Life after Shanghai: Taiwan

After six months of living in Shanghai, I’m leaving.

My last month was rough, as I was evicted from my house with six day’s notice. “Renter’s rights? Never heard of ‘em.”

The people at my school were super generous, and let me stay, rent free in a back room at the school. It was a little creepy at night, but free rent and free food is always a blessing.

My next stop after Shanghai is Taiwan. The only way to Taiwan from China, without a plane, is by boat. (Remember I’m doing the whole trip without a plane) The Cusco ferry runs twice a week, and is the only ferry I could find. This is the company I used to book the ticket is here, if there are any interested parties.

www.amoytrip.com

Standing in front of the ferry

 My bunk

 Looking for their rooms

 Four to a room

It was about $108 USD for the cheapest room, and the trip took around 14 hours. The ferry felt more like a cruise though, I mean, look at this scenery.

Leaving China

Leaving China

A full moon over open waters. We also passed between two lightning storms, but the water was very calm.

The ferry landed in Keelung, which is in northern Taiwan, and about a 45 minute train ride from Taipei. After a stop in Keelung and Taipei, it was off to Jiufen. (joe-fun)

Pictures are below.

 The view from my room in Jiufen.

 The view from where the bus dropped us off.

 Sunset in Jiufen,

Adjusting to Taiwan

People in Taiwan and Shanghai both speak Chinese, but they could not be more different. Shanghai is a loud, polluted, overcrowded cacophony of busy people, fighting for a modicum of space. Taiwan is not.

Shanghai people have been so generous to me, and I can’t count the number of kindnesses I was shown. But still, life in Shanghai is rough, and the Shanghai attitude toward personal space is hard to live with.

I experienced Shanghai people frequently spitting, littering, yelling into their phones on overcrowded subways, ignoring lines and cutting in front of everyone- even if people had been waiting for over an hour. I also saw many instances of kids peeing. I once went two weeks were I saw this happen every day. One time I arrived at a subway station to find two young boys peeing on the stairs, playing a game where they could see who could pee farther and cover more of the steps. The father watched, and took no action to stop this or guide their urine to an area that people wouldn’t have to walk through. (I promise that all of this is not generalization or hyperbole- I lived with this madness EVERY DAY I was there).

People in Taiwan are very different. They file into orderly, almost OCD-like lines. There is absolutely no cutting. There’s no spitting. No screaming into cell phones. Almost no littering. Also, I’ve been here five days and haven’t seen one kid peeing.

It’s kind of funny, because six months of living in Shanghai has forced me to behave like a Shanghai resident, bumping and shoving and fighting for my space. (If you don’t fight for space you may not be able to board, or get off from, the subway) My first few hours in Taiwan I had to control myself and remind myself that I wasn’t in Shanghai. I didn’t have to push and fight for space on the subway because people would happily move over for me.

In shanghai, people tend to rush onto the subway as soon as it arrives, and promptly race to any open seat, especially the old ladies. The people who want to get off the subway must then fight against a flowing river of people.

In Taipei the train stops, people get out, and the train makes a special noise, telling people when they can board the train. Everyone waits to hear the noise before boarding. No pushing. No shoving. No elbows or shoulders or backpacks to fight through.

I cannot express the joy I felt at arriving in Taiwan.

(Politically correct side note: I hope the blog doesn’t seem racist or mean, this is simply my experience of six months living in Shanghai. It was hard for me. China is the most difficult country I’ve traveled in so far. And while the Chinese people have probably been the nicest, warmest, most generous people I’ve met on this trip, the Chinese attitude toward personal, public space has been incredibly frustrating.)

Anyway, this is Taiwan, I hope you enjoy. Lots more to come!