Taipei: A City of Convenience

When visitors come to Taiwan, they often marvel at the usability aspect of this sleepless city. Shopping malls are open till 10pm (regardless if it is Sunday or not), you can easily find breakfast places that open at 3am and every street corner is at least populated with a 7-11 or a Family Mart convenient store. You can find Michelin 1 star quality restaurant like Ding Tai Fung at unbelievably cheap price – Great C/P value.

MRTs are clean, efficient, and more importantly, people stand on the right side instinctively so that those in a hurry can get through quickly on an escalator.

The city is always standing by.

Regardless of how long the opening hours or the working hours of the people here, the thing that visitors remember the most is the warmth of Taiwanese people.

English fluency is very high among young people, and even if they don’t understand your language, they will use a classic Pictionary method of helping you find your way. Or they simply bring you to wherever you need to go. If they don’t know it themselves, they will find someone else who can help you. You get the idea.

Perhaps it is the lack of recognition on an international level (Taiwan is technically not regarded as a country by United Nations, despite its independent operation and governance from China), sometimes Taiwanese people are overtly humble or quiet about politics and its history and try to win people’s recognition simply by their willingness to help.

“Politics? We don’t talk about politics here in Taiwan. We have no preferences.”

“Do you know Taiwan? It’s a small island next to China. Not Thailand.”

“Oh my parents are from Taiwan, but I am from California.”

These are some of the things that I have heard when people introduce Taiwan to other foreigners.

It is as if a part of them is missing and segmented.

Lost and confounded by their roots and what they are told to know.

It is as if the world out there is always better, and sometimes, self-deprecation becomes fundamental and necessary just to be liked by others. The moon always seems to be rounder on the other side of the world.

However, a country with culture has to have its own attitude.

The Chinese invented tea drinking and yet many now regard the Japanese as the true master of tea ceremony. The Japanese have elevated the spirit of tea drinking to another level of art and philosophy. Even the notion of “Wabi-Sabi” – a sense of transience and imperfection, has become a major influence on today’s architecture and aesthetic preference.

It doesn't matter what the past is, knowing where it leads to is sufficient.

There is so much more to a country that is merely known to have invented Bubble tea.

On our national day today, what is Taiwan’s attitude?