved from the “rest hotels” of the past, where a room is rented for one hour, maybe two if you were really ambitious.  Today’s motels are themed based and generally used by young unmarried people.   In both Taiwan and Japan, children typically live with their parents until they marry, and couple sleepovers in the parent’s home are culturally frowned upon.  A young woman will typically select the motel and the man will pay for it.  Love motels include a large Jacuzzi tub, karaoke, steam room and of course a big bed.  I’m sure cheating married couples use them too.

The motel attempts to create a perception of discreteness. You pull up to a drive in window, view pictures of various room themes with a young woman in a very short skirt, and make your selection.  A key is provided and you drive your car into the awaiting private garage.  Once the garage door is closed, you make your way upstairs to the room.

On a recent Saturday night, after touring a mountain area in the center part of Taiwan, we checked into a local motel.  This love motel was highly recommended by many people and decorated by a famous designer.  We selected a room that had a theme of female dolls in erotic poses (I think that was the theme).  There was a KFC room, however this was already occupied.  I really wanted to see what the Colonel does at a love motel, so naturally I was disappointed we couldn’t get this room.   The love motel was not a room that I could possibly use for sleeping (I’m getting old), so we took pictures and then left.  My wife told the girl in the short skirt that her American husband was too freaked out by the hundreds of little dolls to stay there.  Actually I have my own Barbie collection, so the dolls were not a problem.

Date night in Taiwan often includes the love motel and I had to see one.  If I were 21 years old, this might fit me, but my curiosity was only to see one and not to complete the experience.  I’m not judging any of my readers that are regular customers.

The Recycling Mafia of Taipei

I have watched the recycling activity in Taipei since late last year and find it fascinating.  The Taipei city government is involved in recycling, however the private enterprise street level recycling handles the majority of the materials, and it is big business.  From what I can tell, it is run very similar to the mafia.

At the bottom of the recycling  process is the Piciotto which are the lowest ranking soldiers.  This group is made up of thousands of elderly people that have been assigned an extra wide wagon that is pushed around the neighborhood, collecting recyclables.  The elderly can often barely walk, but yet they find a way to push the wagon up hills and over curbs.  Every night the city government sends their musical garbage recycling trucks to the neighborhood, but the Piciottos are ready to intercept you as you attempt to place the recycling in the city truck.  I refer to this activity as freelancing.   Why would someone be opposed to letting an old lady take your plastic milk jugs and cardboard containers to make some money?  Because they are your next door neighbor and the hoarders that allow garbage to ferment in the apartment below you, if you live in the slums.

The next level up is the Sgarrista .  These mafia soldiers ride bicycles and motor scooters.  They are younger and more prosperous.  You see them riding through the city with stacks of cardboard or bags of bottles attached to their bikes.  If you don’t behave well as a Sgarrista, you will be banished to Piciotto level.

Caporegime or Lieutenant gets to drive a vehicle suitable for hauling materials and doesn’t have to perform too much physical labor.  Caporegime pick up the materials from the Sgarrista and deliver them to the Capo Bastone.

The Capo Bastone is second in command and the person that moves the material to recycling yard.  These Capos are well entrenched in the mafia and get to drive large trucks, that compete in size with the city vehicles.   Capo Bastones are respected in Taipei and cause fear among the Piciottos.  If a Capo Bastone wants to double park their truck without using their emergency blinkers, who will argue with them?

At the top of the food chain is the Capo Crimini.  This guy moves the recycling materials to the end user.  This guy owns Taipei recycling and causes the city government to wonder why they even bother.  If you are lucky to witness the recycling yards where materials are ready to be loaded onto a boat, you may find a sleeping Asian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRvgmLLlhp0&feature=player_embedded

 

Sleeping Asian Hidden Danger

I’m continually amazed that Asians appear to be able to sleep anywhere.   I mean anywhere and it is largely all Asians. I have witnessed people sleeping on public transportation, in restaurants, public parks, libraries, their work place and much more.  It appears to be widespread throughout Asia, and I see it in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.

I’m sure there is a cultural aspect to this behavior, but there must also be a level of genetic ability to sleep on public transportation with some level of dignity.  Other than a long distance plane trip, I never sleep other than at my designated bedtime.  If I slept in public, especially while sitting, I would be head bobbing, head banging, leaning on my neighbor, drooling non-stop and maybe worse.

When I get on a bus or train, as much as 90% of the travelers will be sleeping.  How do they sleep so well and still wake up at their designated stop?  My theory is that Asians must be superior.   

One time I took a trip to Germany with my Plant Manager and he drank too much beer at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich.   While traveling on the train back to our hotel, he unexpectedly bolted out of his seat, exited the train and watched me as the train left, while he was on the deck outside.  Long story short, he boarded the next train, fell asleep and ended up 60 miles from our hotel when he awoke, only to find out the train had stopped running for the night.  This is not the end of the story, but it is over for purposes of this blog.  The relevance is that Caucasians can fall asleep on public transportation if alcohol is involved.

Asians don’t need alcohol and will typically have their eyes closed within 30 seconds of sitting.  How do they not hurt themselves and how do they awake in time for their stops?  Actually they are not necessarily as good of public sleepers as I had originally thought.  My wife and I witnessed one woman sleeping on a bus, only to have her head slammed hard against the window, when the bus turned abruptly.  It had to hurt and everyone was surprised there was no blood on the window or head.  Another time I watched a woman wake up thinking she missed her stop.  The panic on her face, followed by the relief when she found out she hadn’t passed her stop was fun to watch.  Both the woman and I laughed.  My teenage stepdaughter is often late coming home, for suspicious reasons I won’t discuss.  One of her excuses is that she fell asleep on the bus and missed her stop.  Actually that is probably true.

Asians sleep easily and don’t mind sleeping in public.  Caucasians are more self-conscience and will typically avoid sleeping if they can.  Nobody sleeps well in public and it has become one of my favorite forms of entertainment.  I went to the internet to borrow some pictures of sleeping Asians.  I was amazed to find hundreds of “sleeping Asian” websites created by Caucasians.