A pitcher for the President Lions shows his form in a pro baseball game.
A pitcher for the President Lions shows his form in a pro baseball game.
The most popular sports in Taiwan are baseball, basketball, and table tennis. These games are played by children in schools and have a wide following among adults as well. Many Taiwanese also enjoy golf and tennis.
Baseball came to Taiwan during the years of Japanese rule. Boys and girls in elementary and junior high schools play baseball, and there are many Little Leagues and amateur teams. In 2001 Taiwan hosted the baseball World Cup and took a respectable third place. Baseball games are aired on television, and the Chinese Professional Baseball League is closely followed by fans every year. However, the league has been plagued by numerous gambling and game-fixing scandals—as recently as 2009— which has caused many teams to disband. Today there are only four teams in the league, the La New Bears, the Brother Elephants, the EDA Rhinos, and the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. Taiwan's best players often find higher-paying jobs with professional teams in Japan or the United States. The Chinese Taipei Baseball Team is the national team, which plays internationally and in the Olympics. This team is highly regarded and was ranked fourth in the world, behind Cuba, the United States, and Japan.
Basketball, introduced to Taiwan by Nationalist soldiers, attracted a large following until 1989, when Taipei's Chunghua Stadium burned down. It is enjoying a resurgence, and there are now two professional leagues.
Skipping with a jump rope has been popular since the Tang Dynasty and is promoted in calisthenics exercises in schools. Shuttlecock is described in historical records of the Han and Sung dynasties. The object is to kick a shuttlecock back and forth and keep it from falling to the ground. Top spinning became popular during the Sung Dynasty. Although the game was once popular with children, it is played mainly by men in Taiwan today. Diabolo spinning is taught in schools. The diabolo looks like a large yo-yo; it has two wooden or plastic wheels with a shaft between them. The player moves the diabolo by using a long cotton string attached to a stick at either end of the string.
The Taiwanese love karaoke, or, as they call it, Karaoke Television (KTV). Singing along to prerecorded music videos is a popular activity for socializing. Karaoke is actually a Japanese word meaning “empty orchestra.” Karaoke clubs offer private rooms with television sets, music videos, and a microphone. Many families have their own set up at home, where karoake is a favorite pastime on stormy days.
Christmas is not celebrated much in Taiwan, and December 25 is Constitution Day. However, the secular and commercial aspects of Christmas are catching on there and it’s not unusual to see Taiwanese-style Christmas decorations in the larger cities. As an unofficial holiday, however, Taiwan’s Christmas is more of a romantic, Valentine’s Day-type of affair.
HOLIDAYS IN TAIWAN ARE A combination of traditional Chinese festivals, religious and government holidays, and aboriginal celebrations. The year kicks off with the Lunar New Year, which is not the same as the January 1 New Year of the Western calendar. However, January 1 is a special day because it is Foundation of the Republic of China Day, which marks the day that Sun Yat-sen was sworn in as the first president of Taiwan.
Many of the traditional Chinese holidays relate to the agricultural year. In times past, people were more dependent on the weather for their livelihood, and festivals marked the passing of the seasons. For example, the Lunar New Year falls in winter, when farmers cannot work in the fields, leaving them free time to celebrate. Tomb-Sweeping Day falls between the spring plowing and summer weeding, and the MidAutumn Festival is held around the final harvest of the year, when people can begin to relax. At festival celebrations different generations within a family reaffirm their bonds. They are occasions for rest and relaxation when people take time off from work and their busy lifestyles.
The Foundation of the Republic of China Day on January 1 is the anniversary of the date when Sun Yat-sen was sworn in as the first president of the Republic of China. Double Ten Day, or National Day, on October 10 (10/10) marks the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China. Double Ten is the most colorful of all the secular holidays. This is the occasion for huge rallies, parades with lion and dragon dances, and displays of martial arts, acrobatics, and folk dances. The grand finale is a splendid fireworks display.
