Taiwanese traffic

When I was in Taiwan, I started to develop an addiction. No, not alcohol, cigarettes or even chocolate. No, I started to become addicted to adrenalin.The traffic there is giving me a massive adrenalin-rush. It always appear to me that the Taiwanese are trying to commit mass suicide, and back out of it at the last moment. Also the attitude in the traffic is completely different. As friendly and helpfull as they are in general, as homocidal and aggressive they are in traffic. And I am really talking day and night here, fire and ice, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"...well, you get the idea. There is hardly any consideration with other traffic what so ever. Once my wife and I were driving home from Kaoshiung. Nearby Taichung we got stuck in a traffic jam for no obvious reason (well, I am used to that, since that is common practise here in Holland). Since we had the idea, that we didn't get anywhere if we stayed on this route, we decided to take another route. So, we had to change lanes, to take the next exit. YEAH, RIGHT!!! Changing lanes in traffic jam? IN TAIWAN?? Good luck!!
I did everything that I was suppost to do, turn the signal lights on, move the car in the desired direction a bit already, etc. But do you think that any car would have the courtesy to let me in? They just kept on driving as if they didn't see me. Even when I was already halfway already, they still passed me, even if that meant that they had to drive AROUND me. Now, I did have some experience with Taiwanese traffice and knew a little bit what to expect, but I still was surprised. So,...I just went for it the Taiwanese way:"BOOM = HO!"

And it all looks like there are absolutely no traffic rules. LOOKS, because there sure are rules, surprisingly:

"The bigger the car, the stronger you are". This does suggest a certain hierarchy: as pedestrian you are nothing more than a notch on a gun, a bicycle is a little bit higher in the food chain (since the iron on the bike could cause more damage to your car then some flesh and bones), a Mercedes or Lexus is higher than for example a Honda, and when you are bus- or truckdriver.......yeah, you guessed it, the world is at your feet (or in this case wheels).

The following rule is also very important: If you see a gap, USE it! No matter how small it is, or how dangerous it is. With this in mind the most scooters are driving around like kamikaze-pilots, zig-zagging through the traffic as if Satan himself is chasing them.

For the next rule you need to practise a bit: when someone crosses the street, ALWAYS pass in front of him/her, NEVER behind them. And of course the trick is NOT to hit that person. Scaring the shit out of him is ok. In fact, that is mandatory.

Traffic lights are also funny. All pedestrian lights have a counter, which shows how long the light stays green.

However, does the light change to yellow, during your survival trip to the other side of the road, either run for your life or hit the deck. “Wait a minute…..you said yellow?”. Yes, yellow. Normally people should wait for their light to turn green. But here they wait, especially scooters, for the other light to turn yellow. That way they are already at warp speed when their light turns green.

On some places these lights are also there for cars, like for example in HsinChu. Except, here it is the other way around, and it shows how long the light stays red (after all, we are talking about Taiwan). The fun thing in HsinChu is that on regular basis races are being held by the youth, with earlier mentioned traffic lights as starting point.

As all the above proves, driving in Taiwan does takes some skill. However, when you are planning on driving here, you have to remember one thing: forget everything you ever learned about driving. Traffic rules are being made (and violated) on the spot. The first time I was driving there, I was really following the rules as I learned them in Holland. Not that I am driving like a saint here, but what if you run in Taiwan into a cop who haven’t met his target in tickets yet.
Well, let me tell you, you will stop driving nicely after a few days. You see, in Taiwan, the police is working on real crime, instead of small time traffic violations (unlike in Holland). So, there isn’t much traffic control.
Eventually you will get used to the traffic, slowly or in my case, fast. My wife already said several times already (when we were driving by car or bike): “you really are driving like a Taiwanese already”. Now, I don’t know if I should consider this as an insult or a compliment, but it does show how much I had adapted to the traffic. And once back in Holland, I had a hard time to get used to driving by the rules again.

By the way, do you know that people in Taiwan don’t learn how to drive a car, but how to pass the driving exam. Every morning on my way to school, I passed a driving school.

Well, actually I should put “school”, since it’s nothing more than a parking lot, changed into a track, where the basics of driving are “learned”, like turning in a street, driving backwards in a corner, and all those other VERY important skills. In Holland, all this is learned on the actual road, with “real” traffic around you. In Taiwan it is learned on previous mentioned parking lot, in a specially modified car. The car has little marks on the passengers side of the car, showing you what to do, when to turn etc. For example, when want to park backwards in line, there is a mark, which will tell you, that when that mark is aligned with for instance a lightpole, you need to turn the steering wheel a certain number of times.
So basically, people know how to drive a certain car of a certain driving school, but as soon as they get into another car, they might crash it. You learn how to pass for the exam. Experience you will learn in real life.

