20 Feb, 2009 in
Taipei . Tags:
chinese; chinese new year; danshui; new-year; Taiwan;
Fili's world
Culture & Travel – China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
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For Chinese New Year 2009 I was invited to join a lovely Taiwanese family up in Danshui, just north of Taipei. The whole area enjoys an amazing view of the Tamshui river and the surrounding mountains.
The area has some beautiful nature hikes to explore with a walking path and bicycle routes along the small rivers.
The guys in the family taught me some great gambling games (two people – 0,5,10,15,20 ; group – includes or divides by seven ; 6 dice ; fingers), but I was usually WAY too slow to give them any serious competition.
The food was terrific…
the company was great fun…
and as night came…
I headed out to tour Danshui.
There were fireworks -everywhere-. Here’s a small collection of fireworks videos from all over Danshui area.
There was a very big temple nearby, I’m not sure what the name was (Goddess of Mercy?), and thousands of Taiwanese were visiting each of the hundreds of Gods inside.
I couldn’t help but constantly compare my two very positive experiences in Chinese New Year with the Israeli Jewish New Year. Both have similar core values – both are around family gatherings, both have a symbolic meaning regarding the relationship between man and God/environment, both are filled with strange rituals and odd costumes, both provide a much needed 2-3 days break from daily routine, yet to me – they feel totally different. Moments before my departure from Taiwan, this Chinese New Year was a reminder of how close I’ve come to and how strongly I feel towards all that’s Taiwan.
Fish | February 23rd, 2009 at 3:48 am #
Hi Fili, nice to find your blog.
As I see so many nice food, including shrimp and pork, I´d like to ask if you keep Kosher in Taiwan. What about other members of the Jewish community? How difficult is it to keep Kosher in Taiwan?
If you keep Kosher, how do your Taiwanese friends react that you don´t eat certain food or ask about their contents before eating?
Fili | February 23rd, 2009 at 4:57 am #
Fish – no, I don’t keep Kosher. Some Israelis do, some Israelis don’t, but when it comes to Taiwan, I’d say that there aren’t many Israelis/Jewish there and that the few that are there are probably not keeping Kosher. With that said, Taiwan is probably one of the easier places to keep Kosher as the strict veggy Buddhaist places can be found everywhere and are generally clearly marked. There is some really terrific veggy food in Taiwan that you can trust a 100% is really veggy. The Taiwanese are very understanding when it comes to religious attitudes about food.
If you’re really after Kosher food, Landis Taipei still has a local Rabbi that imports food from abroad. If someone wants Kosher meat, that would probably be the best way to do it.
Fish | February 23rd, 2009 at 8:55 am #
Thank you very much for the prompt answer, Fili.
It´s good to know I can just eat veggi food when I visit Taiwan.
It seems you think I am Israeli, but I am actually born Taiwanese who are studying. You know what I mean.
Do you mind if I share my studying not only with my teacher but also with you (not publicly)? I won´t bomb you every day because I study quite slowly actually. You don´t seem to be very religious and you know about both cultures. My teacher does not know much about Asia and he is of course very religious.
Fili | February 23rd, 2009 at 10:53 am #
Fish – sure, I’d like that. Feel free to email me directly.
Brian Q. Webb | February 26th, 2009 at 2:36 pm #
I spent part of my CNY break in Tamsui, too. It’s just so cheap, fast, and convenient to get to from Taipei on the MRT. Since they completed the boardwalk expansion it doesn’t feel as crowded anymore, either…although on the first sunny day of Chinese New Year it was VERY crowded…and hot.
BTW, a few months back I spotted and bought Hebrew National hot dogs from a grocery in Tienmu. I’m not Jewish and don’t have a kosher dietary need, but I do love that brand of hot dog. I haven’t seen them since, though.
Fili | March 5th, 2009 at 2:44 pm #
Brian – You’re not the first to tell me about this kind of thing. It never ceases to surprise me that a product branded “Jewish” would be that popular. My American friends keep telling me how they miss Kosher pickles and sausages. Weird stuff.