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Monday, January 30, 2012

Koxinga Shrine 鄭成功祖廟, Tainan

A beautiful shrine dedicated to a Chinese warlord


The Koxinga Shrine or 鄭成功祖廟 is a shrine in central Tainan dedicated to Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功) also known under his nickname Koxinga (國姓爺). He was a 17th century warlord and loyalist of the Ming Dynasty, who expelled the Dutch from Taiwan and established the first Chinese ruled state on southern part of the island called Tungning Kingdom (東寧王國). Unfortunately, he died 6 months after he became the head of his newly established state. His son Cheng Ching (鄭經) sat on his throne and built this shrine in 1663 to his honor (source).

The dragon fountain in front of the Koxinga shrine.

This is for me one of the most impressive historic sites in Tainan. I love the green roof tiles, as well as the predominant red color of everything underneath. The courtyard is very skillfully done, so is the small park with a pond, a pavilion and a statue of Koxinga on a horse. These are located outside the shrine area. The pond features a fountain in a shape of a dragon, one of the highlights in the area. You definitely shouldn't miss this shrine, when you come to Tainan, it will definitely impress you with its timeless classical Chinese architecture. Below are some more photos from my short visit:

The dragon fountain from close.

The simple yet impressive paifang upon the entrance to the shrine.

Upon entering.

The main building from the side.

The main building from front.

The main building from front - zoomed in.

The incense tray burner.

The altar with the offerings to Koxinga.

The ceiling with ornamentation.

The shrine from the side.

Trees.

The pavilion outside.

A closeup on the statue of Koxinga.

Koxinga on his horse.

Calligraphy

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Tainan Confucius Temple 臺南孔廟

One of the most famous temples in Taiwan


The Tainan Confucius Temple or 臺南孔子廟 is one of the most famous historic temples in Tainan, as well as whole of Taiwan. It was built in 1665 with the approval of Zheng Jing 鄭經, the son of Koxinga, who ruled over parts of Southern Taiwan in the late 17th century (source). This temple is a major tourist attraction and the whole area is full of interesting historic and popular spots, but none can match with the beauty and the significance of this temple. My wife and I had the pleasure to visit it on a beautiful morning, below are some of my pictures from that day.

The front yard with a small gate.

A closeup on the gate.

A small tower on the western side.

This small temple is outside the premises of the main part.

The Confucius temple, the main building.

Two dragons and a miniature pagoda on top of the building.

I really like Confucius temples, because they are simple in design, they don't go too much in colorful ornamentation and in addition, they are usually very solemn and peaceful. This one doesn't impress with its size or architecture in particular, but with the rich history and the significance for Tainan as a city and Taiwan as a whole. If you're a Taiwan enthusiast, you definitely have to put it on top of your must-see places.

The altar inside.

An interesting detail on top.

A small classroom in a surrounding building.

The Confucious temple photographed from the southwestern side.

Calligraphy

Fort Provintia (Chihkan Tower), Tainan

One of Tainan's most prominent historic sites


Fort Provintia, also known as Chihkan Tower 赤崁樓 is one of Tainan's (and Taiwan's) most famous historic buildings. It's a reminder of Taiwan's colonial past and the history of the site reflects well on the history of Taiwan as a whole. Built by the Dutch colonialists in 1653, it served as their military and trading post until 1662, when Koxinga (or 鄭成功), a military commander loyal to Ming Dynasty came from the Chinese mainland, conquered it and took over the control of the part of Taiwan around today's Tainan. He used the fort as his office. Six months later he died and his son continued to reign in his place until 1883, when Qing Dynasty gained control over Taiwan and ruled it for two centuries (source). In the late 19th century two pavilions and a small school were added. After 1945 the fort was renamed to Chihkan Tower (named after "Chakam", an aboriginal village, that stood here before the Dutch came).

Visitors are allowed to go up to the top floor of the pavilion.

The site is beautifully maintained, especially the garden. You have to pay a small entrance fee and then you can stroll around the area as long as you wish. We've visited during Chinese new year, so it was very crowded, but it was still worth the hassle. This is definitely a must-see spot for every Taiwan and Tainan visitor. It was the highlight of my trip.

A view to the east.

The top floor of the smaller pavilion has a little altar.

I've seldom seen such small Han characters in a book like in this one.

The characters say 赤崁樓 or Chihkan Tower.

Inside the main pavilion was quite crowded.

The view on the garden.

A detail on the roof - it's a fish!

The statues on the right show how the Dutch surrendered to Koxinga.

