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By Tamae Seki
Special to the iPulse
Willy Ho, a junior majoring in business management, was born in Taiwan, where he lived for ten years. He then moved to San Francisco with his family before eventually coming to Lynn.
“Taiwan was a great place to live,” said Ho. “There was always tasty food, friendly people, the newest fashions and great weather.”
Growing up in Taiwan, Ho was introduced not only to the culture, but also to the language. He can speak Taiwanese, a language unique to itself and unlike the Chinese languages that most people are familiar with. Ho enjoys learning about new cultures, and is proud of his Taiwanese roots. |
Taiwan’s total land area is only about 36,000 square kilometers; it is shaped like a tobacco leaf that is narrow at both ends. It lies off the southeastern coast of the mainland Asia, across the Taiwan Strait from Mainland China; a solitary island on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean.
To the north lies Japan; to the south is the Philippines. Many airlines fly to Taiwan, helping make it the perfect travel destination.
Taiwan lies on the western edge of the Pacific “rim of fire,” and continuous tectonic movements have created majestic peaks, rolling hills and plains, basins, coastlines and other wonders.
Taiwan sees climates of many types: tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate, providing clear differentiation between the different seasons.
There are about 18,400 species of wildlife on the island, with more than 20 percent belonging to rare or endangered species; among these are the land-locked salmon, Taiwan mountain goat, Formosan rock monkey, Formosan black bear, blue magpie, Mikado pheasant, Hsuehshan grass lizard and many more.
The government has established seven national parks and 13 national scenic areas to preserve Taiwan’s best natural ecological environment and cultural sites.
Take a hike in the splendor and sheer heights of the cliffs at Taroko Gorge; take a ride on the Alishan train, one of only three mountain railways in the world, and experience the breathtaking sunrise and sea of clouds; hike up to the summit of Northeast Asia’s highest peak, Jade Mountain.
Visitors can also soak up the sun in Kending, Asia’s version of Hawaii; stand at the edge of Sun Moon Lake; traipse through the East Rift Valley; or visit the offshore islands of Kinmen and Penghu. It is fun in capital letters as well as an awesome journey of natural discovery.
The cultural aspects are also not to be missed. The blending of Hakka, Taiwanese, indigenous people and mainland Chinese cultures has produced a rich plethora of cultural and social color.
Whether it is religion, architecture, language, living habits, or food, it is just one big exciting melting pot.
Food is the best representative of this cultural mixing and matching. Aside from cuisines from different parts of the mainland such as Zhejiang, Hunan, Guangdong, Yunnan, Shanghai, Beijing, Sichuan, and others, there is also the local Taiwanese cuisine as well as the local delicacies of each area.
Taiwan is a modern industrialised megalopolis clinging to the fringes of an ancient culture; a string of teeming cities at the feet of a glorious mountain range.
Outside Taipei it is clear why Taiwan is known as Ilha Formosa, the ‘beautiful island’. Mountain peaks puncture a sea of clouds, slick black volcanic rock wraps the coastlines, and waterfalls shroud themselves in mist. Taiwan is a computer-generated Chinese watercolor.
There is a diversity of things this beautiful island has to offer, as a rich historical background has provided Taiwan with a multifaceted culture. People from many different places and backgrounds, such as Taiwan’s indigenous people, the southern Fujianese from early China, Hakka immigrants, the Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese, and the recent immigrants from mainland China have all played a role in Taiwan’s development.
Taiwan forms the center of Chinese art and culture, which is not only obvious from the exhaustive collection of cultural relics from past dynasties exhibited in the famous National Palace Museum, but can also be perfectly illustrated by the traditional architecture and folk art found in Taiwan.
While gradually developing a new culture indigenous to Taiwan, they also held on to their respective customs and traditions; as a result, visitors are able to sample indigenous, Taiwanese, and Chinese cultures and even find traces left by the Dutch and the Japanese when traveling in Taiwan.
Source: Lonely Planet, Taiwan Tourism Board
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Little archaeological evidence remains from Taiwan’s early history. People, probably from Austronesia, are thought to have inhabited the island since 10,000 BC with migration from China occurring much later in the 15th century.
During the Age of Discovery of the 16th Century, Western sailors arrived in the Far East to set up colonies and conduct trade.
As Taiwan was located at the conjunction of East Asia and the oceans, as well as being where the Northeast Asian waters meet the Southeast waters, it became the focus of Asian and Western powers that were operating in East Asian waters at the time.
In 1517 Portuguese sailors reached Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa (Beautiful Island). The Dutch invaded in 1624 and built a capital at Tainan.
Two years later they lost the island to a Spanish invasion but returned the favour by booting the Spanish out in 1641.
During the 1660s the Ming and Manchu (Qing) dynasties arrived on the scene, kicking out the Dutch and wrestling one another for control of the island. The Manchus eventually won, making Taiwan a county of Fujian province and triggering a flood of Chinese immigration.
At the end of the 19th century, the Japanese decided to weigh in as well: Taiwan was ceded to them in 1895 following China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War.
The Japanese quashed a republican rebellion organized by the local Chinese population and went on to establish a military base on the island and to promote education and economic development. After Japan’s defeat at the end of WWII, Taiwan was handed back to China.
Source: Lonely Planet, Taiwan Tourism Board |
