I went to Taipei for the weekend, this was my first visit to the country and everybody has told me that it is a great place. The food, the people, the culture and the very nature of the society and of course nature itself. When I boarded my flight at Shanghai it was all done in a very dignified manner. Everyone queued quietly and there was no jostling for position, we just waited in line. We boarded quickly and as bags were put into the overhead compartments passengers would quickly move out of the aisle to clear the way for the next passenger. It all went like clockwork and before you know it in no time at all we were packed and ready to leave. I’m sure my mouth was hanging open a little through this process because this is very different behaviour as to what you might expect when boarding a flight in China. Throughout the boarding and most of the flight for that matter, there were no raised voices, people talking on phones as we taxied down the runway. In fact we all behaved ourselves rather well.

These I presume are mostly Taiwanese passengers onboard heading home after visiting China. And so this was my introduction to Taiwan, it’s very obvious that China and Taiwan are very different places but the difference between their citizens are worlds apart.

The flight is less than two hours and of course you get free wi-fi on board which I like to use from time to time. I like that I can use Flightradar to track my flight and see where I am in the world and to see who is up here with us, but I don’t spend too much time on the phone, I do enough of that the rest of the time.

It’s only a short metro ride from the airport to the centre of Taipei and I quickly found my hotel using Google Maps, no firewall here. Taiwan does not embrace censorship to the same levels as its big brother. The only censorship I saw was when I was watching a movie before going to bed and the scantily clad women in the movie had her torso blurred out and there was also a hand gesture censored, mind you, even American TV censors hand gestures from time to time. So I can use Google Maps, Facebook and my phone runs at warp speed in comparison to when I’m in China, this in itself is very refreshing.

I stayed in Ximenting which is not a place I would recommend, it is a place where there is nightlife and too many people and too much noise for me. On my first night here I could not sleep due to the noise and so I asked my hotel for another room and they were happy to oblige and so for the remaining nights I managed to sleep. I had many things planned for my Taipei trip, I was going to go hiking and go up to the top of Taipei 101 and go to the national Museum but because I hardly slept on my first night, when I awoke in the morning I was knackered…………I was so tired that I felt sick. And so I went for plan B which was to go a short distance across town to the Fine Arts Museum which I wrote about before.As I mentioned before there was some art here that would be a little bit confronting for some, for me it was great to have your mind stretched once more trying to think what planet these artists were on when they were creating. No predictability here, diverse content and some surprises were on offer almost everywhere. I doubt very much that you would get to see many of these exhibits on the mainland. These artists minds are free to think and to explore and to confront the very fabric of society, not conform en masse and accept what you are fed by the large propaganda machine.

Poofs and Dykes were all over the place and openly showing their affection for each other. Women were smoking and there were tattooed youths. The older members of society looked trendy and I didn’t see one shiny belt buckle hoisted high holding up the bottom half of  business suit. No trendy man bags, in fact people here they dress more casually and act more casually. They talk slower and quietly, act in a more dignified manner, they are aware of their surroundings and others. It’s so easy to transition from China to Taiwan. One thing that I did find a bit of a nuisance is that I had to use money again. China has sold its soul to the devil for convenience by using Alipay and Wechat Pay and it is very convenient, however you do leave a digital trail just like your credit card. Taiwan uses Apple Pay and Line and you can also top up your metro travel card and buy a few things with that, but I must admit going back to a pocket full of money is not something I enjoy either………….I too have sold my soul to the devil and I like it.

In Ximenting there is a strong Japanese culture and there are Manga characters and the like. Graffiti covers many walls and you can see the same tags. Some of the art is really good and of course the content expressed in this art is very different from anything you will see on the mainland. In Suzhou for instance most of the “Graffiti” has some cultural connection and does look rather good. Taiwan is famous for its food so they say, but I did not really enjoy much of the food on offer. There are more noodles than rice and the food just does not have a strong enough flavour for me and so I will say I prefer the Chinese food.