Therefore, this way, the worlds best and the worlds worst drivers are being created at the same time. Everyone is always doing their utmost best, with the little driving skills, not to scratch their most precious possessions, that despite the chaos, little accidents happen. Even with that huge amount of kamikaze pilots.
Once we were driving to Taroko National Park, which is in the middle of Taiwan, in the mountains. Since we left a bit later than planned, we ended up in a mist, or actually low clouds. And I am talking near zero visibility, 5 meters or less. And the road was a 2 lane road, or even a 1 ½ way lane. Now, I am not scared easily in the car, but even I was terrified. This was one of the very few occasions that I was actually keeping the speed limit, and sometimes even less. And believe it or not, even under these circumstances I was passed with a speed, even Michael Schumacher would have been scared of. Passing under these conditions either takes nerves of steel OR serious psychiatric help.

You can expect ANYTHING here in traffic. Busses are being passed in a curve on a 2-lane road, driving in the inside lane of hairpin bends, even when the end is not visible. And what if there is another car coming? Well, see the first rule I wrote earlier.

You might wonder, aren’t there any traffic signs, or traffic lights? Sure, they are there, but they are basically just for decoration. People are passing at a double line, U-turns are made at places where it clearly shows that this is not allowed, scooters are driving on places where they are not suppose to drive, etc.
Also when it comes to the cars itself, you can expect everything here. Anything goes, mirrored windows, coloured headlights.

As you might already know (or not), the national mode of transport is the scooter. And yes, in most cases this is the easiest and fastest vehicle. The fun part is that the whole infrastructure is based on this. There are special parking places for scooters, even entire parking garages. There are even special trucks to deliver the scooters to the shops.

Also there are lanes especially for scooters, like the bicycle lanes in Holland. And at the traffic lights usually the first 10, 15 meters are only occupied with scooters.

Another funny thing is the protection of the head on the scooters. A few years ago, the government had decided that everyone on a scooter should wear protection on the head, while driving the scooter. Apparently, they have forgotten to write down a good definition of that protection.

The result is, that even though everyone is actually wearing a helmet, but in some cases they might just as well not wear it at all, since it wouldn’t help anyway. People are wearing some sort of “baseball”- helmet, others are wearing helmets which are 2 or 3 sizes too big, or don’t have a chin strap. I wouldn’t be surprised if I would see someone driving around with a wok on his head. In case of an accident most of these helmets offer just as much protection as a t-shirt is protecting you from the rain. So, basically, the only protection they offer is for fines from the police.

Street names and signs in Taiwan

Sometimes you can go completely crazy there with all those street names and streetsigns. At the beginning, I had so much trouble finding my way around at the beginning. All streetsigns are in Chinese. So you need to memorize and recognize some buildings, and combine them with certain routes and areas. Later you learn to combine the building with the name of the street. And when that happens you are as happy as a kid....You think! After all, we are talking about Taiwan. And Taiwan wouldn't be Taiwan, if there wouldn't be something that can turn any tourist into a mental nutcase. All streetnames can be written in more than 1 way, which would make living in Taiwan more complicated then necessary.

An example would be in place:
One day, I was looking for WenShin Road*. This shouldn't be difficult, I had a map, I had the "Lonely Planet", and I had the faith. In short, all the ingredients were there to end this daring task. Or at least, if it was any country other than Taiwan, it would be all that was needed to get you from A to B successfully. I had looked at the map in advance, so I knew a bit in what area I needed to be, and so I went on my way. After a while I had the idea that I should have been in the area by that time. So I checked the map, a different one this time, and couldn't find WenShin Road anywhere on the map. Also the streetsigns weren't very helpful. So, into another street then, hoping to find a helpful sign. And another street, and again, no useful info. Finally I found the spot (unfortunately not marked with an X). Upto this day I still don't know how I get there, but I guess luck had a lot to do with it.

Afterwards, while I was reconstructing the route, I found out what went wrong. It turned out that WenShin Road, was spelled in 3 (!) different ways. In the "Lonely Planet" it was written as WenShin Road, on the map I looked when I was on the street it was written as WenXin Road, and the streetsign read UenShin Road. It all look almost the same, but if you are there, and driving around, and not sure where to go, and in a complete strange world, then it can be very confusing. Also, consider, that nothing is what it looks like in Taiwan.
So, if you ever have this problem, try to pronounce the streetname, in english. Often you can find your way by the sound of the name.

