The Taiwan Adventure

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Merry Christmas from the Taiwan Adventure Blog. We hope you all have a wonderful 2014.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Holidays and the Lunar Calendar, The Year of the Horse

One of the things I've done every year is list all of the Taiwanese holidays. 2014 is the Year of the Horse. Most of Taiwan’s traditional holidays are marked through the use of the Lunar Calendar. Modern Holidays are marked through the Solar Calendar. Let’s take a look at the Taiwanese Holidays:

Lunar NewYear: 春節Lunar Date is January 1. (January 31, 2014) This is the most important holiday of the year. It is celebrated much the same way that Christmas is celebrated in the west. Families gather for 3-15 days. Traditional meals are served on Lunar New Year’s Eve. People are given gifts of “Hong Bao” 紅包　These are gifts of money in a red envelope that are a wish of prosperity for the recipient.

The LanternFestival: 元宵節　Lunar date is January 15. (February 14, 2014) This is the first day that a full moon can be seen in the New Year. People celebrate by lighting and launching sky lanterns. There are also huge venues where people go to see artistically made lanterns and watch them launched. People often write prayers and wishes on the side of the lanterns before they are released. The traditional food for the Lantern festival is the tangyuan 湯圓 (soup circle.) These are balls of gooey, sweet rice gluten.

Qingming Festival: 清明節 Solar Holiday: April 5, 2014. During the Qingming Festival families gather to sweep the tombs of departed ancestors. It is a day to honor the dead. Many people use this day to burn incense and worship their ancestors.

Dragon BoatFestival: 端午節　Lunar date is May 5. (June 2, 2014) This festival honors Chinese Poet Qu Yuan. It is celebrated with the racing of the dragon boats. People eat a special sticky rice pyramid called a zongzi.

Night of Sevens: 七夕 Lunar date is July 7. (August 2, 2014) This holiday celebrates the legendary love of Niulang and Zhinu. According to legend they are forever separated, but are allowed to unite on July 7. The Taiwanese view this as a romantic night celebrated much like Valentine’s Day in the west. It is sometimes called Double Seven.

Ghost Festival: 中元節　Lunar date is July 15. (August 10, 2014) The festival honors the departed ancestors. People commemorate this day by placing offerings of incense, food and beverages outside their homes and the burning of spirit money for the family members who have departed the world. This is the most important date of Ghost Month (The whole month of July on the lunar calendar. July 27 – August 24, 2014)

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival: 中秋節　Lunar date is August 15. (September 8, 2014) This is the day when most people get together with friends and family and barbeque. Look for an in-depth post on the Moon Festival in September. A gift is given to friends and family of moon cakes. Circular cakes made with egg yolks and other things inside. The shape represents the moon and the cakes themselves are good wishes for the recipient.

Double Ninth Festival: 重陽節　Lunar Date is September 9. (October 2, 2014) People usually celebrate this holiday by climbing mountains or visiting flower shows.

Xia Yuan Festival: 下元節　Lunar date is October 15. (November 17, 2014) During this festival people pray to the water god for a peaceful year.

Winter Solstice: 冬至　Solar Holiday (December 21, 2014). This corresponds to the Winter Solstice in Western Countries. Families gather to celebrate on this day.

Kitchen God Festival: 謝灶Lunar date is December 23. (January 23, 2014) This is the day to thank the kitchen god. It is believed that on the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month, just before Chinese New Year he returns to Heaven to report the activities of every household over the past year to the Jade Emperor (Yu Huang). The Jade Emperor, emperor of the heavens, either rewards or punishes a family based on Zao Jun's yearly report.

One final note is that the Chinese Zodiac is broken down into 12 years. Each year corresponds to a particular animal. It is believed that people born in a particular year will share the traits of the animal mentioned. The following is a breakdown of the Zodiac and the corresponding years from 1924 through 2031. See if you can find yours.

