Taiwan maybe an electronics giant, but that doesn’t take away its natural beauty and serene tourist hot spots
A bright sun melting into a vast layer of clouds is the most spectacular sight at thousand feet above earth. It’s serene, unusual and leaves you spell-bound.
The twilight that follows is quite ominous, especially if you’re descending into a monsoon zone and turbulence is the last thing you want. But luckily, the weather on the island that night was calm, and a smooth descent was expected. Below us was the South China Sea, dotted by small boat lights that continued by the side of us till we reached the eastern end from where a final swerve took us straight into the heart of Taiwan.
We touched down at Taipei. Plans for the next day were already afoot. My uncle, who’s been living there for the past many years, was to be our guide in many ways. Not only was his presence there comforting, it was also a blessing because he not only speaks flawless Chinese, cooks well too and has a penchant for eastern delights — his culinary skills were to be amply demonstrated in the four days of our stay. And anyway, having already spent a week in starvation in Bangkok, I was craving for Pakistani food. Taiwan is considered even worse in terms of halal food — it is just not a see-and-eat thing for us in countries like this. The old Chinese market we visited the first night was no different from the gully bazaar we have in Karachi — the air amidst the variegated displays of clothes, shoes and Chinese handicrafts was redolent of my own streets. Except that the quintessential Taiwanese cuisine spilling out of the shops carried an aroma that only stoked up one’s imagination about the kinds of creatures that the locals called food. It was not jetlag, but our own choice to spend the time with the family at home the first night. In that country, it was a rare family get-together.
Isla Formosa, or ‘the beautiful island’ is what they still call Taiwan. But these words are still not enough to describe what Taiwan is when you get up the next morning only to be exposed to the serenity that overwhelms you. Luxuriantly green, the island is mountains and valleys that form most of the residential and commercial areas. That morning we set out on a trip to explore Taiwan. A cloudy day presented us amazing temperatures with sunlight falling on the winding, up-and-down roads and highways. Fabulous scenes impressed us all along, on the left and the right both. Clusters of high-rise buildings stretched across the valleys, while many houses and shorter structures clambered the steep mountains. We were soon out of Taipei to see what the rest of Taiwan is all about.
Road toll taxes are quite high here, but that’s alright as the rapid development and superb maintenance of cities and suburbs testify to the administration’s productive utilization of its citizens’ contributions. As we drove, my uncle continued to unravel details about Taiwan, while his wife kept us amazed with her “Taiwanese Urdu”. We were approaching the famous Keelong Port, onwards from where we would take the long highway that runs round the leaf-shaped island, which is just 36000 sq.km in area.
“We often go on this long drive, which, considering we would stop at restaurants and overnight, takes us three to four days to get back to the same point from where we started,” my uncle told me. We were going only as far as the day permitted. But even then the drive was long, along the endless coastline and farther down, small towns and resorts streamed passed us. On the left side the Pacific Ocean stayed with us. We visited the town of Jo Fang on our way back, circling the lush green mountains. And it is on the mountains that they bury their dead — mini-mausoleums sitting on steep hills. People jostled against each other in the narrow pathway that snaked down to other parts of the town. We entered the jam-packed lane to witness a city bustling with life and fun. By evening, one could see the stupendous mountains sliding down to the hazy shore. After sunset, we headed back to the capital.
Taipei by night is bright and beautiful, though it lacks the spark and the kind of hustle and bustle that we witnessed in the nights in Bangkok. Taiwan has the potential to grow into a superb tourist resort — so far it is not. It is a country exporting chip technology, taking quantum leaps into several markets of the world. Within its own markets, things were not what I had expected. I happened to be strolling in a little market in a commercial locality the next day. While looking for photography and music shops, I gazed far at the hundreds of protruding signboards. To my frustration, all sign boards were in Chinese, and the only way to know what’s in the shops was to walk all the way down the kilometre-long street, peeping into every shop.
The electronics market that I visited the next day, I had imagined would be huge and will have products unseen before, and with prices incredibly low. That was strangely not the case at all — even the range of products was narrow dispelling the impression of an electronic exporting country loaded with the most modern and affordable gadgetry.
I wondered how a country, known for the electronic boom it has experienced over the years, could be so devoid of the very products that has earned it enviable repute? “Candidly speaking, Pakistan fares better by all accounts!” I reminded my uncle. But Taiwan is a heavy exporter of electronics and most of its factories lie on the outskirts of cities. I did feel the system is amazingly citizen-friendly — every effort seemed to have been made to make things easy and easier for people. Although in many respects stark contrasts did emerge; I did not find my own country inferior as many would think. Taiwanese products shelve our markets as well and prove to be sound alternatives to the bit expensive Japanese products.
Communications and travel have been greatly facilitated by the government. The domestic airport situated in the centre of Taipei has one flight taking-off and landing every four minutes. And the farthest destination within Taiwan is only maximum half-hour. Construction and developmental work continues under the lingering threat of jolts and tremors that visit the island sporadically. Despite this, the administration has utilized the ground below and the air above to cater to the increasing space requirements. Huge car parks go down and above to save space horizontally.
Taipei’s latest attraction, its new financial centre is the tallest building in the world — unfortunately we could just stand by its feet and look up to its pinnacle, as entrance to the general public had not yet been allowed.
The remaining two days we got to drink the superb doodhpati my uncle’s wife used to make in their office. There aren’t many Pakistanis in Taiwan, but wherever they are, they try to remain in touch, get together on a regular basis and enjoy the traditional camaraderie that exists amongst them. My uncle, 50 now, would never miss his Sunday cricket with his Pakistani friends, some of whom run small cafeterias, while others work in construction projects.
On the last day we visited Chung Lai Hze — the Memorial Hall for soldiers of World War II — the heroes of the country who fought against Japan. The change of guards was a sight to watch, but what was more amazing was to watch the way the guards stood for one hour unmoved till the time they were replaced by another batch.
We certainly missed out on a lot of the country’s sights and resorts, considering the limited time that we had, but that gives me one good reason to come back to this beautiful island.
Taiwan maybe an electronics giant, but that doesn’t take away its natural beauty and serene tourist hot spots 