The Lonely Planet writes the following about this:

"Perverted Romanisation
One traveller wrote to LP to complain about the use of the 'perverted' Wade-Giles Romanisation system in the Taiwan guide. Perverted? A Romanisation system may not be entirely adequate, but can it be described as 'perverted'?
Perhaps. The Wade-Giles system has everyone confused. Even the government officials who enforce its use don't have the foggiest notion of how to Romanise their own names. Street signs in Taipei are inconsistent - one side of the street has on eRomanised name while the opposite side has another. Maps and brochures produced by the Tourism Bureau consistently give different spellings for the same place - 'Hsuehpa' National Park or 'Shei-Pa' National Park?
Let's forget for the moment that Taiwan's capital is really spelled as T'aipei , not Taipei or Taibei. Is it Changrong Rd or Changjung Rd? Keelung or Chilung? Tamsui, Tanshui or Danshuei? Nanking Rd or Nanching Rd? Chiuju Rd, Jeoru Rd or Jiuru Rd? These fun questions ans more await unwary travellers trying to make sense of Taiwanese maps and street signs. Pity the poor postal clerks who have to sort out this mess and make sure that the mail gets delivered to the right place.
Things really start to get interesting when the Taiwanese newspapers take a stab at Romanising the names of people abd places in mainland China. Is the capital of China called Beijing, Peking, Peiching or Peiping? Tourists can visit the ancient city of Xi'an, Hsian or Sian, depending on what mood the editor is in that day.
Did Deng Xiaoping die or was it Teng Hsiaoping? Mao Zedong or Mao Tsetung?
Every now and then someone has the brilliant idea of trying to pursuade the government to drop Wade-Giles in favour of the more accurate Pinyin system. So they seek whichever officials are available, imploring them to make the change. Unfortunately they will soon discover that: (1) no government officials have ever heard of Wade-Giles; (2) they don't know what Pinyin is either, but if mainland China is using it, they definately don't want it; (3) no one is willing to take responsibility for making such change; and finally; no one cares anyway." (source: Lonely Planet, Taiwan issue, 4th edition)

*Can anyone who live in the Taichung area or is visiting that area, please send me a picture of that street sign?

The Taiwanese and the English language

The Taiwanese people are very friendly (just look at my wife YuMei). However, they are also very hard to understand. They can be very friendly and interested, but at the same time very distant and reserved (although this might be more a part of the Chinese character in general, then of the Taiwanese in particular, in my opinion).
Whether that reservation is because of shyness, the language, or a real characteristic I don't know. Quite often, when I walk on the street, people are smiling very friendly, and some of them even say hello. But as soon as you stop and talk to them (in English), they become very shy. Even the ones with the loudest mouth, will confess very softly, that he/she don't speak english. Maybe they are ashamed because of their lack of knowledge in the English language, something which of course is absolutely not necessary.

The other day in the Geant, I wanted to ask one of the employees where I could find something. The poor guy started to panic a bit, because his English was very poor. In the only English words he knew, he told me to wait and follow him. I followed him to one of her colleagues, to whom I repeated my question. She (a girl this time) also panicked a bit, and she also asked me to follow her, this time to the service desk, where I asked my question for the third time. And once again, they hadn't the slightest idea of what I was talking about. Then one of the employees had a brilliant idea. His face lit up, he grabbed the telephone, spoke a few words, and pushed the telephone in my hands. So, there I was, in the Geant in Taichung, surrounded by no less then 5 employees, with the telephone in my hand, where I was talking to the big man upstairs (no, not God), who apparently was the only one who spoke English. So, as you can see, shopping can be an adventure where even Indiana Jones would run away from. (For your info, I never found what I was looking for.)

Still you will be able to see more English in the daily life. Also the streetnames appear in English on the streetsigns, and in MRT in Taipei, the stations are also being broadcasted in English. And nowadays more Taiwanese are studying English. And I must admit, that those who speak English (and aren't shy or unsecure about their English) will grab every opportunity to practise. Sometimes you are being stopped on the street by someone, who is hoping for a short free private lesson.

