Taiwan – the ‘quirky’ island



I’ve been living abroad for over 20 years. During this time, I have maintained my interest in all things Taiwanese. I am particularly interested in foreigners’ (the ‘outsiders’) views of the island during the various phases of its economic development. Only fairly recently, perhaps in the last 3 or 4 years, I heard or read about foreigners, in particular Westerners, describing Taiwan as a ‘quirky’ island, and I can’t help thinking it is an impression Taiwan made on the West after the impressive construction of modern technology Taipei 101 and High Speed Rail. Along with the modernity, the old is carefully preserved. And it is the array of old and new cultures, the contrast and the oddity that makes it ‘quirky’.

While I was scanning through photographs of my grandparents for my last post, I came across this one

(Grandma far left, and Grandpa far right. Some of you might be wondering why grandpa is sitting on his own, looking sorry for himself – if you ask, I will tell!)

It was taken in front of the family home of my grandma’s parents in Tainan – a temple called Wan Fu An not too far from the first class historical site Chikan tower. The temple was used as a school - her father was a teacher - and the family resided in the school. The residential part was demolished several years ago but the main part of the temple is preserved and is now a listed building.

It was while searching for information about this temple that I came across this site and there saw these two brilliant ‘oddities’ in the heart of Tainan ‘old town’:

The Wire破屋 (The Wire broken house) Direction here.

And Kinks pub and for more interior details here.

Both these belong to a series of renovated old homes converted to modern day cafes/pubs.

Oh, one tip for anyone is planning a trip to Taiwan – it is currently under a ‘trial and error’ transition stage of ‘The Romanization of Chinese’ and don’t be surprised if you find the name of a place spelt in half a dozen different ways. For example,四重溪 is known to have been signposted as ‘Sichongsi, Shuchunghsi, Ssuhngnghsi, Sichongshi, Sichongxi, and Shih Chunghsi”. If you are worried how you’ll ever get to the place you want to be, don’t, the Taiwanese people are very friendly and helpful, they WILL, help you find the place –it just might not be on the same day! And in your frustration, I suggest you just relax and enjoy the oddities before they all disappear!