Retrocession Day on October 25 is the anniversary of the day in 1945 when the Japanese occupation of Taiwan ended and the island returned to Chinese rule. The birthdays of two important historic figures in the Republic of China's history are also celebrated: Sun Yat-sen's birthday on November 12, and Chiang Kai-shek's birthday on October 31. Constitution Day on December 25 commemorates the day in 1947 when the constitution of the Republic of China on Taiwan came into force.
Chinese New Year’s decorations carry lucky symbols.
The Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, is the single most important festival of every Chinese community anywhere in the world. It usually falls in late January or early February, depending on variations in the lunar calendar. The festival actually lasts for fifteen days, but only New Year's Eve and the first two days are public holidays in Taiwan. However, most offices and shops close during the first week of the Lunar New Year.
The weeks leading up to the new year are a busy time for most people. To make sure they get off to a good start in the year ahead, people stock up on food, buy new clothes, spring-clean, and decorate their houses with Chinese characters inviting good luck.
One of the highlights of this festival is the traditional family reunion dinner. On the eve of the Lunar New Year, family members, who may be living far away, return to their parents' home to share in a lavish dinner. The children have a great time. They are given “lucky money” in red envelopes, or hung bao. Families relax after dinner, catch up on the local gossip, and stay up through the night to welcome the New Year. Finally fireworks are set off to frighten away evil spirits.
The second day of the Lunar New Year is when family members remember their ancestors and offer sacrifices. Ritual offerings are made to ancestors at the family shrine, followed by offerings to the gods at temples, with prayers asking for a happy and prosperous year. Family members also visit each other with the traditional greeting of “Kung hsi fa tsai!” (KOHNG see fah TSAI), meaning “Congratulations! Get rich!” or “Good luck and prosperity!” People stay at home on the third day because this is when bad luck is believed to be in the air. The next few days are a time of increased activity: firecrackers are set off to welcome the gods, offerings are made to them, and sacrificial money is burned.
THE LANTERN FESTIVAL
On the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, the Lantern Festival (Yuan Xiao) traditionally marks the end of the special days. This is a fascinating celebration of its own, and is an especially happy time for children, who play a major role in this part of the festival.
The ancient Chinese believed that celestial spirits could be seen in the first full moon of the lunar year, and people lit lanterns to see the spirits. Today, children carry on this tradition in temples, parks, and streets all over Taiwan. The lanterns are usually red to symbolize good fortune.
The most glorious lantern celebration in Taiwan is the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival, which originated in the mountain town of Pingxi, but which now tours the country. Typically, up to two hundred thousand candle-lit paper lanterns are launched into the full moonlit evening sky, each carrying the hand-written desires of the person who launched it. The phenomenon is a luminous sight to behold.
Throughout Taiwan, as well as China, people eat glutinous rice balls called tangyuan or yuanxiao at this time. The dumplings, which can be sweet or savory, are round to symbolize the full moon and the unity of the family. In Taiwanese society, where age is looked upon with great respect, there is a common saying that people will not gain a year in age until they eat a tangyuan.
The sixth day is the birthday of the god Tsu Shih, and the seventh day is celebrated as the anniversary of the creation of human beings. The ninth day is another day for making offerings as it is the birthday of the Jade Emperor, the supreme deity of the Taoist religion.
People pay their respects to their ancestors on TombSweeping Day.
Tomb-Sweeping Day is observed on April 5, which is also the anniversary of the death of President Chiang Kai-shek. This day is an important ancestral festival when the Taiwanese remember their deceased family members. Entire families visit the graves of their ancestors and offer prayers to them. The graves are swept free of dirt, and fresh flowers and offerings of food and wine are placed in front of the tombs. The ceremony must be performed before dawn or in the early morning because it is necessary that the spirits of the departed, who sleep during the night, still be “at home” in their tombs.
The Taiwanese believe they fulfill their obligation of filial respect and please their ancestors by remembering them on Tomb-Sweeping Day. A poem from the Tang Dynasty describes the intense emotional bond living people feel for their departed ancestors:
On Tomb-Sweeping Day as the rain falls everywhere, people walking in the streets feel the sorrow within and without.
