Er, the last thing Taiwan (or anywhere else) needs is 400 million mainland Chinese tourists. Trust me. Be careful what you wish for.
i dont think anyone was wishing for that. a thousand a day is more then any country can handle cept China itself
[gasp] If Taiwan is part of China, then it would make sense for the NPM treasures to stay in Taipei. Actually I doubt TIers would really want the treasures to be shipped back. They would say “We did a better job preserving these treasures than the Red Guards/CCP did to cultural relics in the Cultural Revolution”.
Plus once the treasures are shipped back, what artifacts are going to be placed in the NPM after the treasures are gone? Hmm…maybe some Japanese artifacts or some recent hand-made artifacts created by the TIers themselves.
What a strange post. Are you really speaking from personal experience? That does sound rather painful.
[quote=“alidarbac”]“这位同志充满雷锋精神…” which got everyone on the elevator laughing hysterically.[/quote]Are ya sure they weren’t laughing at your poor Chinese grammar? That would’ve given me a few giggles, too.
Like I’ve said in other posts previously, I may cringe a little at these stories… but only very little. So the mainland Chinese aren’t expert international travellers, can’t identify their salad forks, and may even spit on the sidewalk. So what? There’s no shame in the country bumpkins travelling overseas for the first time; at least we are improving our fates. And perhaps, one day, our children will be the belles of the ball.
But I can only hope they won’t mistaken purchased experience with moral or intellectual superiority.
They were undoubtedly laughing at my poor Chinese. What’s a better translation for “This comrade is full of Lei Feng spirit”?
I believe the worry is that MC tourists will behave with even less regard for the environment than Taiwanese. We really don’t need any more litter to be tossed about thank you very much.
There is the additional issue that relying on country bumpkins will set the tourism industry back just when it was starting to get some momentum to improve. There is no need for hotels and restaurants to internationalize their service, improve their menus, etc. Already we have seen in Alishan merchants selling inferior grade tea to Chinese tourist as high mountain oolong. This sort of rip off is very rare in Taiwan these days but I’m afraid it be return with vigor once the MC tourists come in in force.
They were undoubtedly laughing at my poor Chinese. What’s a better translation for “This comrade is full of Lei Feng spirit”?[/quote]
Awkward to say a person is ‘chongman … jingshen’ in general. Obviously a literal translation of a sentence that makes sense to you in English, but while ‘jinshen’ and ‘spirit’ are similar, they’re not identical. I’d say it as: 这位同志是个活雷锋。 If you really wanted to talk about leifeng jingshen, you’d want to talk about how his actions reflect this, etc.
Perhaps their laughter was due to reflecting upon how Lei Feng’s death trying to save a telegraph pole from drowning summed up the meaninglessness of the sacrifices people were asked to make for the Party in the 1950s and 1960s. Funny if you weren’t there I suppose…
What a strange post. Are you really speaking from personal experience? That does sound rather painful. [/quote]
How so? Yes. Yes.
Never mind what they might do to Taiwan - been to Lijiang recently? 
[gasp] If Taiwan is part of China, then it would make sense for the NPM treasures to stay in Taipei. Actually I doubt TIers would really want the treasures to be shipped back. They would say “We did a better job preserving these treasures than the Red Guards/CCP did to cultural relics in the Cultural Revolution”.
Plus once the treasures are shipped back, what artifacts are going to be placed in the NPM after the treasures are gone? Hmm…maybe some Japanese artifacts or some recent hand-made artifacts created by the TIers themselves.[/quote]
i think that these treasure are fine where they are. they are being well cared for and should remain no matter the political situ?
p.s. got a real laugh outa the “maybe some Japanese artifacts or some recent hand-made artifacts created by the TIers themselves” HAHAHAHA frickin hilarious !!!
What a strange post. Are you really speaking from personal experience? That does sound rather painful. [/quote]
How so? Yes. Yes.[/quote]
You were personally visited by 400 million mainland Chinese? I do apologize. I’m sure we didn’t enjoy it, either.
I just can’t figure out how this is the “last thing” Taiwan needs. I know we’re not informed enough to speak of Taiwan issues unless we’ve visited… and now we’re also told we shouldn’t visit. I still can’t get a tourist visa, and apparently you think that’s a good thing. What a dilemma this represents!
Perhaps we will just all sit quietly and let you tell us what’s good for us and cross-strait relations, as is appropriate for the self-styled ‘Lord’ you claim to be.
[quote]Never mind what they might do to Taiwan - been to Lijiang recently? [/quote]3 years ago, but I understand things can change dramatically. That’s China for ya, the constant changes are amazing. Do you have an informed alternative? Lock up the Chinese in cages so we don’t invade the tourist spaces you’ve already claimed?
I was in Paris, Florence, and Rome over the summer, and at least Paris/Florence seemed to manage their mainland tourist populations just fine. And even if Lijiang has gone to hell in the 3 years since I’ve been there, I’m reasonably sure it’d still be an improvement over Rome.
