Reflections on Taipei City

14 Jan 2013 . category: . Comments

At the end of last year, I spent three weeks working in Taipei City, Taiwan, with my trusty iPhone as a travel companion (more on that in a later post). It was an incredible experience, and I’m thrilled I got the opportunity to go. Now that I’m back home, I’m going to reflect on the things I’ve seen and learned while on this trip.

Let’s start with the first one…

No, Shopping Isn’t Always Better There.

It’s tempting to think that with the strength of the US Dollar, a lot of goods we consume in the US are available at a cheaper price there. After all, many of those goods are manufactured in the area, right?

Wrong.

Most electronics are actually more expensive, at least in Taipei City. For example, the 16 GB Nexus 7, a tablet manufactured by Taiwanese giant Asus, retails for US$199 on the American Google Play store. However, in Taiwan, the going rate for the same tablet is NT$8990. With the conversion, that’s roughly US$310–a huge markup.

The story is the same for laptops and phones. In general, consumer electronics are more expensive, even from the Taiwanese brands. My best guess is that while these brands are known for value in the US, they’re the top-of-the-line in the Taiwanese market, and as such, command a higher price.

When it comes to other items like clothing, some of the prices I saw at places like the night markets were tempting. However, the hassle of dealing with customs and sales tax refunds typically outweighed any deals I’d find there.

The Language Barrier Exists, But Can Be Overcome.

Many people in Taipei can speak English, but it’s like saying I could speak Spanish after taking a course in middle school. It’s not anyone’s fault, really–English is a hard language to learn, and there aren’t as many opportunities to practice there compared to, say, the US.

That being said, in Taipei City, it’s possible to work around it. When a salesperson or a shopkeeper saw me coming, they knew what to expect, and would hand me an English menu and/or find an English speaker. The Taipei Metro system (aka MRT) is fully romanized, and systems like Google Maps and Google Translate are a big help.

Probably one of the most rewarding parts of the trip was interacting with our Taiwanese hosts. They all have some fluency in English, but can still occasionally struggle with things like idioms and inflections. Their questions about the language get at not only the core of the English language, but the very nature of communication itself. Through the language, we can learn more about a society’s conventions, norms, and beliefs.

Taipei Is A Bright, Vibrant City (Especially at Night)

On nights I had a hard time sleeping, it wasn’t a big deal to go stroll about the town. Taipei at night is so far removed from anything else I’ve seen in the US. The parts of the city I got to see were clean and well-kept, and since Taiwanese tend to start work late and end the day late, people were still walking about at 10:30pm.

Everywhere I looked (even in streets that I thought were back-alleys), I found lighted neon signs, bright lights, and flashing/scrolling letters. There’s something so very unique about that spectacle and the way it can take up your entire field of view.

Of course, if you’re standing in the street for a little too long, you do run the risk of getting run over by a scooter. Driving in Taipei is a little…spicy. The best way to describe the roads is “organized chaos”. For the most part, the roads are paved and well maintained (I daresay better than the roads back home), and have painted lane lines. However, the lane lines are much like the pirate code–more like guidelines. Traffic flows more like a fluid, cars swerve and cut each other off, and yet, the system works.

There’s an apparent hierarchy on the roads, too. At the top of the food chain are the busses (who’s going to argue with a bus?), followed by the taxis, followed by everyone else. Of course, the scooters go wherever they damn well please, weaving in and out of traffic, occasionally using sidewalks and crosswalks to great effect. One thing’s for sure: I will never complain about drivers in the US–they’ve got nothing on these guys.

Western Culture Does (and Doesn’t) Have a Strong Foothold

In Taipei City, you can find American/Western brands all over the shopping malls and department stores. Brands like Hugo Boss and Citizen and Swarovski dominate the Xinyi district of the city, and I often felt under-dressed as I stepped out onto the street in my graphic tee and jeans from Old Navy. Fast food brands like KFC and Burger King have a huge presence out here, and they routinely have huge lines running out the door.

However, the Taiwanese haven’t taken in Western culture full-bore either. While many signs are in English, it’s not a totally westernized place. Even things like Italian food and Greek Gyros are presented with a unique flair. There is a Costco in town, but there’s plenty of Chinese pharmaceuticals and food stocked within.

While there is a demand for English speakers and Western goods, Taiwan has no interest in becoming part of the Western world–and I think that’s perfectly fine. It’s refreshing to see a society that has a different take on the same things I interact with on a daily basis at home.

In Closing

Taipei was a fantastic place to visit, and I’m glad I went. However, I really wish I’d taken a vacation in the region and spent more time there without having to worry about work and whatnot. It was a great time, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be back again.

To see the album I pulled these photos from, look here

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