Also called the Double Fifth Festival, because it falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month—typically in June—the Dragon Boat Festival is one of the most important holidays. It commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a scholar-statesman of the Warring States period (475—221 BCE) during the Zhou Dynasty, who drowned himself in a river in protest against tyranny and corruption. The legend is that upon his death, those who respected his honesty and sacrifice went out in boats to search for his body. When they could not find it, they threw cooked rice into the river so that the fish would not eat Qu Yuan's body.
Boats race in the Love River during the 2015 Dragon Boat Festival in Kaosiung.
Teams take part in dragon boat races to commemorate the search for Qu Yuan. The most famous race today is the one in Taipei, where teams from all over the country vie for the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Cup. Dragon boats are colorfully decorated with elaborate dragon heads. They are about 43 feet (13 m) long and have a helmsman, a drummer, eighteen to twenty-two oarsmen, and a flag catcher. Women's dragon boat races use smaller boats.
Another custom is the eating of zongzi (JONG tze), a rice dumpling stuffed with pork or beans. This is in memory of the people who threw rice into the river to keep the fish from eating Qu Yuan's body.
The Chinese believe that the ghosts of the dead return to Earth for a visit during the seventh lunar month. To appease these spirits and prevent them from causing harm, the Taiwanese offer prayers, food, wine, and burn sacrificial paper money. Both Buddhist and Taoist priests perform prayer rites in their temples every day during this month. Lanterns are hung on bamboo poles in temple courtyards to invite the ghosts to enter and listen to the prayers offered to them. It is regarded as inauspicious to conduct weddings and new business ventures during this month. People also avoid surgery, buying cars, swimming, and going out after dark.
Mooncakes are a festive holiday treat.
Originally called the Mid-Autumn Festival, this major holiday celebrates the appearance of the biggest and brightest full moon of the year, which coincides with the end of the harvest, in September or October. The Taiwanese make a family event of this festival. Typically, all members of the family will go to parks to gaze at “the Lady in the Moon” and to eat mooncakes. It is believed that the Lady in the Moon was once the wife of a Tang emperor. She drank a magic potion and flew up to the moon, where she has been ever since.
Mooncakes are round pastries stuffed with sweet bean paste. They have a historical symbolism for the Chinese, being a reminder of the time during the Yuan Dynasty (1280 — 1368) when China was ruled by the Mongols. To overthrow the Mongols, people had to rally enough support to start a rebellion, and messages hidden in mooncakes were passed around for this purpose.
Aboriginal festivals are colorful occasions celebrated with a great sense of ceremony and pageantry. Many aborigines who have moved to the cities and assimilated with the Chinese make a point of returning to their home villages to celebrate various festivals.
HARVEST FESTIVAL The Harvest Festival celebrated by the Ami is one of the most important aboriginal festivals. It lasts for seven days in late summer, at the end of the harvest season. During the first three days of the festival people sit down to talk about what they have achieved in the past year. This is followed by singing and dancing in the village square.
During this time the Ami also have a Proposal Festival for the unmarried. Young people spend time together to get acquainted, and on the last night of the Harvest Festival, a young woman chooses the man she wants to get engaged to by obtaining his belt. A chosen man then sends twenty bundles of firewood to the woman's family; if these are accepted, the engagement becomes official.
FLYING FISH FESTIVAL This festival, which is observed by the Yami, is based on an ancient myth about a talking fish that taught the tribe to follow a strict set of rules concerning the catching and eating of fish. According to legend, two Yami fishermen caught a huge winged fish that could fly. A little later, the fishermen's families found sores breaking out on their skin. The tribal elder then had a dream about a fish called Blackfin, who asked to meet him the next day. Blackfin actually appeared before the old man the next day and taught him the rituals and ceremonies associated with the fishing season and the catching of flying fish.
