Taipei 101
Well, of course I never finished chronicling my adventures in Cairo. I went on that trip before I finished blogging about Sudan. That trip followed my trip to Serbia and Russia that I never seemed to finish writing about... notice a pattern yet.
Well, time to start another chapter, and we'll see how far this one gets before I hit the road again...
Right now I'm sitting in my room at the Caesar Park Hotel in Taipei Taiwan, with the bright, white "Taipei Railway Station" sign beaming into my window. The weather is disgusting--9 Celsius according to the station's thermometer, and it's been raining on and off since I arrived here two nights ago. According to the forecast, I'm not going to have a sunny day while I'm here. So much for a glorious, panoramic view from the top of the Taipei 101 tower...
Anyhow, to step back for a moment, I'm here working on the March edition of America Abroad. We're looking at Taiwan in the run-up to the presidential election, and exploring the domestic politics, as well as the challenge of balancing the US-China-Taiwan relationship...
While I was at the bar at Dulles getting prepared for my flight, I struck up a conversation with the bartender, who of course was from Taiwan. It's like the night before my trip to Sudan when I had a Sudanese cab driver in DC. The bartender was a perfectly nice fellow--unlike the Sudanese cab driver--and was happy to talk about his home country that he left in 1984. The one interesting point he made was that he felt Taiwan had become too free. It went from marshall law to democracy too quickly, and he thinks that society has suffered. I don't have a basis for comparison, but from what I've seen so far, this place is doing pretty well.
Taipei reminds me of a cross between Beijing and Shanghai. Not as modern and electric as the newer parts of Shanghai, but has more of a first world feel than Beijing. But, it has more of the horizontal look and feel of Beijing. I do sense an energy here that is different than mainland China. People here seem more vibrant. Beijing in particular has a gloomy feel to it from my experience, I really felt an air of communist oppression there, but here people are wearing hip clothing, smiling, and walking with springs in their steps. Everyone I've interacted with so far has been friendly and eager to help.
In fact, my first morning wandering around the city, I came across a local film crew in 2/28 Park. I stopped to watch the action, and ended up interviewing the director, who then offered to buy me lunch at the "best beef-noodle restaurant" in Taipei. I have to say, it probably was the best beef noodle soup I've had.
Last night I went to the Shinlin Night Market--in the rain--and while it resembled some of the markets in mainland, there was one big difference: no one was harassing me. No one tried to drag me into a store. Not once did I hear "hello, my friend" or "I give you good price." Granted, none of the vendors were selling souvenirs or local crafts. Most of the stores were selling clothing, jewelry, electronics, and other wares, but still, no sales pitches or harassment. I have to say it was refreshing (especially after visiting Khan al Khalili in Cairo, which was one of the most in-your-face markets I've visited).
Other initial observations... I've never seen so many scooters on the road anywhere. It's like they give them away for free or something. I've walked along some streets where there have easily been 100 or more parked in a row, and almost all the same color. I'm not sure if people have their own or if they simply take the closest one--kind of like the bicycle deal in Portland, Oregon. Do they still do that, or did the lawyers finally get to it and kill the practice?
On the subject of scooters, people here seem to obey rules of the road, and driving is a lot less spastic than Shanghai or Beijing. Food is cheap. The last two nights I missed dinner and ended up getting food at the 7-11 a block from the hotel. A couple of sticky buns filled with mystery meat and two cans of beer runs about $3. This afternoon I was wandering through the main rail station, and sat down at the Sushi Express. It's one of those conveyor belt places. Anyhow, I ate as much as I could cram down my throat, and the bill came to $9. Somehow I think I'll be eating there at least one more time before I leave.
Oh, and in case anyone from work reads this--yes I am busy working. I spent more than half the day on the phone and emailing people setting up my meetings and interviews for the next few days. In fact, I need to get back to making a few calls, and then heading out somewhere to try to interview people on the street...
