Taiwan – blend of old and new

The benevolent love the mountains, the wise love the waters – old Chinese saying.

At Taiwan’s aptly named Sun Moon Lake, bang at the geographical centre of the teardrop–shaped island, it’s safe to say that both the benevolent and the wise have something going for them. Its placid waters glisten in the morning sunlight as our solar-powered boat glides past traditional Thao fishing boats, which have changed little over the centuries.

The boats of the Thaos, one of the dozen or more groups of Taiwanese aboriginals, who made their home around the beautiful lake, and made a living out of fishing, may not have changed much, but the society they are now part of has changed – dramatically.

A little bit of history to put things in perspective: Han Chinese from the mainland started migrating to the island the Spanish called Formosa – the beautiful isle -- about 1650 AD, and now form the overwhelming majority. Between the Han Chinese and the Japanese occupation of Taiwan [1895-1945] the seeds should have been laid for the development of the island. But it was after Chiang Kai-Shek’s defeated Kuomintang party retreated to Taiwan after the civil war and the economic miracle of the 1980s that the country vaulted into the ranks of the developed world as one of the four Asian tigers. [There is a towering monument to Chiang in Taipei, where the honour guard changes on the hour, every hour, from 9 to 5: it was built in just four years, an astonishing accomplishment]

Swacch Taiwan

That development is everywhere: from the gleaming neon-signed buses, the spotless bus and train stations, the neat and busy streets, the HSR (high speed rail, which reaches speeds up to 300 km on the run from the capital Taipei to the second largest city, the port of Kaohsiung on the southwest, connecting all the major cities on the western coast).

No littering, no spitting, not a scrap of paper to be seen on the platforms, lobbies and the streets; have no doubt this is a country and people in which neatness is not imposed, but literally ingrained. On day 2 of my visit, I was up early and took a walk around our hotel for a few blocks. It was cold and blustery, but the city’s workers were on the job, tending to the sidewalks, checking the hydrants, and the 1001 things needed to keep a modern city going. At one spot, I was astounded to see a civic worker get off his scooter and wipe the top of the trash can with a diligence that did him proud. Swacch Bharat has a long way to go!

Street life

From the hustle and bustle of the effervescent Taipei quarter of Shimanding to the hugely popular night markets [where street vendors take over the pavements in the evenings], the crowds go about enjoying themselves, but never seem to step out of line. It’s not as if alcohol is not available freely – it is; the food is varied, interesting and plentiful, the shopping tempting.

In Taipei’s old quarter of Dihua Street, a sought after destination, home to the Chinese deity Xia Hai [believed to be a love, or matchmaking god] young Chinese bow quickly, light incense sticks and leave a variety offerings after making a wish. Outside are streets full of condiments, spices, vegetables, seaweed, fungi – including an infinite variety of mushrooms. At lunch time, the streetside eateries serve up hot stews, noodles, pork, seafood: all at very reasonable prices.

Spirit of enterprise

From Kaohsiung’s metro rail with its avant garde art [but a bit of a miscalculation on the part of its planners: patronage is poor for residents prefer to scooter around] to Puli with its tea gardens [you can get black Assam tea, courtesy some unknown planter who sourced it from India] and vineyards producing some excellent wines; the high-tech companies of Tainan [Taiwan is the leading producer of laptops and notebooks in the world], Taichung which hosted Taiwan’s annual lunar new year lantern festival this year; to Pingxi, a 2-hour bus ride from Taipei, where Chinese tourists arrive in droves to release lanterns and make a wish – this is a country where modernity and tradition sit side by side. The theme parks in Kaohsiung and Sun Moon Lake are on a grand scale: there’s a dizzying ropeway ride over the hills and valleys to the Formosa aboriginal village in the Sun Moon area; and if you think it’s built and operated by the government, think again: this is Taiwanese entrepreneurial dynamism.

Tourist paradise

The island has opened up to tourists in a big way: there are thousands of visitors from mainland China, just a hop across the Taiwan Straits; from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan. The government is serious about tourism: every bus, every train, every street also has signage in English, and staff at hotels, shops and convenience stores speak English; the government is also making English obligatory in schools so that citizens are bilingual or trilingual: apart from their dialect, they will also be fluent in Mandarin and English.

Along with its scenic areas, vibrant cities, Taiwan is also home to a warm and welcoming people. You feel absolutely safe walking round – during the day or by night in the uniquely Taiwanese night markets throbbing with life. It’s a great place to visit; one tip though: it pays to have a smattering of Mandarin Chinese. If you can say Ni hao (Hello, also how are you) or She shieh (thank you), people are delighted. One of my colleagues, Venki, could do one better; having been a correspondent in Hong Kong for several years, he could communicate in Chinese. It opens up a whole new world.

( The writer was in Taiwan at the invitation of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau)