The Trees are Alive with the Sound of Music...Sort of!

We left about three weeks ago to travel to the US.  On our return we found that the trees were alive with the sound of music.  It’s not like they were playing jazz or anything but apparently we returned right into the middle of the most recent emergence of cicadas.

According to the National Taiwan University Insect Museum there are 65 different species of Cicadas in Taiwan.  They range in size from two to five centimeters but some can get as large as 7 centimeters, that’s 2.75 inches for you Americans.  That sounds like either a large bug or a small bird.  Fortunately, they don’t feed on human or animal flesh, although, I have no idea how I would react if a three inch bug landed on my shoulder.

Cicadas feed by attaching their proboscis into a tree and sucking the sap from under the tree branches.  They make a species specific sound to attract a mate.  That’s the sound that we are hearing, day and night, night and day, light and dark, dark and light.  It’s pretty noisy around here right now.  In fact, there is one species of cicada that makes a sound at 120 decibels.  That’s loud enough to cause hearing damage near your ear.  So imagine that three-inch bug on your shoulder YELLING at you at 120 decibels.  That might be a tad startling.

How'd you like to turn your head and see this dude yelling at you at 120 dB

Cicadas don’t make sounds like crickets.  Crickets rub their legs together to produce their sound.  Instead they click their exoskeleton to make sound.  Built into their abdominal exoskeleton are some small flexible membranes between thick ribs called tymbals. As they contract their tymbalic muscles their bodies produce a click, when those muscles are relaxed it clicks again.  Cicadas contract and relax the muscles very quickly to produce their sound.

As you might imagine cicadas have very few predators.  Mostly birds and sometimes squirrels eat them.  In my fertile imagination I can see a dogfight in the skies over Bade between a swallow and a three-inch cicada and I’m not at all sure who would end up the winner.  They have two methods of protecting themselves from predators.  The first is called the predator satiation method.  In this method so many cicadas emerge at one time that the predators can’t eat them all.  The predators eat so many that they become satiated and have no more interest in eating cicadas.  Another name for this might be the, “What cicadas for dinner again?” method.  The other method involves deception, as they emerge from the ground they shed their nymphal exoskeleton and leave it sitting around.  Birds attack the discarded exoskeleton while the actual cicada is up in the tree eating and looking for a mate.

Platypleura Kaempferi:  A species of Taiwanese Cicada

Cicadas mate and then the female cuts slits in the twigs or small branches of the tree, she may lay several hundred eggs.  When the eggs hatch the cicada nymphs fall to the ground and burrow.  They will remain there until they are ready to emerge from the ground and begin the process all over again.  A cicada nymph may remain in the ground for as long as 13 to 17 years, but more commonly, two to five years before emerging and going up into the tree to eat and find a mate. 

Photo credit:  NTU Insect Museum
Video Credit: iceanajenn

Other Posts you may find interesting;

Taiwanese Lifestyles:  Hanging at the Park
Taiwan Travelogue:  The Traditional Market
Taiwanese Weather:  Monsoons and Typhoons

Three Weeks in the US

I'm currently traveling in the US for the next three weeks.  I'm sure I'll have some new posts about traveling in my wheelchair and other cool stuff.  Meanwhile catch up on a few of the older posts.  Thanks for following The Taiwan Adventure Blog.  

Taiwanese Lifestyles: Hanging at the Park

One thing that’s nice about the Taoyuan City/Bade City area that we live in is the number of parks throughout the cities.  In a half kilometer circle around my house are five parks.  The really cool thing is that in the evenings there are large numbers of people at the parks enjoying the cool shade and other things.

The park right across the street from our apartment is a gathering place for old chess players.  This is quite a tradition in China and Taiwan.  At any given time there are several chess players huddled over boards playing the game, surrounded by up to ten others watching, offering advice, or trying to learn techniques or strategies from the old masters.   I’ve seen games going on at 11:30 at night. I have to admit that I sit there and watch, too.  I want to learn the game well enough to play without feeling intimidated.  So far I will only play the game on my computer, but I’m practicing so I can join in.

