Taiwan has been in the news lately. One, because of their amazing COVID-19 preparedness. They warned WHO of the dangers of this virus very early on but weren’t taken seriously. Second, because the current tensions between India and China has led a lot of Indians to acknowledge Taiwan (as a way of goading China). Yay!
Background: When people ask me to recommend one travel destination – Taiwan is usually my answer. I visited the country for a month in the winter of 2016 and I loved it! And there are many reasons why Indians totally need to bump up Taiwan on their travel bucket lists.
So if you are making your post-COVID travel bucket list, add Taiwan to it 🙂
COVID friendly (is this even a thing?)
It may not be a thing now, but it probably will be in future! 🙂
A lot of people are saying there may not be a post-COVID world, cause the virus is here to stay for good. We have to get used to it. And we have to look forward to travel to places who successfully control this pandemic! And first on the list should be Taiwan.
Here’s a Twitter thread detailing the measures Taiwan took to control COVID-19 spread:
**A THREAD ON #TAIWAN: A REAL DIGITAL SUCCESS STORY**
— Saikiran Kannan (@saikirankannan) July 26, 2020
How much of a difference can 100 miles and effective social media surveillance make? A whole lot if you take Taiwan’s success against #COVID19 into consideration.
Don’t we all want to travel here right away? 🙂
Vegetarians hear hear
India is known for its insane depth and breadth of Vegetarian culture. And we vegetarian folks can be really fussy when we go abroad. Especially, when it comes to other Asian countries like China, Thailand – the blatant display of meat and dead animals can be a major turn off for the vegetarian folk.
Well, Taiwan is not like that. I was quite surprised by this too. There is a lot of non-veg there but it is not in our face. In fact, even the night markets of Taiwan were a pleasant surprise. I barely * saw * any meat. It was being sold, but it is just not in the face. And that will make a world of difference to our ease and comfort.
Buddhist Vegetarian Food is always available
Apart from the meat not being in our face, almost always you will find a strict vegan restaurant for your meal. About 10% of the population are strict Buddhists and for them they have vegan restaurants.
CON: the only problem is that they do use a lot of fake meat in their food. And most vegetarian Indians cannot accept this fake meat thing. So that has to be managed by choosing the vegetables or telling them no fake meat.
Talking about food, here’s my post on Hot Pots of Taiwan 🙂
They Love Indians (and everyone else possibly) 😀
This is actually the main reason why I love this country back. A lot of Taiwanese friends that I have made, they really respect Indians and Indian culture. I have seen groups of Taiwanese friends (with no Indian in them) get-together and cook Indian food or dress up in Indian clothes to eat out in an Indian restaurant.
Then there was this matter of some postal staff folk treating me with so much respect. It was quite surreal.
It is lovely. The Taiwanese folk are very considerate in general and definitely about Indians 🙂
Zen Level Considerate
I felt Taiwan was a cut apart in its very caring culture for all different segments of people in the country. The signs of this consideration are everywhere for us to see and experience!
Take the many vegan restaurants for its strict Buddhist population to reading glasses for senior citizens kept at the immigration area on airports. Romantic “love” parks for its younger (and older) population in almost all cities. Long pedestrian signals for walkers to cross the road with ease.
I was so touched by all this consideration, to write: Taiwan, an experience of Zen.
Developed Country with a touch of Chaos
Along with all the above points, it is a bustling developed nation. So we get the best of both worlds 😉
It is bustling with some chaos and unruliness that will make us Indians feel at ease. But at the same time it has a developed economic prosperity that gives us a comfortable quality of life.
And, we get to see amazing cycling infrastructure like a 200 km long bike path in the heart of their capital city! Read more about Taipei’s River Bike Path.
A Vision for India Inspired from Asian countries like Taiwan
If we go to the western developed countries we may be left wondering when will India be like this? The answer is NEVER. Because culturally our both countries are worlds apart. But when we see countries like Taiwan, Japan and also Thailand – we can relate with them. The cultures are so much closer plus you can still sense some of the Indian chaos and bustle on their roads.
So experiencing Taiwan gave me much insight for India’s future.
So, I hope Indians take some time and reflect in this pandemic lockdown. When borders open up and international travel is possible again, do consider a trip to Taiwan. Yes, the Mandarin language will be a tad bit difficult, but well, have you been to rural Tamil Nadu where everyone speaks only Tamizha?! No? Well, that’s ok. You can try Taiwan first. 😀
Disclaimer: no this is not an ad or any promotion. It is coming genuinely from my heart after spending a month (that was partly sponsored by their Tourism bureau) in the country.
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