Good things unique to Taiwan

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
1

We have lots of negative posts about what’s bad in Taiwan, and sometimes the occasional heart-warming exception to the rule thread. How about posting what’s good about Taiwan. I don’t mean good that you would say about any other place in the world, I mean good about Taiwan that you don’t find back home.

Rule 1: It has to be genuinely positive.
Rule 2: It has to be either unique back home, or at least not common in most people’s home countries.
Rule 3: If you’re going to give a sarcastic response, include a genuine one as well.

The one thing that sticks out for me most of all is the drink shops. Around every corner you can find a little shop that sells tea, coffee, or fresh juice blends. There were shops like this back home, but they were few and far between. Of all the places I lived so far, Taiwan does this the best.

2

[quote=“R. Daneel Olivaw”]We have lots of negative posts about what’s bad in Taiwan, and sometimes the occasional heart-warming exception to the rule thread. How about posting what’s good about Taiwan. I don’t mean good that you would say about any other place in the world, I mean good about Taiwan that you don’t find back home.

Rule 1: It has to be genuinely positive.
Rule 2: It has to be either unique back home, or at least not common in most people’s home countries.
Rule 3: If you’re going to give a sarcastic response, include a genuine one as well.

The one thing that sticks out for me most of all is the drink shops. Around every corner you can find a little shop that sells tea, coffee, or fresh juice blends. There were shops like this back home, but they were few and far between. Of all the places I lived so far, Taiwan does this the best.[/quote]

amen brother we need some positive VIBES here :slight_smile: I love the variety of foods to eat in TAiwan. Far more so then anywhere else iv been., among other things.

3

This may sound like a sarcastic or silly thing at first, but bear with me.

Binlang stands.

Really. In Tainan you really only find them out in the county, but it sure does cheer you up seeing some lovely looking young ladies when you’re coming back to the city late at night with heavy traffic, speedsters and feeling a tad on the sleepy side.
Also, the one time I was mad enough to drive through to Kenting on my scooter the only place on some stretches I could stop and buy something to drink was at Binlang stands. Had some really interesting conversations on the trip down, although I was pretty saddle sore at the end of it.

I have to agree with all the drinks and tea stands. They’re awesome on a hot summers day.

Another thing is the cheap and readily available medical health services. Even late at night. I recently had an ear infection and went to see an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist at his private office 10 o’clock at night. When I left at 11pm people were still coming in! And for someone who wears glasses, widely available cheap optometrists are awesome.

4

Beer in convenience stores located 100m apart!!!

Although its not really unique per se, but the dentists are good in Taiwan…apparently the laser eye surgery is pretty good too.

5

The coon wrote [quote]Beer in convenience stores located 100m apart!!! [/quote]
Amen brother. Finally a voice of sanity after all those crap posts about non-alcohol drinks.

Taiwan must have the highest density of booze outlets in the world.

Party on. :laughing:

6

Outside of Taipei you’ll find a ton of local people who haven’t been jaded by wild foreign turds who they (locals) think are out here to make money and split after makin the lthem (locals) think that foreigners (us hahaa) are here to mock them.

The rural spots of Taiwn harbour good people who haven’t made a judgement on what the big city people have seen because due to some of our dumb brethern.

Taiwan has alot of good in it. You just have to look below the surface and if you’ve gotten deeper and you still can’t find any good then it usually means that they’ve been hurt by someone who resembles you. Can you blame the Taiwanese? Look around. Observe. Media (movies/internet)? Bad behavior? Hmmmmm

Humans are humans after all. You aren’t a diamond studded foreigner. You’re just a human (foreigner) no matter how fuckin large and in charge you think you are. Ya get what ya deserve. Ammunity (sp) happens only when the very perseptive people of Taiwan view you as such. Awesome.

My point?