My Chess buddies in a late game

Every park is also outfitted with exercising equipment.  In the mornings the parks are full of people, exercising on the equipment, briskly walking around the park, practicing Taichi or just doing park exercises.  Park exercises seem to be peculiar to Southeast Asia; they consist of vigorously swinging arms, and shaking butts, kind of low impact calisthenics.  We saw a woman the other day, and I thought she was dancing until I saw that some of her “moves” were park exercise moves.

The parks are also a great social atmosphere.  People gather in the parks to walk dogs and generally gossip about the neighbors.  Unfortunately, because of our foreigner status we are often the topic of conversation.  People are always friendly to us and invite us to join in conversation, with them.  Some of the old chess masters have invited us to watch and learn.  They try to engage us in conversation and it’s really an enjoyable time. 

The parks are one of the reasons I like Taiwan at this time of the year.  There’s a lot of people around doing interesting things and for me one the real pleasures is to sit in the cool of the evening and just watch.

Other posts you may be interested in:

Taiwanese Travelogue:  The Traditional Market

Taiwanese Traditions:  The Hidden Temples of Taiwan

Taiwan Travelogue:  Overlooking Taoyuan City

Day Tripping: Bei Tou Hot Springs, Taipei

Other posts you may be interested in:

Day Tripping:  Jiufen
A Visit to the Lantern Festival in Zhubei, Taiwan
Clearing out the Camera:  Random Shots of Taiwan


Photos by Elizabeth Banducci

Taiwanese Holidays: The Year of the Snake

The Year of the Snake

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 New Year:  春節Lunar Date is January 1.  (February 10, 2013)  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 that are a wish of prosperity for the recipient.

The Lantern Festival:  元宵節　Lunar date is January 15.  (February 25, 2013) This is the first day 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 4, 2013.  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.

Duanwu Jie (The Dragon Boat Festival): 端午節　Lunar date is May 5.  (June 12, 2013)  his festival honors Chinese Poet Quan Yu.  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 13, 2013)  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.

Ghost Festival: 中元節　Lunar date is July 15. (August 21, 2013)  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.) 

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival:  中秋節　Lunar date is August 15.  (September 19, 2013)  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 13, 2013)  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, 2013)  During this festival people pray to the water god for a peaceful year.

Winter Solstice:  冬至　Solar Holiday (December 21, 2013)  This corresponds to the Winter Solstice in Zwestern 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 fid 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

Waiting for Mick Jagger to Call

A few months ago, I received an email. It went like this:

Dear Chris,

I hope this message finds you well!

I am writing you following a visit on your blog, which I find interesting and appropriate for publication in book format!

I am an employee of Bloggingbooks, which is the new publishing brand of the well-established scientific publishing house, known as SVH Verlag.  We are currently actively looking for new authors.

Bloggingbooks would like to broaden its publication's portfolio and in this respect, comes my question:  would you have any interest in publishing your blog posts into book format?

Our website: htpp://www.bloggingbooks.net/

The best way to get in touch with me will be per e-mail.

Please let me know you thoughts!

Warmly,

Kind regards

I was somewhat taken aback.  At first I thought it was one of those vanity publishing deals, “For only $500 you can see your name in print.  Buy as many copies as you want $100 each.”  Then they told me it was actually going to be for sale all over the world, and I would receive actual royalties.  

It has always been a dream of mine to publish a book, but come on…I also want to be a rock ‘n’ roll star even though the only music I play these days is on the radio.  I’m only sort of expecting an email from Mick Jagger asking me to join his band.  

After some deliberation and a few questions to the editor who wrote me I decided to go ahead with the idea.  So now the Taiwan Adventure is in book form and available at Amazon.com and soon at some other bookstores around the world like Barnes and Noble. 

The title?  The Taiwan Adventure: An Expat’s Observations of Life in Taiwan

The interesting thing is that the publishing company uses a green method of publishing.  Books are published on paper as they’re ordered.  This way they're not printing lots of books and then having them sit around gathering dust and wasting trees.  

