wonderful wonderful taipei

China Post editorial:

Taipei described as world's 'most underrated city'

Taipei city officials will be in an especially elated mood as they head home for the Lunar New Year vacation this month, following the description in a Flemish-language Belgian magazine of Taiwan's capital as the world's “most underrated city.”

The whole country can now expect a rush of Belgian and Dutch visitors over the coming year, as well as those of other nationalities, as Taipei's newfound reputation is being translated into English and spreading around the Internet.

So hopefully the rest of the world will discover what Japanese, Koreans, Hong Kongers and people from most of Asia have long known, that Taiwan is a unique, fascinating and convenient country to visit.

Jesse Brouns, author of the report carried in the latest edition of the lifestyle magazine, Knack Weekend, praised numerous aspects of the city. For its cuisine, he called it “a gourmet's paradise:” for its music scene, “a Mecca in Asia;” its MRT he described as”the most successful modern rapid transit system:” and the National Palace Museum as the “Chinese version of the Louvre” with which no museum in China could compare.

He also contrasted the preservation of Taipei's architecture with the situation in China, where”the traces of history can be destroyed in minutes,” citing Ximending's Red House and Wanhua's Longshan Temple as examples of his favorite buildings. Nevertheless, he stated that Taipei's real spirit was less to be found in its grand structures, but rather was hidden away in small alleys waiting to be discovered. Summing up, he called Taipei “exquisite” and “just right.”

Of course there are many more things Brouns could have noted. Taipei citizens are not confused with those of Tokyo, who Westerners characterize as going to work in oxygen masks because their air is so polluted. Indeed, the Belgian journalist could have pointed to Taipei's leadership on many environmental issues, such as trash collection and charging for plastic bags. Furthermore, Yangmingshan to the north is the closest national park to any capital city in the world, and the river entering the city from mountains to the south is clean enough to swim in. In addition to the MRT, he could have mentioned the city's hundreds of kilometers of bicycle paths that have revolutionized the lives of its citizens.

Expanding his horizon from Taipei to Taiwan, Brouns could have mentioned historic cities such as Tainan and Lugang, the natural beauty of the island's central mountains, and the nation's aboriginal heritage, perhaps most conspicuous in the easygoing eastern counties of Hualien and Taitung.

Brouns'assertion that”people around the world may not have a clear impression of Taiwan”is something with which every Taiwanese person traveling abroad — from Tourism Bureau officials to students on exchange programs — can identify. Statements such as”I love Thai food” are routinely heard in response to citizens explaining that they are from Taiwan. The alternative “I am from the Republic of China” is similarly confused with the People's Republic of China, a situation not helped by the legions of patriotic Chinese students who commonly shout down Taiwanese classmates abroad, noisily asserting that “Taiwan is a part of China.”

Articles such as Brouns' can only help in this regard. The more the world discovers about Taiwan's uniqueness and, in particular, the more foreigners from countries with economic and political clout who personally visit Taiwan, the more secure Taiwan's position on the world stage will become.

That Serbia and ethnic Serbs throughout former Yugoslavia were prevented from establishing hegemony over Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia was largely a result of support from EC countries for those smaller states. And that was partly a consequence of the millions citizens of those countries who had shopped in the historic streets of Sarajevo, lain on a beach at Dubrovnik or skied down the slopes at Rogla.

One way in which Taiwan can safeguard itself against the possibility of military unification by China is to cultivate the hearts and minds of foreign tourists. Articles like the one in Knack Weekend that encourages visitors to shop in Taipei's and Tainan's back alleys, lie on the unspoiled beaches of Kenting and Penghu, or climb the awesome peaks of Yushan and Hsuehshan, will help endear the country to foreigners and give them a more balanced view of cross-strait relations and their governments' roles in East Asia.

So while many gains can be hoped for in the future, for the time being let us congratulate Taipei's current mayor, Hau Lung-bin, — as well as his predecessors as popularly elected mayors, Ma Ying-jeou and Chen Shui-bian, — and all city government employees for their collected efforts that have transformed Taiwan's capital into the place it is today. Let them enjoy their New Year break with pride, before returning to work refreshed with new plans to further improve the lives of their fellow citizens.