The Liberal Democratic Kuomintang Party, or the LKDMPT

It's easy to look at Japan's Liberal Democratic Party 自由民主党 and Taiwan's Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) 中國國民黨, and be tempted to put them together in the same basket. After all, both have ruled their countries for lengthy periods - in the LDP's case, from 1955 until yesterday's historic election (with the exception of a nine-month break from 1993-1994), while the KMT reigned over Taiwan from 1949 (or 1945, depending on how you want to calculate it) until 2000, and then again from last year's presidential election. And it's true that both are riddled with corruption, and have strong ties with gangster elements (as well as the 右翼 in the LDP's case). But in actuality the political, cultural and historical circumstances are very different between Japan and Taiwan, and it's somewhat unfair to the LDP to have itself compared with the likes of the KMT.

The LDP was born of a merger between two conservative parties in the mid-1950's, the Liberals 自由党 and the Democrats 日本民主党. As such, it has never had an all-encompassing goal or ideology, unlike the Kuomintang, with its initial desire to "retake the (Chinese) mainland" and its present effort to return Taiwan to the Chinese fold and thwart Taiwanese independence drives. Rather, the LDP has always been a collection of factions held together by the prospect of power. In fact, in the old days of Japan's multi-member electoral districts, party members competed against themselves more often than they did against candidates from opposition parties. Unlike the KMT, the LDP has never considered itself a part of the fabric of the state - the Japanese nation/state has existed long before there were Liberal Democrats, quite the opposite from the Republic of China 中華民國, which owes its continuing existence to the KMT (and vice versa).

The biggest difference between the two parties, however, is how they managed to stay in power for so long. For the KMT, this meant the imposition of martial law until 1987. Political opponents were imprisoned, tortured and executed in great numbers during the years of the White Terror. After Taiwan's democratization, the KMT was able to remain in control thanks to its deep penetration into local political structures (unlike in Japan, where politics at the local level is organized quite differently). The Democratic Progressive Party 民主進步黨 was only able to win the presidency in 2000 thanks to a split in the Blue camp, and barely won the 2004 race. The KMT refused to accept its new status at the opposition party, and attempted to destabilize the DPP government through impeachment attempts, legislative stonewalling, violent street demonstrations and backroom negotiations with the Chinese Communist Party 中国共产党, finally regaining the presidency in 2008 (and is now in the process of using any and all means at its disposal, constitutional and otherwise, to ensure it remains in power in the future, but that's another story).

It is true that the LDP benefited in the past from an electoral system that gave a disproportionate share of votes to rural districts (a traditional bastion of support for the Liberal Democrats), not to mention an ineffective opposition (meaning for a long time, the Socialists 日本社会党, who seemed to be content being the permanent Opposition). The main reason, however, for the LDP's long ride in the saddle was quite simply that it delivered the goods, economically speaking, from the end of the Korean War to the bursting of the bubble economy バブル経済 at the start of the 1990's. Japanese voters always had the opportunity to remove the Liberal Democrats from power, but chose not to do so, as long as incomes were rising and affluence was increasing. It was only when the economy began to stagnate that they turned against the LDP. The LDP was out of power for a nine-month period in the early Nineties, and had only been able to stay in control since then by forming coalitions (including with the Socialists at one point!), with the 2005 election being an anomaly due to Junichirō Koizumi's 小泉純一郎 personal popularity. When the end came, staring with the loss of the upper house 参議院 of the Diet 国会 in 2007, and followed by yesterday's annihilation at the polls, the LDP bowed out more or less gracefully, as any mature political party should. Say what you will about the Liberal Democrats, for all their faults, they have generally played by the electoral rules and followed the democratic process.

It's often forgotten that Japan had the only democratic political system in place in East and Southeast Asia from the end of the Second World War until the late 1980's. For all its faults and abuses of power, one shouldn't overlook the contribution made by the Liberal Democrats to Japan's postwar political development and yesterday's possible birth of a true two-party system. It's unfortunate that there are few, if any, lessons to be learned, or conclusions to be drawn, from what happened to the LDP on Sunday in regards to the current state of politics in Taiwan.

