Yuck. I thought you were full of shit. Then I talked to my friend today who said that JingShan is like that. Full of gangsters and all about money. Seriously. Taiwan has so many beaches. Just go to another beach. Why deal with that crap?
Send me a PM. I can help you. Help is not cheap in these parts. There’s always a way.
Shit gets done.
You can’t fight e’m. You gotta work with e’m. It’s not the same as where we’re from. But it’s not wrong or bad either. It’s different.
It don’t make much sense, but that’s the way it is.
RESPECT, Mark
Wow, I’m more than a bit surprised by this post. Not that I’m surprised about the gangster element of street business, I mean, that’s just a part of doing business in Taiwan. If you don’t want to open a shop and go through all the legal hassles of opening a legit business, that’s just the price you have to pay.
What surprises me is these racist attitudes in Zhong Jiao. I’ve been surfing out there for 5 years, and have worked with one of the surf shops as a surfing teacher there. In the time that I’ve been out there, I have never experienced any sort of racial behaviour. Then again, I wasn’t starting up a business.
That beach has changed a lot over the past 5 years. When we started surfing out there, there were only a handful of locals. My buddy opened up one of the first surf shops on the north coast. Year after year, surfing became more popular, and then it exploded. In one year, the first 4 shops opened up on the beach. The next year, probably 4 more came in, and with them, a horde of local weekend warriors, looking to float on flat waves.
As with any Taiwanese business, once people realized that money was being made, others had to get their share of it. The JinShan municipality took over the beach last year, and started charging people to do business on the beach. They rented out tents for $3000/month (I think). There was a lottery to decide the location of each shops tent. That was set for the year.
Then, this year, the Taipei municipality put a stop to the whole have to pay for your tent scenario, and took back control of the beach. Now, they may have taken control back from the local municipality, but did they take control back from the gangsters that were making money from it? I doubt it.
My question to you is when was it that you tried to set up your business? If it was last year, then I can see the troubles that you may have encountered, as everyone had to pay, and you possibly missed the lottery for tent position. In that case, they would not have let you just put up a tent anywhere on the beach, but would have told you to go to the shittiest place and set up there. Nobody was impressed by having to jump through all these new hoops and basically be extorted, especially when all the business’ were new, had just chucked a load of cash for their stock of new boards, and were dealing in a business that had a summer time weekend crowd only. Plus, one of the rules was that if you wanted to get your spot on the beach for the summer, you had to rent it for the whole year, including winter when there is no business.
A lot of foreigners out here expect that they are above the laws, or just the natural pecking order out here. IF, you came in and tried to set up business without jumping through all the bullshit hoops that everybody else had to go through, I can understand feelings of resentment towards you. Then there is also the question of communication. How is your Chinese, or your wife’s ability to accurately translate what they were saying. In situations like these, problems too often occur through miscommunication. ’
I’m not saying that this is your fault, but to fully understand your story, there are a lot of variables involved that need to be explored.
Another possible explanation is that in not being able to get their point across to you properly, the local owners informed the beach gangsters, being only fair that anyone there jump through the same hoops. This would be different from personally hiring gangsters to take care of you guys. Instead, just keeping the playing field equal, like when you got your gangster to help you out.
If it’s not a case of misunderstanding, but actual racist attitude, I would be very surprised. Not because this attitude doesn’t exist out here, it sure does. But rather because of the people involved. Generally, the people in the surf culture on the north coast are extremely chill.
Lastly, to you, if you are able to open your business, and to any other surf shop owners that may read this post. Jin Shan is becoming a crazy dangerous place to surf. On the weekends, I see too many shops that are more than willing to rent a board out to a newbie, without giving them instruction on surfing, ocean safety, or surfing etiquette. Then everyone bitches about how the surfers all go after the waves at the same time and crash into others. There is a responsibility that all surf shop owners should take to teach the newbies about the currents. Just 2 minutes about watching the beach so you know where you are and how to get out of a current if you are being pulled out. Teach them basic surfing practices, don’t go directly in front of someone, watch out behind you cause nobody out there knows how to turn and there’s a big freaking fin on the bottom of the board. Give up your position on the wave if someone actually gets the break.