Rat 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008 2020

Ox 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009 2021

Tiger 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010 2022

Rabbit 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011 2023

Dragon 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012 2024

Snake 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013 2025

Horse 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014 2026

Sheep 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015 2027

Monkey 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016 2028

Rooster 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017 2029

Dog 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 2018 2030

Boar 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007 2019 2031

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Gongfu Tea: Drink This, Grasshopper!

Jackie Chan in his 2010 remake of The Karate Kid uttered a classic line. It took place after endlessly drilling Jaden Smith on hanging up his coat. Over and over he tells him, “Take coat off…put on ground…pick up…put coat on…” Smith’s character finally loses it and starts yelling. Then Jackie utters the memorable line, “Gongfu found in everything.” That’s it. Okay, so maybe you’re weren't as inspired by those words as I was but it made me think about tea. Of course, just about everything that doesn't make me think about food makes me think about tea. Since I haven’t heard of Gongfu Pork Chops, I guess we have to go with tea, here.

Those of us from places like the U.S. think of gongfu as Chinese Martial Arts: Twirling kicks, forceful punches, boards breaking, opponents being tossed across the room, defying the laws of physics you get the idea. But once again you’re asking the question what does all this have to do with tea? The term gongfu, as used in China and Taiwan, really refers to any skill that is achieved through hard work and practice. Gongfu tea doesn't have anything to do with breaking the teapot or anything like that.

Gongfu tea is a method of serving tea in Taiwan. It is something you do to show hospitality and care for guests in your home or business. When we bought our car and were waiting for the paperwork to be completed the salesman/dealership owner served us tea, in the gongfu way. If you have a company that does business with Taiwanese businessmen it would help your relationship with them to learn to perform gongfu tea. It would also help to have a high-quality Taiwanese grown tea available. Taiwanese tea is some of the finest tea available in the world.

Probably the finest aspect of the tea culture is Gongfu Tea. Tea Masters understand how tea is grown, when it’s best to pick, what age of plant produces the best tea, how to brew each type of tea for the best result, brewing temperatures, brewing times and how to serve tea in a way that makes people feel good, and highlights the flavor of the tea. All of these things and much more contribute to the Gongfu tea experience.

Being relaxed is helpful in experiencing the subtle differences between the tea flavors and fragrances. A friend who took me to a tea shop for the first time is a somewhat high-energy person, who has kind of a nervous personality. He constantly fidgets and talks fast. His hands have to be doing something at all times. As we were talking about the tea, with the owner, my friend remarked that he couldn't tell the difference between the different teas we were drinking. The owner told him, “That’s because you’re heart beats too fast, you have to learn to relax to appreciate the tea.” That, in essence is what the gongfu tea method is supposed to do, relax you so that you can enjoy the different teas.

The conversation centers on tea. Talk flows around the growing location, altitude and temperature variations, all of which affect the flavor of the tea. It can also touch on processes and oven temperatures, which are contributors to the color and flavor of the tea.

In short, the gongfu experience is all about the tea and relationships. I have found those times when I have been treated to this type of experience to be interesting, informative and relaxing. The end result, and really this is the primary goal of gongfu is the building of relationship. Time is taken to understand tea, but time is taken with your guest as well. It is to show the sincerity of your care for guests and desire to build your relationship with that person. I recently had an American friend visit me in Taiwan and I served him tea in the gongfu style. After his return to America, he sent me a brief note saying he was craving “sincere tea.” I guess I did it the right way.

Other posts you may be interested in:

The Origins of Wulong Tea?
Taiwanese Tea: Union Tea Company
Taiwanese Traditions: Selling and Brewing Tea

Photos: Chris Banducci

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

That is one BIG Duck

It's an inflatable duck, but not a big inflatable duck.

I've been reading about this giant rubber duck for a while, now. I first heard about it when it was in Sydney, Australia. That was in 2007. It looks just like the rubber duck you played with in the tub when you were a kid. Well, some of you, I know you still play with that thing.

I was pretty excited to see it. The duck, created by Dutch conceptual artist Florentijn Hofman made it’s first appearance in 2007 in Sydney Harbor and its been in a number of places since. Recently, it was in Southern Taiwan in the city of Gaoxiong, but now it’s right here in Northern Taiwan in a little place called Xinwu. The duck will be there from October 26 (2013) until November 10.

