Tainan

來到台南有時候彷彿回到了家。



Every Chinese New Year, I will head to the south of Taiwan with my mother (sometimes the whole family, but not always). We'll meet her family, with all of my cousins and uncles (my mother only has brothers). After being in the states for two New Years in a row, I finally return to this strange yet familiar place.

Stepping off the high speed rail, the first thing I notice is the balmy weather, with a light breeze and perfect humidity. Although I've been to both Taipei and Tainan (their names mean North Taiwan and South Taiwan, respectively) during the New Year season, the mood of the south parallels their weather. A middle aged woman tows a suitcase the cackles on the tiles of the station as her other hand sways gently, gingerly grasping a delicate, wrinkled hand. The 老阿媽 ("grandmother")trods along next to her, smiling to the other passengers.

For the homegrown Taiwan folk, food and drink are virtually indispensable to living. It's better if you can get it cheap, too.



For 20 NT (that's about 70 cents), you receive 700mL of homebrewed black tea still steaming from a pot mixed with ice and sugar. Wait. And your pick of 玻霸 ("boba," or you can also ask for 珍珠, which gives you a smaller kind) Yakult, aloe vera, 仙草(Fairy Grass... which is a type of gelatin, but sounds like a new form of marijuana), 愛玉 ("love jade, which is also a type of gelatin), plum preserve, or lemons. Or wait, let's go with half the sugar, hald the ice, and maybe some 蜜餞 (generally sour fruit preserved in sugar). 老闆娘 ("the boss lady") will pull out a small plastic cup to give you a sip first while wishing you a happy new year in a thick Taiwanese accent. If you grimace, she'll remake your drink. Maybe this time you want green tea, or oolong tea, or pu-er tea... maybe you're in the mood for Earl Gray, or possibly darjeeling...

As I take my drink and leave with my cousins, the lady stalls us and asks us how the family is. My cousins banter a little more until another customer comes along, eating 豆花 ("bean flower," which is a type of tofu) from a small tub and balancing 蝦捲 (fried shrimp in batter) in the other hand. Distracted, 老闆娘 turns and asks her where she got the food so she can buy some later for her kids. Most of my favorite shops are family run, with children playing in the background. This is one of them.

Tainan is advertised as a historical city. What's more intriguing is that history remains alive and kicking, still not subsumed by globalization or new generations. Instead of being homogenous and modern, the city's culture resembles dozens of layers of paint drawn haphazardly over the same canvas, sometimes mixing to colors that are one part exquisite and one part... awkward. Uncomfortably awkward.

Fashion is one wonderful example. An older generation of Tainanese still dash around in scooters, in flip flops, shorts, and undershirts. A generation of Tainanese youth wear a mysterious mixture of torn jeans, short skirts, bling, T-shirts with incorrectly spelled English, huge earrings, skating shoes, and/or caps. But they're scooching around in flip flops. Then there's the new professional look, with long, tight sweaters that might double as dresses if there were a need; collared shirts tucked under an array of jackets, sweaters, and coats; nicer shoes... but they're hairstyle looks like it came out of manga. Purple T-shirts with green pants, hanging down to show white boxers... oops! Briefs. Brand names are having a shouting match on the street: Adidas, Nike, New Balance, and "Rebok." Lacoste, Hugo Boss, and "Tefany." Nissan, Mazda, Volkswagen, as well as obscure ones like "Zace."

What's intriguing is that all of this occurs together in Tainan's city center, without the sifting and sorting that usually happens. Tourists are clearly a little baffled.

Part of the reason for Tainan's heterogeneity is its colonial history. Dutch architecture can be found in some portions of the city, a legacy from its identity as a trading post. I visit an old street with my mother, decorated as if it were lifted out of Japan. Well, it wouldn't be surprising, given the fifty years that Taiwan spent under Japanese rule. Almost every native born Taiwanese over the age of sixty can speak Japanese. But Japan's cultural influence has struck Tainan's youth as well.



"哈日" refers to the cultural consumption of all things Japanese. I think it swings from an understandable interest in the things of manga, anime, and those fantastically popular things of this age.

Things of note:
-hot springs ("mud spring") and complicated family matters
-surrouding a pot of kimchi and lots of food...
-having allie announced to a whole dinner table
-majong!
-the open gate before the toll gate
-flowers, mushrooms (jianghua), and strolling the park
-5021
-林阿伯
-the working class, touring the new factories, stories of facotry closing
-my wild cousin
-my oldest uncle's family and their quirkiness
-even if Taiwan were to become subsumed politically into Chinese territory, I wonder if this subculture will ever follow suit.

EDIT (20 Feb 2009)
Now that I'm actually *in* Japan, I am reminded of a paper I read on Taiwan's dissociative identity as well as its touchy political identity. Maybe more on this later. It's interesting to see which parts of Taiwan have been borrowed (there are enough Taiwanese restaurants to be shocking here... not what I expected), and which parts Taiwan has borrowed from Japan in turn.