If the surf shops keep letting people go out without any lessons, it’s going to be complete chaos in the water. Every other country deals with surf rage, and if nobody teaches these people how to surf politely, it’s going to go nuts out here.
Spudds, good luck with your business. Look forward to your response.
[quote=“Kenn Loewen”]Wow, I’m more than a bit surprised by this post. Not that I’m surprised about the gangster element of street business, I mean, that’s just a part of doing business in Taiwan. If you don’t want to open a shop and go through all the legal hassles of opening a legit business, that’s just the price you have to pay.
What surprises me is these racist attitudes in Zhong Jiao. I’ve been surfing out there for 5 years, and have worked with one of the surf shops as a surfing teacher there. In the time that I’ve been out there, I have never experienced any sort of racial behaviour. Then again, I wasn’t starting up a business.
That beach has changed a lot over the past 5 years. When we started surfing out there, there were only a handful of locals. My buddy opened up one of the first surf shops on the north coast. Year after year, surfing became more popular, and then it exploded. In one year, the first 4 shops opened up on the beach. The next year, probably 4 more came in, and with them, a horde of local weekend warriors, looking to float on flat waves.
As with any Taiwanese business, once people realized that money was being made, others had to get their share of it. The JinShan municipality took over the beach last year, and started charging people to do business on the beach. They rented out tents for $3000/month (I think). There was a lottery to decide the location of each shops tent. That was set for the year.
Then, this year, the Taipei municipality put a stop to the whole have to pay for your tent scenario, and took back control of the beach. Now, they may have taken control back from the local municipality, but did they take control back from the gangsters that were making money from it? I doubt it.
My question to you is when was it that you tried to set up your business? If it was last year, then I can see the troubles that you may have encountered, as everyone had to pay, and you possibly missed the lottery for tent position. In that case, they would not have let you just put up a tent anywhere on the beach, but would have told you to go to the shittiest place and set up there. Nobody was impressed by having to jump through all these new hoops and basically be extorted, especially when all the business’ were new, had just chucked a load of cash for their stock of new boards, and were dealing in a business that had a summer time weekend crowd only. Plus, one of the rules was that if you wanted to get your spot on the beach for the summer, you had to rent it for the whole year, including winter when there is no business.
A lot of foreigners out here expect that they are above the laws, or just the natural pecking order out here. IF, you came in and tried to set up business without jumping through all the bullshit hoops that everybody else had to go through, I can understand feelings of resentment towards you. Then there is also the question of communication. How is your Chinese, or your wife’s ability to accurately translate what they were saying. In situations like these, problems too often occur through miscommunication. ’
I’m not saying that this is your fault, but to fully understand your story, there are a lot of variables involved that need to be explored.
Another possible explanation is that in not being able to get their point across to you properly, the local owners informed the beach gangsters, being only fair that anyone there jump through the same hoops. This would be different from personally hiring gangsters to take care of you guys. Instead, just keeping the playing field equal, like when you got your gangster to help you out.
If it’s not a case of misunderstanding, but actual racist attitude, I would be very surprised. Not because this attitude doesn’t exist out here, it sure does. But rather because of the people involved. Generally, the people in the surf culture on the north coast are extremely chill.
Lastly, to you, if you are able to open your business, and to any other surf shop owners that may read this post. Jinshan is becoming a crazy dangerous place to surf. On the weekends, I see too many shops that are more than willing to rent a board out to a newbie, without giving them instruction on surfing, ocean safety, or surfing etiquette. Then everyone bitches about how the surfers all go after the waves at the same time and crash into others. There is a responsibility that all surf shop owners should take to teach the newbies about the currents. Just 2 minutes about watching the beach so you know where you are and how to get out of a current if you are being pulled out. Teach them basic surfing practices, don’t go directly in front of someone, watch out behind you cause nobody out there knows how to turn and there’s a big freaking fin on the bottom of the board. Give up your position on the wave if someone actually gets the break.
