Modern Toilet is not a showroom displaying the latest technology invented made for the bathroom. It is a very innovative restaurant with several chains throughout Taiwan as it is popular with the Taiwanese. The entire restaurant was designed to look like a mega wash room without cubicles. Toilet seats are the chairs for customers, a paper dispenser to provide napkins and food served on miniature toilet seats or urinals. Most interestingly, they serve ice cream shaped like a swirl of faeces!
This is an example of 'Disneyization' in Taiwan where the entire restaurant has been designed and themed to maximise the experience of the people.
Growth in tourism in Taiwan has both good and bad sides as with any other countries. Taiwan knows of its potential in tourism as has plans to tap on it. There is greater awareness of one's own culture and the realization of the need to protect such culture. In Taiwan's context, it would be the creation of the Taiwan Aboriginal Culture Park showcasing nine of its indigenous tribes by recreating the living conditions of the people and selling handicrafts made by them. This is one of Taiwan's effort to preserve its culture as their indigenous people are unique to them. There is also the creation of National Parks to protect what is left of nature.
Talking about the tribes, they have dance performances as well. Visitors would sit at their performance and watch it. Often, these performances are cut short to accommodate to the schedules of the the visitors. The part which would interest the visitors the most are performed while the rest would be omitted. This is an erosion of culture as the future generations would only learn of the dance catered to the visitors and not the real significance of the dance.
Tourism is a culprit in commodifying cultures and traditions. Too much emphasis has been placed on bringing in economic benefits that the traditions of the people are left forgotten. Culture cannot be represented just by a souvenir or a performance. A visit to the house cannot show you their way of life. Plain visits would not allow any deep understanding of culture. The indigenous people see the economic benefits in tourism. They want to improve their standards of living. Some would compromise their traditions and values just to earn more money.
The people in Taiwan have similar leisure activities that can be found mostly in other countries. They have cafes for people to sit around, bookstores for avid readers, cinemas for movie junkies and night clubs and pubs for people who love to stay up late. What would set each country apart in terms of their leisure activities are the festivals they hold in esteem.
Taiwan is largely made up of Chinese people. It would not be a surprise that they would celebrate similar festivals as with China and other countries with a large population of Chinese. Some of the major national holidays are:
Founding Day of the Republic of China
Lunar New Year
Memorial Day
Tomb Sweeping day
Dragon Boat Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival
National Day
Founding Day of the Republic of China
It is celebrated on January 1, New Years day, to signify the overthrowing of the Qing Dynasty on 1 January 1912.
Chinese New Year
This is the grandest festival that any Chinese would celebrate. It follows the Chinese lunar calendar and the dates change every year. This festival is held to welcome the birth of a new year and Spring. Everyone wears new clothes on the first day of Chinese New year.
Tomb Sweeping Day
This day is a national holiday, held on 5 April annually. The Taiwanese would visit the tombs of their ancestors and clean it. They would then burn incense and provide offerings as well as burning incense paper into a small chimney built into the tomb.
Beigang Matsu Festival
This festival is held once every year on Matsu’s birthday at her principle temple in Beigang. Devotees would come from all over the island, carrying their local gods on their shoulders on a palanquin as spiritual ambassadors. Firecrackers are set off to scare evil spirits away. Incense paper and sticks would be burned as offering to Matsu. At night, there would be mediums called Dangki performing rituals which would involve putting swords and nail encrusted wooden rods through their bodies.
Dragon Boat Festival
In 221 BC, Qu Yuan, a righteous court official who plotted to overthrow the evil emperor was double crossed by evil court officials. He drowned himself as a form of protest. He was well-liked by the people and they sadden by his demise. They made rice dumplings and threw them into the water to feed the fishes so they would not eat Qu Yuan’s body. Rescue efforts were made by the people who rowed the boats. To commemorate this noble person, the people eat rice dumplings and have Dragon boat races annually.
Dragon boat races
Tasty rice dumplings!
Ghost month
On the first day of the lunar seventh month, it is believed that the gates of hell would open and all the spirits in the nether world would come out. Wedding, businesses and moving of house are halted for the entire month. People would offer the spirits incense money and fruits. They would have a dinner at home on the 15th of the month especially for the spirits. They would set the food on the table to allow the spirits to consume them first before tucking in themselves.