One for Sunday

It only stands to reason that a bi-cultural kid would have a bi-cultural appetite:

Amber's on top of the world (or at least Fengyuan)

The best thing about my wife returning to full-time employment is that it removed the financial necessity of my having to work on Saturdays. Not only do I now have a proper weekend, I can use the time now to do things with my daughter. Like this afternoon, for example. Amber and I went to Chung-cheng Park to do some hiking, followed by some playground time and fish feeding. Before setting out on the trails, we had a fine lunch of rice balls おにぎり, guava and rice crackers 煎餅...

...while the park's namesake, the brilliant warlord/vanquisher of Communists/Generalissimo/stern father-figure himself, Chiang Kai-shek 蔣中正, maintained his alert vigilance over the basketball courts:

It was something of a haul for Amber to walk up to the top of the hill behind old Peanut, but she never gave up. The highlight for her going up had to be saving a caterpillar from getting bitten to death by a swarm of ants. Here's Amber celebrating the successful ascent ("I did it!"), and the view overlooking Fengyuan 豐原 down below:

After a short walk along the top of the ridge, we came to another trail leading down. For the descent, I strapped Amber into the child carrier and carried her back down to the General. A good thing too, for it started to rain halfway down, and we came close to getting soaked by the time we reached our car. Unfortunately, the change in the weather meant Amber couldn't spend time on the playground or feed the fish in the park's ponds, but she still seemed happy with the hike. Hopefully next time we can do it all!

And now for something completely different, the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ had a Kyōdō News 共同通信社 follow-up article to a story earlier in the week on the final report being issued on the China Airlines Naha Airport fire チャイナエアライン１２０便炎上事故 two years ago. According to "Naha jet fire laid to faulty maintenance", the blame has been placed equally on Boeing and China Airlines 中華航空:

"...the Japan Transport Safety Board 運輸安全委員会 concluded the explosion was caused by a maintenance error that caused a bolt to fall off the aircraft's main wing and pierce a fuel tank, causing fuel to gush through the hole and catch fire. Pointing the finger at the insufficient steps taken to prevent such an occurrence by manufacturer Boeing Co. and by the airline, which was responsible for maintenance, the board asked the Federal Aviation Administration and Taiwan's aviation authority to make sure the two firms act to prevent a recurrence...The bolt installed in a support pylon of a slat on the leading edge of the right wing fell off due to vibration because it was fixed only by a nut and not backed up by a washer, according to the report. The bolt then pierced the fuel tank when the slat was tucked into the wing and forced it into the tank with considerable force, it said. The board believes China Airlines mechanics failed to attach a washer when they replaced the nut on July 6, 2007, about six weeks before the accident, at the instruction of Boeing, which has since modified the design of the nut, enlarging it to make it more effective in preventing the bolt from detaching."

グレイトフル・デッド？

I went for a walk in the Hsint'ien 新田 area at noontime today. I worked up a good sweat in a short period of time, but overall it was an unremarkable, though pleasant, outing (I only saw one other person on the trails). Afterward, on the way back, for some reason I stopped at some graves by the roadside. In general, Taiwanese are scared of cemeteries and avoid them at all times, with the exception of a national holiday known as Tomb Sweeping Day 清明節, when families are supposed to clear away all the brush that has grown up around the gravesites of their ancestors. The result of this aversion to the places of the dead is that cemeteries are usually in a semi-wild state most of the time, at least until the next April 4 or 5 rolls around. Occasionally, however, you come across graves that are kept in near-pristine conditions, and this is probably what caught my eye this afternoon:

In all likelihood, this is one large family plot. At least that's what my wife thinks, who was obviously uncomfortable when I asked her about the writing on the steles (stelea?). The tomb in the upper left corner was particularly well-tended. There appeared to be a small crypt with locked screen doors on both the left and right-hand sides. Inside could be seen brooms, suggesting that someone comes by regularly to clean up the site (there was no trash on the ground, and the lawn behind the tomb looked healthy).