And then we headed to the nearby Sacrificial Rites Martial Temple.

Calligraphy

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Southern Taiwan trip 2012

The holidays are over

The Great Buddha above Changhua City.

I just came back from a 5 days trip around Southern and Central Taiwan, visiting places I haven't seen yet. I finally had the chance to see Tainan City, as well as Chiayi and Changhua City. In addition, I've seen Douliou and Lukang, two very interesting towns, that have surprised me in many ways. We finished the trip with a tour around Taichung and returned to Taipei today in the evening. We've made 12 GB of photos, I've take pictures of all the famous sights and night markets, so you can expect a whole lotta posts in the near future, I wanna cover everything, especially related to Tainan City. Most will be written on my second blog, so be sure to follow there as well.

Apparently there is a famous hotel in Tainan.

I have to say Tainan was the highlight of our trip, Chiayi was not bad, a little disappointing were Lukang and Changhua, while Douliou has surprised us positively. But more about that in the near future, when I write down all my feelings and impressions. Stay tuned!

This was definitely a very active holiday. I'm very tired, but happy, that I could see these places, because I don't think I will be free any time soon. I wanna thank my sweet wife for bringing me around to all the awesome places and also for driving the scooter - she's very skilled and careful. Thumbs up for surviving an afternoon in Taichung, which probably has the craziest traffic in Taiwan. One more day to rest and then... a new week with a pile of work waiting for me... sigh...

How were your Spring festival holidays?

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Happy new dragon year!

My year end thoughts and more...


My actual life

Today is the first day of the new year in the Han universe, hence also in Taiwan. The dragon has succeeded the rabbit and according to Chinese mythology, this should be a great year. I don't believe in these things, but a little bit of optimism wouldn't hurt. Last year's been truly the most challenging year of my life. I left my old life behind in hope of finding true happiness in Taiwan. One year later I've realized, that there is no true happiness: It's all imaginary wishful thinking, it's all what you make of it. There are so many things in my life much better now and if I calculate what I've lost and what I've gained with my move to Taiwan, I would most definitely be on the winning side. But my life here is anything but cherry blossoms. It's very stressful, sometimes beyond anything I've ever experienced before. I try my best to separate this blog from my real life and always make sure, that my daily agony is not felt here. Most of that is related to my current job and if I was the kind of blogger, who needs to share every small things that upsets him, I could write essays every day. But I'm glad I spare my readers these things, which are highly subjective and could only cause me trouble one day. This little blog is my creative outlet, I want to create something valuable, durable and aesthetic. I'm not too interested in daily happenings, unless it's useful for making a general point. But I guess most of you long time readers know all this by now. I want to be different and I know am different, but that doesn't mean I'm better than others. I just am. I'm existing along others virtually and literally and trying to make the best of my existence - same as you. These transitions from an ending year to a starting year are always heavy on everyone's soul. It's time to review the past and look forward to the future, but what if you feel a little disoriented? At this point, I would just like to pause the reality, freeze it and take a long break. Currently in my life, I'm trapped in a vicious routine and I'm not happy about it, on the other hand, I don't see any short-term solutions to escape and to change my life for the better. I'm working hard, but I'm not respected nor valued (also because I'm a foreigner), but I'm earning money and making sure, that my wife and I can have a decent life in oh so expensive Taipei. I'm swallowing a lot of bitter pills and basically suppressing my ideals and beliefs, because there is no better alternative in my life at this point. Sadly, this is very common in Taiwan, I don't feel very special with my situation - I could say I'm pretty fine compared to what I heard from my Taiwanese friends. It's a different world, a different culture and it's not easy, when a Western mind clashes with the Oriental way of doing things. Living in Taiwan is a great way to train one's patience and tolerance. A Zen proverb says: "Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind" - I try to abide by these wise words as best as possible. I'm determined to change my life this year (and pretty soon I hope), but I need to be strong and keep going every day. Hopefully this short new year vacation will fill up my batteries a little, but I'm not too sure. A little bit of luck in the coming weeks would be appreciated.