Confucius’ Birthday
The philosopher’s birthday falls on 28 September. Confucian temples would hold solemn rites in traditional costumes and traditional music. There are tickets sold for the ceremony and it must be bought in advance.
Mid-Autumn Festival
Celebrated on the 15th day of the lunar eighth month, people would appreciate the full moon while eating mooncakes. Tales had it that mooncakes were used to hide secret notes which contained secret messages that revolutionaries transmitted to each other without the knowing of the Mongolian ruler. The message was distributed to the Han people using the excuse of an epidemic and that the preventive measure was to eat mooncakes. The message told the Han people to come together on the 15th of the eighth lunar month to overthrow the Mongolian ruler.
When one mentions Taiwan, one would think of its bustling night markets, beautiful sceneries and its natural hot springs. The people are nice and friendly, amiable and gentle. The country is known for being a beautiful place where one can truly relax and unwind. Have a look at the videos below. They are videos portraying what one could look forward to in Taiwan. Over the years, they have shown different sides of Taiwan.
Let's get to know more about Taiwan's culture today!
The Taiwanese are a bunch of friendly and happy people. They would be more than willing to help any visitor in distress on directions.
There is an Indigenous Peoples Employment Rights Protection Act that ensures that at least 1% of of the work force at government agencies, public schools and enterprises with more than a hundred employees. Indigenous senior citizens get allowances, the government subsidizes their healthcare and ensure their rights to medical care.
There is a myriad of religion in Taiwan, as with any other places in the world. However, Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism has always been a large part of Taiwan. Taiwanese are open to the different ideologies and are quite unique in this aspect. You see, they would be a converted Christian and yet hold on to their folk beliefs of other cultures. It is evident that these beliefs are strongly rooted in Taiwanese people. Folk religion is also a huge part of them. They have deities who were actually real people whom they decide to worship for their special qualities in which one should aim to have. One example would be Guan Yu from the Three Kingdoms.
The most popular deity in Taiwan which almost every Taiwanese would know is Matsu, the goddess of the sea which watches over fishermen when they go out to sea. Matsu's birthday is a very important religious event for the whole nation as all the Matsu temples hold celebrations to commemorate and honour the goddess.
As with every other country, Taiwan has its own sets of religious practices as well! The Taiwanese would visit temples when they need help from the deities.
If they need answers from a deity, they would cast divination block (picture above). The question has to be phrased in such a way that it is a "yes or no" question. After asking the question, the person would throw the blocks on the ground. The answer is "yes" if the blocks end up with one flat side up and one flat side down like the picture above. The answer is "no" if both blocks land on the same side (flat or round).
Next, there are the divination sticks. Watch the video below to get a better idea of how it works!
The person would shake a bundle of fortune sticks in a bamboo or wooden cylinder until one stick falls out. There would be a number on each stick. They would take the stick to someone who would give them an oracle verse based on the number on the stick. There would be someone to explain the verse, and explain the possible outcome according to what you asked for. It is quite an interesting experience!
There is also the burning of incense money, incense sticks and offerings of fruits. The burning of incense money is usually when praying to the spirits of ancestors, during funerals or on festive occasions. The picture below shows a few types of incense paper available.
Incense sticks and fruits are mainly offered to deities in the hopes that they would give them some divine assistance.
Despite being primarily a Buddhist nation, the Taiwanese are an accepting bunch of people as they have bars, cafes, bookstores and other places where gays, lesbians and transgenders can hang out. In 2006, Ma Ying-jeou, a mayor of Taiwan then officially waved a rainbow flag and it was the start of an annual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Festival.. The rainbow flag was presented to him by San Francisco's mayor Garin Newson.
Arts is rich in Taiwan. They have some of the world's best classical Chinese art. The National Palace Museum in Taipei has some collection of imperial artefacts that were originally housed in the Forbidden City in Beijing. There are various museums in Taiwan which has collections of wonderful collections of classical Chinese art.
