Trip to Taiwan, December 7th 2008

Taiwan, December 7th through the 12th, 2008


I was here for business as usual. Taiwan is home to many semiconductor companies as well as new solar cell startups and business here has been growing very steadily over the past couple of years.

There are many intersting points to Taiwan. I will try to convey a couple of these in this post.



First, Taiwan and China have a difficult relationship. Taiwan was a part of mainland China up until the 50's and became a rebel entity when Chiang-Kian Shek left China with his followers and settled in Taiwan during the communist rebellion led by General (Chairman) Mao. So the Chinese claim that the Island of Taiwan is really theirs, just like Tibet. The Chinese used to rule Tibet during the Ming Dynasty and that was enough claim for them to invade Tibet and take ownership of the state during the 50's. They have been amassing military assets near the coast for years in order to retake Taiwan. Seeing Taiwan is a fledgling democracy being threatened by a communist country, the US has supported them with weapons and missles which is why they have never been attacked. That is why when you fly from China to Taiwan, you must fly over Hong Kong. Missles and the Chinese Airforce can cover that little gap in the water very quickly and it would give the Taiwanese defenses little time to determine whether it is an aircraft full of tourists or an all out attack.



The best way to get around Taiwan is the high speed train. This has killed business for hotels in some regions of Taiwan as well as all domestic flights. You can get from Taipei to Tainan in less than 1 1/2 hours for about 30 dollars.


American restaurants have made their way to Taiwan, but with a level of locallization. Here is a polluted pizza from Pizza Hut. Notice the white sauce drizzled on top? That is Mayonnaise mixed with pickle relish. The pizza would have been fine without that addition, but the 5 pizzas we ordered all had this enhancement. Yuck. This was actually a stuffed crust pizza. See the little sausages sticking out of the crust?


I didn't get a picture, but I saw Burger King, Mc Donalds, Outback Steakhouse and even a Cold Stone Creamery. I wonder how that was locallized.

I wish I had a story to go with this photo. I saw the sign and needed to capture a picture of this. I will leave it to your imagination on what it implies.

The biggest American influence in Taiwan is no longer American! There was a Seven Eleven on literally every every city I visited. But Seven Eleven is now owned by a Japanese entity.