Like many cemeteries in Taiwan, these graves were located on the side of a mountain, with nice views overlooking the town of T'antzu 潭子 (or what would be nice views if the weather hadn't been so hazy today). While the living cram themselves into densely populated urban areas, the dead are given what would be prime real estate back in the U.S. Yet another aspect of Taiwan I don't think I'll ever understand.

Ch'aputo (差不多) Airlines

It isn't difficult to take potshots or poke fun at Taiwan's state air carrier, China Airlines 中華航空. According to its Wikipedia entry, the company has 6.44 fatal events per million flights, compared with a worldwide average of less than 2.0. The most recent incident occurred on August 20, 2007 at Naha Airport 那覇空港 in Okinawa 沖縄 when Flight 120 caught fire shortly after landing 中華航空120號班機事故/ チャイナエアライン１２０便炎上事故. You can read about the incident here, and watch the video below:

https://youtu.be/-qyZFASOAe0

It was fortunate that there were no deaths. Now, a little over two years later, the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ is running a Kyōdō News 共同通信社 article on the final report into the accident ("China Air fire yields new rules for repairs"):

"The Japan Transport Safety Board 運輸安全委員会 plans to issue a safety recommendation to the U.S. aviation administration over a Boeing aircraft explosion in Okinawa in 2007, saying the manufacturer failed to warn airlines about preventing the maintenance error that caused the accident...A similar recommendation is planned for the Taiwan aviation administration because Japan's safety board believes China Air also did not formulate sufficient maintenance instruction manuals to prevent errors...In its final report on the accident to be released as early as this week, the board will say the explosion of the China Air jetliner at Naha airport was caused by a bolt that detached from an assembly on the right wing and pierced a fuel tank, causing fuel to gush through the hole and catch fire. The board has also concluded the Taiwanese carrier failed to put a washer on the bolt during maintenance a month before the accident, while Boeing failed to notify airlines of the dangers of forgetting the washers."

Whether or not the people running China Airlines act on these suggestions is a good question. I've flown on the airline on a couple of occasions and actually enjoyed the flights, but that safety record is worrisome. On the other hand, EVA Air 長榮航空 has a spotless safety record (so far) when it comes to crashes and deaths, so hopefully all is not "almost is close enough" in Taiwan's aviation industry.

You don't say?

It isn't hard to find badly-written analyses of developments in Taiwan by ill-informed Westerners (not that I know what I'm talking about, either), but one of the most clueless has to be Tom Plate. In his latest commentary to be carried in the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ, "Scrutinizing the Chinese threat to Taiwan", Plate surprising gets it right...almost. The first half of his analysis starts off well, summarizing a RAND Corporation report entitled "A Question of Balance: Political Context and Military Aspects of the China-Taiwan Dispute":

"Their report, concludes that 'while the relationship between Beijing 北京 and T'aipei台北 is more stable in 2009 than it has been in years, it is not clear that this honeymoon will last forever. China has not renounced its "right" to use force to forestall Taiwan's "independence," nor discussed amending its anti-secession law 反分裂国家法, nor withdrawn any missiles from the hundreds it points at Taiwan.' At the same time, the report also concludes, the cross-strait military balance is shifting in ways that are problematic for Taiwan's defense: The growing size and quality of China's missile arsenal, along with other advances in Chinese military capabilities, call into question America's and Taiwan's ability to defend the island against a large-scale Chinese attack. This is RAND's nice way of putting it. The un-nice way: If China decided that the only way to annex Taiwan as a kind of Hong Kong 香港 is through invasion, what or who's to stop it? Over the years, the economically surging mainland has built up its short- range missile arsenal to the point where it could, in one terrific blinding strike, wipe out every Taiwan runway. And its air force now has the strength to neutralize Taiwan's...The report is alarming but not alarmist. Prudently worded, it points out that attacking Taiwan would be a lot easier for China than sustaining a land invasion to occupy it...The RAND team points out that the Chinese military buildup is a big threat to U.S. bases in Japan. 'The danger...is sufficiently grave that a credible case can be made that the air war for Taiwan could essentially be over before much of the ("good guy") air forces have even fired a shot.'"

