One More Photo for 2017

Posing in front of The Three Graces by Tien-Sheng Pu (1912-1996) at Huashan Park in Taipei

A Recommendation in Taipei

I didn't try their chicken, partly because I had already eaten river eel with onions, ginseng chicken soup, and a gua bao at other vendors around the Huaxi Street Night Market in Taipei. But if I order it someday, I plan to heed their strong recommendation.

Phones, Noodles, and Massages: A Taipei Trifecta

One of those places perfectly suited for buying a phone, eating Tokyo-style noodles, and getting a massage:

Alongside Linsen North Road in Taipei

Admittedly, the building's design, which significantly differs from the other buildings around it, is what catches my eye when I have walked by in the past. Also admittedly, I have not taken advantage of any of the offerings now there.

Public Post-it Wishes in Taipei

At Maji Square, which offers a number of options for shopping and eating, in Taipei there currently is a display featuring Post-it notes.

Instructions recommend: "Write down your xmas wishes and share your ideal life with us!"

And the board was full of neatly placed Post-its.

In most cases the wishers didn't identify themselves, though they apparently had no problem that their various wishes weren't very top secret.

Minimally Mentioned Matters and a Mailbox

I have been lately occupied with matters that I wish had not mattered. They aren't matters which are the type of thing I would typically blog about, and I will probably keep things that way. But at least mentioning the matters that I won't mention later serves as a segue for sharing this recent photo of a mailbox in Taipei:

I wouldn't classify my previously mentioned matters as very top secret. To help reduce any curiosity I may have piqued, I will add that I wouldn't expect them to be especially interesting to most readers.

And I do like the mailbox. Perhaps so will some readers. I don't know if there's anything interesting inside though.

A Hearty Perfume in Taipei

Over six years ago I wrote about some similarities in Taiwanese and Italian food culture. Today in Taipei I saw a promotion reminding me of that post.

More soon. I'm definitely eating well, though I don't now have anything special to report about perfumes.

Cross-Straight Competition at an Asian Supermarket in Texas

Taiwan Beer or Tsingtao?

Assorted Links: Hong Kong Seeks Innovation, Too Much Trump in Trumpchi?, Blaming China for Job Losses, and Panama Cuts Ties with Taiwan

It has been a while since I have done the "assorted links" thing. Time to get back to it with excerpts from four pieces worth a full reading:

1. Natasha Khan's and Enda Curran's piece about a proposed technology park on the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen could inspire debate on a variety of topics such as Hong Kong's integration with mainland China, environmental preservation in China, and strategies for fostering innovation. It also raises the issue that Shenzhen's now sees less advantage to partnering with its neighbor to the south after recent rapid developments:

Shenzhen forged ahead, clearing out most of its old, labor-intensive factories and building high-tech giants like Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. The city’s Nanshan district is a cradle for more than 8,000 technology firms, centered around the vast Shenzhen Hi-Tech Industrial Park, known as SHIP. Entrepreneurs have come from across the world, leading some to question why Guangdong needs to collaborate with Hong Kong on innovation.

“That ship has sailed,’’ said Felix Chung, chairman of Hong Kong’s pro-business Liberal Party. “The plan could have been good 10 years ago but have you seen Shenzhen lately? It has the ability to do so much on its own.”

2. My April Fool's post last year, "Donald Trump to Bring His Chinese Car Brand to the U.S." took advantage of the similarity between Trump's name and the Chinese automaker GAC Motor 's brand Trumpchi. Now that Trump is president, GAC has some very real concerns about the similarity:

Executives at the firm and its parent Guangzhou Automobile Group (601238.SS) say they may now change the Trumpchi brand - which was meant to sound like its Chinese name Chuanqi, which is a play on the word "legendary" and means passing good fortune - after it drew some ridicule at the Detroit auto show in January.

"We saw people were laughing at this and took pictures looking only at this detail, and also put on Facebook or other websites," GAC Motor Design Director Zhang Fan told Reuters. "When we read all that feedback, we realized it might not be very positive promotion for the brand."

I don't know if this blog is one of the "other websites", but I do thank GAC for providing such excellent material. The April Fool's post has received a notable amount of traffic during the past year.

3. William H. Overholt argues that both of the major political parties in the U.S. unfairly blame China when it comes to jobs:

[Politicians of both parties] find it convenient to blame China [for "job declines caused mainly by technology"].

Why? Because interest groups dominate the Washington conversation and both parties are beholden to constituencies with an interest in the post-factual illusion. Democrats depend on unions that see protection of current jobs, not helping workers prepare for the future, as their task. They see every gain for workers in poor countries as a loss for U.S. workers. Preparing the workforce for a changing future could threaten union leaders’ power. . . .

Republicans reject reality for different reasons. If you acknowledge the inexorable disappearance of manufacturing jobs, and the fact (documented by MIT Professor David Autor) that, without government help, whole communities stagnate, then you must authorize the government to analyze the areas of loss and gain, and follow through by spending money to retrain workers and help them move. However, to avoid taxation, wealthy Republican constituents will denounce expanded government authority and expenditures as socialism.

4. No excerpt for the final link since the China Digital Times piece is itself a collection of excerpts with links: "Panama Severs Ties With Taiwan, Pledges Allegiance to China".

Play, Chainsaws, and Smashing Ukeleles in Taiyuan

In a section of Taiyuan with several newer shopping centers, over a month ago I saw the above advertisement for Taiwanese pop star Jolin Tsai's (蔡依林) concert featuring music from her most recent album "Play". A concert poster with a fuller image reveals that Tsai is destroying a disco ball.

