01-08-20

It was said that retirement is wonderful if you have 2 essentials: much to live on and much to dream for. We belong to the golden age. We earned more than our children do nowadays. We live longer than our parents. The advantage of us being 80 years old one day is that we have more time to do more things. The bad thing is that we are tired of old patterns. Traveling and living in a foreign city brings power back to our life. It is a chance to recharge us in the way that we have dreamt all along. Most of us did not have a choice as to our first home, but your second place should be the one always in your thoughts, where you love. Transport is cheap and fast these days. Never live locally. Go Asia.

There are 4 Asian cities on my radar screen for a retirement ‘staycation’ home. I can stay overseas for 2 to 3 months and return to my lovely Hong Kong. They are the shimmering Tokyo(東京), aquatic Qingdao(青島), exotic Bangkok or peaceful Taipei(台北). Taipei is the painless option among all.

Peacefulness, a spiritual state of being calm and contended, is the happy overflow of rehabilitative feelings. As to whether a city is peaceful, I think there are 4 factors: whether it is not densely populated, people are civilized and cultured, the society is just and full of harmony; and finally if there are plentiful supplies of coffee!

Taipei has lots of ‘Third Space’. Third Space is a sociocultural concept to designate the communal space in a city, as distinct from the home(first space) or work place(second space). Parks, rivers, hills, teahouses and coffee shops are considered to be very important third space. Coffee shops allow interaction of friends, pursuit of an easy life and family bonding. Great coffee, hot and substantial, is just as stimulating as a good meal.

Most of the Taipei city lies on a basin which was an ancient lakebed. The city proper houses a rough population of 2.6million. Beitou (北投) is the most mountainous district of Taipei and famous for its beautiful hot springs developed by the Japanese about 100 years ago. The Dutch invaded Taiwan in the 1600s in order to establish its presence to trade with the Ming Dynasty in China. They expelled the Spanish who first occupied Taipei and built Fort San Domingo(聖多明哥城) in Tamsui(淡水). Taiwan was made a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945. Young people were sent to Japan for higher education and learning of Japanese language. They came back with ideas to incorporate Japanese culture into Taiwan. This is perhaps why Japanese ways of living are still popular in Taipei nowadays. Architectures combining traditional Japanese and Renaissance European styles can be easily seen in this old city, especially in her West District.

People in Taipei are polite, friendly and well-paced. Whether they disapprove or refuse, they always express in a considerate manner. What delights us about the city is that people always say ‘no problem(無所謂)’, ‘let it be(管它)’ and ‘take it easy(隨意)’. Taiwanese are relaxed and cultural because of 3 reasons. Taiwan is an island, secluding itself from the troubles of the world. Topics relating to international politics are not commonly discoursed on. In 1949, after losing control of mainland China, the nationalist party Kuomintang withdrew the government to Taiwan. In order to rebuild the regime, they took with them the refined elites including scholars, scientists, bankers and literati. Most of them settled down in Taipei. For the past 30 years, democratic process in Taiwan was eventful and 2 conflicting forces existed. When disagreement reigned, kindness was however not crowded out. Taipei dwellers get used to political disputes and they have an abiding theme in the pursuit of happiness: why waiting for a future which may bring happiness? Just be happy now and relax everywhere! In Hong Kong, taxi drivers complain about short trips and will pull a long face. In Taipei, a taxi driver would smile, “It is not too far. You could walk or let me drive you? Both are fine.”

It often rains sadly in the winter of Taipei. During the night, you were confused and your feet were weak. Away from the darkness chasing you, you hid yourself in a clean and small café selling sumiyaki coffee round the corner from your staycation home on Dunhua South Street. You did not get wet but felt the rhythm of the cold drizzling rain outside. You reflected with uncertainty: should I go out to dance in the rain or kiss the dim light from the lonely lamppost? I recollect an old song ‘Dancing All Night’ by Taiwanese singer Liu Wen Zheng in the 80s……

Taipei, a city to write romantic tragedies…

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