Taiwan in Perspective

by Larrisa Seah

Having visited the three cities in Taiwan we were able to make a little comparison of Taipei, Taichung and Tainan. Taipei is the capital of Taiwan and its infrastructure is much more established than Taichung台中and Tainan台南. Taipei city is also more populated than Taichung and Tainan. We took the HSR (High Speed Rail) from Taipei to Taichung. We observed that as we moved away from Taipei, there were many plots of rice-planting fields outside the city. Taichung is a popular transit to Alishan 阿里山or Sun Moon Lake日月潭where these beautiful tourist attractions are located.

In Taichung, we visited Tung Hai University 东海大学 and found it to be an ideal and conducive place to study. We also made a comparison of the 2 night markets we visited in Taiwan - Shilin University night market 士林夜市 in Taipei and Fengjia University night market 逢甲夜市. Most of the night markets are located nearby a university. We get a more youthful crowd in Taichung while Shiilin night market has more tourists. The food in Shilin is more or less quite similar and repetitive e.g. fried oyster egg, fried chicken chop, cuttlefish, bubble tea, etc. whereas the food at Feng Jia night market is much more unique and the stores are more creative. We were told by a taxi driver in Taipei City that bubble tea originated from this particular Taichung night market. People are much more approachable in Taipei as compared to the other 2 cities. On a positive note, we have no barrier with the language and we feel much more at home in Taipei city.

We visited two churches in Taipei on Sunday and were blessed by both services. At The Bread of Life Church, we see the elderly still full of life and serving God. At Envision, we see Chris, an American missionary grooming the future leaders of Taiwan through one-to-one discipleship. Surely, God uses both the old and the young for His kingdom if we are willing to be the aroma of Christ.