Where Plate fumbles the ball, as he always does, is when he lets his admiration for Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九, whom he has variously described in the past as being "handsome", "suave" and "debonair", cloud his interpretation of the threat facing Taiwan:

"(The report) rightly points to the good work of Taiwan's current president, Ma Ying-jeou, elected just last year, to calm Beijing's fears about formal, assertive Taiwan separatism. But skillful as he so far seems, Ma is walking a fine line. Few people in Taiwan would be joyous about formal integration into China, whether politely negotiated Hong Kong-style or through a smash-mouth military takeover. But Ma has been making progress; his effort aims to provide for Taiwan's economic gain without giving away the sovereignty store. Whether the mainland government can remain full of saintly patience while Ma does his gradual thing is a big question."

The truth is that RAND's analysts probably shouldn't waste too much ink writing about China's military threat as the Ma administration has been laying the groundwork for Taiwan to become gradually absorbed into Greater China without the need for shots being fired. This is being accomplished through conscious efforts by government officials to downgrade Taiwan's sovereignty (and at the same time put some distance between Taiwan and Japan), combined with the progress being made to tie Taiwan ever closer economically to China. The thing with Plate is that he doesn't seem to mind. Notice how he doesn't condemn Ma for moving Taiwan closer to the Chinese, but instead describes it as being the correct thing to do. While decrying China's military intimidation, he appears to welcome "reunification". Unfortunately, Plate overlooks what this would mean to the people of Taiwan in the long run - an end to free speech and democracy, and a return to an authoritarian governing system and a police state. He also seems oblivious to what the effect would be on the rest of Asia should Taiwan be "returned to the bosom of the motherland". For a country that promotes aggressive nationalism among its people at home, and has territorial claims to the Senkaku 尖閣諸島, Paracel and Spratly Islands (not to mention historical assertions about the Goguryeo kingdom 고구려 - see the Northeast Project 东北工程 and Goguryeo controversies), Taiwan has the potential to be an unsinkable aircraft carrier, a fact that should keep policymakers from Seoul to Hanoi (not to mention Washington, D.C.) awake at nights.

As for Tom Plate, he really should accept the fact that Ma is already married, get over the crush he has on the man, and limit his geopolitical analyses to the area of Westwood around the UCLA campus.

Amber does Hōkō

We went into T'aichung 台中 this afternoon to take Amber to her weekly swimming class.

  

The video below was taken at the Fengchia night market 逢甲夜市, where we headed for dinner after Amber's lesson. Walking through Fengchia brings to life virtually every stereotype of Asian street markets - the elbow-to-elbow crowds, the bright lights, the incessant noise, the smells (enticing and otherwise) and the inconsiderate scooter and motorcycle riders forcing their way through. About the only thing missing was amputee beggars. Here's a video I made of our walk from the teppanyaki 鉄板焼き restaurant where we ate to the chicken feet vendor that turned out to be the main reason why my wife suggested going to Fengchia in the first place (I was looking for Taichung's only Burger King outlet, but couldn't find it):

Amber and I at the end of our quiet, contemplative stroll through the quaint village of Fengchia:

Vanishing Trails

I ventured out to Houli 后里 today for my weekly commune with nature. It'd been a while since I'd been out there, and in the interval, trail maintenance had seemingly ceased. In one place in particular, the spreading brush made the uphill route almost impassable, forcing me to take a long detour around the side of the mountain in order to reach the top. Several other sections have gotten narrower due to the advance of Nature, and the blown-down tree branches from Typhoon Morakot 颱風莫拉克 have only made things worse. It's a pity because, even though it's the least challenging of all the trails I regularly go on, the Houli route does have some great views along the way, especially on clear days (today, unfortunately, wasn't one of them). There's no telling what state the area will be in the next time I decide to stop by.

