Kind words from a Scottish reader

Via LinkedIn, a reader in Scotland (who writes about his travels in Scottish Gaelic) s told me:

You may be interested to know that in my opinion your Bradt guide to Taiwan was the most useful of the three I obtained before my first visit last year. As it happened, I left my copy with a friend there before I left, and I'm likely to buy another for use this year. From recollection, the use of Chinese characters was more consistent in this guide than in the other two.

Regards,
Fearchar I MacIllFhinnein

Salt dragon

The Year of the Dragon began on January 23, 2012. To mark this new year, artists in Jingzaijiao in Tainan City's Beimen District (台南市北門區井仔腳) sculptrued a dragon from salt, which used to be produced along the southwest coast in considerable quantities.

Richard Foster's 'Big Year'

Over the past few years, Richard Foster of Barking Deer Adventures has led quite a number of visiting twitchers to birdwatching hot-spots around Taiwan, including Tatajia and Daxueshan (sometimes spelled Dasyueshan).

Since January 1, he's embarked on a 'Big Year' exercise, compiling a list of the avian species he sees on a dedicated blog. By early February, he'd seen close to 200 different birds.

Taiwan and Thailand: A few comparisons

Taiwan is sometimes confused with Thailand by people who've never set foot in Asia. Taiwan is an up-and-coming tourist destination, yet Thailand still receives far more visitors.

We've just returned from a 20-day trip to Thailand, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the kingdom with Taiwan, from a traveller's perspective.

National Parks

We entered two national parks, both of which charge foreign adults 400 baht and foreign children 200 baht - at today's exchange rate NT$391 and NT$191, respectively. Thai citizens pay 40 baht and 20 baht. None of Taiwan's national parks charge admission, and none of them get as crowded as Erawan's waterfalls. Entering the island's forest recreation areas costs between nothing and NT$200.

Thailand's major museums do charge for admission, sometimes up to 100 baht (NT$95). Very few of Taiwan's museums charge more than NT$100. Seeing the world's leading collection of Chinese art and antiques in the National Palace Museum will cost you NT$160, and half-price tickets are available are certain times each week. The National Museum of Taiwan History is currently free.

Eating out

To our surprise, eating from night markets and street vendors in Thailand wasn't significantly cheaper than in Taiwan. That said, mid-range restaurants are less expensive in Thailand than Taiwan.

Supermarket supplies

Milk and fruit juices are around 30% cheaper in Thailand than Taiwan. Packaged snacks and toiletries are also less expensive. Local beers and spirits bought from convenience stores are very slightly cheaper in Thailand than in Taiwan, but wines imported from Europe and Australia are pricier.

Getting information

Offices of the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) are helpful but not conveniently located, even in heavily-touristed areas like Kanchanaburi. Taiwan's policy of putting visitor information centres in train stations and other transport hubs is sensible.

Cleanliness

The amount of litter beside Thailand's major roads is truly depressing; if anything, the situation there is currently worse than it ever was in Taiwan, the latter having made considerable progress in recent years. That said, the two national parks we toured in Thailand (Erawan and Khao Yai) were just as clean as Taiwan's national parks.

Language barrier

In tourist areas, a good many Thais – even street vendors – speak some English, but few have a really good grasp of the language. There's a very widespread and heartfelt willingness to assist. In Taiwan, it sometimes seems as if the first five people you address in English are so unused to talking with non-Taiwanese they freeze up – but then the sixth turns out to speak excellent English. When exploring Thailand's countryside on motorcycle, we didn't notice many English-language or bilingual signs to attractions. When navigating Thai towns on foot, it's often hard to find road names. Almost everywhere in Taiwan, roads and streets are clearly labelled in both Chinese script and some form of pinyin.

Public safety

Thailand isn't an especially dangerous destination in my opinion, but almost every year there are stories of travellers being robbed at knifepoint, or drugged on long-distance buses and waking up to find their bags have been plundered. Also, in recent years there have been violent political protests in central Bangkok, and at one point the international airport was closed. In terms of both political stability and conventional criminality, Taiwan is exceptionally safe for tourists. To put it simply, Taiwan's felons and gangsters have bigger fish to fry.

