Taiwan in 3 Days – A Taipei Stir Fry

Although having travelled extensively around the world, Alan Hill and Anne Taylor had never been to Taiwan. They recently enjoyed a 3-day ‘stir fry’ of what Taipei has to offer. Here they describe their impressions.

By Alan Hill and Anne Taylor.

My local (Sydney) doctor, Hong Kong born, was pleased when I told him we were going to Taiwan. He had recently returned from his first visit to ‘the Beautiful Island’, and was highly enthusiastic.

“It’s like Hong Kong was years ago,” he said. “The pace is slower, the people are really friendly, there is some splendid natural scenery  – and the food is better.”

I never expected to hear that last commendation from a Hong Kong native!

We arrived in Taipei (from Sydney via Bangkok) late at night and it was midnight before we checked into the Ambience Hotel, conveniently located mid-way between two Metro stations. We were warmly greeted (having advised the hotel of our expected late arrival) and shown to a bright, modern room decorated by Phillip Stark, whose design store is just around the corner.

With only three days on the island, we had already decided to concentrate on the capital, leaving for another visit other areas of interest recommended by my medico. Taipei is also the home of my cousin Stuart and his friend John, both of whom were eager to show us around and explain some of the city’s fascinating history and culture.

As the interchange for the MRT, High Speed Rail, Taiwan Railway and nearby Taipei Bus Station, the Taipei (Main) Station is as good as anywhere to start your exploration of Taipei.

Our first day, as usual on our travels, was one of orientation, an exploration of our immediate neighbourhood. Taipei Main Railway Station is a busy place, with a Visitor Centre giving travel advice in many languages. In the basement is a large shopping mall and food court. We purchased our Easy (stored-value) Cards for the Metro (MRT) and hoped that one of these days Sydney would have such a simple system.

Taipei’s Metro stations and trains are clean, efficient and air-conditioned. The trains are rarely as crowded (during peak hours is a different story! – Ed.) as the city services in Hong Kong and Bangkok, but on occasions when there were no vacant seats, polite locals always jumped up to offer theirs to these obviously aged visitors – sometimes we were spoilt for choice!

At Taipei City Hall station we alighted to admire the 101 storey Taipei International Financial Center (Taipei 101). No longer the world’s tallest building, it is nevertheless an amazing engineering feat, especially as Taipei is earthquake-prone.

Very close to our hotel we found the small Su Ho Paper Museum, where visitors can see paper sculpture and installation art, make their own sheets of paper in its workshop and buy some of the loveliest paper articles we have ever seen.

At dinnertime we found a delightful little restaurant, ‘Syongmeigoose’, just across the road from our hotel, and enjoyed a simple meal – slices of cold goose with rice and vegetables, accompanied by Taiwanese beer.

Next morning we set off early by taxi (pleasantly inexpensive) to Taipei’s  National Palace Museum, to see what is billed as the world’s largest and finest collection of Chinese art. We wandered from room to room, admiring precious jade, ceramic and bronze vessels, intricately carved wooden furniture and other treasures. After buying souvenirs and books in the museum’s shops we took the lift to Sanxitang Teahouse on the fourth floor for yum cha and delicious Taiwanese tea.

For contrast we visited Taipei’s modern Fine Arts Museum, housed in a vast high-ceilinged building completed in 1983. It has a permanent collection of more than 4000 pieces by Taiwanese and international artists, and we were fortunate to see a special exhibition of artworks by the past ten winners of the annual Taipei Arts Award.

Freedom Square and the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall deserve half a day's visit in themselves, with the surrounding gardens, National Theater and National Concert Hall plus CKS Memorial Hall's museum all worth a browse.

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is something else again, a ponderous monument to the ‘Great Leader’, or ‘great dictator’ as many now call him. Six chambers house his personal effects, including uniforms, medals, manuscripts and two black, belligerent-looking bullet-proof 1960s Cadillacs. The extensive grounds include a National Concert Hall and National Theatre.

One day, accompanied by Stuart, we took the red Metro line all the way to its northern terminus, Danshui. Once a busy port, the town is now a popular riverside destination for Taipei residents and tourists.