In place of photographs, I made several videos this afternoon, starting with the one below. It's a ride on the way to Sanfeng Road, which connects Fengyuan 豐原 with Houli, and eventually, Sani 三義. This stretch is what many Taiwanese would call the "countryside". I'm not sure how I would describe it, but the few Tom Sawyer-like rural idylls have to share space with numerous small factories. If you were seeking the "Real Taiwan", this area would be a good place to start:

You may (or may not) have noticed the steadier camera work. While I'm still filming things idiotically with one hand while riding, I'm now holding the camera higher up on my body. This makes for images that are easier on the eyes, but it does also make for an even more dangerous ride.

The next video was filmed at a Taoist temple near the start of the Houli trail, called Ch'aok'un kung 朝崑宮. I like this temple, not only for its hilltop location overlooking the Central Taiwan Science Park 中部科學工業園區 currently under construction on the plain below, but also for its restraint, a far cry from the usual gaudiness (or tackiness, in some cases) one usually finds at Taoist houses of worship (though the teddy bear/puppy benches were a bit much, if you ask me):

There might be a loud noise in parts of the video. I don't know what is was, because the interior was quiet while I was filming, and the only sounds I heard were those of insects in the trees outside.

The final clip is another scooter video. Like the one above, it's also of a typical Taiwanese industrial/agricultural area. The afternoon glare is pretty strong in parts, and I wouldn't have uploaded this one, except I like the fact I caught an express train going by near the end:

In case you're wondering, that's a kart racing track that can be seen around the two-minute mark.

Ilha Formosa - the Beautiful Island!

Spending the day in Shinchiku

台北の南西７０ｋｍにある新竹は、「新竹風」といわれるように風が強く、「風の城」という異名がある。東門城を中心に放射状に道が延びるごぢんまりとした町だが、郊外にある新竹サイエンスパークは、ハイテクアイランド台湾を牽引するシリコンバレーとして世界的に有名。

（地球の歩き方台湾）

I took the train up north this morning to Hsinchu 新竹 (the train station of which dates back to 1908)...

...to meet up with my friend Thoth. Thoth moved to Hsinchu three months ago, and he clearly enjoys living there, as you can tell from looking at his blog, The Montreal Writers' Storm Sewer. After being ridden around and shown some of the sights, I can understand why he likes it there. Outside of T'aipei 台北, Hsinchu is probably the most foreigner-friendly city in Taiwan, due to the presence of the Hsinchu Science Park 新竹科學工業園區. Here are a few images from today's guided tour of the Windy City, courtesy to Thoth:

First up is a video I made from the back of Thoth's scooter, riding through the streets and into the foothills of Hsinchu. Filming stopped when my hand became too tired from holding up the camera.

Here is Thoth outside his comfortable three-bedroom home. It's located in a quiet area in the hills above the city, with several inviting-looking dirt roads behind his street just begging to be explored:

Going back into town, we had lunch at a small cafe located across the street from National Tsing Hua University 國立清華大學. The menu was in English, and the dishes were American, ranging from grilled cheese sandwiches to Philly Cheesesteaks. I tucked into the first Tuna melt sandwich I'd had in god knows how long. There sure aren't any places like this where I live:

After lunch, Thoth showed me around the campus, which looks very much like any large American or Canadian university. Here I am looking appropriately philosophical outside the Casa de Socrates cafe on campus:

Next stop on the tour was the Hsinchu Science Park. With its Western-style apartments and large lakefront park, one could easily forget that they are in Taiwan (which was probably the designers' intention). The artificial lake had to be the first one I've seen in Taiwan not to include food vendors and Taoist temples. If only I were a highly-skilled professional living in Taiwan on an expat package...:

It was at this point the rain started coming down, so we eventually made our back to the train station area so I could catch my train back to Fengyuan 豐原, but not before doing a little walking around. Here is the East Gate, Hsinchu's landmark, dating from 1829 (though restored in 1999). It's all the remains of the old city walls:

As someone is who tired of the hassles of having to live in a small provincial Taiwanese city, I can see why Thoth likes being in Hsinchu. My wife has a cousin and a friend who both work in the Science Park. Hmmm, I wonder...

