Taiwan: First impression 

Taiwan is incredibly young geologically. It is only four or five million years old. Philippine Sea Plate pushes aggressively against the Eurasia Plate to form Taiwan. Let’s compare Taiwan with Japan. Taiwan’s land size is only one tenth of Japan’s. Yet Mount Jade, the highest peak of Taiwan, almost four thousand meters above sea level, is higher than Mount Fuji, the highest peak in Japan. Japan is hilly. Taiwan is extraordinarily hilly.

Japan is very crowded. Taiwan’s population density is higher than Japan. Taiwan’s population is squeezed into little flat area left in an extremely hilly land, making the real population density much higher. Most people in Taiwan live in the western and northern parts of Taiwan, which are connected to the Eurasian Plate and are relatively flat. The rest of Taiwan is thinly populated. Walking on the Taipei streets, the constant and continuous crowd is oppressive. I have difficulty adjusting to the pressure from the crowd, although I have been acclimating in Japan for some time. (Note: I am now enjoying Taipei a lot more.)

Fortunately, we are away from Taipei now, in a small suburb town called Ruifang. It’s at the suburb of Taipei. It is still very crowded. But I am adapting. It is an old mining town. With the closure of gold and coal mines, its population has dropped by about half to thirty thousand, from its peak around 1980. What would be the crowd then?

Overall, Taiwan’s buildings are extremely old, and old looking. All these old looking buildings are crowded together, not very sightly. Yet its politics is very fashionable, more fashionable even than Canada. This is probably a survival strategy to desperately align with the West, with an all powerful neighbor eager to swallow it alive. The strategy may or may not work on the global stage. But it certainly already hurts the local community.

Despite the fashions, something in Taiwan is still old fashioned. That is food, at least food catering to the local poor population. That is the most attractive part of Taiwan. The food is still authentic, not corrupted by high cultures. We are incredibly happy to devour the traditional dishes from the local food courts, the same kind of dishes enjoyed by the local  miners decades ago. The food is to satisfy the primitive desire of the primitive people, not to display sophistication of the sophisticated people.

Another great attraction is its youthful geology. Various distinctive features of rocks and landscapes have not been worn down by time and erosion. It is a photographer’s paradise. 

While touring the coastal area, soon one would realize the waves are very robust, even on a calm day. In fact, Taiwan Strait is one of the most treacherous waters in the world. There are several reasons for the strong waves. One is the shallow water, the surfer’s water. When waves from deep water hit a shallow water, its energy has no place to release but up. That is why calm ocean waves can become very splashy when crashing into shore. The whole Taiwan Strait, part of the continental shelf, is very shallow. The flow of ocean currents, from both sides much deeper, generates impressive waves on the narrow and shallow channel. Early migrants to Taiwan from mainland, having survived extremely treacherous journeys, went on to conquer Pacific islands and Madagascar. What epic journeys!

Taiwan’s beaches, those at the west and north, are part of the continental shelf, or the continent. They are very flat and very shallow. Even if you walk for a long distance into the ocean, the water is only to your knees. You can’t swim there. Despite of that, or because of that, they become popular beaches. (It is the opposite on the east coast. The beaches are very steep, making them swimmable only for good swimmers.)