Posted: Today at 8:23 Post subject: the Chinois are a coming SQUEAL IGNORE QUOTE EDIT
the Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming. I personally think (and of course thats just me folks, no need for hate mail and minuetae hashers as yet) that Taiwan should open itself up to Mainland Chinese tourists. We need to defuse the tension across the straits. Let your average Chinese know about Taiwan and its people as friends not as enemies. Although there is going to be technical problems. Cultural problems. The mainlanders are going to look like Taiwanese but act different, etc, etc etc. There are going to be issues, but Taiwan cant be ostrich like and just continue to refuse mainland Tourists. More then a Million Taiwanese live in China apparently. Lets let the average Chinese come here and see for themselves a different ‘country’ then theirs.
i predict within a year or two, regular charter flights of the same airlines to the same destinations as currently practiced on holidays. Those will start as twice a week kind of things, progressing to once daily soon enough. And it wont be long before ANYONE can fly on those direct flights. Wont be long before regular Chinese citizens can get 30 day visas and all that stuff.
will there be problems? yes. Will it perhaps change the underlying Taiwanese-ness of Taiwan? Yes. Is that a good thing? Yes and no. The Chinese tourists may not be desirable to all, but in the long run, Taiwan cant avoid China forever. WE have to interact with China and hopefully only in peaceful and mutually agreeable ways.
above is from my other thread “the chinois are a coming” (which nobody has bothered to reply to i guess cuz they dont know that chinois means chinese? )
Don’t know why, but I don’t see your other thread.
I think your position makes absolute sense. I don’t know how anyone but the most extremist can argue otherwise. Whatever the ultimate solution to “One China” proves to be, there’s no way it will last until both sides of the strait knows what they’re agreeing to. As I’ve said before, if Taiwanese/mainland Chinese mingle en masse and still find differences outweigh similarities, then independence is the way to go. The current ridiculous political wall must eventually fall.
But as long as CSB is in office, I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of your predictions will not come to fruition.
PS. How about getting rid of the requirement that cross-strait “direct” flights have to circle over Hong Kong airspace?
[quote=“cctang”]Don’t know why, but I don’t see your other thread.
I think your position makes absolute sense. I don’t know how anyone but the most extremist can argue otherwise. Whatever the ultimate solution to “One China” proves to be, there’s no way it will last until both sides of the strait knows what they’re agreeing to. As I’ve said before, if Taiwanese/mainland Chinese mingle en masse and still find differences outweigh similarities, then independence is the way to go. The current ridiculous political wall must eventually fall.
But as long as CSB is in office, I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of your predictions will not come to fruition.
PS. How about getting rid of the requirement that cross-strait “direct” flights have to circle over Hong Kong airspace?[/quote]
they currently only just skirt hongkongs airspace. and there is talk to allow a route thru cheju airspace for flights from northern china. this all makes sense to me.
i think pretty soon most mainlanders will be able to stay in Taiwan with not much more restrictions then any other “foreigner” in Taiwan visa wise. Chinese are treated as “foreign” in the sense of the two different governments. Although special (non-discriminatory) consideration may be given later? Like they are talking about using the Taipei domestic airport for China flights?
the other thread is in LIVING IN TAIWAN
I would love to see that day. As it is, mainlanders are subject to the most restrictive policies you can possibly imagine. Whether travelling as tourists or the spouses of Taiwanese, mainlanders are subject to rules no one else has to.
This has been the status quo for decades. I’m not sure where your optimism comes from, but if only CSB had the LP to follow through and implement what you described!
They were undoubtedly laughing at my poor Chinese. What’s a better translation for “This comrade is full of Lei Feng spirit”?[/quote]
Awkward to say a person is ‘chongman … jingshen’ in general. Obviously a literal translation of a sentence that makes sense to you in English, but while ‘jinshen’ and ‘spirit’ are similar, they’re not identical. I’d say it as: 这位同志是个活雷锋。 If you really wanted to talk about leifeng jingshen, you’d want to talk about how his actions reflect this, etc.[/quote]
I’ll take you on your word that chongman doesn’t go with jingshen. I still remember a really painful conversation class I had several years ago where we had to talk about Lei Feng jingshen and what we think it is and whether anybody in China still embodies it.
Perhaps I should have kept it more on point, something like, 我们一定要彻底毁灭国民党，解放台湾? To my non-native ear, something like “He is a living Lei Feng” lacks that revolutionary je ne sais quoi that completes the joke.
well, Chinese are not known for ripping of everyone else, are they?
So they come to Taiwan and expect what?
Maybe TIers can put a board on the stand saying “We are Taiwanese, so our products are real”
Uhm, people speak Chinese here?
[quote=“tommy525”]
i think pretty soon most mainlanders will be able to stay in Taiwan with not much more restrictions then any other “foreigner” in Taiwan visa wise. [/quote]
Well, Taiwan can expect to have the same problems with mainland “tourists” as Singapore.
You mean they chew gum and spit on the streets of Singapore as well.