And the beat goes on

It's been a week now since work was canceled last Friday due to the approach of Typhoon Morakot. The aftermath of the disaster in the south, and the ongoing rescue efforts, are still a leading story on CNN broadcasts, as well as on the BBC website; the president continues to be arrogantly aloof from the suffering of the people; and the government was forced to swallow its misplaced pride, and announce its acceptance of assistance from other countries, after a strong public outcry against the initial refusal. Today's Japan Today has a Kyōdō News 共同通信社 update on the situation in the disaster zone ("Up to 600 dead in mudslide-devastated village in Taiwan"):

"As many as 600 people were killed in the landslide that buried or swept away Hsiaolin Village 小林 in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, rescuers here said, as Taiwan appealed to the international community for aid and criticism mounted over the island’s handling of one of the worst storms in its history. Officially, the island-wide death toll from the storm has reached 108, but uncertainty abounds over the actual figure, as some villages were wiped out by floods and landslides, with many victims buried or torn to pieces, said Lu Cheng Tsung, commander of a search-and-rescue unit based near Hsiaolin. 'What we’re finding is an arm here, a leg there, sometimes a head, washed up on the riverbanks,' Lu said, putting the death toll in Hsiaolin alone at '500 to 600.' By all accounts, the village—once a postcard-perfect enclave of concrete villas—was the worst hit community. Indeed, all that remains are two battered houses and stray dogs, which paced anxiously on Thursday over the mud, streams and boulders that lie on top of what rescuers said were hundreds of bodies. The figure for the dead, they said, is a ballpark estimate."

The king is dead?

Chien-ming Wang's 王建民 miserable injury-riddled season (1-6, 9.64 ERA) is over, and there is some speculation as to whether or not he'll still be playing for the New York Yankees in 2010. One Taiwanese pitcher, however, is continuing to find success in Japan's Central League セントラル・リーグ. "Dragons' Chen wins 4th straight" says the Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売:

"Chen Wei-yin 陳偉殷 allowed a run in seven innings to win his fourth straight start as the Chūnichi Dragons 中日ドラゴンズ beat the host Hanshin Tigers 阪神タイガース 3-1 at Kyocera Dome Ōsaka 京セラドーム大阪 on Tuesday. Chen (6-2) didn't allow a run until Ryō Asai 浅井良 scored after leading off the seventh with a pinch-hit triple. He allowed five hits, issued four walks and struck out one. 'Even when I put runners on base, I was able to just focus on the next batter,' said the 24-year-old lefty from Taiwan. The Dragons scored twice in the third against Yūya Andō 安藤優也 (6-8) on back-to-back one-out doubles by Hirokazu Ibata 井端弘和 and Masahiro Araki 荒木雅博 and a single by Masahiko Morino 森野雅彦. Lee Byung Kyu 이병규 doubled and scored in the fourth on an in infield single by Chen."

It would be nice to be able to see Japanese games featuring local talent on Taiwanese TV, but the general public seems only interested in Wang.

Today being my one free weekday afternoon, it was off to the Tak'eng area in the early afternoon (in spite of the threatening skies) to get in some thankfully rain-free walking. On the last leg of the ride to the parking area at the start of the hiking trails, I made another one of those stupid, dangerous one-handed filming-while-riding videos:

I wasn't able to ride into the parking lot due to the accumulated mud on the ground, but with the exception of some damaged fruit orchards and several small landslides, that was about the extent of the impact on this section of Tak'eng from last weekend's horrific Typhoon Morakot. Perhaps because people were expecting there to be a lot of devastation, the trails were wonderfully empty most of the time I was out there. Instead, I had plenty of spiders, lizards and butterflies to keep me company, and in one instance, this walking stick insect:

One thing I did while out on my walkabout was to check out the Taoist temple 觀 I had come across a couple of weeks ago. The following is a 12-minute video that was rejected by YouTube for being too long. It ain't exactly gripping stuff, but it does give you a general idea of what Taiwanese temples look like, as well as a taste of the great outdoors, Takeng style. And if you're into wildlife, there's a lizard at the one-minute mark, and a huge, beautiful butterfly around 8 minutes and 45 seconds into the show:

