Taipei, Taiwan

Time of visit: Jan-Mar 2023

Taiwan, in English-language tourism campaigns, markets itself as the “Heart of Asia,” emphasizing its proximity to other Asian tourist hotspots like Thailand and Japan. But using geography as a selling point feels like a missed opportunity. After all, Haiti is the “Heart of the Americas,” yet you hardly see Expedia spamming inboxes with flight deals to Port-au-Prince.

Where the statement really applies, I think, is to the people. Taiwanese culture feels “spiritually feminine” - an affinity for cuteness, decorum, and indirectness, no doubt taken from Japan, percolates through society from top to bottom.

From an outsider’s perspective, the Taiwanese Mandarin accent is soft and reserved; the prevalence of sentence-final ”softening particles” (啦, 耶, 喔) and deretroflexion (e.g. “ch” (ʈʂʰ) -> “ts” (tsʰ)) have led mainland Chinese to describe it as 嗲 (cutesy), making the women the objects of fetishization and the men objects of emasculation. Conversations are more polite and indirect, with requests unfailingly preempted by a 不好意思 (excuse me) or 麻烦你 (may I trouble you to…) - expressions less heard in the mainland.

Walking around the streets of Taipei, both Japanese and indigenous species of large-eyed cartoon mascots are ubiquitous. They are used not only to lure couples into arcades but also featured in subway signage, political campaigns, and on trash cans.

But thinking of Taiwan as "Chinese-speaking Japan" sells it short. Taiwanese people defy the Japanese blueprint with their open-mindedness and friendliness, never having adopted the rigidity of their former colonizers.

The subway and bus system house leisurely conversation, a comfortable middle ground between the strained pindrop silence of Tokyo and the anything-goes chaos of New York. Above ground, a the din of motorcycle and moped engines gives the city a somewhat Southeast Asian feel, but a lack of honking maintains overall impression of civility.

Taipei’s urban environment mostly consists of mildewy, aging buildings constructed in the 60s-80s during the country’s economic boom. “Bathroom tile” exteriors make building facades resilient to the punishing tropical climate.

Despite everything looking old, public spaces and streets are well-maintained and clean.

The three square miles of Xinyi District (信义区) is home to all the glass-and-steel hallmarks of modernity: Prada stores, PwC offices, and Western-style bars and clubs. It lends Taipei its skyline as well as the title of a “modern metropolis.” Attitudes towards the neighborhood among locals I met range from disdain - “it stinks of money” - to admiration - “did you know Jay Chou (pop star) lives there?”

Like the rest of East Asia, Taiwan loves to eat. The affordability of food relative to local purchasing power fuels a vibrant food scene that reflects the country’s history. Night markets, originating in southern China, have come to be associated almost exclusviely with Taiwan. And of course, as the only country that loves Japan more than Japan, there are a huge number of Japanese restaurants, with sushi, ramen, donburi, and izakayas on every corner.

Taiwan was originally inhabited by indigenous Austronesian groups, but today the island is predominantly populated by Han Chinese who arrived in two major historical waves. Although there is evidence of Han settlement dating back to the 11th century, the first significant wave was a steady settler-colonial movement from nearby Fujian and Guangdong that began in the 17th century and accelerated throughout the Qing dynasty. These settlers occupied the island’s fertile western plains, eventually assimilating the Plains Indigenous groups and pushing other tribes into the interior highlands, where most recognized indigenous communities remain today, making up just 2.5% of the population.

After a 50-year period of Japanese colonization and the Kuomintang defeat in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, a second wave of politically-motivated migration brought a second wave of Han from all over China. But walking around the streets of Taipei, I couldn’t help but feel like a significant portion of people looked a bit different from your average Han Chinese, with slightly rounder features and tanner skin. Upon further research, I found that the average Taiwanese has around 5-10% Austronesian admixture (!), mostly due to the assimilation of the Plains Indigenous groups who intermarried with early Han settlers.

Taipei is a wonderful, developed, peaceful city with friendly people, vibrant street life, and a comfortable mix of Western amenities and Chinese sensibilities. It’s a truly special place and I can only hope that the powers that be hope to keep it that way.