Road safety

The standard of driving in Thailand has improved since I first visited in 1991, yet in both countries crossing the road must be done with great care. Also, central Bangkok is rather like certain urban areas in Taiwan in that motorcyclists treat the pavements/sidewalks as a lane along which they can zip in either direction.

Accommodation

Compared to Southeast Asia, the cost of lodging in Taiwan is a major disadvantage. On average, a room in a Taiwanese hotel or guesthouse costs two to three times what its equivalent costs in Thailand.

Know your gods: Shennong

Shennong (神農) is worshiped in many temples, but in few is he the principal deity. Myth has it that he was one of China’s earliest emperors, living from 2737BC to 2698BC, and that he invented the plough and showed people how to farm. He’s also said to have been a pioneer of traditional Chinese healing, trying out on himself hundreds of herbs to ascertain their medicinal value. The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic (神農本草經), which describes 365 medicines, is attributed to Shennong even though it didn’t appear until two millenia later.

In some depictions, Shennong is shown as wearing clothes made of leafs or as a buffalo-horned semi-human. In Chinese farming communities, water buffalo were treated with special respect because they provided muscle and manure. Because of this, even now perhaps one in ten Taiwanese families don't eat beef.

The photo here was taken in Taichung's Wanhe Temple.

Kind words from a Taiwanese reader

It's always nice to get feedback from readers. The majority of responses have been from Western or Singaporean tourists who used my book while travelling around Taiwan, but here's what one Taiwanese reader told me in an email to Bradt:

Thank you for your lovely introduction of my beloved land--Taiwan!
I am a surgeon from Taiwan and studying for a PhD in London now.
I found this book in a secondhand bookstore yesterday and decided to keep it. I have had a wonderful reading time on Saturday evening.
The history part is amazing! I never learned a lot of Taiwan history when I was in school.
I like your way to describe Taiwan—very sensitive but neutral.
This is the best travel book I have ever read about Taiwan.

-- Anne Yeh

Taiwan for Culture Vultures

Taiwan for Culture Vultures, my new downloadable travel guide published by Guidegecko, is aimed at visitors intrigued by Taiwan's fascinating blend of cutting-edge modernity and centuries-old tradition. Available for iPhones and iPads, it's priced at US$2.99. If you already have my Bradt guide, you'll find this app complements, updates and expands on the book's contents.

Electronic platforms have several advantages over traditional printed guidebooks. They're cheaper because there are no printing or distribution costs; they're lighter to carry and can be updated and corrected. As a writer, I've appreciated being able to avoid repetition. Instead of having to explain who a particular person (or deity or ethnic group) is each time there's a mention, I simply link to a background article, like the one on major gods, or brief histories of Taiwan's historic towns.

The guide features 95 places of interest, each entry averaging 250 to 300 words and accompanied by one to four photos. Taiwan-based professionals Craig Ferguson and Rich Matheson contributed many of the images. The app cover icon shown here was taken by Matheson.

Among them are museums, temples, churches, parks, and other landmarks. Taiwan's key cultural and architectural attractions - such as the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101 and Tainan's Confucius Temples - are featured, as are many lesser-known but just as fascinating attractions. At Ten Drum Culture Village, for instance, visitors can enjoy performances that are modern yet draw heavily on folk traditions, and which have won international acclaim.

Of the 95 sights, 31 aren't mentioned at all in my Bradt guidebook. In some cases, like Houtong Coal-Mine Ecological Park, they opened too late to be included. For many others, it was simply a matter of space; this is why the Zheng Family Shrine didn't appear in the book. I researched the app by combing both English- and Chinese-language sources, in addition, of course, to visiting each spot at least once. Many of the details I've included don't appear in any of the major English-language guidebooks to Taiwan.

There's plenty for those who want to learn about and appreciate traditional arts and crafts. If they want a more outdoorsy experience, they can head to the Old Mountain Railway Line. Those with environmental interests will enjoy the new Magic School of Green Technology. All in all, I think the app has a really good mix.