If the surf shops keep letting people go out without any lessons, it’s going to be complete chaos in the water. Every other country deals with surf rage, and if nobody teaches these people how to surf politely, it’s going to go nuts out here.
Spudds, good luck with your business. Look forward to your response.[/quote]
Hey I totally agree with giving a 2 min. lesson to new riders BUT if it will actually help… I don’t think so… My maderin is good enough that what I heard in Maderin I didn’t like… the reaction of the other people on the beach let me know that for sure it wasn’t good as well… (I was hoping my interpitation was wrong) Now I am doing buisness the shop is open but is totaly worked and run by Taiwanese… My wife and I hang out at the coffe shop that looks like a mexican fort or something… Cause the apperance of a white guy on the beach is too much for them… I am forced to pay a high percentage to my “buisness partner” who does take care of the hiring and paying of the employee’s but his other duties are pretty easy… Being Chinese/ Not being married to a foreinger… I think he is conected cause he destroyed the Union. BUt he has been nice… Without him I would of lost about 200,000 nt with my wife … Not the greatest start to a newly married couple … but it’s only cash I guess… I just wanted to have fun for the summer… THe shop is new… but we were overly friendly at first guessing that we would have some bad additude cause we were new… \but just not this much 5 different groups have approached with lies about why we can’t do buiz… the last one just said … look your white … we don’t like it… go away… The main reason for my post was just a warning for the foriegners in Taiwan. There are allot of buizness opps here… don’t spend allot of money at first… Check it out and no joke get in touch with the local gangsters… or cops (same thing but with uniform) It could save you allot of $$$. IF you are pissed about things like this happening then Show up to jing shan… I’m there almost every day … Not allowed at my tent but I hang at the coffee shop when I’m not on a board… I don’t mind pointing people out and telling the story in detail if there are any vengfull forigen pyros that want to get ride of my compatition.
I can barely understand what you’re saying, but it appears that you’re seeking a foreign person to set fire to your competitors’ property. Is that the case?
How much are you willing to pay for this service?
Hey I had allot of good feedback on the last post… Some new things have came up and i’d like to know wh at people think cause i’m pissed… I know allot of us that surf or chill at beaches get nothing but good vibes from the Taiwanese… (I have heard rumors about some white guys being jumped at Da xi) Don’t know if theres any truth to that or not … But in a nut shell this is what happened before today…
We set up a tent from bamboo on the beach … A couple of times I heard the other surf shop owners yelling things but just ignored it… The plan was for me to skim board this summer and for my wife to rent out our 14 boards … We got so little just so we wouldn’t make too much trouble for the people there… My wife worked at the beach for a guy and is from Danshui… A group of surf shops… Tube, Cool, Pings bus, The 10 surfers and 2 more without English names. One I call 3 nt… cause a beef he started the first day I got there. He has shoulder lenth hair and always wears the same red board shorts every day… The other is a Taiwanese chick and her bf… they have flowers around there sign in front of there tent… I think the sign is green… Anyways … about 6 people came up to talk to my wife at the same time 4 guys and 2 chicks… I thought this was being aggressive and The looks on a few of there faces was just trouble… Anyways they said that they are not saying we can’t do buiz there saying we need a buisness licence and we need to move our tent… cause they have a union… We were new and said ok no problem… Dug up all the bamboo myself moved about 30 feet away from where it was and called an accountant to get a licence she said it would be around 14,000 (affordable) but useless cause it would still be illeagal… Cause the tents on the beach are all illeagal… SO with one of the friendly shops at the beach owed by guys named kevin and Tony … we worked out a deal to rent space in there shop (Totally leagal and advised \by a leagle accountant)… About 3 days later we were aprached by one of the “10 surfers” a new surf shop themselfs… but have surfed Jing shan for a while… I think theres only 7 of them… maybe 3 died or they actually don’t know what 10 means in English… or 10 sounds cooler then 7 … don’t know … Anyways the point is he said to me that We would have to get a licence we said it was taken care of and he said well… actually the main problem with the groups that I have named previously is that she was married to a white guy… To do buisness we would have to 1 get a licence 2. Have a vote to see if we could join the illeagal union…(Started by Spider surf shop and Tube surf shop) And the problem with # 2 is that i’m white and they wouldn’t vote yes so he suggested to move all our boards to another beach… ( not a bad idea) So I was a bit pissed and said is this leagal thats when he said" the gov’t lets us make our own laws here" SO thats when we new no matter what hoops this group of shops were going to give us trouble even with our pathetily small shop it was just that I was white so my wife couldn’t do the buiz… SO we have a buizness parter now that gets a large percent of all money made… He has hired workers for us and bought a tent… my wife goes every day to pick up the money but it totally has ruined the purpose of us having a surf shop…HAVING FUN AT THE BEACH!!! 2 days ago 3 nt guy actually had the balls to ask us for our tent… Yes the same guy who asked us to move there cause he thought it was the shittiest spot on the beach asked us if he can take our tent… Of course I said no … our parter realaid the message and that is what has happend before today.