I also noticed there were many Filipino’s and Malaysians here, a lot of them I think are domestic workers and if you go to Hong Kong you will also see many there. Because of this then you will also find that more people have some English. There are also many cafe’s and small specialised coffee shops where you can buy all the accoutrements for making coffee. The coffee is also cheaper than China and for the most part they seem to understand the coffee-making process better. With little or no explanation I got a half decent coffee.

And so it’s definitely chalk and cheese between these two siblings and both have their thoughts about each other but I won’t get into that here. I will hopefully return to Taiwan in July for my next visa run and I will also make sure that I leave a few days earlier than I need to. I was a little worried at the airport when I was leaving China because the immigration official was making a meal out of counting the number of days between my last trip and then I said to her “Tomorrow” and she smiled at me and returned my passport. I’ve noticed that on the last few trips they seem to go through this little dramatic sequence that I guess is supposed to make you feel a little bit uneasy. It’s happened a few times to me but then again maybe my name has been flagged by Big Brother.

As I board the plane to return to China the mood is very different. The Chinese heading home display the usual behaviour of being noisy and selfish. Standing in the aisle after they have put their bags away in the overhead locker. Getting up as the plane begins to taxi. Wanting to go to the toilet seconds after they have been told that the toilet is closed at the moment. Talking loudly on the phone. All through this of course the aircrew just get on with it because they have seen it all to often.

I only took a carry on bag and so when the plane landed I was through immigration quickly and then it was on to customs control. In China most of the bags are scanned as you leave the airport and of course this is where we have to queue up once more. The person behind invariably wants to be your friend and will stand beside you and way too close. One dirty look later and a muttering of “for fucks sake” under my breath, said person moves back behind me and further away. Excellent. We arrive at the scanner and I wait for the aircrew to put their bags through and then I put mine in the scanner. As I walk to the other end of it the guy behind me jumps in front of me…………”are you stupid or what?” Does he really think that his bag has miraculously jumped over mine in the scanner and will emerge before mine…………what a fucking idiot………..this is what you have to contend with when you return to China. Words fail me at times. I push him out-of-the-way, politely of course and pick up my bag and exit the customs area.

I’m feeling sad, for the first time in a long time this behaviour is wearing me down. A few days in another world, a more relaxed world makes you realise that life in China is very different but then I came here to get away from the western lifestyle for a while and for the most part it’s OK. I will stay a little bit longer, but at least where I am living is usually  OK. I get the bus from Pudong back to Suzhou and I’m once more reminded that I am in China. Two people a few seats in front watching videos with the volume turned way up. The Taiwanese people are more considerate of others, dare I say more civilised. They cover their mouths when they cough on the bus, they use headphones, they queue for the metro in an orderly fashion and let others leave the train first. They stand on the right of the escalator, the driving is so much better and here to they are considerate of others. I only heard a horn being used a couple of times.

There are many differences between these two countries and if you have been to both then you will understand what I am talking about. If the day ever comes that Beijing exerts its rule of law here then I think it will be civil war once more. The freedom that the Taiwanese have allows their culture to grow and allows diversity to grow. I’m not ready to move back to the west any time soon but moving to Taiwan would be a bit of a half way house and so I think that this is something I will look at doing in the future. I will stay in China until next year at least and then maybe things may change. of course I will have to start again with everything which is not an easy process but a little pain might be worth it.

And so when I was speaking to my Asian friend he said to me that the reason for behaviour of many of the Chinese is because many are only one generation away from being farmers. The second generation Chinese will behave in a different way but these first generation people are just like farmers with business suits and you know this explains it very well I think. You get many fake goods in China and these people are trying to make themselves look the part but their behaviour lets them down badly and so it might be another few years before the they have learned many of the skills that many of us take for granted. I of course do my bit here to try to educate some of them. On the metro last night I told the guy who sat next to me I did not want to listen to his phone, get headphones. If they stand in front of the door as I exit the metro I push them out of the way if they don’t move. I do a merry dance to stop them from jumping in front of me as I wait for the people to exit the train…………..some days it can be fun but other days you just want to go postal…………………………..