Asia, take 2-3
I had the wonderful opportunity to tour Asia again this year. There were many highlights, such as biking to the Golden Triangle and up to Doi Suthep near Chiang Mai; visiting with Jason, Marie and Avelina in Taiwan; and touring Taipei with Bekkah. I also got to see the Angkor Wat which I set out to see 10 years ago, almost to the day. It was worth the wait and great to meet up and be toured around by bike with my friend, Paolo. The last time that I was in Asia, was January 2010, at my own expense (as well as the Sando's). This time I cannot thank the Sandtrio (and Backroads) enough for sponsoring my trip. I hope I get to do it again soon.Below are a random collection of thoughts left over from my original visit (noted in Feb 2010):
Hong Kong is an incredible place where East meets West, Mountain meets Ocean, Island meets City and so on. It was incredible. And yet, what surprised me the most was the ever present bamboo scaffolding, even on large construction projects. Very complex and cool. (As a side note, for a very interesting movie set in Hong Kong see Kung Fu Shuffle).
In Taipei, Jason and I went shrimp fishing. It looked like a popular event (I have since seen it at a night market too). Think sitting in a chair, with a beer, by a clouded wading pool, and trolling with a very little hook baited with chicken liver on a little pole. Don't forget to set the hook when your bobber dips!
Chiang Kai Shek was not the most popular character, but seemed to be pretty effective. (We biked by some Nationalist Chinese villages in Northern Thailand this year as well). When he moved to Taiwan, he took a lot of institutions with him. It would be somewhat similar to the American communists of the 60's and 70's taking the government and the Smithsonian, along with a major university or two, and relocating to Puerto Rico, an island nominally under control but with a different language, heritage, and history. The example is even stronger, if you concede that much of the USA is Non-latin European stock.
One of the institutions that went is the National Palace Museum. Much like the Chinese equivalent to the Smithsonian, it captures the history of the people; however it ranges all the way back to their native, ancient dynasties. It is incredible, set high on stairs in a wooded hillside. My tour guide was the 8th grade history teacher in California of one of the other tour participants. The guy recognized him, and checked at the end of the tour. Small world.
Why would I say that Taiwan has a different language, heritage, history and people from mainland China? Well, a large Fujian Han-Chinese population came in the 13th-15th centuries. Fujian is a southern China province, closest to Taiwan, but across a very treacherous stretch of water; the natives of Taiwan were not very welcoming, which is another reason for the long conquest. There was also a rather recent and extended Japanese colonization, but the native Taiwanese, who are a small minority today are tribes of Austronesian people. From what I saw, they have some interesting traditions which are similar to Native American and Mountain Ukrainian/Ruthenian customs. Today they are recognized and protected. All this before Chiang Kai-Shek and his forces ever arrived.
PS. Delta was awful – the programming, reading material, and music, plus no newspapers or even lotion in bathroom!
Chiang Kai Shek was not the most popular character, but seemed to be pretty effective. (We biked by some Nationalist Chinese villages in Northern Thailand this year as well). When he moved to Taiwan, he took a lot of institutions with him. It would be somewhat similar to the American communists of the 60's and 70's taking the government and the Smithsonian, along with a major university or two, and relocating to Puerto Rico, an island nominally under control but with a different language, heritage, and history. The example is even stronger, if you concede that much of the USA is Non-latin European stock.
One of the institutions that went is the National Palace Museum. Much like the Chinese equivalent to the Smithsonian, it captures the history of the people; however it ranges all the way back to their native, ancient dynasties. It is incredible, set high on stairs in a wooded hillside. My tour guide was the 8th grade history teacher in California of one of the other tour participants. The guy recognized him, and checked at the end of the tour. Small world.
Why would I say that Taiwan has a different language, heritage, history and people from mainland China? Well, a large Fujian Han-Chinese population came in the 13th-15th centuries. Fujian is a southern China province, closest to Taiwan, but across a very treacherous stretch of water; the natives of Taiwan were not very welcoming, which is another reason for the long conquest. There was also a rather recent and extended Japanese colonization, but the native Taiwanese, who are a small minority today are tribes of Austronesian people. From what I saw, they have some interesting traditions which are similar to Native American and Mountain Ukrainian/Ruthenian customs. Today they are recognized and protected. All this before Chiang Kai-Shek and his forces ever arrived.
PS. Delta was awful – the programming, reading material, and music, plus no newspapers or even lotion in bathroom!
Labels: asia, random thoughts
posted by jjs @ 2:40 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home