Today we went to the beach and 3 nt was actually set up right infront of us boxing us in …I went up to talk to him and blew up. Tried to start a fight with him and just wanted to break his face ( I know it’s stupid but i’m stressed out from this guy and he seems to enjoy pushing me further) He wouldn’t fight so I walked away and he yelled something when I was at the other side of the beach… My wifes buiz \parter said sorry it’s \just how taiwanees act with buisness competition and said he will buy us a new tent (better then the home made bamboo thing we made) and set it up in a better spot… And he said he smoothed things out with the guy I tried to fight… BUT the guy did it on purpose… He asked us for our spot we said no so he set directly infront of us forcing us to move… I’m soooooo pissed right now I just want to go nuts man… Anyone with any idea’s??? Should I just say fuck it and let him win this one ??? It will be about 6 - 0 for him at this point… I just don’t want to spend the summer hidding in a coffee shop while this guy pushes my workers and wife around the beach cause now he knows he can get away with it… What do I do??? Smash him??? Pay someone to fire his boards ??? INFO PLEASE !!!
P.S. please remember that i’m not an English teacher…I realize that posting something up thats bound to be read mostly by English teachers many of you are going to be dying to correct my spelling and grammer … I don’t need help with this … Just with the situation please … thanks
P.P.S I realize that some of you may not belive this story… My e-mail is spudjohnston@hotmail.com If you want to come up and rent a board I don’t know where we will be located now because of the new move but you can find me at the coffe shop … white building looks greek or mexican… kool people owners are nice my boards are stored there for now… come in and ask for Aaron you will find me hiding in a corner. I will take you around the beach and prove my story if you don’t belive it … Most surfers there are nice some of the shops are really cool but the ones I’ve mentioned are definatly not… I might buy a shit load of beer and have a party up there soon … I will post it on events … Free beer and free girls if you can get them I will do this after I get things organized and people stop fucking with me at the beach… till then… peace out.
Dont be bullied or intimidated by the wankers. Give back exactly what you get and let them know that you aren’t going to be screwed with
Take a bunch of friends if you need to., I think you made a wrong choice by hiring a supposed gangster buddy, but whats done is done.
You think you know more crazy people than him and his friends do? Go for it. Battle Royal on the beach. Get the wife to call Apple Daily in plenty of time, and TVBS.
If you don’t know enough people who like you enough to go to hospital for you, then think twice.
You’re muscling in on their turf and they’re obviously prepared to fight to get you out.
Me, I’d just find a chiller beach.
[quote=“sandman”]You think you know more crazy people than him and his friends do? Go for it. Battle Royal on the beach. Get the wife to call Apple Daily in plenty of time, and TVBS.
If you don’t know enough people who like you enough to go to hospital for you, then think twice.
You’re muscling in on their turf and they’re obviously prepared to fight to get you out.
Me, I’d just find a chiller beach.[/quote]
The one by the 1st nuclear power plant is lovely and hardly ever crowded.
BTW, have you thought about contacting the tourism board and the Youth Council. A lot of money is being spent now to make Taiwan attractive to young foreign travellers and you may be able to argue that having a whitey on the beach is a good thing. May not help but I would certainly have tried this before I hired a local thug. I would burn down my business before going that route.