The book is made up of what, I think, are the best of the Taiwan Adventure Blog. It is a representative slice of each category:

Taiwanese History:

A look at the early moments of the Republic of China and some of the key people in its history.

Taiwanese Traditions:

The culture and religion of Taiwan and how it affects day-to-day life.

Cultural Unawareness:

The mistakes I made, and the surprises I experienced through the customs of  Taiwan.

Disability in Taiwan:

A look at the difficulties of living with disabilities in Taiwan from a disabled man’s perspective.

Eating My Way Through Taiwan:

The food and the adventure of eating in Taiwan.

Random Asianess:

The differences between East and West

Taiwan Travelogue:

A Look at a few of my favorite places in Taiwan.

Take a look for the book and if you like, please buy it.  Now that that’s done I’ll have to look at the old “Bucket List” and see what’s left to do…and sit by the phone waiting for Mick to call.  Keith Richards is looking a bit rough these days, so you never know.

I look sort of professorial in this photo.  

Taiwan Blog Review: Taiwan Duck

I’ve completely given myself to Taiwanese food and snacks.  I can’t help it.  There’s something about Taiwanese food that just grabs me.  So, even though I’m not much of a cook, I still like to look at Taiwan Duck.

I guess I’m into food.  Well, actually, I’m definitely into food.  I like to read about it. I like to talk about it.  I like to hear about it.  I like to look at it as I go by.  I like to smell it, (even Stinky Tofu). I mostly like to eat it.  One of the categories I have for Zite Magazine on my iPad is food and cooking.  So, this type of website is attractive to me.

Taiwan Duck is a website that shows you how to prepare many favorite Taiwanese foods.  They give you a recipe, and the steps to make it, then as an added bonus, they do a video where Joanne shows you how she prepares it.

Joanne is cool; she’s a Taiwanese woman who has been transplanted into the UK, by marriage.  She’s obviously a very good cook, and has quite a charming personality.  I don’t even cook, but my wife and I enjoy watching her videos and listening to her explanations of how to do it.  Sometimes as I watch the video, I can just imagine the delicious smells in that kitchen.

She will also tell you where you can find ingredients, usually found only in Taiwan, in the area where they live.  She tells you her secrets for preparing the food and shows you how it’s done.  At the end of the video she shows you the prepared food and those are the only times I wish that I lived in the UK, so she and her videographer husband, could invite me over to help them eat it. 

Her husband stays mostly in the background.  I can’t remember ever seeing him in any of the videos I’ve watched.  Occasionally, he’ll prompt with an English word or two, but mostly he just hides behind the camera.  I suspect, all though I don’t know for sure, that he writes all of the recipe descriptions and is the tech guy for the website. 

The recipes are varied from Taiwanese snack foods: Oyster Omelets, Salty Chicken (Yen Si Ji), Taiwanese Beef Noodles (Niu Rou Mian) to Beef and Spinach Lasagna.  Lasagna?  Well, apparently not all of the recipes are Taiwanese, but with a name like Banducci, I can eat some Lasagna, too. 

The website is easy to use, and really an enjoyable experience.  You can even slip over to the store and buy some nice Taiwan Duck apparel, so you'll look good in the kitchen.

So, if you have some time and want to  learn how to cook some of Taiwan’s favorites, then take a few moments, grabs some nice Taiwanese Oolong Tea and a notebook and learn how to cook Taiwan Duck Style…then call me up and invite me over to help you try out the meal you made.  I can tell you right now, without equivocating I’m going to like it.

Visit Taiwan Duck at www.taiwanduck.com.  Tell them the Taiwan Adventure sent you.  Taiwan Duck is very high on our list of favorite Taiwanese (and apparently Italian) websites.  Check it out.





Other posts you may be interested in:

Taiwan Blog Review:  Shuflies

Screen Captures from Taiwan Duck Website www.taiwanduck.com
Video from Taiwan Duck TV