This weekend
we went to Tainan and Kaohsiung, which are two cities in the south of Taiwan. We
left Friday afternoon after class and took a 4 hour bus ride to Tainan. We
visited many historical sites including Fort Provintia, Anping Fort and the
Eternal Golden Castle. It was interesting seeing the transition in
architecture, especially at Fort Provintia, which started out in traditional
Dutch style but was then remodeled in the Chinese style. It also felt very odd
to see palm trees next to such a traditional looking Chinese building since I
associate palm trees with other cultures. The juxtaposition of the traditional
Chinese building at Fort Provintia and the palm trees just served to emphasize
all of the colonial transitions that occurred in Taiwan.
Fort Provintia
Fort Anping and the Eternal Golden Garden
We also
visited a local temple in Tainan that was very small and considered to be a
very “simple” temple. However, in my opinion, it seemed incredibly decorative
and quite lavish. Every inch of the temple from the walls to the altars were
covered in colorful drawings and carvings of dragons and other religious
symbols of importance. All the carvings and drawings were painted with bright
colors red and gold. There were 4 altars in total, each with a different God
that was decorated with lots of different colors and fancy clothes. The temples
were very different from the churches seen in America, which are usually pretty
bare and minimalist. There are no bright colors and the only real decoration
and stained glass windows, which are still much plainer than the temples we saw
here.
The next day
we visited Kaohsiung, which is a city that sits by the sea. While we were there
we visited Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center, which houses one of three
Buddha teeth relics. I was really surprised when I saw the center because I was
expecting to see something very simple. However, the center was incredibly
large and quite grand. There were 8 pagodas that lined a long pathway which
lead to a giant, golden Buddha statue. The pagodas signified the different
teachings in Buddhism and had reception areas at their bases. One pagoda could
also be rented out for small weddings or birthday parties. Inside the main
entrance I was surprised by all the commercialism. There were lots of souvenir
shops and there was even a Starbucks. The temples inside the main building were
also very lavish and designed in a very modern fashion. The center seemed sort
of like an amusement park rather than a memorial and seemed to contradict the
teachings of Buddhism which stress a very simple and minimalist life. While the
center was very informative and entertaining to walk through, I think it
strayed a bit too far away from the teachings of Buddhism with its incredibly grandiose
design.
After
visiting the memorial temple, we then went to the Dragon and Tiger pagodas. We
started at the dragon pagoda and exited through the tiger pagoda which
signified our passing through the underworld. These pagodas were also very
colorful and decorated with lots of drawings. It seems like many religious and
historical buildings in Taiwan are much more colorful and decorative than those
in America. In America, our historical landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial and
religious places are usually fairly plain and use neutral colors. However, in
Taiwan, they seem to really like to use bright colors like red and gold to
decorate these types of places and make them stand out from the rest of the
buildings. These historical sites and religious buildings all seemed much more
flashy and it was easy to pick them out from the other buildings, whereas in
America, these places tend to blend in with the city.
Right before
we left for Taipei we stopped by a wedding rehearsal for Dr. Liu’s nephew, who
was getting married that day. While there we met Dr. Liu’s extended family who
were all incredibly hospitable. Even though we were complete strangers and
incredibly underdressed, they made us feel very welcome and were very inviting.
They even gave us all dinner boxes to take with us on the trip back. The
Taiwanese seem much more hospitable than Americans because in America, no one
would invite complete strangers to their wedding just so they could “experience”
a different culture. While we felt like wedding crashers, Dr. Liu’s family
treated us like part of the family and didn’t seem to mind that we came along.
There were also a lot of differences between this Taiwanese wedding and
American weddings. Firstly, the wedding rehearsal was done only 1 hour before
the actual wedding instead of the day before. Also, the father did not give
away the bride, instead she and the groom walked down the aisle together. It is
also customary to give a 红包 (red
envelope) to the bride and groom as well as say a traditional Chinese phrase at
the wedding. My phrase was 祝你们多福多寿
which means, “Wishing you prosperity and longevity.”
While I
witnessed many cultural differences between Taiwan and America on this trip,
there were also many differences between southern and northern Taiwan. Immediately
upon entering the south, the atmosphere felt very different from Taipei. While
Taipei feels very modern and metropolitan, the south felt slightly more
industrial and not as modern. The south reminded me a lot of Beijing and felt
much more Chinese. Just like in Beijing, Tainan and Kaohsiung were a bit
dirtier and don’t have the same type of modern buildings and shops. Overall, there
seemed to be more pollution and I noticed when we walked around there would
often be strange smells from the sewage, which was also reminiscent of China.
The people themselves were also more rambunctious than the people in Taipei. In
the night markets, people would often call out as we walked by and actively try
to make us come over by offering free samples. This felt very reminiscent of my
time in Beijing, where many shopkeepers were very aggressive and would shout
and sometimes physically pull you to their shop. On the other hand Taipei seems
to have more of a Japanese and Western metropolitan feel. At the night markets
in Taipei, very few people called out to us as we walked by their stalls and
were much more subdued.
My trip to
southern Taiwan was both entertaining and informative. I felt like I learned a
lot more about Taiwanese culture and am excited for our next excursion. This
week we will be going to another temple in Taipei which is supposed to be a
very grand temple. I am excited to see how it is different from the “simple”
temple we saw in Tainan.
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