tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post6195963576806019984..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: Hwashi Street and WanhuaMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-28369083563779462692009-12-01T16:00:22.664+08:002009-12-01T16:00:22.664+08:00"sameness equates to orderliness"
.. a..."sameness equates to orderliness"<br /><br /> .. and by the same token I imagine that difference equates to disorderliness and should be treated with caution, if not discrimination, covert or otherwise.Ben Gorenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07215358295386075741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-27831969288055979172009-12-01T12:06:45.440+08:002009-12-01T12:06:45.440+08:00Anon, left CYU two years ago.
BBC sucks -- the ti...Anon, left CYU two years ago.<br /><br />BBC sucks -- the title is probably made in london, since the article clearly distinguishes Taiwan from China.Michael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-48598926399823197652009-12-01T12:06:10.446+08:002009-12-01T12:06:10.446+08:00Damn, Scott, some heavy ideas.
I wonder if rather...Damn, Scott, some heavy ideas.<br /><br /><i>I wonder if rather than (as I take your point) betraying a quasi-Confucian fear of 'chaos' on the part of 'locals', the orderliness you highlight isn't more connected with wanting to promote Taipei as a 'modern' and 'international' city?</i><br /><br />I don't think so, because the same drive to standardize appears everywhere -- been to Miaokou in Keelung lately? It used to be a pleasing anarchy, but then they mde it all look the same. If you go around Taiwan many smaller towns mandate identically shaped signs along main streets, producing utter monotony and making it hard to find stuff without the old distinctively shaped signs. <br /><br />I think it isn't about modernity, but actual about traditional ideas of order and sameness. <br /><br />Yes, I agree, lots of presentation here is aimed at "what foreigners want" which is defined locally. <br /><br />Oh yes, the Jiancheng circle was a great loss. Among many. <br /><br />Stop by more often, man, could use comments like yours.<br /><br />MichaelMichael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-72241024515440875912009-12-01T11:57:22.773+08:002009-12-01T11:57:22.773+08:00Who can blame them for teh mistake? Most years, no...Who can blame them for teh mistake? Most years, no taiwanese actors -and hardly any movies- are nominated for this "local" award... *sigh*TicoExpathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09924420017053186115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-18615221957214326332009-12-01T10:33:29.796+08:002009-12-01T10:33:29.796+08:00Based on what I've seen of the area myself, I ...Based on what I've seen of the area myself, I suspect that O-bah-san pushing the cart across the street becomes one of the 'madames' under the red lights later in the evening. There are a lot of old guys that hang out in the mall across from the temple playing checkers, etc...... <br />It is a colorful area and definitely worth a visit. The tourist night market isn't the greatest - kinda 'sterile' compared to a place like Shi Lin - but can be a good place to take visitor just because they hang and skin the snakes there (I'm sure you saw the "No Photos" signs otherwise there would be some pics up). Yeah, I did have the soup and drink the blood/gall baldder - it's not so bad...! Yeah, I guess it does brings to mind the Jian-cheng Circle. That had to be the coolest looking ultra-local place around but then I remember going by it again one day and it was just completely gone. Couldn't believe it..... What a royal screw up by Horsey Brave Nine.<br />The temple is a great place to take people as well - you need to walk around to the back part behind the main altar - seems you didn't make it back there or at least there are no pics. I used to see Japanese tour groups going through the temple just about every time I went there in the past, but come to think of it I haven't seen any recently.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00948724015993575244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-87762813212190801542009-12-01T09:20:33.340+08:002009-12-01T09:20:33.340+08:00Hi Michael,
Wow - your photos make me miss Taipei...Hi Michael,<br /><br />Wow - your photos make me miss Taipei so much.<br /><br />One query though. You write that, "the city has cast a dull sameness across the market, since in local thinking, sameness equates to orderliness." <br /><br />I wonder if rather than (as I take your point) betraying a quasi-Confucian fear of 'chaos' on the part of 'locals', the orderliness you highlight isn't more connected with wanting to promote Taipei as a 'modern' and 'international' city? <br /><br />The reason I ask that is that for the 'locals' I know, night markets are most often distinguished as spaces of 'renao' (a concept which lets 'chaos' in the back door, albeit in a socially-acceptable way). Also, that particular market is heavily promoted to international tourists. <br /><br />It may be that the rationalisation and gentrification of these spaces could also be heavily tied up with the Taipei City Government's (idiosyncratic) views about what foreigners want (hygiene!) and what the 'local colour' experience in an appropriately 'modern' Taipei should look or feel like for them. I guess it depends on which 'locals' you mean.<br /><br />The TCG tends to be fairly bad at 'cultural' things in any case: witness the Mayor Ma-led debacle that was the refurb of the Jian-cheng Circle market.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />ScottScott Writernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-12504094035356464532009-12-01T09:04:58.019+08:002009-12-01T09:04:58.019+08:00Do you still teach at Chaoyang?
Fact checking is ...Do you still teach at Chaoyang?<br /><br />Fact checking is essentially a political activity especially when but not necessarily only when it comes to political constituted facts; in order to stay neutral and objective, Media no longer restraint itself with the burden of fact checking:<br />"Taiwanese tear-jerker wins Golden Horse award in China "<br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8386007.stmAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com