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| Living wall inside the airport! I love this! |
I’m sitting in the Taipei International airport right now waiting for my plane to Japan. This is by far the nicest airport I’ve ever been in. Minus the small art exhibit of mange-ridden stray dogs minutes from being euthanized– who does photographs that??– this place is a traveller’s dream. Not only is it exceptionally clean, neatly organized and politely staffed, it has the most extensive duty free section I’ve ever seen (not my scene) as well as an array of art exhibits and cultural nooks which give a wanderer like me something to do while I wait for my flight. Also, fluffy, cushy lounges are not restricted to the most upper-class of travelers. They’ve got squishy stools and quiet gardeny alcoves for commoners like me!
As I sit here, I’m thinking about how this trip was not really anything like I expected. Granted, I never left the main city of Taipei, but I still expected to be struck by something that was uniquely “Taiwan.” Whenever I travel through Bangkok, even in passing, just the smell of the air brings back memories of my trip there. I’m not sure what from this will stick. That’s not exactly a bad thing– just a feeling I get.
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| Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall |
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| Gates at the memorial hall |
Taiwan is the epitome of a Global City. I think it surpasses New York and Tokyo in someways– not size of course. It’s a perfect hybrid of Asia meets West, which should leave any Western traveler both comfortable and with the feeling that they saw a little of Asia. Commercials on TV are in an assortment of English, Japanese and Chinese. The restaurants are all global chains. MOS Burger and Yoshinoya from Japan, all the convenience stores I’m used to (7-11 and Family Mart mostly), and all the American chain’s you’d expect: Kentucky Fried Chicken, MacDonald’s and Starbucks. But, Their global integration goes far beyond what I expected. Ponderosa Steak House was among the restaurants I saw. I can’t even tell you where one of those is in the US anymore- but it’s on a main street by one of the universities in Taipei. It’s accompanied in the shopping strip with a Subway, a sushi shop and other things I can’t read. I think maybe these days if you want to eat Taiwanese food, you probably will have to go into the night markets for some dumplings and soup!
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| Serious about being quiet! |
Not only that, Taipei is entirely wired for internet. If I’d known how easy it would be to get internet absolutely everywhere, I might’ve thought a little harder about getting an iPhone before I left. The lobby of the Palace Museum is wired, I’m pretty sure you can access the internet from the bathroom here. Connectivity is not a problem. I’m interested to see if Japan has changed toward this direction because 5 years ago, internet still meant a trek to an internet cafe.
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| Longshan Temple |
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| Offerings to the Taoist gods behind the Buddhist temple |
After a whirlwind tour of Taipei’s main attractions yesterday courtesy of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau for our conference participants, I’m struck by how much I didn’t see. We went to the Palace Museum which is four floors of the most intricately carved artwork I’ve ever seen– possibly on the face of the planet. One of the main pieces is a large olive pit- maybe 1.5 inches long- and it has been carved into a boat scene complete with 8 individuals, two of whom are playing chess, and around 250 Chinese characters carved all along the boat hull. It takes a large magnefying glass just to see some of the passengers sitting toward the outside of the boat, let along those in the inside. Incredible. We flew through the museum in time to make it to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall for the changing of the guards. I’ve never been to London, but this was a little intense. We didn’t make it upstairs to actually seem them leave their posts, but as we were trying to get onto the elevator, the doors opened and we were pushed back into the hall. The soldiers burst forth from the elevator snapping and posing in perfect synch. They marched this way out of the building. I’m not sure who they “changed guard” with though, because there weren’t any guards upstairs when we got up there. Finally, we ended our tour at one of the most important temples in Taiwan. Before returning home, I ventured into “Snake Alley” in the night market where snakes are sold for their blood (to drink) and meat (for food). I didn’t see any snake violence, and most of the vendors have gone out of business, but it was a fun night market.
What the airport has reminded me of is that I entirely missed any visiting of Taiwan’s very rich indigenous cultures. This is a sore point for me, because I really love learning about indigenous peoples, and Taiwan seems very accepting and supportive of their own 14 or so tribes. I missed out on the incredible outdoor experience that the waterfalls and hiking of non-Taipei have to offer. I guess I’ll have to come back again, with more time and maybe a little Chinese to help me around!
Farewell neighborhood chickens. Until we meet again!
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| Chickens being sold just steps from my “hotel” door |