My virtual life

In terms of blogging, I have so many "unfinished projects" from last year: My Taipei sights and guides, night market posts, travel posts, food posts, restaurant reviews and much more... I won't have a lot of time to publish too often due to constant lack of free time, but also, because I will focus on the quality. Taiwan politics will not be discussed on this blog and I don't want to be associated with the Chinese blogosphere - I want to be limited to Taiwan and be a specialist on local matters. There are a lot of excellent blogs focused on the whole region, but I don't aspire to be one of them. I will protest, if anyone drags me to the virtual playgrounds outside the islands under the authority of the government of Taiwan. I believe, that if you want to be the best in what you do, you need to stay focused on one topic. And I have the ambition to remain the best in my field. Thanks everybody, who's been reading my blog the past year and following my journey. It's been heated at times, but never boring and let's hope it stays that way. My subscribers are close to 250 and I hope I can double that number by the end of the year. Thanks also to all of you, who send me emails. I keep getting them almost daily, with lots of questions and suggestions, but mostly very positive and supportive, like for example Peiqi, a reader from Singapore, who wrote: thanks so much for sharing SOOOOO much in your blog. chanced upon it while researching for my trip to taiwan - heading there for 12 days!! :)) will definitely be going to some places u recommended (you have sooo much info there). thanks!!!! Thank you Peiqi, for reading and appreciating what I write. It's readers like her that I'm most happy about, because they find my articles useful for something related to their life. I'm always kind enough to answer a question or two, but now and then people contact me who question me out about tons of things and when I reply few times, they disappear forever, especially my fellow Slovenians. I will need to be stricter in such cases and reply in a very limited way. I'm not the only Slovenian in Taiwan, but I'm the only popular blogger and that's why I'm constantly googled and contacted, usually by people who want to come here. It's flattering to be in this position, on the other hand, I'm not paid to serve as a resource - people tend to forget that. Luckily, I also get emails from companies, who are offering something. So far I've mostly been declining the offers, but this year, I might go for some of them - it just needs to be something I can relate to.

Life's unforeseeable, but there are ways to flow into a certain direction. I'll try my best to succeed in that with the hope, that the rocks I'll hit along the way won't knock me out. Dear reader, thank you once again to returning to my little blog. May the dragon bring best of luck to you!

[My TAIWAN LIFE page][Photo by MKL, 2012]

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Chinese new year sayings - in Chinese and Taiwanese language

Useful for newbie waigoren in Taiwan

My dragon lady in qipao, which she's wearing every day at home.

Spring festival is around the corner! Or that holiday, which is commonly known as Chinese new year. In Taiwan, Spring festival is highly anticipated, because it's the most important celebration and holiday of the year. It's also the time, where annual parties are held and annual bonuses are paid by the companies. And it's time of the year, when you realize that half of the people you know (or work with) are not Taipeiers, but Southerners. They all leave for the central or southern Taiwan to be with their families and relatives. If you want to see a real new year atmosphere, you better avoid Taipei: Compared to Singapore and Malaysia (read about my experience from 2009), Taipei is pretty boring. People work until the last day and have no time to be overly festive (at least that's what I saw around me). My wife said, that Chinese new year used to be celebrated with greater passion, but in recent years it's become less significant.

Here is some useful vocabulary related to Chinese new year:

春節
Romanized Chinese: Chūn jié.
Taiwanese prefer to say 新年 (sin ni) or new year.
Translation: Chinese new year
Litteral translation: Spring festival


返鄉
Romanized Chinese: Fǎn xiāng.
Translation: Return home for Chinese new year.
(In China they use chunyun 春運 and this is what happens).

Litteral translation: Return to village.


圍爐
Romanized Chinese: Wéi lú.
Romanized Taiwanese: Wi lo.
Translation: Reunion dinner.
Litteral translation: Gather around the stove.


去拜拜
Romanized Chinese: Qù bàibài.
Romanized Taiwanese: Khi baibai.
Translation: Go to temple.
Litteral translation: Go bow bow.


There are some temples in Taiwan, where it's believed, that if one places the first incense stick into the incense burner right after midnight, you will be very lucky that year. In the first video you can see, how crazy some people are about this, they fight to be the first one and even knock down the burner in the process. In the second video you can see a cunning ojisan, who outsmarted everybody. He pretended to be the temple staff and then placed the first incense stick right after midnight, when the huge crowd, that was waiting in front of the temple for hours, just started to run. My wife always cracks up, when she sees this.

These are the most common sayings around Chinese new year:

(祝你)新年快樂!
Romanized Chinese: (Zhù nǐ) xīn nián kuài lè.
Romanized Taiwanese: (Jiok li) sin ni khoai lok.
Translation: (I wish you) happy new year!
Litteral translation: (Wish you) new year happy!


恭喜發財!
Romanized Chinese: Gōng xǐ fā cái.
Romanized Taiwanese: Kiong hi huat tsai.
Translation: May you have a prosperous New Year!
Litteral translation: Congratulations on developing wealth!


