This is interesting because Taiwan is more modernized, and has developed faster than China.
But the difference I want to focus on is one my friend often received in her emails. She is Taiwanese and would often receive chain letters comparing Taiwan and China. They always depicted China as a crazy backwards country that new no manners. For example, pictures of kids peeing on a tree in the newly built Disney Land. Or photos of the most disgusting toilets you could ever imagine, with captions like, "Do you really want to go to the bathroom in mainland China?"
Today, as I was walking home from a main street I passed by a toy shop for children. I heard a woman's voice behind a car parked right in front of the shop. She muttered something and then... "right here" (I'm translating of course). I looked over and in plain sight I saw her son with his pants down around his but as he was aiming his pistol. What the hell!? This was two feet from the stores front door and on the side of the road. They didn't even take the couple steps to get all the way behind the car. I was tempted to take out my camera and take a shot right there, but, well, that would have been hard to explain.
In any event, I'm a bit critic of how childish and absurd politics and national judgements are made these days. Think twice before you make a racist or nationalistic statement looking down on another place; and take a better look at the people around you first. This is a valuable lesson for everyone, not just Taiwan.
All things aside, Taiwan may not be the most sophisticated place, especially since I'm living out of a major city, but it is still a great place to live. The people here have all been great.
The origins of Taiwan go far beyond modern Chinese society today, therefore Taiwan should not necessarily be considered a "Chinese place." Taiwan has some foods specific to its country, it has its own language which is separate from Mandarin, and it even has a mixture of Japanese culture from the time when Japan inhabited Taiwan. All this aside though, I'm glad that you're enjoying your time in Taiwan and I hope you don't encounter anymore racism.
回覆刪除Hey daffodils987,
回覆刪除Thanks for the comment. You're right about Taiwan and China being distinctly different and, of course, the origins of Taiwan start long before it was a part of China or Japan.
But what is China, really? It's a huge place and a kingdom that's both grown and shrunk over the years. China is made up of a lot of different cultures, not just the Han Chinese.
If you want to be technical, what's China and what's Chinese probably depends on what time you're talking about.
Likewise, Taiwan would've been it's own country for a while, then a part of China, then a part of Japan. Nowadays there is some controversy over the subject, but it's clear to anyone living here that Taiwan is it's own free country today, even if it isn't able to declare independence.
I still consider Taiwan a "Chinese place," but saying only that would be an over simplification, perhaps even an insult. Taiwan is a place where Chinese culture is mixed with Japanese culture, native Taiwanese culture, quite a bit of Western culture. The result is present-day Taiwan.
And, just for the record, Taiwan is incredibly different and unique from all of the places that have influenced it throughout history.