Treasure Island
Experiencing everything Taipei has to offer
When it comes to unpredictable weather, probably no other city beats Beijing in the spring. Recently, an Internet post ‘How to dress in Beijing this week’ went viral on Chinese social media by tackling the sudden changes of the temperature that have been happening in the capital recently in a humorous way, “Monday: T-shirt and gas mask; Tuesday: hoodie and face mask; Wednesday: sweater and raincoat; Thursday: overcoat; Friday: down jacket.”
Many netizens posted their own experiences with the weather under the post.
“I experienced four seasons over the course of one week,” Wenwen LHH wrote on April 3. “I wore a short sleeve shirt yesterday, but had to change to a down jacket today,” posted netizen Wo Yao Xingfu Wei. However, off the southeastern corner of China lies a beautiful island where people enjoy eating tasty snacks in the sunshine. “Taiwan is actually a treasure island,” Andrew Chen, a friend of mine from Taiwan told me. “I really want to go back home. I miss the good weather and the food there.” The place my friend described sounded like the perfect place to escape for the hotcold weather in Beijing, so I decided to hop on a plane and head there to see things for myself.
Foodie heaven
Taking about Taiwan, the first thing most people think of is food! Enjoying an unparalleled reputation when it comes to snacks and fruit, the island attracts numerous visitors every year looking to satisfy their appetite.
“I would say Taiwan is heaven for me, because I am really into all kinds of tasty food,” Andrew said with the big smile that always breaks out on his face when talking about food.
“People in Taiwan are always coming up with delicious food.”
Before I left, Andrew even made a list of the best places to eat.
The first “must-go” place on the list was the well-known Shilin Night Market, where the food is guaranteed not to let you down.
Located in the northern part of Taipei, Shilin is one of the biggest and the most prominent night markets among the many that are in the city. Boasting more than 500
street vendors, the market has every type of Taiwanese snack imaginable. Recommended by locals and many tourist agencies, this site is always crowded even deep into the night.
“Pineapple buns are my favorite, because they have ice cream hidden inside the bun, which was a big surprise for me!” Hu Xiaoling, a fellow visitor from Beijing that I ran into told me.
“But others are good, too, I love the thin noodles, spicy hot bean curd as well as the Taiwanese sausage with sticky rice.”
A satisfied look on her face, Hu couldn’t stop gushing about the food in the market. However, since there are so many stalls with all types of food, she explained that she was disappointed that she became full after visiting only five stalls.
“I even shared some of the food with my friends, but both of us got too full after we finished our fifth snack,” she smiled.
In addition to food, the night market also sells clothing, accessories and many other kinds of daily necessities, which allows it to be a kind of supermarket, but at a budget price. This is great, because you can go visit some of these other stores after you’ve filled your stomach.
Taiwan shop owners try everything they can to attract customers into their shops; some employees shout through microphones or hand out samples to advertise their wares and even dress up in different costumes of famous characters. Friends and families in Taiwan love to hang out in the
night market. While I was there I saw parents walking around with their 1-year-old and even an old man who was making his way around on crutches to feast on tasty snacks.
“People in Taiwan spend most of their time on making good food and then enjoying it,” Andrew had told me back in Beijing, now I knew what he was talking about.
The Palace Museum, Taipei
Known as one of the most popular tourist sites, the Palace Museum in Taipei is the place that makes Taiwan a literal “treasure” island.
Compared to the Palace Museum in Beijing, which was converted from the living quarters of the emperors of China, the museum in Taipei is focused mainly on the items that once were part of the imperial collection rather than ancient architecture.
With three floors jammed packed with ancient relics, the museum has quite the impressive collection.
One of the exhibitions on the first floor, named The Emperor’s Treasure Chest, featured numerous master-level works of art that had been collected by the royal families during the Ming (1368-1644) to Qing (16441911) dynasties. Up on the second floor, the exhibitions were divided by theme such as
the Tricolor ware figures from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and bronze wine
vessels from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The most famous items though were located on the third floor: the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-shaped Stone. These two items had their own dedicated room that attracted numerous visitors. I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that the two star artworks of the museum were items that looked like food.
The Jadeite Cabbage entered the imperial collection as part of a dowry gift a concubine brought with her when she married the emperor. According to experts, green and white in Chinese can be pronounced as qingbai in Chinese, which sounds also like the word for “purity,” as such the green and white coloring of the jadeite the cabbage was carved from represent the purity of the new bride. Additionally, a locust and a katydid were also carved so that they merge with the green leaves of the cabbage, both these insects are symbols of fertility in China, which represents the idea that the new bride will be able to provide the emperor many children.
Besides its excellent collection, another highlight of the museum is its layout. Exhibition rooms make use of a bright yet soft lighting system that bathed all the relics on display in a natural and comfortable light. This lighting enables visitors to see appreciate the beauty of the objects on display while also protecting the objects from any damage bright lights could cause.
The showcases are also elaborately designed. For example, some ceramic bowls have decorations on the top
and bottom, which means normally you could only see one side or another. To resolve this problem, the designers of the displays have placed the bowls on small glass stands with mirrors underneath them which allows you to see the underside of the bowl at a glance.
Another design decision that impressed me were the display cases, which were designed in different colors and shapes to fit the general color and feel of the entire exhibition. This went a long way toward making the items on display feel in harmony with one another.
Multicultural atmosphere
The island has a very interesting history as at various times it was controlled by the Spanish, Dutch and the Japanese, before finally returning to China’s embrace after World War II. The influence of these various foreign cultures is apparent everywhere. One of the most typical signs of this is that it is easy to find a Japanese restaurant anywhere, many of them inherited from the generation when Taiwan was under Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945. Some of the more older residents of the island also speak Japanese, which they had to learn as children. Living inside this open and multicultural context, locals are quite warm-hearted and friendly to everyone. I noticed this whenever I was taking a taxi and asked the driver about something. Almost every driver I ran into offered my plenty of useful advice when it came to what to see and do. If you speak Chinese, you should be able to pick up some great tips known only to locals and at the same time have a fun conversation that will only add to the fun of your trip.
Rule of thumb
Weather: Hot and humid in the spring and summer with temperatures ranging between 22 and 30 degrees in spring, and as high as 37 or more in summer. What to wear: Light clothing is a must and an umbrella will be useful as the rain can come out of nowhere.