I am writing from Hualian (Eastern Taiwan) and Taipei, Taiwan. This is after the Chinese central government extended the Spring Festival holiday and the Shanghai Municipal government delayed the opening of businesses even more until February 9, because the coronavirus is really doing a number on the country.
Taiwan only has 10 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of this writing, with almost 200 cases in Shanghai and counting. One death in Shanghai: It’s mainly been older people and or individuals with pre-existing conditions passing away, but it’s hard to tell who the rest of the people are. Facemasks are no longer readily available in Taiwan, with the government limiting everyone to purchasing only 1-3 masks per store per day, and forbidding the export of masks to China. Weird flex but ok. In addition, I will only be able to bring up to 5 boxes of facemasks (50 per box) to China, not that I can find that many anymore.
Forget about the virus, I’m just worried that there won’t be enough food when I get back, but from what I can tell online at least some people seem to be out and about back in Shanghai, much to the detriment of local quarantine efforts. It’s hard to keep people indoors for more than a week.
Anyways, I was in Taiwan for Christmas as well, so here is a two-part photo essay combining those times and the current stay. Enjoy!
Oyster pancake in the night market, which is a pancake made of egg, spinach, yam powder/paste and oysters with some orange sauce added.
Night market, where I had other food like fried chicken, pork’s blood cake, bird’s eggs, etc.
F-16s climb into the blue sky from a Taiwanese base in Hualian
Beach in Hualian
Not so appealing – grab a doll, except it’s a cockroach
Cats on rooftops of Japanese colonial era houses – Taiwan was a Japanese colony from the end of the Sino-Japanese War in 1895 to the end of World War II in 1945. It retains a lot of Japanese influence even today
More Japanese houses, now owned by the Taiwanese government/military
Election posters for Han Guo-Yu, who did not win, above a betelnut stand, a common sight in Taiwan
More Japanese colonial architecture, which later became an officer’s club for the American military after the end of WWII
Pine needle juice, which was pretty refreshing
Monkeys in the mountains
Part II to come next time…
It’s really fascinating how well preserved Japanese architecture is in Taiwan. It’s like they preserved a snapshot of the Meiji period, which has long since been destroyed by wars and earthquakes in Japan. You see examples of vernacular architecture in the same form as Tokyo Railway Station, but in a wider variety of applications. It also seems very different from the leftover Japanese architecture in Northeast Mainland, which have a significantly more Art Deco / Western flavor.