Yeah, sounds like you’re in this on their terms now rather than your own. I hope you know how to play the game according to their rules.
And its very unlikely indeed that its “gangsters” you’re dealing with. There isn’t NEARLY enough money in the summer surf business to interest those guys – unless they’re planning to excavate the beach sand to sell to construction companies.
Your guys are just angry thugs and local businessmen doing their things on their beach, their way. By hiring one of them, you’ve joined in with that happy happy band. Hope you know what you’re doing.
Yeah, sounds like you’re in this on their terms now rather than your own. I hope you know how to play the game according to their rules.
And its very unlikely indeed that its “gangsters” you’re dealing with. There isn’t NEARLY enough money in the summer surf business to interest those guys – unless they’re planning to excavate the beach sand to sell to construction companies.
Your guys are just angry thugs and local businessmen doing their things on their beach, their way. By hiring one of them, you’ve joined in with that happy happy band. Hope you know what you’re doing.[/quote]
Mabey I made our new partner sound worse then what he is … My wife used to work for him… He had a surf shop their before but was injured last year so he gave his boards to his ex gf… (who got a new bf and made good money with his boards) He disabled the union that was made by assholes people leave him alone so we are actully able to do the buiz instead of loosing the roughly 150,000 to 200,000 investment… My wife checks the shop daily to make sure how many boards are being rented and whatnot so were not being screwed…
The point is I really didn’t have a choice … I can’t pay a bunch of cash now to move everything to a beach to get kicked off by assholes again… It’s actually the only way to do the buisness at all…
The main reason my wife wanted to do this is cause it would give us a reason to come back to Taiwan every season… See her family … see my friends … loose more cash at the weekly card games ect ect. But I still haven’t told any of my mates… I think this way is better then a gang fight on the beach and fucking up my mates lives here as well… In Canada people woulnd’t do this 1. cause there is law… 2. you learn from an early age if your an asshole people punch you in the face. at least where I grew up they did… Anyways I’m going to keep trying and hang at the coffee shop… and hope to make some of the cash back…
That tourisim thing sounds like a really good idea though… Do you have any contact # for that ??? thanks
Hey Spudd,
Received your PM, but have been really busy, sorry.
Did you do anything out of the ordinary to offend these guys, hold your head up too high, set up shop on one of their spaces, act too cocky, anything?
Are these dudes beach punks or are they part of the bigger picture? Are they Triads, any connection with the Bamboo Union? Your wive’s buisness partner or your paid thug must have some information.
Violence should only be used as a last resort. Sometimes this shit snowballs out of control because of a lack of communication or a gross misunderstanding.
If they are affiliated with the Bamboo Union, I could be of great help to you.
I don’t look too pretty on the beach, but me and a couple of my brothers could pay you a visit and hang out around your tent some afternoon.
Are you a good person, or did you instigate this mess? Honestly, which party is at fault?
It’s summer time and I know your work is seasonal. I wouldn’t ask for any money for this favor, just I kind word whenever my name is mentioned.
Talk to you soon.
Take care, Mark
Is there a way to get more respect from those goons in a peaceful way?
Perhaps you can get a friend to come by and take photos and do a mock interview - then start a rumor that he was there doing an article on your situation? Or that he was there doing an article for a surfing mag? Can you invite your gf’s family and friends to come by and check it out? Show those goons that you have a support network…just some ideas to confuse the goons without starting violence.
BUT: at least you are generating some revenue…and valuable life experience.
[quote=“Ma Ke”]Hey Spudd,
Received your PM, but have been really busy, sorry.
Did you do anything out of the ordinary to offend these guys, hold your head up too high, set up shop on one of their spaces, act too cocky, anything?
Are these dudes beach punks or are they part of the bigger picture? Are they Triads, any connection with the Bamboo Union? Your wive’s buisness partner or your paid thug must have some information.
Violence should only be used as a last resort. Sometimes this shit snowballs out of control because of a lack of communication or a gross misunderstanding.