To this day, the Yami observe these rituals. At the start of the flying fish season, they destroy old fish-drying racks and build new ones, and put new fences around each house. The Yami men put on ceremonial dress with silver caps and beautiful jewelry and go out to sea in decorated boats to catch flying fish. These fish are considered to be special and are not cooked in the same pots as other fish. On the day itself, people allow no strangers to visit.
FESTIVAL OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE The origin of this Saisiyat festival is told in a story dating back five hundred years. At the time, the Saisiyat were not good farmers, but they managed to learn farming techniques from a group of pygmies. Unfortunately, the two peoples quarreled, and the Saisiyat killed the pygmies. After that, the Saisiyat became afraid that the spirits of the pygmies would take revenge, so they held a festival to appease and exorcise the spirits.
The theme of this festival still lies in appeasing the pygmy spirits through song and dance. The spirits are invited to attend the festival with ritual singing and dancing that lasts the whole night. Over the next few days the pygmy spirits are greeted and entertained with more traditional songs and dances. On the seventh and last day, a small tree is placed over the spirit shrine. Young Saisiyat men then proceed to exorcise the spirits by throwing pieces of the tree at the eastern sky and by staging an aggressive dance to frighten away the spirits.
The Chinese have long held a traditional belief in the medicinal value of food. Many plants used in Chinese cooking, such as scallions, ginger, garlic, dried lily buds, and tree fungus, are believed to have properties of preventing or alleviating various illnesses.
CHINESE FOOD IS SO POPULAR that Chinese restaurants can be found almost everywhere—in most international cities and in plenty of small towns as well. Indeed, authentic Chinese cookery—which isn’t necessarily what is served at the average take-out joint— is acknowledged to be one of the most refined and sophisticated cuisines in the world. So it may be surprising to learn that Taiwanese cuisine is relatively unknown— outside of Taiwan, that is.
As in other parts of Asia, rice or fan (fahn) is the most important staple, especially for the Taiwanese who migrated from southern China. In just about every meal, dishes of meat and vegetables are eaten with rice. Many food products are also made from rice. There are rice cakes, rice noodles, rice congee (porridge), and rice wine. In fact, eating and rice are such a central part of the Chinese culture that many conversations begin with the heartwarming greeting, “Chi fan le meiyou?" (CHUH fahn luh may yoh), meaning “Have you eaten rice?" or “Have you had your meal?" Chinese cooking is also famous for its noodles, although noodles are mainly a feature of northern Chinese food.
Tea-smoked duck breast is a favorite Szechuan dish.
As immigrants from the mainland settled in Taiwan over the centuries, they took with them cuisines from different parts of mainland China. In a country as vast as China, many regions have evolved their own styles of cooking, and these styles are named after the regions in which they first originated.
The Szechuan style, with its hot and spicy dishes originating from Szechuan Province, is one of the most popular cooking styles in Taiwan. A famous Szechuan dish is camphor- and tea-smoked duck. The duck is marinated in a flavoring of ginger, cinnamon, peppercorns, orange peel, and coriander, and then steamed. What gives this dish its distinctive flavor and name is the next stage, when the duck is smoked over a charcoal fire made aromatic with tea leaves and camphor wood.
Hunanese food from Hunan Province is hot and spicy or sweet and sour. Honey ham and frogs' legs in chili sauce are specialties of this province. Beggar's chicken, a well-known dish in Taiwan, is also of Hunanese origin. According to legend, there was once a poor man who stole a chicken. When he saw some guards approaching, he covered the chicken with mud and threw it into a fire. After the guards had left, the man cracked open the dried mud and found a fragrant cooked chicken.
Hakka food, also from Hunan province, is simple, country-style fare. There are no fancy sauces, and the dishes are mostly pork-based.
Szechuan and Hunanese food represent the western Chinese style of cooking. Northern cuisine is seen in the Peking and Mongolian cooking styles. Peking cuisine features more wheat-based food and less rice. Lamb is a part of its menu. Mongolian barbecues, where meat and vegetables are grilled on a large hot plate, are very popular in Taiwan.
Three-cups chicken, a popular Taiwanese dish is flavored with garlic, ginger, and basil.