Source

I am guessing that Tsai didn't really put herself at risk of being cut by flying disco ball shards, no matter what her feelings towards disco balls may be.

Whatever the case, the video for the song "Play" is remarkable. So much happens that I don't even know where to begin. In the 2014 piece "Asia’s Dancing Queen May Have Given Us the Year’s Best Pop Music Video" in Time, Nolan Feeney highlighted some key parts:

Nudity, aerobics-inspired choreography and fantastical colors all play major roles in the Sims-inspired clip. Also, someone gets hit in the face with a ukelele, so there’s that, too.

The scenes with apparent nudity are appropriately blurred, so the video should be safe for work as long as a company doesn't have a strict ukelele-violence policy. The official YouTube version doesn't include English subtitles, but this video does (may need to click "CC" to turn them on):

For those in the U.S. now wishing they could see the Play World Tour live, you missed a big chance. Tsai performed in Atlantic City earlier this year.

Helmets for Sale in Sanchong

They aren't extra large helmets, but these helmets I saw for sale in Sanchong District, New Taipei City, stand out in their own ways:

Riding Past Taipei's East Gate

I will later follow up on the previous post about a Bioré promotion with a post about some relevant Taiwanese music history. Yes, it turns out there's more to say about those large helmets.

But for now, here is a scene which includes some smaller helmets at Taipei's East Gate (Jingfu Gate):

UV Protection Meets Spaceballs In Taipei

Yesterday at the Xinyi Place shopping area in Taipei, I saw something unusual.

The large shiny helmets, reminiscent of the movie Spaceballs, were hard to miss.

Soon the helmets came off. Yet the activities proceeded as before.

This wasn't a promotion for a Spaceballs sequel. Instead, it was a promotion for lotions with UV protection — a common type of product in a region where many want to keep or make their skin a whiter color — from the Japanese brand Bioré. The young women wearing the helmets offered to apply lotion to the arms of passersby, whether woman, man, or child.

Nothing was available for purchase, but some people had their photos taken with the lotion.

The large helmets appeared to be helpful in attracting attention. Presumably, they represent the lotion's ability to block UV light, which raises a key question I'm not sure Bioré has considered.

How many people would rather buy the helmets?

Taipei 101 Contrasts

Two photos of Taipei 101 taken on Saturday and Sunday from opposite sides of the skyscraper.

Posing in Front of a Taipei Love

Sculpture of Robert Indiana's LOVE design next to the Taipei 101 skyscraper (not in view)

Stars and Stripes on a Building in New Taipei City

The earlier photo of Hello Kitty facial tissues with an American flag theme reminded me of a striking design on a building I stumbled upon two years ago while walking down Lane 185, Zhongzheng Road, Luzhou District, New Taipei City.*

A closer look at the relevant building:

And for good measure, a view from the other direction:

As to why there was a large flag of the U.S. painted on the side of the building, the front of the building and the stores and Christian religious organization inside didn't offer a definitive explanation.

According to Google Street View, the flag was there at least as early as 2009 and still remained as of September, 2015.

That is all I know. If any readers know more, I would be happy to share. While I have seen many designs clearly inspired by the American flag in Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia, seeing a painting of one this large is quite unusual.



*New Taipei City surrounds Taipei City.

Stars and Stripes Hello Kitty Tissues in Taipei

Signs of Japanese and American culture are easy to spot in Taiwan. Why not combine them?

Tissues for sale at a Taipei convenience store

Time Flies in Taipei

At the Central Culture Park (中央藝文公園) in Taipei

Qingnian Road in Tainan, Taiwan

When the U.S. Bombed Tainan, Taiwan: Signs of the Past at the Hayashi Department Store

The Hayashi Department store in Tainan, Taiwan, has several floors filled with a variety of goods for sale. The most recent renovations were completed two years ago, but on the 5th and 6th floors several signs suggest not everything was fixed.

On the top floors, the store provides an explanation (quoted "as is"*):

During the Pacific Wars in WWII, Taiwan was bombed by American's air raid. On March 1st, 1945, the Allied Forces conducted the biggest air raid to Tainan in Taiwan's history, bombing massively around Honcchou (Now Minquan Road) and Suehirochou (Now Zhongzheng Road). The roof and part of the floors were destroyed and government agencies nearby such like Tainan Prefecture Office suffered severe damage. The marks and bullets holes left on the façade of Hayashi Department Store were already repaired during the restoration, but on the top floor visitors can still see the evidence of that ferocious attack.

For those wondering why the U.S. felt inclined to bomb Taiwan during World War II, the last three words of the store's history provided on a lower level are a big hint (quoted "as is"*):

Hayashi Department store was opened on 1932 (year 7 of the Showa Era) and located in West Central District of Tainan. It was known to the Tainan people as "The Five-Stories-House" (Gō-chàn-lâu-á). Upon completion, the building was the second large department store in Taiwan and also the highest in Tainan. Hayashi was the first department store in Tainan with internal lift and other modern equipment. It was also a symbol of Tainan's prosperity and progress milestones during the Japanese colonial period.

The store's website has more details about its history.

I wouldn't have been at all surprised to hear this morning I would soon see an example of how the U.S. has left its mark in Tainan. This isn't what I would have expected though.

* I did fix two punctuation mistakes and added a needed space. Click the links for photos of the original texts which also include Chinese and Japanese versions.

Signs of Tainan's Past

Cemetery in Anping District, Tainan, Taiwan