Stuart took us to a waterfront restaurant where we had a delightful kebab lunch of meats, vegetables and fruit grilled and then served on a vertical framework. We drank cold tea with limes in tall frosted glasses.

It was Monday, so Danshui’s most famous site, Fort San Domingo, was closed. The original fort was established by Spain in the 17th century, then fell under Chinese control until the British made it their consulate in 1891. The Brits severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1972.

Fort San Domingo in DanShui, the "castle of red-haired barbarians", offers a glimpse into Taiwan's colonial history.

The inscription on a statue of Dr George Mackay informed us that this Canadian Presbyterian missionary established the first Western-style university in Taiwan just up the hill from the Fort. We strolled along colourful Gongming Street, lined with local shops, eating houses and food stalls, and explored a new gallery displaying striking contemporary Taiwanese art.

On our last evening John and Stuart drove us to Maokong, high in the hills of southern Taipei. Once famous for its tea plantations, Maokong is now dotted with teahouses where you can enjoy the cup that cheers with or without a meal. A gondola provides access from the city for those who don’t have a car.

At a window table on the second floor of the ‘Big Teapot’, a panoramic view of Taipei below us, we enjoyed a feast of Taiwanese dishes – stir-fried noodles with tea oil and shallots, three-cup chicken, lamb and water spinach with sate sauce, deep-fried sweet potato and yam – and a ‘tea ceremony’ with a tasting of several teas in tiny cups. It was a fitting farewell to our brief visit to ‘Ihla Formosa’.

World explorers Anne Taylor and Alan Hill in front of the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.

The Life & Times of a Taiwan Tea Trader

The diary of British tea trader, and DanShui resident, John Dodd forms the basis of the book “The Life and Times of John Dodd”. Guest contributor Milton Hill provides a summary.

John Dodd, at the age of 26, arrived in Taiwan in 1864 after being advised that the best opportunities for a young man to make a fortune would be by living in one of the Treaty Ports.

This arrangement, of Treaty Ports, had been forced on the Chinese after they lost the Opium Wars of 1839-42 and 1856- 60. Originally there were three ports, but over the years they expanded to 80 with France and US joining Britain. The Treaty allowed the British to pay minimum duty on imports, establish trading houses, clubs, schools, churches, and even race courses, without any reference
to local authorities.

This attitude did not endear them to the locals as in some places they paid for trade-able goods with opium rather than hard currency. When Dodd first arrived he was advised by the British Consul, Robert Swinhoe, that the probable trade-able goods could be found amongst rice, indigo, coarse sugar, tea, ground nut cakes, camphor, coal, wood, wheat and barley. He chose tea, despite being advised that the Oolong tea was inferior to that grown in China.

By financing and encouraging farmers to grow larger crops, he was able to build up a successful business exporting to the US, where it was successfully blended with other teas. After nine years and  near bankruptcy he decided to diversify into other products.

As a successful trader, he was regarded by many locals as abrasive, but by fellow foreigners as a cultured and generous man whose house was always open to visitors. He provided accommodation for the newly arrived Canadian missionary doctor  George Leslie Mackay, and assisted him to establish the first hospital in DanShui. He made numerous trips around Taiwan and had a wide knowledge of the inhabitants as well as the local flora and fauna.

On one of these trips he discovered oil seeping up through the earth and contemplated establishing an industry in collecting and selling this new resource. However, he was warned off by Chinese officials who claimed he and his workers could be in danger from the “savages” who bordered this area. The oil concession was not fully developed for another ten years, by which time it was well and truly in Chinese hands.

In 1884-5 the Sino-French war was fought over France’s desire to get control over North Vietnam (Tonkin) from China. France, which controlled Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam, believed that this would give them entry into China,
avoiding the Treaty Ports controlled by their long time rivals, Britain.

A large segment of this book is John Dodd’s diary covering the nine months of the French naval blockade of DanShui (Tamshui) and Keelung Harbour. When the war broke out, the French Navy decided to increase pressure on China by blockading foreign supplies, particularly guns and ammunition from arriving
through its main ports. Several of these ports were in Taiwan.