Cantonese food from southern China is bland in comparison with other styles as it has minimal flavoring. Most dishes are stir-fried or steamed. Cantonese food is perhaps the best known Chinese food in the West because most Chinese immigrants to Europe and America were Cantonese and cooked in the Cantonese style when they set up restaurants.
The eastern style of cooking is seen in Shanghainese food, another popular cuisine in Taiwan. This usually features rich and slightly sweet sauces and is well known for its range of seafood dishes. Taiwanese food is indigenous to Taiwan. It is similar to Shanghainese food in that it features a lot of seafood and uses the same seasonings. It also uses lots of seafood, as well as taro, radishes, and sweet potatoes—all of which grow well in Taiwan. Popular dishes are salted radish omelet and three-cups chicken (which can also be made with frog). Three-cups dishes are made with soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil—all measured out in cups. Recipes today, however, use less oil. In night markets, many Taiwanese enjoy another traditional Taiwanese snack— the oyster omelet.
Traditional Chinese breakfasts usually include bread, eggs, and milk—but with a difference. The bread is not Western-style bread but rather consists of traditional steamed rolls or deep-fried dough sticks called you tiao (YOO ti-ow), and milk is not dairy milk but soybean milk. Fried eggs usually accompany these. Another breakfast dish is congee, a rice porridge with a savory fish, chicken, or pork flavoring. The Taiwanese place great importance on having at least a light meal each morning, so it is not common to skip breakfast. However, breakfast tends to be a quick meal for family members who have to rush off to work or school.
For most working people, lunch is also a quick meal. Some people pack a lunch box of rice with some meat and vegetables, but many others eat at outdoor food stalls or restaurants that cater to the lunchtime crowd. In most homes the Taiwanese tend to have dinner between 6 and 7 pm when family members return from work. Dinner usually consists of a hot soup, rice or noodles, and two or three other dishes of meat or seafood and vegetables. Desserts are not featured widely in Chinese meals, particularly at home, but fruit is normally eaten after dinner, as the Taiwanese believe this helps digestion and clears the palate.
Deep fried bread sticks with coconut jam make a quick breakfast.
THE CULTURE OF TEA—CHA AND YUM CHA
Tea drinking is an important cultural and gastronomic institution in Taiwan. It is polite and sociable to invite someone to have tea, so every visitor is automatically offered a cup of cha (chah), or tea.
Tea is made from tea leaves that are treated in different ways. Green tea is made from unfermented leaves; black tea is fully fermented and has an aroma of malt; and oolong tea, or “black dragon tea," is partially fermented. Other teas are made from blends of tea leaves and flowers, such as jasmine and chrysanthemum. Tea is one of Taiwan’s agricultural products that grows best in a subtropical climate at a high elevation.
Chinese tea is made by pouring boiling water onto tea leaves and leaving this to steep for a few minutes. No milk or sugar is added, so all one tastes is the flavor of the tea. A certain ritual is attached to brewing tea. First, a small teapot, ideally made of copper-colored pottery, is warmed by pouring boiling water into it. This water is then discarded. Fresh boiling water is again poured into the teapot and tea leaves added, but the first brew of the tea is not drunk. It is poured away instead. Tea and boiling water are then placed into the teapot a second time and left to steep for a minute or two. It is only then that the tea is poured into little cups to be drunk. The flaky tea leaves are not strained but left to float on top. Since the leaves are bitter, people avoid swallowing them by holding up the cup and blowing gently on the tea. This pushes the leaves away so that they can sip the tea without taking in the leaves.
Tea drinking is an important national institution. This is reflected in the number of tea houses where people meet to drink tea, munch on snacks, read, relax, and even conduct business. The culture of tea drinking is so strong that it has spawned a variety of savory snacks to go with it. The snacks are called yum cha (YAHM chah) in Taiwan. They are actually a Cantonese invention known in the West as dim sum (DIM sum, a Cantonese term) and in China as tien hsin (DEE-yen sin). Tea snacks are believed to have originated six hundred years ago during the Yuan Dynasty.