So, the will to learn English is there with most Taiwanese, and then mainly the younger generation, who start to realise that without English Taiwan will be getting a lot of trouble in the future, in this international world. Everywhere you will see ads where they look for people with English as motherlanguage, to teach English on elementary schools, and also young students from university are looking for private tutoring. Here on campus you can join a "language exchange program", you teach English to a Taiwanese, and he/she teaches you Chinese. A classmate was asked by a guy who wanted to patch up his conversation English. I also was asked by 2 guys who wanted to improve their English. And the other day, a lovely lady working in the Starbucks came up to me, and asked me with a little voice, whether I was an English teacher and what private tutoring would cost.
What unfortunately is the issue in Taiwan is the fact, that a lot of children do learn English, but hardly have any opportunity to practise. Therefore they try in every way possible to practise anyway, and stop you on the street and talk to you.
Most of the parents hardly speak English, or not at all, so the kids only use English only once a week during class.
Brant was teaching English, and he found out how hard it was to teach them. Usually they didn't have any idea what he was talking about, and just nodded their heads, if he asked if they understood. One time he wanted to do "show-and-tell", which is always quite fun for the kids. So he instructed them to bring something from home the next week. That week only 2 or 3 kids actually had brought something, the rest just hadn't understood what he had said.

The strange thing is that there is a national obsession not to learn English but American. Everywhere in Taiwan, Americans are the preferred choice for both teaching English in elementary schools as well as for private tutoring. Probably they have this strange idea, that American is the proper and the only way to speak English, almost like language is an exact science. Al this because of the many American movies and sit-coms on tv.
A funny example is the experience of a classmate of mine from New Zealand. His English was almost the same English as they spoke in the streets of London. Nothing wrong with that, you might say. Still he was frequently corrected by his students (!), because he pronounced a word incorrectly. In an American movie they saw the other day, they pronounced it completely different.
Also have I heard stories about an Italian guy who was fired, because the parents of the kids he was teaching were afraid he would teach them an Italian accent. His English was perfect, by the way.

About teaching English at elementary school, it is true that a lot of children are already been tought English, and also at even younger age. My oldest nephew is being send to an American school for English lessons. And yes, kids at the age of 8 already speak a little bit of English. Here is one example from the real life. I wanted to go to have something to eat at one of the foodstands of which what they offered looked nice. I wanted to order, but the lady had no idea what I was talking about. With expectation she looked at her husband, hoping he was able to help her out. He too didn't have a clue what I was talking about. After that their son was pulled away from his dinner, and put in front of me. He welcomed me in his best English, and asked what I would like to have. After I placed my order, he started enthousiastically to practise his English. He asked me my name, where I was from, how old I was....well, the usual. Of course I asked him the same things, after all, he had to practise. So, there I was, in the busy foodstreet, having a "conversation" with the 9 year old Jerry. And the longer I was talking to him, the taller he became. Ever since that day, whenever I passed by, I said hello to my new friend Jerry. And sometimes you could see his friends looking surprised, jealous that a "wai gou ren" said hi to their friend, and even knew his name. Life can be so satisfying sometimes :)

The other day I was reading an article in a dutch magazine about travelling to Asian countries. It was an interview with the highest diplomatic representative of Taiwan here in Holland, Mrs. Katherina Chang (they don't have an ambassador).
She said the following about the English language in Taiwan: "it already was a obligatory subject in highschool, now also children at the age of 7 are being thought English. The government desks are already bilangual, and even the government is speaking english during meetings sometimes. There are already English speaking taxi drivers drving around in Taipei, recognisable by a special sticker on the window screen. We have a national 24-hour English hotline, and there are numerous English brochures and flyers available about our country. in 2008 English will be our official second language. (She made this comment concerning the return of tourists after the SARS epidemic) (Source: Azie Magazine no. 96, September/ October 2003)*
To be honest Mrs. Chang, I find that a little optimistic. There aren't many people here that speak english, and I don't think that'll change in 2 years. However, I do find it a very good objective, and I really hope I am wrong. I really embrace these developments, and think it would be an excellent impulse for the reclining economy.

* The meaning of this quote might have been slightly changed due to the translation from dutch to english.

View on Taiwan: To love and to hate

Every 3 post or so, you may find a post that is about Taiwan. I got the idea to write about Taiwan, when I stayed there for four months to recover from a depression, after a burnout. I went there on my wife's advice, to see how it was to live (and survive) in Taiwan. This was because I was driving her crazy, by saying a lot how I wanted to move to there (my wife is Taiwanese). I wrote these pieces to send home to the wife and family to let them know I was doing just fine.

I have to make a note, that these articles have been written in the period between 2003 and present, and some things might have changed already. Also, there might be pieces missing, which will be filled in later.
And, even though I will try to give everyone credit for for photo's and such, it might be possible that I have missed someone. If you find your picture in here, please send an e-mail to jcvanrenssen@yahoo.co.uk and I will make sure you will be credited for it or take it down. Also, the pictures I have put up here are just to try to make things more clear, just to emphasise things or just for the fun of it. However, if you think you have a better, more clear, or a funnier picture about that topic, feel free to send it in. Maybe I will post it here. For some topics I am asking for pictures too, since I don't have them. These are also more than welcome.
I hope you will enjoy reading this. I also hope that those who have never been there, will still read this. And if you have any questions, remarks or just comments, feel free to leave a message.