According to things that I've read, the artist doesn't send the duck but sends plans for the duck, which are then implemented in the host country. The duck in Taiwan was inflated in just seven minutes, thanks to technology developed here. When the duck was in Hong Kong harbor it took an hour to inflate. Can you imagine the volume of air that had to be moved to inflate a duck that’s 58ft by 58ft by 81ft that’s 272,484 cubic feet (83,841 cubic meters) in seven minutes? I’m guessing they didn't just use the vacuum on blow.

The duck peers out over the crowd.

We decided that we couldn't let the duck be this close and not go see it. Even my teenage daughters were kind of excited about it. Of course, they have fond memories of their little rubber ducks. When they were babies I would play with the ducks with them while they soaked in the bathtub. In fact, their first word was duck. Most parents get “mama” or “dada,” we got duck.”

This duck is a bit bigger than they’re used to, though. The duck is 18 meters high, that’s 58 feet for you on the English measuring system, and 25 meters long (81 feet). That is one big duck, so you would need a big, big tub to play with it in.

We also got on the news as being the only foreigners in the place. There were probably 10,000 people who went to see the duck today, which is pretty surprising for a work/school day. The first day it was opened was a Saturday and 100,000 people passed by and gazed upon the duck in all its hugeness and glory. In fact, they opened the art festival an hour early, because by 8:00 am, they already had a line more than three kilometers long. They’re expecting 1.5 million visitors before the end of the run. Xinwu is a small rural community, especially by Asian standards; only 48,000 people live there.

Duck Souvenirs

It was a great trip. There was a great carnival atmosphere, with food vendors and souvenir vendors and other artworks on display. People were happy and enjoying the autumn weather. This is the absolute best time to be in Taiwan weather-wise.

Access for handicapped people was provided, but you couldn't easily get too close to the duck. There was an area that was like a deck that was reserved for elderly and handicapped people. there were also volunteers and staff to enforce that it wasn't packed with able bodied people, so there was actual room for the elderly and disabled

If you live in Northern Taiwan, take some time to visit Xinwu while the duck is there. We had a wonderful time. Admission to the Taoyuan Land Art Festival, that’s where the duck is, is free. I’d pay at least twice that for the opportunity to see it all again.

They've got all their ducks in a row.

Delicious Squid on a Stick.

Duck Watchers

Other posts you may be interested in:

Local Color: A Winter Trip to Danshui

Taiwan Travelogue: The North Coast

Local Color: Ju Ming Museum in Taipei

Photos by Emily Banducci

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Cruising Around: Exploring Close to Home.

Have Wheelchair will Travel

The weather here has become Autumn weather. So the temperature has come down, a fresh little breeze is blowing and the weather is perfect for a cruise on the the old scooter. So after I got back from my morning trip to downtown Taoyuan I decided to hit the open road. I took a few pictures of some things that I thought were interesting or beautiful, or both, as the case may be. I've recently been spending quite a bit of time looking at photographer Craig Ferguson's travel photos. His photos are so good that I'm almost intimidated to take pictures. His are art, mine should be in your grandmother's scrapbook. You can see Craig's excellent photos at http://www.craigfergusonimages.com and you'll see why I'm intimidated.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not that good a photographer, basically because I'm lazy. I have a small digital camera and mostly take snapshot like photos. I'm wanting to get a really good, digital camera, like a canon rebel with a 55mm to 128mm lens or some other technical stuff. I had a nice SLR film camera, but film is a pain when you're using it to blog. So, I guess I'm not too technical when it comes to cameras. I have a friend who's so technical that he uses only numbers when he talks. Anyway such as they are, here are my photos and a brief description

These three photos above are a a large Taoist temple. I found this temple by following a line of lanterns hung from the telephone poles. The lanterns are red and spherical. They're the common lanterns that are sold in Chinese gift shops across America. They have a purpose beyond decoration and that purpose is to point out the location of a temple. If you see lanterns strung down the side of a road and follow them they will end at a temple site.