If they are affiliated with the Bamboo Union, I could be of great help to you.
I don’t look too pretty on the beach, but me and a couple of my brothers could pay you a visit and hang out around your tent some afternoon.
Are you a good person, or did you instigate this mess? Honestly, which party is at fault?
It’s summer time and I know your work is seasonal. I wouldn’t ask for any money for this favor, just I kind word whenever my name is mentioned.
Talk to you soon.
Take care, Mark[/quote]
Hey Mark there is no way I could of done anything to offend thease guys to be this big of a mess… They just really don’t like me … I was really respectful at first… They asked us to move our tent and we said no problem and moved it the next day… They wanted us to get a buizness license that is compleatly useless and illeagal on that beach anyways and we worked out a deal for that as well… THen they just said it was down to a vote and people just don’t like me there… Actually… The worker at Jonny Rose the guys at NSP Kevin, Tony and Gil… and a bunch of otheres have been really cool… My parter is conected… THe guys that have a problem with me arn’t … WHen we moved our tent they asked us to set up beside the local gansters to try to intimidate me… Within a couple of da ys I was drinking beer and chewing beetle nuts with them… Yesterday was our first day of buiz with our new partners… everything went good … we made money… BUT there was a problem with one or 2 of the shops (the ones that are kind of buddies with my partner) that I was not to do buiz on the beach and shouldn’t be near a shop tent…
So I think i’m just not going to hang out at that beach… Theres a coffee shop beside the beach… If anyone reading this shows up there and asks for Aaron … mabey I can get you a deal on boards at my wifes and her partners shop … mabey not… I’ll try and at the least i’ll by the beers… I’m just going to say fuck it … chill at the coffee shop and let my wife and the partner handle it… It’s just too much trouble… Out of principal I want to kick a couple of guys faces in but i’m newly married and i’m sure my wifes parents and mine wouldn’t think it’s responsible for me to get married then go to jail…
But for sure I went to that beach with totaly good intentions and a good heart … only 14 boards… People I recomend to hang with there are… The guys at Sho ongs tents (A chow and A ge) they have there have there own tents starting the 15th of July and my wife Vivi has a tent now that everyone hangs out at …(except me) But thats life sometimes … I just hope this isn’t a big conspiracy to get me away so everyone try to pick up my wife (just joking) my # is 0968-324-349 If you want to come up … I’ve decided that to chill off the beach and let the Taiwanese do the buizness is better… When I get back to Canada i’ll just call immagration on the 2.5 million Tiawanese doing buisness there and suggest surf board rentals when there getting sent back … Peace out and thanks for listening.
Firstly, I would like to commend Kenn for an excellent, informative, and impartial posting regarding the situation at Jin-Shan. I agree with everything he has said, but would also like to offer some additional comments and opinions as well. If you haven’t read his article, please do so first as my article might not be as easy to follow without doing so. Secondly, I would like to thank Bird Walker for the kind words regarding my wife and I, and our shop on the north coast. Yes, in fact, I AM that whitey with the Taiwanese wife!
