Random Thoughts on Taiwan, Its Culture and Society

Taiwan is an island roughly the size of England where East meets West. The urbanisation is mostly in the North and along the west coast with the remainder mountains covered in sub-tropical vegetation. The capital Taipei is very densely populated with predominantly high rise buildings squeezed around the old housing. Modern development is very swish but it would appear to be the culture not to maintain property after construction so the old houses look scruffy and a coat of paint would make all the difference. However that is the Eastern way!!

The people are wonderful. We experienced so many occasions when people went out of their way to help us, sometimes miles out of their way!

We were amazed to see that EVERYTHING is written in Mandarin and English from metro signs to instructions on food packets. Actually several languages are spoken on the island in addition to Mandarin and English, Hakka, brought by Chinese immigrants, the original aboriginal languages and Japanese, a legacy of the occupation.

The density of cars and scooters is crazy. In particular the scooters which go at incredible speeds often with entire families on them – plus the dog.

With regard to their pets, they are amazingly attentive, just like the English. Even the stray dogs are friendly and look well fed and we never saw any of them raiding dustbins. May be it’s the influence of Buddhism.

People are very respectful of everything, oldies do very well out of this. Forming an orderly queue is obligatory. It’s a good job that the culture is to be obedient because the place is littered with signs telling you what to do and what not to do, e.g.” when climbing stairs take little steps”. I think Health and Safety in the UK is over the top but it is nothing compared to Taiwan.

Travel is very cheap with buses and metro trains very frequent. The long distance train we went on was very modern.

The Taiwanese are obsessed with cleanliness, no complaint there. We have never seen so many cleaners at work, it seemed 24/7.

We managed for nearly a fortnight with virtually no alcohol! Tea is their drink of preference and it comes in every possible guise from “Bubble Tea” a specialty with the addition of tapioca, fortunately we managed to avoid this, to tea made with the traditional ceremony.

Living in the countryside we never ceased to be amazed at the number of swish shopping malls with endless designer shops and international fast food outlets. Shopping is definitely an important part of life. In contrast to the immaculate shopping malls are the night markets. Very crowded and selling everything you’ve never wanted. We decided that they were more like fairgrounds than markets.

Food!! People eat out most of the time as it is cheaper than cooking at home where generally there are few facilities. The Taiwanese eat at any time, with no designated mealtimes although restaurants shut at 9 o’clock and we were asked to leave on two occasions. Of course we had some lovely food but generally it is a bit lacking in flavour for me and savoury things always had a touch of sweetness.

We were educated as to how useful mobile phones can be but, as throughout the world, the entire population go around with their heads bent looking into their phones. And then there are selfies!! Obsession is not the word. No wonder we have global warming, ”the ether must be so full of photos that they are blocking out the light!!!” Not only do they take pictures but they pose like models and it’s all ages not just the young girls. If a family are out for the day and wish to have a photo of something it will necessitate several shots as there are innumerable permutations of the family to be recorded. Wedding photos are the most “interesting”. The bride and groom dress up in all their finery, way before the wedding day, and tour around having their photos taken in all sorts of places, some very bizarre. This album is duly perused by all guests at the wedding reception. Do you get the impression that taking photos was not our favourite aspect of Taiwanese life?

Apparently Taiwan is the second best place in the world for recycling and it needs to be because the amount of packaging used is off the scale.

So as always there are pros and cons in all societies and their way of life is just different to our own. However it was wonderful to see Guy contented and happy living in Taiwan.