Checking out a Taoist Temple

After the typhoon

For the first time in days, the sun came out this morning (though it rained again in the afternoon). If you've been following the news on such international outlets as CNN and BBC, you are no doubt aware that Typhoon Morakot has come and gone, and left behind it a wide swath of destruction. The film of the hotel falling into the river is bound to become a mainstay on cable TV disaster documentaries for years to come. Our area, Fengyuan in central Taiwan, got off lightly this time. It was extremely windy here on Friday, and the rain was constant and heavy all day on Saturday and Sunday, but unlike some recent typhoons, there was no flooding and very little damage. The same can't be said for much of the rest of Taiwan, especially the south, which was battered by Morakot. This Associated Press article ("400 unaccounted for in Taiwan mudslide") carried in today's Japan Today sums up the misery caused by the storm:

"A mudslide touched off by a deadly typhoon buried a remote mountain village, leaving at least 400 people unaccounted for Monday, and military rescue helicopters, unable to land because of the slippery ground, dropped food to desperate survivors. Typhoon Morakot slammed Taiwan over the weekend with as much as two meters (80 inches) of rain, inflicting the worst flooding the island has seen in at least a half-century. The storm submerged large swaths of farmland in chocolate-brown muck and swamped city streets before crossing the 180-kilometer(112-mile)-wide Taiwan Strait 台灣海峽 and hitting China...A disaster appeared to be unfolding around the isolated southern village of Hsiaolin 小林, which was hit by a mudslide Sunday at about 6 a.m. local time-while many people were still asleep-and was cut off by land from the outside world...400 people were unaccounted for in the village...100 people had been rescued or otherwise avoided the brunt of the disaster...Under leaden gray skies, military helicopters hovered over the community, dropping food and looking for survivors. They were unable to land because of the slippery terrain. Hsiaolin was cut off after flood waters destroyed a bridge about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) away. A back road wending its way northward toward the mountain community of Alishan 阿里山 was also believed to be cut off, and with rain still falling in the area, the prospects for an early resumption of overland travel were poor. Elsewhere in Taiwan, an additional 54 people were listed as missing. Authorities put the confirmed death toll in Taiwan at 14, but that seemed certain to rise. The typhoon’s path took it almost directly over the capital of T'aipei 台北, but its most destructive effects were in the heavily agricultural south and along the island’s densely foliated mountain spine. Hsiaolin is on Taiwan’s southwestern coast. In rural P'ingtung County 屏東縣, the rains turned rich swaths of farmland so sodden that it was difficult to distinguish them from the open sea. In the P'ingtung community of Santimen 三地門, troops maneuvered armored personnel carriers through flooded streets, plucking whole families from water-logged buildings and ferrying them to safety. In T'aitung 台東, in the southeastern lowlands, a raging flood toppled a five-story hotel."

Life is back to normal in our area. All I can say is that I'm thankful neither my family nor friends suffered as the result of the typhoon (with the exception of one friend who has been stranded at the airport for several days trying to get on a flight back home to Canada). There will probably be more typhoons to come before the season is over, but hopefully none of them will cause anything approaching the death and damage brought down on Taiwan by Morakot.

https://youtu.be/0QPO3fXxpa0

Typhoon Morakot

Today (Friday) was an unexpected (and unwelcome) day off thanks to the appearance of Typhoon Morakot. While Taiwan's reservoirs certainly need the water the typhoon will dump in them, typhoon days usually mean staying cooped up at home in a sweaty environment, as windows have to be shut due to the rain and wind. In our area, the winds starting picking up yesterday evening, and have remained strong ever since. In fact, while I was out getting a newspaper from a local convenience store this morning, a woman had to hold on tight to her small son to prevent him from being blown away (two men came to their assistance, moving them to a covered sidewalk). Fortunately, except for a lot of potted plants that have been blown over, there has been very little damage in the neighborhood (so far). During a "lull", I went up to the rooftop of our apartment building and took this video. Despite the relative calmness while I was up there, I still had to hold on tightly to both the camera and my glasses!