Before last year, Jin-Shan beach was ignored and unregulated by any government entity although it technically fell under the responsibility of the North Coast Management Agency. No government agencies had the money or the interest to administer or maintain the beach and there was plenty of garbage and fishing boat debris washed up on the beach on a daily basis. The only people that really used the beach were the early surf pioneers of Taiwan of whom most I know personally or are my friends as well. They started opening up surf shops along Tan-Jing road and also rented out boards from their tents set up on the beach. That got the attention of the Jin-Shan City Council, Chamber of Commerce, and local business leaders. A lot of greedy people who had nothing to do with the surfing industry all of a sudden wanted a piece of the action. Last year, Jin-Shan City Council announced to all the owners of the surf shop tents that they would not be able to just freely set up on the beach anymore without approval. A meeting was called and everyone was told that if they wanted the opportunity to have a vendor tent of any type on the beach that they would have to attend the meeting and take part in a lottery system for the limited locations that they were going to allow on the beach for the next year. Basically, you were either in or out. If you went to the meeting, you had a chance to pay and set up shop for a year on the beach in the location that the lottery drawing provided you. If you failed to attend that meeting, you would be out with NO OPPORTUNITY whatsoever to setup until the next year when they would have the vendor lottery again. A few of my Taiwanese friends were extremely pissed off over this and refused to attend the meeting and bow down to the Jin-Shan City Council. They were “out”. Their feelings were something like, “Hey, fuck you! We’ll be damned if we’re going to let you extort a fee from us to do something that we started ourselves based on a love of ocean and surfing life” Therefore, they packed up their tents and walked away in disgust based entirely on the principal of the matter. This year the North Coast Management Agency re-asserted their control over all of the beaches of the north coast. They basically told the Jin-Shan City Council that they were the agency in charge of Jin-Shan beach not the Jin-Shan City Council. Therefore, there was no new lottery, no assigned vendor stall locations, and no fees for setting up shop on the beach. My friends who originally walked away are now back and doing business on the beach as they did in the past when nobody was interested in Jin-Shan beach. So where does that leave us today? Although the North Coast Management Agency is in charge of Jin-Shan beach, it is more in name than anything else. Jin-Shan beach is basically an unregulated piece of beach where the people who are there make their own rules on who can be there and who can’t. The North Coast Management Agency doesn’t have the money, the location, or the personnel to actually manage the beach at Jin-Shan. At my beach, Bai-Sha Wan, they have a huge presence and total control over the beach. For example, nobody can set up a vending tent of any kind without their permission. Every year there is a lottery for a very super limited amount of vendors. I believe it’s five or less. At any rate, the winning vendors are given a specific location on the beach to setup. They are not allowed to move to any other place and they must wear their official vendor badges around their necks at all times. If anybody tries to go out and set up a vendor tent, or a motorcycle with barbecued sausages, drink coolers, they are pounced upon within the first five minutes by the official vendors and told to get lost. If that doesn’t work, the big fat official comes out of his headquarters on one of his quad motorcycles and gets rid of the invaders. I actually took some hamburgers I made in a basket out to the beach to advertise my shop. I wasn’t selling the burgers. I was giving them away for free and telling people where my shop was if they wanted more. I was immediately told by the officials to cease and desist although I wasn’t selling anything. My friend got the same treatment for showing off some nice bikinis and sarong wrap-arounds that he was selling in his shop. He was only advertising as well. This is how it should be working at Jin-Shan, with established rules and regulations, but of course we all know that it isn’t at this time. So, what’s the deal? What’s the plan? Because of lack of money, personnel, and location, the North Coast Management Agency is currently looking for a company, or a volunteer organization, who will accept the responsibility for managing and administering the Jin-Shan beach area at no cost to the agency. Currently Jin-Shan is like an unregulated wild-west outpost with everybody competing for every dollar they can and it will be that way until the North Coast Management Agency steps up to their responsibilities and does something.
WHAT I WOULDN’T HAVE DONE
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I never would have set up a tent business on the beach. It’s not permitted per the law unless you receive permission from the North Coast Management Agency. Regardless, no business license of any kind can overrule the North Coast Management Agency and their policies.
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I would have done my homework regarding the beach and setting up a business before beginning it. I have never been one to follow or support the argument of, “Everyone else is doing it so it must be ok.” OR “Why can’t I if everyone else is doing it.” Other people having illegal shops on the beach doesn’t make mine any less illegal and/or at risk for losing my money if laws suddenly become enforced.
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I would have leased a vacant house (actual building) along Tan-Jing Road like some of the other surf shops and opened a shop there first. Then, I would have put a tent on the beach to compliment my shop. Probably, would have given me more of a right in the eyes of the other vendors to be on the beach. Maybe not. That’s a big maybe. If I didn’t have the money to do this, I wouldn’t have started this endeavor.
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I wouldn’t have gotten other “gangsters or toughs” involved. It would just end up eating away at me and would have made the whole experience that much more unsavory. It would have destroyed the reason I wanted to be at the beach in the first place. In the end, violence and intimidation just begets violence and intimidation. I don’t believe in winners and losers in these types of conflicts anymore. I’m not a tree hugging peace nick. I’m a retired Marine with four combat tours and all the nightmares that go with it.
