A notice on the wall of the Taipei Metro’s Ximen Station declares: “Flood Depth Record of Typhoon Nari, Sept. 17, 2001.” Below the notice is a line marked “540 cm.” This high-water mark reminds us of the destructive power of typhoons. Unfortunately, Taiwan is well acquainted with natural disasters. In 2009, Typhoon Morakot caused landslides that buried Kaohsiung’s Xiaolin Village, and killed a total of nearly 700 people across our island.
In warm early morning sunlight, a throng of people with foreign faces congregates on leafy Zhongshan North Road Section 3 in Taipei. They are brightly and cleanly dressed, and they speak in Tagalog peppered with English. The shops and vendors are selling products and foods from Southeast Asia that are not often seen elsewhere in Taiwan, and the atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming.
The film The Day After Tomorrow depicts numerous disasters resulting from climate anomalies caused by global warming. At the time the film was released there was debate about whether or not this could happen, but today the scientific community believes that in the long term the possibility of global catastrophe is real.
Looking at Earth from space, more than 70% of its surface is covered by azure blue sea. No wonder science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke said, “How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.”
With three fifths of its land covered with forest, Taiwan is home to at least 5,188 different native plants. Not only has the island cast a spell on botanists from across the world, but locals have also been tapping into its woodland resources, making use of even the scents of plants.
2022 was not a peaceful year. As a consequence of climate change, extreme weather events occurred in rapid succession, and news of natural disasters arrived from every continent. Hurricane Ian battered the US and Brazil, causing more than US$100 billion of damage. Summer heatwaves hit Europe, leading to droughts and wildfires. Pakistan, meanwhile, suffered devastating floods that inundated close to one-eighth of the country.
For more than five years now the Vietnam Storybook House, located in Hualien, has been offering free Vietnamese language classes every Saturday. The teachers read illustrated storybooks, lead the children in games, and make Vietnamese food.
Terrazzo floors, now the height of retro, were once a common feature of buildings in Taiwan. Although less ubiquitous these days, examples of the material employed in various ways can still be found here and there. Have you come across them?
Gripping a little bottle in one hand, a stylist adroitly squeezes diluted shampoo onto a customer’s hair, quickly works up a lather with skillful fingers, then washes the hair while also massaging the customer’s scalp, chatting with them throughout. Then the stylist finishes with a blow dry and sends the customer off feeling a hundred times better than before they came into the salon.
When visiting Taiwan, has a Taiwanese friend ever treated you to a cup of cool, refreshing herbal tea on a hot summer’s day? Go to Herb Lane in Taipei’s Wanhua District and you will find that the street of small shops offering hundreds of types of herbs very much resembles Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter books.