This is a photo of the garden in front of my apartment community. Many apartments have a beautiful park like Garden for the residents to enjoy. My daughter Elizabeth loves to take her laptop down to the garden to do her schoolwork. I have on occasion sat down there in the morning to pray. It's really very beautiful.

This stream seems to appear out of nowhere. On one side of the road is the pond in the picture above where the temple roof can be seen and on the other side of the road is this stream. But I can't see what feeds the pond. It's just there, then this stream. But the stream isn't a trickle it's a pretty good sized creek. In order to find the source, I'm probably going to have to get off the bike and explore, but I think it would be hard with a wheel chair. You can see the brush is fairly thick. So...I guess I'll have to make Emily and Elizabeth do it.

You can see how close I am to the city right here. This is about three quarters of a kilometer from my apartment. Elizabeth found this place while walking her dog.

This is the same field as the one in the picture above. The birds are called Egrets, in English, I don't know what they're called in Chinese. These are the birds that are often depicted in Chinese art. Usually they're called Cranes, although, I don't believe they are Cranes in a taxonomic sense.

The first photo in this group of two is a photo of an altar. You can see on the altar is a small incense urn, with sticks of incense sticking out of it. There is a statue of the Goddess on there as well. So people in this small neighborhood probably burn incense the local deity here. The incense sticks tell me that someone worshiped here before I came this morning. The bottom photo is of a couple of family tombs. These two tombs are beautifully cared for. You cans see an incense urn and two vases for flowers on the one on the left. The character in the circle on the top of the one on the right is Wang, a family name, which translates to King.

After I left this road, I circled back and went about 2 kilometers down another road, which leads to a city called Ping Zhen (Ping Jun). As I came out of the city I came across another stream and found this guy fishing.

A little farther down I came across this apartment community. the interesting thing here is that this community has a private temple for worshipers living in the community. I haven't often seen that.

Finally, as I turned toward my own community, I came across this cool little car. This car is run by a dog grooming company who apparently comes to your house to groom your dog. You see a lot of these little "VW buses". They're made from a kit. I've seen a number of them outfitted for serving hot food off the back. the panels fold up and in to reveal a propane grill and preparation table. I've even seen one made to be a small van. They used a pink one as a van in an Idol Drama, starring Joe Cheng and Ariel Lin called, "It Started with a Kiss." I like the little paw print shaped vents on this one.

Photos by Chris and Emily Banducci

Other posts you may be interested in:

Clearing Out the Camera: Random Shots of Taiwan
Local Color: The Color is Green
Local Color: The Colors of Kenting
Local Color: The Temples of Taoyuan City

Monday, October 7, 2013

The Origins of Wulong Tea?

Look at the beautiful, clear yellow of the Wulong Tea.

The word Wulong (Oolong; in Chinese 烏龍) is literally translated as black dragon. So what we call Wulong tea means Black Dragon Tea. I've pondered this many times. Wulong tea is closer to a green tea type tea. It looks like a green tea when brewed as it has a beautiful clear golden yellow color. It also looks like a green tea in its prior to brewing. So why call it Black Dragon Tea.

Because the origin of Wulong tea is shrouded in the mists of antiquity there are three theories about how Wulong Tea came to have that name. But in my mind, one seems more likely from a historical perspective.

The first theory is that it was first cultivated in the Wuyi Mountains(武夷山) of Fujian Province in China during the Ming Dynasty. Evidence comes in the form of two poems published during the Qing Dynasty which followed. The Qing Dynasty started in 1644 and ended with the Xin Hai revolution in 1912, when the empress dowager abdicated the throne on behalf of her son the emperor.