Vendors prepare food offerings at the Kenting night market.
The eating habits of Taiwanese people have been affected, to some degree, by modern urban living. Hence, while it used to be the case that most Taiwanese would eat at home most of the time, many urban-dwelling, working Taiwanese eat out quite a lot nowadays and often in informal, family-style stalls and eateries. Whether at home or in a restaurant, the Taiwanese observe traditional etiquette associated with eating. For example, meals must be eaten while seated, and there is a particular order to who may be seated first among the men and women, young and old. Meals are served at round tables, and each table can usually seat up to ten or twelve people. At restaurants the host usually places the orders, but it is considered polite for the host to ask guests to suggest dishes. The meal usually starts with a cold dish of appetizers. Dishes are brought in course after course. They are placed in the center of the table on a rotating turntable and everyone helps themselves to a little of each dish. Dining etiquette demands that one selects pieces of food closest to one and not stretch for a choice bit. The main courses are eaten with chopsticks, and soup is sipped from a spoon. The last dish is usually a plate of fried rice or noodles.
At dinner parties, toasts are often exchanged. There is a particular ritual and etiquette to making toasts—it is considered polite to hold the glass with one hand and to have the other hand touching the base of the glass. The host usually makes a toast at the beginning of the meal by saying “kan pei” (GAHN bay), meaning “bottoms up.” If the person making the toast says “suei yi" (SWAY yi), meaning “as you please,” the others present may either take a sip of their drink or drink up completely—as they please.
The Chinese believe that all types of food can be categorized into three basic types. Hot, or yang (yahng), food heats the blood and reduces vital energy, whereas cold, or yin, food cools the blood and increases vital energy. Neutral, or ping, foods are balanced and do not affect energy either way.
Yang foods are usually favored in winter, when the blood needs to be warmed, and cooling yin foods beat the heat of summer. When ordering meals in restaurants, the Taiwanese aim to achieve a balance of all three types of food—fried foods are yang and are balanced with steamed, or yin, foods; meat dishes (yang) are balanced with vegetables (yin); and yang spices are balanced with yin fruits.
This soup is often called Taiwan's national dish.
2 pounds (900 grams) stew beef, preferably boneless beef shank
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
5 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 inch chunk of ginger, sliced
2 Thai chilies, split lengthwise
2 star anise
2 scallions, chopped
2 Tbsp chili bean sauce
½ cup (120 milliliters) soy sauce
1 tomato, sliced
½ cup (120 mL) rice wine
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
2 lbs (900 g) Asian noodles
hot sauce
Heat oil in large soup pot or Dutch oven. Working in batches, brown meat over medium high heat, turning, until all pieces are browned. Transfer meat to another dish and set aside.
Over medium heat, saute garlic, ginger, scallions, chilies, and star anise in oil until fragrant, about 3 or 4 minutes. Return beef to pot, add chili bean sauce. Add rice wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomato, soy sauce, and sugar. Add water and remaining spices until everything is just covered. Bring to medium high heat and then reduce to a simmer for about 3 hours, or until the beef is very tender. Add hot sauce to taste.
Cook noodles according to package directions, drain. Divide among individual soup bowls. Ladle soup into each bowl along with chunks of beef. Top with chopped scallions. Serves 6to 8.
CHA YE DAN (TEA EGGS)
These pretty eggs are a popular snack in Taiwan.
1 dozen hard boiled eggs, cooled
2 tea bags (black tea)
¼ cup (60 mL) soy sauce 1 star anise
Lightly crack the shell of each egg by gently tapping on a hard surface, turning to crack the entire shell. Do not remove the shell. The cracks will allow the tea to infuse into the egg.
Place the eggs into a pot and fill with enough water to cover by about 2 inches. Add the tea bags, soy sauce, and star anise. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let soak overnight. (Alternatively, make them in a crockpot and cook at low setting for 8 to 10 hours.)
Cool eggs, remove shell, and serve.