Taichū (gesundheit)

Usually I take advantage of my one free weekday afternoon to do some walking in the Tak'eng area, but today I decided to take a break from the outdoors and be a tourist instead, spending a couple of hours walking around downtown T'aichung 台中. Parking my scooter behind Taichung Station 台中車站, I first paid a visit to Stock 20, an area of old railway warehouses that have been converted into an art center. The current installation, Urban Bodies: A collection of art works by Taiwanese and Foreign artistes, was mildly interesting, but admission was free, and it's great to see otherwise-obsolete buildings being put to good use. The old city center in Taichung is declining rapidly despite numerous attempts over the years to revive it (look what's become of Chikuang Street), but there are several excellent examples of Japanese-era architecture still standing, the most obvious of which is the train station, dating from 1917:

Another old building of interest is the former City Hall, then later Bureau of Transportation and Tourism, and now an exhibition hall/gallery, built in 1920. Like Stock 20, it's free to get in, and while the The Eastern Fauvism: Wang Erh-Chang 王爾昌 Commemorate Exhibition was far from a waste of time (the three high school girls there spent a lot of time admiring the nudes), it was the building itself that provided the greatest interest. Kudos to the authorities for not tearing the structure down, and replacing it with a modern monstrosity:

Across the street is Taichung's current City Hall, a newer building from 1924. There have been plans for a number of years to move the seat of government to newer digs away from the downtown area - after all, what self-respecting modern administration can effectively govern from an 85-year old edifice featuring white stone walls, mansard roof and ionic columns? - but for now it's refreshing to see a fine old building not only preserved, but still carrying out its original function. More kudos (see, Cowardly Anonymous Therapy Patient, I don't hate everything about Taiwan!):

Walking away from City Hall, the skies opened up and the rain started to fall. Here's what it looked like while I was walking through Herbal Medicine Street - check out the woman's improvised rain boots:

I was intending on walking over to Taichung Park, but the rain convinced me to save that for the next time I feel like playing tourist.

オリオンビール

A student of mine recently returned to Taiwan from a short trip to Okinawa 沖縄, and presented me with two cans of Orion Beer, a brewery based in Nago 名護 that controls over half of the Okinawan beer market. I've loved Orion ever since I discovered it on my trip to Miyako-jima 宮古島 back in the early Nineties. It isn't easy to find outside of Okinawa, but now I have two cans getting cold in my fridge, and life is pretty good at the moment. Thank you Vivian!

https://www.wishbeer.com/en/pale-lager/4025-orion-draft-beer-can-350ml-50-4962656158312.html

Oh, what the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation could learn from the オリオンビール株式会社 when it comes to producing the nectar of the gods in subtropical climates!

Plays and Buddhas, or should that be Playful Buddhas?

Amber's preschool class held another performance for the parents this morning, a ritual that thousands of kids in Taiwan have to go through several times a year. If the situation is anything similar to that of the children I teach at my cram school, Amber and her classmates had to endure endless rehearsals at least a month (if not longer) in advance, putting up with verbal dressing downs by stressed-out local teachers, in order to don colorful costumes and perform for about five minutes in front of the picture-taking, video-filming parents on the day of the show. I certainly hope it wasn't like that for my daughter, but in any case, the performance went off without a hitch, and Amber enjoyed doing the dance routine and playing the drum. And that, of course, is all that should matter in these cases.

(上) Amber before the show...(下)...and afterward.

In case you're wondering, the song is about kung fu 功夫.

After the show was over, we spent the rest of the afternoon in T'aichung 台中, where we ate lunch, did some window shopping at a clothes outlet and, before returning home, paid a quick visit to Paochueh Temple 寶覺寺. This temple was one of the first places I visited when I was still a tourist in Taiwan, and I've been several times over the last several years, witnessing the unfortunate changes that have been made (and are being made) to the buildings and grounds. I will write more extensively on Paochueh Temple in a future posting, but for now it's enough to say the temple is known for its 27-meter (89-foot)-high gold-painted statue of Milefo 彌勒菩薩, aka the Laughing Buddha,; and a small memorial for Taiwanese who died fighting for Japan in World War II (and which attracts many Japanese tourists).