龍年行大運!
Romanized Chinese: Lóng nián xíng dà yùn!
Romanized Taiwanese: Ling ni ghia dai wun.
Translation: May the Dragon year bring you a lot of luck.
Litteral translation: Dragon year grow big luck!


紅包
Romanized Chinese: hóngbāo
Romanized Taiwanese: angpao
Translation: Red envelope.


Giving red envelopes with money is an old Chinese tradition, which is also common in Taiwan. It's important to give a sum with even numbers. Avoid number 4, which is unlucky, and thousands with 3 zeroes (such as 2000, 6000 etc.) - preferred are 6 or 8. Unlike in Malaysia, where married couples always need to give red envelopes, in Taiwan the rule is, if you're working, you gotta give. It's also very important, to give a big angpau to your Taiwanese in-laws, a good sum would be 6600 NTD per parent and for those of you, who are very generous, 8800 NTD would definitely impress them.

Some popular new year songs to bring you in a festive mood:

This is a famous song called "Gong xi, gong xi!"

This is a performance from 1989, the song is called "Xin nian kuai le"

The same singer 20 years later re-enacting the popular song.

In the end I'd like to wish all my Taiwanese, Chinese, Malaysian and Singaporean readers a happy and prosperous new year. Thanks for reading and following my blog, I will try my best to write good posts in the year of dragon.

最後我要祝福所有來自台灣、中國、馬來西亞及新加坡的讀者們,有個快樂又富有的新年。謝謝你們閱讀及跟隨我的部落格,我會盡力在龍年寫出更多好文章。


Monday, January 16, 2012

Taiwan, where are you going?

My post-election reflections from Germany


The Taiwan election is over, a lot of heads are sober... again. The incumbent won and I have to say a lot of my Taiwanese friends are disappointed. Very disappointed. It's not easy to see their dreams shattered, but this is part of a democracy. You have the right to vote, but you don't have the right to have it your way. You can only hope, that the majority's hearts beat the same as yours. These days I'm hearing lots of rumors about how some Southerners literally sold their votes to the ruling party, how some young people, who's families are traditionally green, still voted blue, because they benefited from the current government in some way, usually related to jobs, taxes or money in general. It seems that this election was more about heart vs. brain and brain won - pragmati$m prevailed. The most angry voices claim, that "some sold Taiwan for a little money" and they have completely lost hope for their country's future. When I heard the official results, I had mixed feelings. I knew that whoever would win, the future of Taiwan would be uncertain in many ways - the campaigns were about fear, not hope. Maybe it was good for me to be in Germany during this time, because I saw how the world completely disregards Taiwan's democracy. In Germany, almost nobody cared about the election in Taiwan - there were no reports on TV - nothing. Instead, a sunk ship in Italy was nonstop in the news. Same goes for my home country and probably most Western countries. Nobody gives a rats ass about democracy anymore. We're bitter and self-absorbed, because we saw how governments change, but everything remains the same. It's not like we want to have dictatorships back, but the feeling of pure enthusiasm for political convictions are over - cynicism prevails these days. I'm not really bitter, but not happy either. I'm confused about Taiwan now, I have no idea what the voters really wanted to say with this result and I'm not sure, where this country is sailing to in the next four years. I will try to figure this out, when I'm back, but I think it must be very hard for some foreigners, who were there last Saturday. I'm thinking about those, who were so passionately campaigning for the opposition in the recent months; those, who were blinded by their own idea of what Taiwanese want. There was so much nonsense written on expat political blogs in the past, that completely distorted the reality on the ground. Some people got so caught up in their ideas of good and bad, that they completely forgot, that most Taiwanese live with a very complex reality and try to find the middle way to survive (or at least what comes the closest to that). I've never seen any society so full of contradictions, yet functioning so well. Try to work for a Taiwanese company and you will know what I mean. I hope that we will hear more moderate voices and balanced views from those, who spend so much time blogging about politics in Taiwan. If they still want to be taken seriously, there is no other way - or they will burn out like camping fire after the rain. Some already did. In my case, I'm in Germany and I have a lot of personal stuff on my mind, that bothers me more than this election. I guess I'm not the only one. Let me give you a tip: If your candidate loses, the world doesn't end. Maybe for a moment - but then you gotta move on.

Taiwan, where are you going? I don't know. Nobody knows.