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I’m a whitey cracker. In the eyes of the Taiwanese / Chinese, that’s all I will ever be. There will be discrimination at all times, positive and negative. However, regardless of how long I stay here, if I attain citizenship, or have children. Myself, and my half-breed children will always be considered foreigners with less rights than real Taiwanese / Chinese. My wife will always be married to a “foreigner”. Right or wrong, this is the reality I face. I won’t be able to do everything a Taiwanese can do and I don’t expect it anymore. I have to accept this although I hate it. It’s also government sponsored as well. They control this through the immigration and work-permit policies. You can’t do any other type of work that is not expressly authorized on your A.R.C. card. This includes any political rallies and even volunteer work of any kind. I don’t have an A.R.C. authorization to put an illegal vending tent on a beach and rent out surfboards. If the local guys at Jin-Shan wanted me gone, all they would have to do is report me to the National Police Agency in charge of foreigners. Without this authorization I could be deported with a nice 5-year ban stamped in my passport if I got caught. A bitter pill to swallow. A guy I know got nailed for teaching roller-blade hockey in a park and got the 5-year ban stamp and was shown the door. No bullshit. Now actually, I have an open work permit that I went through the hassle to obtain, but I still couldn’t put an illegal vending tent on the beach because it’s illegal to do so on all Taiwan beaches without proper authorization.
WHAT NOW?
I would send my wife to the North Coast Management Agency headquarters at Bai-Sha Wan beach and discuss the situation with the officials that are supposed to be in charge. I wouldn’t go myself. They have been known at times to be racist towards whiteys while in an official capacity and while on duty. Try to get them to give you a real vendor’s authorization and badge for vending at Jin-Shan beach. If they won’t, then maybe you could tell on everyone else for being illegal tent squatters, and they might send the brown-shirts to remove everyone off the beach. Then you could rent a real building and move your shop indoors. Or you could just leave and move down the road to what we lovingly call Birth Control Beach. It’s just past Jin-Shan City and sits a few hundred yards from the nuclear power plant outflow. Or you could just keep doing what you’re doing and try not to murder someone in a blind rage of fury when the locals mistreat you. Good luck Spud. I’ll stop by and buy you a beer some time.
Whitey At The Beach
Your shop doesn’t have burgers, man. Half the time you don’t even have coffee!
oh… wait… that wasn’t the point…
attention: before I get sent to the coffee-less hell pits. The above is a joke. Thank yee
Hey! Why did my post telling the OP that his way of handling things was making him look bad get floundered?
You don’t happen to have the # for this North shore agency do you? And I do know what you mean about working illeagaly … the point was that my wife was doing the buisness and they wern’t going to allow it cause I was white… or at least thats what they told us… Anyways Bai shew wan if I spelt that right is a great beach… My buddies and I used to go there cause it was much cleaner then Jing Shan… This year no one has an official vending pass for sure… That was another problem it was people making up their own laws… Actually this year we were one of the firsts hanging out on the beach… they had their union meeting but didn’t invite us… because of my whiteness… I just felt bad cause I can take shit but for my Taiwnese wife being told she can’t do something because of me was too much…
Like I said though it’s better now the union is broke up and I think it’s just the majoraty of the people at Jingshan are there for the cash… The beach looks like a discusting mess some days … The only person I ever see walking around picking shit up is my wife… Yesterday my wife said that there were allot of people chilling around a dead dog for a few hours and no body wanted to clean it up or bury it or anything… I would of … If I was at the beach 
… mabey next year i’ll mention to my wife about Bai shew wan and she can give you some compatition… haha ok take it easy and thanks for the help.
Beach whitey dide, you should get yourself a JFRV. Fuck all that work permit crap.
Spud,
Here you go. Below is the website you can read in English or Chinese.
Hope this helps.
Whitey At The Beach
northguan-nsa.gov.tw/en/[/img]