National Palace Museum in Taiwan
The folk arts of Taiwan is unique to them. The temples themselves are works of art with its rich colours and beautiful design. The indigenous groups have wonderful culture of making crafts. The Yami tribe is able to construct a canoe made out of wood without nails or glue. The Bunun, Rukai, Yami and Amis are masters at pottery.
There are Hakka folk songs which which were evolved from the songs that the Hakka predecessors sang while working in tea plantations. The Hakka grand opera was developed from the Hakka traditional opera with tea farming song being the main feature. Like most parts of the world, with the introduction of something new, the old would be forgotten. The Hakka tradition is slowly being forgotten when television programmes were introduced. Lesser people speak Hakka these day and only the older generation of Taiwanese would appreciate these Hakka traditions.
They have puppetry, different types of operas ( Peking opera, Kun opera and Taiwanese opera) as well as other forms of entertainment that would be appreciated only by people of the older generation as the new are simply too fascinated by the influx of newer culture.
Education in Taiwan is highly competitive. According to the National Education Act of Taiwan, it is compulsory for all children to attend school and receive education from the age of six to 15(Preschool to Junior High) as part of mainstream education. The only exceptions are for children with special needs or those with alternative forms of education.
Students attend the Senior High School from the age of 15 to 18. Upon completion of this phase of education, the students can choose to attend either a university or college, or enter a Junior college or institute of technology. They have vocational schools to help students progress in a particular profession of their choice. Some specialisations are business, agriculture, nursing or midwifery. Upon graduation, students can choose to set up their own businesses or continue their education by enrolling into institutes of technology, colleges, junior colleges or universities.
The MOE also offers alternative education for children with special needs and senior citizens. There is also the option of private education whereby students are given a choice of different courses that would help prepare them for the entry examinations for universities. People attend private schools to cultivate hobbies such as flower arrangement or martial arts.
The title above was the catchy slogan used for advertisements to promote Taiwan with the appearance of Jolin Tsai and an old man.
Taiwan is a very nice place. It has beautiful sceneries, nice beaches (there is one without sand but with pebbles) and nice people! Talking about people, did you know that they have 14 indigenous tribes?
The map above shows the location of the indigenous people in Taiwan. Nearly all of these indigenous people speak Mandarin and their own native languages. The languages of these tribes belong to the Austronesian family which amounts to more than a whopping 200 million people worldwide!
The tribe with the greatest population would be the Amis. This is one of the most well-known tribe of Taiwan. It has a population of about 140,000 and they are all over Taiwan, but mainly located in Ami towns and villages along the east coasts from Taitung to Hualian (Lonely planet, 2007). They have a special harvest festival usually held from July to September with joyful songs and dances. It also celebrates the transformation of boys to men.
Next would be the Atayal with about 90,000 people scattered around the northern mountainous area of Taiwan. The men would take their Father's first name as their last name. Their traditional way of life consists of the Slash-and-Burn method of farming and hunting. They have fantastic weaving skills which was important in determining social status for women in the past. The better their weaving skills, the higher her social status. Red symbolises blood, which represent the vitality of life. They have a coming of age ceremony which involves facial tattooing and they still partake in ancestral worship.
The Bunun people have a population of about 40,000 who can be found in the Southern and Central mountainous area of Taiwan. This indigenous group of people have a harvest festival as well. They have a belief that shooting through an animal's ears before hunting would ensure a successful hunting session!
With a population of 25,000, the Truku tribe's village can be visited around the eastern coast of Hualien and in the mountainous region of Nantou County. The Truku people were known for their fantastic skill on hunting, weaving and knitting. Privileged people with facial tattoos shows that they are good in those three skills. Today, they still retain their skills of making knives and shamanistic practices.
The Rukai tribe has about 9,000 people. They have a hierarchy system which consists of nobles and commoners. Commoners can become nobles if they possess great leadership skills, reaping a huge harvest or simply by marrying into the noble family. The lily flower is significant to them. For men, it denotes bravery. For women, it denotes purity. They have a harvest festival which only allows male participants. They would place a millet cake batter on a stone plate to be baked. If it comes out nice and moist, it means that there would be a bountiful harvest with plenty of rain. If it comes out dry and brittle, it means that the year ahead would have little rain, reaping little harvest.