Have you watched the Discovery Channel? This is the easiest way to describe it: Some animals have never had human contact while other have. The ones that have had learnt that Humans = Bad. The ones that haven’t are still open to a soft touch. In other words…especially to the wankers…watch your step. First impressions mean everything and technology isn’t helping much either. I’m here for awhile and I don’t mind stickin my fist in the back of your throat if you’re a cunt. How bout a kiss? Have ya ever been to Glasgow? If you’re here to exploit people then I hope you catch on quickly or you’ll end up ruining it for the rest of us who try to make a life here. We (the people who live here) keep struggling at an explanation but we do’t have one. Yet, we long term peeps have to watch the circle of life (visa’s and age are a bitch, eh?)revolve around the bullshit (so sorry we threw you off the balcony, ya dumb cunt. Next time respect the women and find your own blow) that happens to be tough to endure. Dis ain’t da land ewe cam from, eh?

Peace.

7

An abundance of fresh fruit at very reasonable prices. Try finding that in a sub-arctic country like Canada, where fruit has to be imported ten months out of the year.

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They’d probably think badly of us anyway. In any case, that’s the way of the world, some good some bad.

And here was me foolishly thinking Canadians were all such nice, peace-loving people.

How’s the head? :laughing:

HG

9

Really good cheap food?
Compared to what I used to pay for really shitty lunch in London, this is paradise :smiley:
Ok, that might be pushing it, but you get a really decent meal here for around 100NT$ which just about buys you a triangular sandwhich with egg and cress in the UK (which I wouldn’t eat anyhow).
Sure, there’s some really wierd food here as well, but so far I haven’t had any really bad experiences :slight_smile:

10

being gratuitously positive about Taiwan… now there’s an ability that the experience of living on Planet Taiwan has never required I develop, but I’ll give it a bash in the general spirit of things…

Tool shops:
Having within a 5 min scooter trip of my home no less than 3 tool shops where should the need arise any time between 10am and 10pm I can obtain for example insulated needle nose mole grip pliers, or a passable multimeter, or a set of torx drivers, or several sheets of plastic, a shovel and a box of lime :whistle: at stupidly cheap prices… not to mention the once in a while bargain bin of quality tools destined for EU/US markets that local producers have over stocked and are looking to get rid of cheap…

Opening hours in general:
I still vauguely remember day 2 in Taiwan… I decided to settle my jet lag with a game of football (soccer)[sic] as I stroll down to the sports store I had noticed near my apartment I glanced at my watch and saw it was already 5:08pm… “bugger!” I thought, “they’ll already be closed, I’ll try again tomorrow.” Little did I know… Now, after years in Taiwan, when I go back to the first world, having shops that close at 5pm, even 7pm just pisses me off no end… open at the crack of bloody dawn, then closed by 5pm… lazy sods!.. I far prefer the start later but stay open later philosophy, 10am to 10pm, spot on… strange how those bastards at the bank and post office still manage to have insanely early 3:30pm closing times, even here in the land of 10am-10pm, do they have some kind of international union or something, I mean… sorry… positive… I remember…

TV culture:
whilst it may lead to nation of slack jawed, square eyed, f**king retar… er… shiny, happy, lovely people… It has one fantastic side effect, which is to keep the vast majority of the population, at home, indoors, off the roads and away from the gloriously beautiful high mountain areas… A good general rule of Taiwan is the further away from the people you are, the better it is… so thank god for the turn on, tune in, brain off, TV culture…

alright, that’s it… anymore of this and I may lose it and end up on a Kramer-esque anti Taiwan tirade…

11

[quote=“plasmatron”]being gratuitously positive about Taiwan… now there’s an ability that the experience of living on Planet Taiwan has never required I develop, but I’ll give it a bash in the general spirit of things…[/quote] :laughing: Good for you for giving it a go, Plasmatron! I think you were right to stop where you did, though, and even the last point was getting a bit classic-Plasmatron-ish. :wink:

I’m afraid that for me the main postive points at the moment are simply things which are positive in comparison to the UK.

1 The weather’s better.
2 There’s not nearly so much street crime and random violence.
3 Taiwanese people’s relative lack of a sense of irony, cynicism, and sarcasm is a good thing on the whole. Sometimes Brits get so ironic and cynical that they forget to have any real feelings.

However, there are still a few positive things I feel about Taiwan in its own right, not just compared to the UK.

1 Freedom of religion, and general enthusiasm and religious devotion (though the other side of the coin is that people are sometimes not discriminating and thoughtful enough about religious groups and teachers).
2 Some really beautiful countryside, and gradually increasing efforts to preserve and respect it.
3 Taiwanese people’s general spontaneity and sense of passion (though of course this has a flip side too).