Despite the interruption to his business, John Dodd describes his travails in somewhat muted tones. He regards his “neutrality” seriously and expresses no support for either party in the dispute. The French carry out only two sustained bombardments of the Chinese fortifications in the nine months, but by constantly moving their vessels closer to the shore, sailing away, or replacing some of the ships, they keep defenders on edge.

The blockade, apart from preventing the merchants from exporting their goods, also caused a shortage of creature comforts. This included mail, whisky, cigarettes and a variety of western food. Eventually this created a drop in morale,
particularly when they were prevented from “walking on the beach” or by “holding snipe shooting parties”.

An interesting legal quandary arose when the British Consul, after hearing of a rumour of a pending bombardment, advised the merchants and their families to evacuate to a British warship that had arrived to protect them. Dodd and several other merchants, fearing that their homes and warehouses would be looted, wrote to the Consul asking him to indemnify their losses if they took his advice. He didn’t, so they didn’t leave.

This had the unexpected bonus of gaining the respect of the locals especially as two of the British doctors were treating wounded and sick Chinese soldiers, of which there were many. (The Chinese army was not providing any support and any sick soldiers had to fend for themselves). All this stood the British community in good stead, when everything had returned to normal.

Scattered throughout the diary, Dodd expresses in the language and mindset of the times contemporaneous western perceptions of the local indigenous Hoklo and Hakka communities, as well as unflattering remarks about Chinese mandarins.

John Dodd left Taiwan in 1890 after 26 years, having built a fortune trading in numerous commodities.

Perhaps the greatest legacy Dodd left for Taiwan was his middleman Li
Chunsheng, who acted as his interpreter, buyer and chief negotiator. Li took over much of Dodd’s trade and grew into a wealthy and well-respected local philanthropist. He was a Christian and a forward thinker and helped establish many schools and colleges.

In later life Li was also a renowned writer who had several books published on
faith, philosophy and life. After a visit to Japan he realised that China was backward and needed modernising. After Japan’s annexing of Taiwan in 1895, Li Chunsheng persuaded the people to co-operate and accept the changes being brought to the island by the Japanese. It is not recorded here what the average person thought, or how they fared under these new arrangements.

The author, Niki. J.P. Alsford puts a rather positive spin on this change of circumstances, stating, with some conviction that:

Li established himself as a bridge between the local population and the Colonial Government. Li’s relationship to the foreign community during the nineteenth century, conceivably altered the perception of “others “ by the local  Taiwanese and this relationship to “outsiders” was a major proponent in the success of Taiwan’s industries throughout the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth century.

Li Chungsheng remained Dodd’s comprador throughout Dodd’s stay in Taiwan, and continued what Dodd had started and developed it into a vital industry that has continued to this day.

Despite all of the questionable assumptions in the previous paragraphs, and the obvious overlooking of the millions of dollars poured into the country by the US in the last 60 years, in his well researched book, Alsford has compiled an
impressive number of photographs and statistics, even down to a complete list of all the people buried in the foreigners’ cemetery.

This book reinforces my original observation that there is a good story to be told about these and earlier somewhat chaotic times. Maybe Alsford is correct in his
belief that these colourful characters who ran the various trading houses in the nineteenth century provided the building blocks for the dynamic business culture that is Taiwan today.

More research still needs to be done on this proposition.

Other Stories:

• Top Taipei Day Trips: DanShui River (including the British Embassy)

Top Taipei Day Trips: DanShui River

The history of DanShui (淡水) represents an incredible timeline involving the various powers that have dominated Taiwan. Like the southern port city of TaiNan (台南), DanShui’s story is a reminder of the strategic position Taiwan held in the global trading routes of the last few centuries.

By Stuart Hill

Fort San Domingo and nearby consulate grounds are evidence of Taiwans complicated colonial history

Getting to DanShui on the MRT (subway) is a great way to get a sense of how Taipei must have functioned as a trading port with access to the sea. Fort San Domingo which was established first by the Spanish, taken over by the Dutch, then later the English, sits on a commanding site overlooking the entrance to the DanShui River.