The first is called the Wuyi Tea Song by Yi Chaogun

In the fifteenth century

Tea fields were abandoned

As some of the rock tea starts to grow

The love it when the North wind

Starts to blow on a sunny day

But not the South wind or rain

The fragrance dissipates

The beautiful Plum and Orchid Aroma

Come from the final baking process

The second is called Tea Tale by Wang Chaotang

Wuyi Tea is left to sun in a bamboo basket

Then roasted and baked

Longjing tea is pure because it is roasted but not withered

Only Wuyi tea is roasted and withered

Half green and half red

Roasted green and withered red

Left to wither then shaken

When the fragrance emerges; it is roasted

The timing has to be precious

This theory seems most plausible to me as these poems seem to chronicle the processing of Wulong Tea. The process for preparing Wulong Tea is still the same today:

It’s picked by hand.
Left in a basket in the sun to oxidize.
It’s rolled into balls
Baked in an oven

Black Tea (front) is in leaf form, the Wulong Tea (rear) is rolled into balls.

It’s important to know that Green, Black and Wulong Tea come from the same plant. The differences are in the fermenting or oxidizing of the leaves. Green Tea is not oxidized, and black tea is fully oxidized. Wulong tea is partially oxidized. So as the poem says it’s “half green and half red.” Black tea in Chinese is called Hong Cha (紅茶) Hong means red in Mandarin.

The second Theory is based on the Tribute Tea. This is tea that was grown and processed for emperors, and dates back to the Song Dynasty. The emperors of that time set up the Beiyun Tea Garden again in Fujian Province. The tea produced there was in the form of a hard cake called the Dragon-Phoenix Tea Cake. But as the Song Dynasty became the Ming Dynasty this teacake fell out of favor. The Beiyun Gard changed its process to loose tea. The result was a glossy, dark loose-leaf tea. Called Bvlack Dragon Tea.

This version seems less likely to me as Wulong tea is not a dark colored tea leaf, the color is a green that turns to a yellow color as it brews.

The final theory is based on a legend as are a lot of Chinese Traditions. According to the legend a man named Long, who was particularly dark skinned and called WuLong (Black Dragon) was hunting. He was distracted by a deer and followed after it. By the time he had returned to the tea stored in his bag it was halfway oxidized. The tea became popular and was called Black Dragon Tea after this man.

This legend while an interesting story seems the least likely explanation for the name. In any case I drink Wulong Tea far more often than any other kind.

Other posts you may be interested in:

Taiwanese Traditions: the Selling and Brewing of Tea
Taiwanese Tea: The Union Tea Company

Photo credit: http://www.tealula.com/blog/13/a-look-at-the-source:-wuyi-mountains

Source: http://www.amazing-green-tea.com/oolong-tea-history.html

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Local Color: Utility Box Graffiti

As in all urban areas there is graffiti. I worked in South Central Los Angeles as a young(ish) man. I was blown away by the amount of graffiti. The graffiti, which was everywhere, was basically only two colors, Red (signifying the Bloods) and blue (the Crips). There were gang names or tags of color everywhere.

It wasn't the kind of wall art that we've seen in movies and on the sides of subway trains. It was just messy, territory marking. As I worked there, I would look at what color the graffiti was and choose a tie accordingly.

Taiwan, though, is interesting. I can’t remember a single instance of that type of graffiti here. I’m sure there must be some of this somewhere but I've never seen it. There is graffiti here, but it isn't what I’m used to.

Public utilities in Taiwan, like public utilities everywhere have sidewalk boxes. For telephone companies these boxes are switching boxes. They’re the place where the phone installer ties the wires from your phone to the phone company equipment. In the case of electrical companies they have big sidewalk boxes, too. I have no idea what they’re for. Electricity as far as I can tell is magic, so I don’t know what is in those boxes. I’m sure it is some sorcerer’s tools or something.

You don’t see that in a blog very often: A blogger actually highlighting his own ignorance. I just know that when I plug something into the socket electricity comes out. When I unplug it the electricity stays in, just the opposite of a champagne bottle.

So much for that, back to the sidewalk boxes. When the company installs them they are sort of a light gray, like they must have gotten some deal on that color. Then they take a stencil and stencil the power company or phone company logo and a number on it.

Because of the color and the flat sides they are just graffiti magnets. You see graffiti all over these things. The interesting part is no one ever complains. The utility companies don’t spend a cent on cleaning them and I’ve even seen people standing there admiring them. Here’s Why: