I did a post on small oddities in Japan, so I guess I should do the same for Taiwan. It’s a little harder though because many “unusual” things are the same here. And I’ve been in Asia for close to 3 weeks now and a lot of it is becoming more “normal” to me.
That said: Taiwan is dingy and somewhat dirty. Not garbage-in-the-street dirty, but dirt-and-old dirty. It’s gritty. The buildings are old and renovation is something you do only if it’s falling down or leaks in typhoon season. If the paint hasn’t completely peeled off the walls and is falling in your dinner, the room doesn’t require a fresh coat of paint. Dust and rust really are protective coatings and commercial buildings are NOT what an American would call clean. Cobwebs are the norm and dust bunnies aren’t quite as big as real bunnies, but they’re almost as dense and substantial. There is, however, virtually no litter in the streets. In spite of the fact that outdoor trash containers are pretty much non-existent, people here tend to not litter.
Typical Taiwan cityscape
But still, you can’t say that they don’t care about their properties. Many, many homes have pots of plants in the front and most of those include a mini water garden with blooming water lilies. But there are almost no trees in the cities or anything growing that isn’t in a small pot in front of someone’s home. Everything is paved over with concrete or asphalt. I constantly feel like I’m running out of air here. It’s starting to make me miss Japan….not to mention the US! I definitely have the US bias toward clean, less cluttered landscapes with lots of green. But this is their culture and their culture has other priorities.
So the entire affect is that all cities (except Taipei, which considers itself thoroughly modern and caters to people of all nationalities and wants to make them feel at home) look their age. And if you get out of downtown Taipei, it’s still pretty much the same. If the building was built in 1951, it looks the part. And probably has only been painted one time since then, if at all. People sweep the street in front of their home or business (sidewalks are virtually non-existent in most cities), they don’t litter, I’ve seen only one place with graffiti. Add to the over-all run-down nature of the country the fact that it’s humid and thus hazy almost all the time and it’s just kind of depressing. Cars aren’t washed. Scooters either. A clean scooter or car really sticks out as unusual. Come to think of it, I have yet to see an actual car wash.
Then there are the bathrooms. A good 80% of the public bathrooms I’ve been in here have no toilet paper. About half of the ones that do have paper have one dispenser on the wall just before you go into the stall aisle. You take what you think you’ll need and go into a stall. But most of the time that dispenser is empty. So buy pocket packs of tissue and carry a couple of those at all times.
Also, strengthen those thigh muscles ladies. If the bathroom doesn’t have a handicapped stall, there’s a good chance that all the toilets are the in-the-floor squat variety. Also, it seems that a lot of women have very poor aim so there’s a good chance the floor will be wet as well. So as you squat there, trying desperately to squeeze it all out in a hurry before your trembling thigh muscles give out completely, remember, if you fall, you will be sitting in someone else’s urine. And don’t forget that all-important aim lest you fill your own shoes with your own. Because we aren’t used to squatting, we don’t get down as
low as most Asians can and that aim becomes all the more important.
Speaking of tissues, Taiwanese people use them for everything. They are napkins in restaurants, and toilet paper in bathrooms. They wipe noses, butts and tables. I have yet to see a roll of paper towels or a roll of T.P. It’s tissues or nothing. And don’t call them Kleenex, people won’t know what you’re talking about. But the Kleenex brand is sold here and is upscale, thicker and more absorbent than other brands sold here.
People drive like lunatics here. Bicycles and scooters frequently pull out into traffic without so much as a glance at oncoming traffic. Red lights are a suggestion. Traffic “laws” are suggestions, not laws, unless you cause an accident, then they dictate who’s at fault….more or less…..Oh, and there’s a box painted on the street at almost every traffic light. That box is for scooters and bikes and cars stop behind it. Which allows the scooters to pull away from the lights first and autos trail behind and pass if possible. Which mostly isn’t possible. And everything, including the entire family is carried on the scooter.
Everything is carried on the scooter including the dog
The family carry-all. I’ve seen 4 on a scooter…
a gaggle of scooters taking off at a green light
Another “oddity”, if you will, is that almost every home has a shrine to the family’s ancestors in it. The shrine will be lit by red lights and often takes up the entire top floor of the family’s home. The family will burn paper boats, cars, horses, houses, etc. to send to their ancestors for their use in the next life. They also send those who have passed on money by giving real money to their local temple in exchange for fake money they can send to the ancestors. This supports the temple and the temple money becomes the real thing once it is burned and passes over to the ancestor. And you must honor and provide for your ancestors or they will wreak havoc in your life, haunting you big-time!
Speaking of temples, they are everywhere. And they are painted, carved and detailed within an inch of their lives. They are richly decorated and nothing is done on the cheap. Carved stone is granite or marble, not something that looks like granite or marble. Doorways and altars are always in threes and doorways have a piece of wood across the bottom that is close to a foot high that you have to step over to enter the temple or shrine. This is because bad spirits can’t perform that action. Stepping over something is beyond their capabilities. They also can’t turn corners. So a sharp bend in an alley or street will keep the baddies away.
Signs in Taiwan can be interesting. They can be strange combinations of old and new characters, with English translations above or below and very, very inventive spellings. If you’re driving, signs are either virtually non-existent, or highly misleading. A sign may say 3 Freeway with an arrow pointing left. Then you drive 5 miles before you see another sign for the 3, with another arrow either pointing in the same direction or sending you off on another street. This can go on for 10 minutes or 30 minutes before you come to the actual freeway. Or, even more fun, can stop entirely, leaving you guessing where it is that the freeway went.
Note the different spellings for “vegetarian”
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