Taiwan has been on the news lately. Firstly because of their amazing COVID-19 readiness. They warned WHO about the dangers of this virus very early on, but were not taken seriously. Second, because the current tensions between India and China have led many Indians to recognize Taiwan (as a way of inciting China). Yay!
background: When people ask me to recommend a travel destination, Taiwan is usually my answer. I visited the country for a month in the winter of 2016 and I really enjoyed it! And there are many reasons why Indians should definitely put Taiwan on their travel basket lists.
So when you create your post-COVID travel basket list, add Taiwan 🙂
COVID friendly (is that even a thing?)
It may not be a thing now, but it probably will be in the future! 🙂
Many people say that there may not be a post-COVID world because the virus will stay here forever. We have to get used to it. And we must look forward to traveling to places that are successfully controlling this pandemic! And Taiwan should come first.
Here is a Twitter thread detailing the measures Taiwan has taken to control the spread of COVID-19:
** ONE THREAD ON #TAIWAN: REAL DIGITAL SUCCESS STORY **
How much of a difference can 100 miles and effective social media monitoring make? Quite a lot if you take Taiwan’s success against it # COVID-19 into consideration.
– Saikiran Kannan (@saikirankannan) July 26, 2020
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 vegetarians can be very picky when we go abroad. Especially when it comes to other Asian countries like China and Thailand, the obvious display of meat and dead animals can be a huge dislike for the vegetarians.
Well, Taiwan is not like that. That surprised me quite a bit too. There are a lot of non-vegetables there, but it is not in our face. In fact, even Taiwan’s night markets were a pleasant surprise. I hardly saw any meat. It was sold but it’s just not on the face. And that will make a huge difference to our ease and comfort.
Buddhist vegetarian food is always available
Aside from the fact that the meat is not on our face, you can almost always find a strictly vegan restaurant for your meal. About 10% of the population are strict Buddhists and there are vegan restaurants for them.
CON: The only problem is that they use a lot of the wrong meat in their food. And most vegetarian Indians cannot accept this fake meat. So that has to be managed by choosing the vegetable or telling it that it is not the wrong meat.
Speaking of food, here’s my post on Hot Pots of Taiwan 🙂
You love Indians (and everyone else possibly) 😀
This is actually the main reason I love this country back. Many of the Taiwanese friends I have made genuinely respect Indians and Indian culture. I’ve seen groups of Taiwanese friends (excluding Indians) get together and cook Indian food or dress in Indian clothes to eat in an Indian restaurant.
Then there was the fact that some postal workers treated me with so much respect. It was pretty surreal.
It is lovely. The Taiwanese people are generally very considerate and definitely about Indians
Zen level considerate
I felt that Taiwan, with its caring culture, was something special for all of the country’s different population groups. The signs of this reflection can be seen and experienced everywhere for us!
Take the many vegan restaurants for their strict Buddhist population with you to reading glasses for seniors, which are kept at airports in the immigration area. Romantic “love parks” for the younger (and older) population in almost all cities. Long pedestrian signals for hikers to cross the street with ease.
I was so touched by all of these reflections on writing: Taiwan, an experience of Zen.
Developed land with an air of chaos
Along with all of the above, it is a vibrant developed nation. So we get the best of both worlds 😉
It is full of chaos and irregularities that make us Indians feel comfortable. At the same time, it has developed economic prosperity that gives us a comfortable quality of life.
And we see an amazing cycling infrastructure like a 200 km long bike path in the heart of their capital! Read more about Taipei’s River Bike Path.
A vision for India Inspired by Asian countries like Taiwan
When we go to the western industrialized countries, we may wonder when India will be like this. The answer is NEVER. Because our two countries are culturally worlds apart. But when we see countries like Taiwan, Japan and also Thailand, we can identify with them. The cultures are so much closer and you can still feel the Indian chaos and hustle and bustle on their streets.
The experience of Taiwan gave me a lot of insight into the future of India.
So I hope that the Indians will take some time to think about this pandemic. As borders open and international travel becomes possible again, you should consider a trip to Taiwan. Yes, the Mandarin language will be a bit difficult, but now, have you been to rural Tamil Nadu where everyone only speaks tamizha ?! No? Well that’s ok. You can try Taiwan first. 😀
Disclaimer: No, this is not an ad or advertisement. It really comes from the heart after spending a month in the country (which was partly sponsored by their tourist office).
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