[My TAIWAN page][Photo by MKL, 2012]

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Photos of Düsseldorf, Germany

Part of my 2011 European travel adventures


Düsseldorf, the capital of the German bundesland North Rhine-Westphalia, could be well labeled as Germany's largest village. The name consists of two words, Düssel (a name of a small river) and dorf (meaning village in German). This previously small village near the river Düssel is today one of Germany's biggest cities stretching along the river Rhine. The city is famous for it's trade fair (Messe) and being a hub for Far Eastern companies, especially Japanese, who have here its biggest community in Germany. In addition, Düsseldorf is one of Germany's media centers, has a famous carnival, a very large airport and lots of shopping areas. Most notable landmark is the 240 meters tall Rhine Tower.

1. My impression of Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf would not be my favorite German city. I'm not too fond of the whole Rhine-Ruhr area, which is the biggest urban area in Germany - with over 12 million people. There are so many cities virtually sticking together and Düsseldorf is one of them. The population density is just overwhelming. It's already hard for me in Taipei, but fortunately it's a compact city with a chessboard layout, so it's easier to comprehend. The Rhine-Ruhr area is huge and scattered all over the place. I've been in Düsseldorf twice so far and I still feel I haven't understood, where the city stands among other cities in the area. Compared to Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg, it looks like a small town. There are no real historic landmarks, there is no medieval soul in this city, only in parts I have felt it. On the other hand, it's full of boring generic buildings from the times of West Germany. There are few architectural gems from the 21st century, but they seem very incoherent - they stick out like glassy mushrooms. It doesn't seem to me, that there is a comprehensive plan about in which direction the city wants to go in the near future, but maybe I'm completely wrong. It's just my shallow impression. Another thing I don't like is the public transportation: It's not friendly to outsiders, who come to visit for the first time. There is little explanation, which ticket you need for train or bus. I bought several tickets to the same area and paid different prices. Luckily I wasn't checked, because I was completely clueless about whether I did the right thing. Sure, you can say it's my fault, but then again, it was a piece of cake for me to get used to Hamburg's public transportation. The third thing, that makes Düsseldorf overwhelming for me is the population mix. There were several cases, where people spoke bad German or no German at all. In the evening, I saw a lot of obscure people and a bunch of drunks roaming around. It's hard to get used to this after living in Taipei for so long, but I surely remember this reality from the life back in Slovenia. The city surely has a diverse population, but it's something I'm not used to, not from Slovenia and certainly not from Taiwan. I was wondering, if this is functioning well. Even more so, I was wondering, why so many Japanese settle in this city. Why of all the German cities they choose デュッセルドルフ? What does it make so interesting for them to be here in such great numbers? I've no idea. Düsseldorf gave me more questions than answers this time, but maybe one day I'm lucky enough to meet someone, who will explain everything to me.

2. My photos of Düsseldorf

See my photos from an afternoon walk few days ago:

A typical image.

Stahlhof, today inhabitating a court.

The building was completed in 1908.

This looks like a church.

Small houses in Düsseldorf's center.

Looks like a city in the north a little.

A shopping street.

Must be noisy to live up there.

Are German girls dressing more and more like East Asian girls?

A small square.

Town square with the old Town hall and a statue.

The statue depicts Jan Wellem, a duke from the 17. century.

Schlossturm, the tower of the former castle, its only remain.

The Schlossturm again.

The Düsseldorf skyline.

I was lucky to see the sun coming out behind the clouds - amazing view.

The Rhine.

The Rhine promenade.

And then some images from Düsseldorf's main station or Hauptbahnhof:

The exterior is simple.

Interior as well.

It's easy to find your platform. There are shops and subway entrances.

Düsseldorf's subway or U-Bahn. You can't compare it to Taipei's.

A day before I had the pleasure to go on top the Rheinturm or Rhine Tower.

The observatory was located at 174m. Elevator fee is 4 Eur.

A rotating restaurant is great for a cup of coffee and a nice view of the city and beyond.

3. Düsseldorf in conclusion

I'm still somewhat trying to figure out, what this city is about. There are some nice spots, some cozy cafés with very friendly people. There are a lot of shopping malls, posh streets with branded goods and upscale restaurants. But all in all, I would not choose to travel here. I feel that most foreign visitors come to Düsseldorf, because they have no choice - it must be related to business like in my case or they know someone from here. Neverthe less, I'd still prefer to stay in Düsseldorf instead of Frankfurt, so in case you want to fly to Germany, the Düsseldorf Airport could be a great alternative to Frankfurt for you.