Just like every country, Taiwan has it's habits which might look strange to foreigners. Still, those are often the things that makes a visit to, or living in those countries so interesting. I will try to point out and explain those habits here. Of course I won't know all the details and the deeper thoughts of certain things. Therefore you shouldn't really take things that serious. This is nothing more than the way I see these things.
Oh, and the subtitle would be easy to understand, if you ever have lived in Taiwan, for a short or long period of time.
For me, I always have mixed feelings about Taiwan. When I am there, I always enjoy walking around there, take a sniff on the strange, mystical culture, try all the different food. Still there are also things that can really piss me off. The always present crowds, lack of privacy (especially for a foreigner), the traffic, the language difference, etc.
And still, whether it is when I am there, or when I am back in Holland, I see that the pleasure, and even the aggrevation, are part of the charm of the country. And, even though I never expected it, every time I am back in Holland, I miss Taiwan and even feel a bit homesick. And I hope, that when you read on, you will understand why. And then you will also understand the title.

Maybe I should write down some facts about Taiwan, for those who do not know where it is situated, and/or those who love to gain information about things, which they will never use in the future anyway.
Taiwan is an island in the Pacific Ocean, between China, Japan, and the Phillipines. It is roughly the same size as Holland, but there are 23 million people living there. This means it can be pretty crowded, every now and then. You can devide the island roughly in 3 parts: the western relatively "flat" part, the middle part with the mountain range, and the small coastal strip in the east.
The capital is Taipei in the Northwest, where there are 2,9 million people living, in the city alone. Count Taipei County as well, and you will have 3 million more.
The second city is Kaoshiung in the south, with approximately 1.5 million people. And last but not least, there is Taichung, which is the third city with roughly 800,000 people. This is where my wife YuMei was born, and this is where I spend the 4 months. Therefore the most things mentioned are about this city, unless otherwise stated.
The currency they use is the New Taiwan Dollar (NTD). The exchange rate is at this moment (03 january 2007) Eur 1.00 = 42.650 NTD.



The island is a democracy, and has an elected president, at the moment it is Chen Shui Bian. And even though it is a multiple party democracy, there are only 2 parties really important: the KMT (the KuoMinTan, the party that started it all) and the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party), the party that runs the show at the moment (but not for long anymore, I hope).

The way Taiwan started

I could write down about Taiwan started on which tectonic plates, which dinosaurs walked around there, and who was who in the 13th till 17th century, etc. But basically I think you don't really care, and to be honest, neither do I. Also, I don't know that kind of stuff. But I would like to tell you about the things I know (or looked up), and what is worth telling.

Like the following: Taiwan arose because of a civil war in mainland China. In 1895, war was raging between Japan and China about who owned the rights to the Korean peninsula. Japan won that war with ease over China, and gained control over Korea. And just trew in Taiwan as added bonus. This much to the dislikes of China and the Taiwanese citizens.
Japan ruled firm and fiercefully.

Meanwhile in China, the system of the dynasties has stopped in 1911, and Sun Yat-sen declared the Republic of China.

In 1916 Yuan Shihkai made an attempt to reinstall an emperor. This failed, and a vulnerable peace returned to China.
This was secured by Chiang Kai Shek and his Kuomintang (KMT), although there was a constant treat by the Japanese and the communist rebels.

In the Second World War the KMT and the communist rebels fought side by side against the Japanese surpression. As you all know the USA won this war.

After the war it was business as usual for the KMT and the communists as they fought against eachother again. However, in 1949 the KMT realised that they started to lose this war, and decided to pack their things and leave. The whole KMT and their families, about 600,000 soldiers and 900,00 civilians, crossed the Taiwan Straits to Taiwan, which has been handed back to China after the war. At that moment there were 6 million people living in Taiwan, and they saw their number rising with 1,5 million.
Of course the communists on the mainland didn't like it one bit, and try to regain control over Taiwan through an invasion. This was pushed back, partly bcos of the presence of the US in the Taiwan Straits.

After this the KMT started to rebuild the economy, which has made a enormous downfall because of all those years of war. Because of this rebuilding, Taiwan became one of the "Asian Tigers" in the '60's and even in present days it is this rebuilding that echoes in the present economy.