Worship here appears to consist of purchasing several incense sticks, lighting them, holding them upright in a grouping such that the backs of your hands either touch, or nearly touch the forehead, while bowing repeatedly before one of the several highly ornamented altars. Those are the outward manefestations of worship, what was in the worshipers' minds is another matter.
Worshipers bring flower arrangements and decorative food displays which they leave briefly on one of several very shiny tables. The food later goes home with them, if I understood the drill.
We also revisited the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial that occupies roughly 50 acres in downtown Taipei. It is a spectacular area with three major buildings: the Memorial itself, the national theater, and the national concert hall. These latter two are highly decorated in the classical Chinese style, and quite large. The Memorial by contrast is beautifully simple, and even larger. We saw part of the changing of the guard ceremony therein ... wow ... the precision was outstanding.
Our third stop was the Handicraft Center which we first visited 28 years ago. We found the merchandise much less enticing this time around, you could call the current inventory "jewelry and junk." It was a letdown.
Our final stop was Taipei 101, a unique-looking skyscraper that is ... 101 stories tall and supposed to be the second tallest building anywhere. I can't independently verify that particular claim. We just did a photo stop, we didn't have time to queue for the elevator trip to the top.
Our guides were a multilingual Dutchman and his Chinese wife who reside here. They confirmed the Taiwanese fondness for the Japanese; it is probably the only place in Asia where the Japanese are well-liked.
I learned why this is so. For their own selfish reasons the Japanese encouraged the Taiwanese to be a unique people whereas the Chinese want Taiwan to be purely Chinese. Can you guess which approach the locals prefer? Many aren't enthused about the Sinification of Taiwan.
Like South Korea, Chile and the Philippines, Taiwan is a former military dictatorship that peacefully became over time a multi-party democracy. Meanwhile the island is more mountainous than Switzerland (local claim, not independently verified) so its many residents are jammed together in the valley bottoms where they await the frequent earthquakes and occasional typhoon while hoping the PRC won't invade ... so far it hasn't. That crowding probably contributes to the shrinking population.
The first time we were here we stayed at the Lai-Lai Sheraton Hotel, it was relatively new and modern. It was strange today to hear our guide describe it as one of the older hotels; it no longer uses the "Lai-Lai" appellation. I wonder if the Grey's Tailor shop is still in the basement? We were staying at that Sheraton when we learned the tanks were rolling into Tienamin Square to squelch the nascent freedom movement.
This post written yesterday in Keelung, today we are at sea enroute to Okinawa, where we'll be tomorrow.
