A week ago I rode out to the hills east of Chiayi looking for a photograph. I was looking for - and sadly found - landscapes blighted by betel-nut palms. The bloody things from valley floor to mountain ridge.
Sadly, much of the early stages of the wonderful Alishan railway is little more than a horror ride through a betel-nut plantation gone wild.
My question is “where is the worst betel-nut devastation you have seen in Taiwan?”
One good thing about them is the smell of the flowers. When my brother and I went to Alishan in September 2002, we wondered what the honey-like smell was. Some time I realised it was betel tree flowers.
But their shallow roots do lead to hillside erosion and encourage landslides. There are lots of them in Nantou county.
The mouth of the taxi driver who drove me to Jilong today. :shock:
It wasn’t a pretty sight. I think the man was well on his way to developing oral cancer. 
The hills around Tsengwen Dam are blighted with them…But then again, try to find some foothills from Taichung on down that aren’t. 
I know they ruin the ecology and all that but I think they look good, in a jungly Rousseauesque kind of a way.
From what I’ve known, JiLoong & Jin Shan have some pretty hot betle nuts babes…
if not, Southern Taiwan (as in KaoHsiung & PinDong) have some slutty ones as well… Yummy!!
Betel nut palms are boring as crap. Monoculture vs. a lush forest. There’s no contest.
Although, to be fair to the betel-nut most of the plants you see in the lowlands are foreign species - “Waiguoren” flora. Unfortunately, many local governments continue to plant noxious weeds in the parks and schools. These plants have spread into the foothills and are one of the great untold environmental stories in Taiwan.
Can anyone tell me what exactly is the state of betel nut law or practise in Taipei City? Is betel nut banned or only the public consumption of it? Are betelnut stands banned or betel nut girls, or both? And is it an actual ban, ie are there by-laws or just policies?