12

Really fit, twenty year-old women who will dance on the bar after two Smirnoff Ice then promptly accompany you home.

Parking on the sidewalk, actually love this.

No speed traps, just memorize where the cameras are and ride your balls off.

13

Wherever your bike breaks down in the city, there’s a repair shop within a few minutes’ pushing distance.

14

The density of geography. I never have to go more than 5 minutes to get anything. Living in suburban America sucks. If you want to buy anything, you have to hop in your car, drive 20 minutes to the shopping complexes and find a parking space every time you go to another store. If you want to get food after 10PM, you’re going to have drive a long way to a Denny’s or something like that. It’s impossible to buy any liquor after 10PM except at a bar, which all close at 12 or 1AM. Some of the small cities in Taiwan (like, say, Fengyuan or Luodong) with that density and smaller size would be really excellent if you could somehow turn them into pedestrian-only cities.

The fruit. The fruit in the NE in the US is boring. I’ll never eat an apple when I can eat mangoes, pineapples, lychees, Asian pears, wax apples, etc. every day.

Friendly people. The people in Yilan are exceptionally friendly. It’s fairly easy to get into long conversations with just about anyone here. And nobody’s going to try to practice their English with you.

Cheap cost of living. Even though the salaries are lower here than back home, it’s made up by the fact that I’m spending $100/month on rent, not $1200. I’m not paying a third of my income to Uncle Sam. I’m not buried under a mountain of credit card debt, car payments, etc.

15

Shopping possible at virtually any time of the day.

Food and drinks available at any time of the day (I don’t mean just convenience stores but also 24h restaurants)

Cheap public transport.

16

Easy to make a living here, not working even 20 hours a week. Awesome. Cheap rent. People generally nice face to face.

17
  • 愛玉 ai4yu4 on ice (that yellowish jelly one finds in night markets)
  • good beef & noodle soup
  • buns in 7-11
  • wintermelon/gourd tea (冬瓜茶)
  • and of course, stinky tofu :hungry: :thumbsup:
18

And then we’ll set Monster on you… :smiley:

19

I’ll second Plasmatraons observation about going to the mountains. Most Taiwanese are “destination oriented”. (not in a negative way - just different) Westerners go on a trip to the mountains to enjoy the trip as a whole and the specific sites along the way. Stopping at those remote mountain streams, finding the hidden natural hot springs and simply enjoying the wildlife (not nightlife - you animals) are unique here. The idea of rushing to get to the single spot in your sights, only to pile out, snap a few pics to prove to your workmates that you went to this particular spot, then rushing back home - what a bore.
I recall a particular incident when I and a friend took our scooters up past Wulai into the National Forest. After leaving the crowds in Wulai and getting onto number 9 southbound, we were cruising slowly along and talking about the beutiful waterfalls and other scenery. Suddenly, we saw a dead and dying huge tree. It was covered with yellow leaves that any nuturist would ponder about in this climate. As I stopped to dig out my camera, the tree literally exploded in a cloud of yellow leaves. Of course, the yellow leaves weren’t leaves at all but simply thousands of yellow canaries. If we hadn’t stopped to take the picture, we would have missed this amazing site. I hadn’t gotten my camera out so I can’t share the pic, but imagine cruising by in the airconditioned car with no idea what is happening around you.
I guess I’m getting carried away (again). Stop and smell the roses. They really need a sniff around here.
EDIT:
After I read this, it seemed a bit negative. I want to point out that different cultures act in different ways, Duh!
This cultural trait, of rushing from place to place, of our local friends operates to the advantage of we who choose to slow down and enjoy the sites. Anyway, that is my point.
As an aside, I might mention that I have met a few folks that love to camp in isolated places that I also like to camp, and for the same reasons. Enjoy the sites and enjoy the remoteness of these areas. They are vastly overlooked and somewaht unique to Taiwan… So much to see and enjoy, and so little time.

20

Speed at which things sometimes can be done. I remember getting ADSL setup the first time when I was in Taipei. A new phone line was installed and the speed at which it was done is personally something Ive never seen done in Australia. He came, he ran the new line in nice and fast and was gone. No bullshit just got it done.