Continued Reflections on Recent Sojourn in the International Model Nation of Taiwan

Three weeks on, the recent sojourn on Taiwan continues to generate abundant sublime memories. 

Being back on Meilidao after ten years provided an exquisite combination featuring a sense of coming home and also discovering much new.

Hitting ground in Taichung provided this sensibility from the beginning.  So many smells (now almost  exclusively the good ones (aromas emanating from restaurants and markets;  fragrances from woodcarvers, religious objects and other) were those that we have always loved in Taiwan.  The first restaurant to which we went, albeit identified via Barabara's app, was a noodle and dumpling shop featuring fare that we have since that first 1980-1981 stay found succulent.  The market to which we went that evening also gave evidence of much that was familiar (somewhat surprisingly in contemporary Taiwan, even those teeth-discoloring betel nuts are still sold), but the greater order and studiously clean nature of the markets were notable.  The restaurant that I spied offered simple Vietnamese food, a familiar sort of small alleyway establishment for these many decades.

But, upon reflection, as I noted to Barbara one recent evening, while Southeast and even South Asian restaurants continue common;  and those offering truly local Taiwanese seafood, tofu, noodles, vegetables, and fruits naturally abound;  food from the provinces of China do not seem as popular or abundant.  The restaurants inspired by the cuisine of Sichuan have always been among our favorites (spicy sweet ‘n sour cabbage;  spicy-sweet cucumbers;  and, in those days when we ate more meat, gongbaojiding, huiguorou, mapodofu), but I remember seeing not on Sichuan restaurant at any point during this trip.  Sichuan and other Chinese provincial restaurants must surely be found, but they also seem not to be close to as prevalent as in days of yore.  Here and there one does find western restaurants, including pizza/pasta places and hamburger-oriented restaurants;  but American fastfood restaurants seem to have actually declined, although Pizza Hut, KFC, and McDonalds are fairly visible (but with the latter not seeming quite as evident).

Methinks this is all mainly a good sign, with contemporary Taiwan emphasizing goods from Meilidao and otherwise making judicious selections from among the world’s offerings, much in the way that          

the governments and over the years, especially since the 1990s, have selected other facets of world production and services (rapid transit, healthcare) to fit the needs and preferences of the Taiwanese people.

Everywhere one sees prosperity;  poverty is present as in all nations, but not nearly so pressing.

This visually prosperous image of Taiwan  is consistent with the data:

Taiwan, remarkably, ranks number seven (#7) in the world according to GDP per capita (purchasing power parity [ppp] index).  Aside from the outliers of Monaco, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg, only Ireland (let’s hear it for Emerald), Norway, Qatar, and Switzerland are ranked higher than Taiwan.  The USA is #10;  Denmark, #11;  France, #26;  United Kingdom, #30;  Japan, #36.

Quite an economic success story.

Quite a progressive and civically confident society.

A model to which all nations should look.

Then, when I think of 1945, 1947, and 1950, the tears start to flow.