Heading out from Taipei, the MRT begins to hug the river as it passes GuanDu (關渡) on its way to DanShui. If you like riding bicycles you can get off and hire one at GuanDu and ride along the river’s edge and through the mangrove forest around HongShuLin (紅樹林) and all the way to DanShui. Keep in mind that at GuanDu there is a great tapas restaurant called “Water Birds Tapas House” (水鳥 92) which overlooks the wetlands, and is a nice place to end the day.

The MRT terminates at DanShui. On weekends there are thousands of Taipei residents getting off to browse DanShui’s shops along Old Street, ie JhongJheng (ZhongZheng) Road, catch a ferry across the river to BaLi on the opposite bank, or make their way further toward the sea up to the Fisherman’s Wharf. On a weekday, the shops are pretty empty and finding a quiet seat to sit at and have lunch or coffee is easy to do.

The view from Waterfront Cafe, one of the many places to enjoy a drink or meal along the DanShui River

Starbucks (with its second floor) has one of the best views along the river, and is located next to a small statue representing the landing spot at DanShui of the highly renowned Canadian medic and missionary George Mackay.

However, my favorite places to sit back and enjoy the view are at any one of the cafes that line the river just after Starbucks. Several huge trees line the walkway at this point, and if you aren’t ready to eat or drink, you can sit on the long concrete seats and enjoy the shade. The nearby Waterfront cafe, with its Bali-style grass-roofed marquees, is situated on the site once occupied by the customs office of DanShui that ran during the Japanese era.

If you head away from the river at the Mackay monument and walk along JhongJheng Road in the direction of the Fisherman’s Wharf (left), you will eventually come to the Consulate, a café directly facing the entrance to Fort San Domingo. Meanwhile, heading the other way (right) will take you back past the local post office, Matsu temple, Christian church, and along the shopping street, with its huge variety of gift shops, food stalls and even more touristy offerings.

The old Spanish/Dutch/English fort and consulate, which in Chinese are  translated literally as “castle of the red-haired people” (紅毛城), are very well maintained, and you can spend two hours learning about the two buildings and wandering their grounds. There are detailed explanations of the site and its significance to the colonial powers of the time in English, Japanese and Chinese.

One of the red-haired people of Fort San Domingo, near DanShui

If you’ve arrived early enough in the day, take one of the ferries at the DanShui pier across to the opposite bank at BaLi. You can get single journey or return tickets from one of the ferry company booths near the pier. It takes about 10 minutes to get to the other side.

At BaLi, wander through the market to the first street of traffic (JhongHua Road) and catch the r13 bus to the ShiSanHang Museum of Archeology. There you’ll learn about the early prehistoric inhabitants of DanShui river who had developed iron smelting skills and possibly trading relations with China. The museum closes at 5 pm (6pm in summer), and you can spend about 1.5 hours checking out the exhibits.

Alternatively, walk along the shops closer to the river’s edge nearer the BaLi pier.

For more ideas about historical points of interest and some basic maps of the area, check out the DanShui District Office website.

An easy day itinerary:

1. Catch the MRT to DanShui and arrive 11 am
2. Walk along the river’s edge until the you meet the statue of George Mackay near Starbucks
3. Find a place to have an early lunch, say at Waterfront
4. Head toward JhongJheng Road in the direction toward Fisherman’s Wharf (which is the direction away from the MRT) until you reach the Consulate cafe
5. Spend 1-2 hours wandering around Fort San Domingo and the consulate grounds
6. Return to DanShui pier and buy a return trip ticket to BaLi. On the other side of the river buy some fruit or other snacks. Find a place to have coffee or come back to the DanShui side for that.
7. Catch the MRT from DanShui to GuanDu in the early evening.
8. Have dinner at the Water Birds Tapas House restaurant (the fried sardines with lemon are worth the journey). Check the map for 92 ZhiHang Road, GuanDu on their website for directions.
9. Head back to Taipei from GuanDu MRT.