The Puyama tribe has about the same number of people as the Rukai tribe. Did you know that they have eight different sub groups, each with its own tales of origin and legend? Despite these differences in origin, they have the same social organisation. The eldest daughter would inherit the family. It is very different from the usual Chinese tradition whereby males are to be the head of the family after their Father's death. Despite being exposed to Christianity and the Han religion, they have managed to retained their own traditions and values.
The Tsou has a population of about 7,000. They are skilled hunters and it is taboo to eat or hunt bears and leopards.
There are about 87,000 Paiwan people who live in the south of Pingtung. They hold a poisonous snake, Agkistrodon acutus, in high esteem. They hold the Maveleq once every five years, 15 days each time. It is their belief that their ancestors' spirits would come down from Dawu Mountain to join them for a while.
The Saisiyat tribe has about 5,800 people and they have a special ceremony held every other year to commemorate the spirits of the Ta'ia people who claimed that they were the earliest inhabitants of Taiwan. Why is there a need to commemorate them? Well, they do not exist any longer. Legend has it that the Saisiyat people killed them all because the Ta'ia people sexually harrassed the Saisiyat women. After the killing spree, they suffered from bad harvest. Thinking that it was a curse of the anguished souls of the Ta'ia people, they held a special ceremony to appease them.
Next, we have the Yami Tribe with around 3,600 people. They celebrate when they launch a newly built boat, and celebrate the flying fish festival in the spring. The men perform the warrior dance to show the 'man' in them, as well as to show off their beautiful and tone physique. Talk about a nice parade of bodies. They have a dance unique to them, performed by the women who whip their hair back and forth. Could this have been an inspiration for Williow Smith's debut single-'Whip My Hair'?
Watch the video above to see the dance I have mentioned earlier on. I am deeply in awe of the women's ability to whip their hair back and forth without feeling any discomfort. It is amazing how they are able to do it when I feel dizzy just after bending down to pick up a pen from the floor (or maybe it is just me being extremely unhealthy).
At eastern Taiwan, we have the Kavalan people with a population of 1,200. Many of them have grown to be part of the Han because of intermarriages. However, they still retain their distinctive language and traditional values.
Moving on to the Thao with a population of only 660, they have a chief who makes decisions for ceremonies. The position is passed on from Father to Son. In each home, there would be a basket hanging from the corner of a wall. They believe that their ancestors' spirits dwell in there. This is by far, the most interesting form of worship in the home I have came across.
The Sakizaya have about 400 people. They are very similar to the Amis in terms of attire and customs as they have social interactions from way back. One other possible reason is that they had to disguise themselves as the Amis tribe to avoid being killed by the Ching army in the 19th century.
Lastly, we have the Sediq with 5,700 people. They were officially recognised as one of Taiwan's indigenous tribe on May 31, 2008. Before that, they were classified as being part of the Ayatal because they had very similar customs, attire, languages and rituals. They have great weaving and embroidery skills, often forming a star-shaped pattern on a white background.
Now that we have learnt something about the indigenous groups of Taiwan, let's know more about their languages!
The written language used is Chinese. The 'traditional' Chinese characters are used as opposed to the 'simplified' Chinese characters used in mainland China. Though the official language is Mandarin, many Taiwanese communicate in Holo or Hakka. The indigenous people speak their own languages.
73% of the Taiwanese speak in Holo. Hakka is a dialect and it is slowly being forgotten as the young Taiwanese speak Mandarin or Holo. The indigenous people's languages are under the same family as Malay and Hawaiian. The number of speakers of these languages are declining as the new generation of people speak Mandarin or Holo after moving to the cities to work. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has included these languages into the school curriculum in a bid to teach the young generation so that it would not be lost.
Students learn English in schools. However, they are so focused on passing the examinations that they just memorise grammatical patterns of English, rather than mastering conversational English (Lonely Planet, 2007). Therefore, tourists who speak English and not Mandarin would encounter some difficulties in trying to ask for help from students. They have Romanisation of the Chinese language. However, people with different accents would pronounce it properly and it is difficult for them to discern the words. There is HanYu PinYin which was introduced by the mainland China, but it is not practised in Taiwan.
