July 19- the last 24 hours in Taiwan :(

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Day 16: July 19, 2010
Gopod bye Taipei, Goodbye Taiwan

The Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital
“You lie!”
While President Obama faced much opposition to plans for lowering the cost of healthcare, across the United States, in Taiwan the current access to healthcare is something that Americans would dream of. Thanks to the efforts and economic success of Yung-Ching Wang, chairman of Formosa Plastics Group, a system of universal healthcare formed in the 1970’s. The hospitals were named after Wang’s father, Mr. Chang-Gung Wang, who fell victim to the inefficiency of the previous medical system.
Since 1976, the Wang family has donated large sums of money to keep universal healthcare alive in Taiwan. Currently there are seven hospitals throughout the Island, making healthcare very accessible to all residents. The medical services are very advanced and organized, a combination of western medical practices and ancient Chinese medicine. Although the hospitals receive funds from the government, employers and philanthropists, there have recently been budget cuts that are expected to limit services. The founder Mr. Yung-Ching Wang, as well as major source of income, passed away in 2008. As a result the Chang-Gung Hospital group foresees a shrinking budget.

The Chang Gung Nursing Home
A short distance from a colorful Formosa plastic factory, the Chang Gung Nursing home provides services for approximately 400 residents. The Nursing home, a viable option for sons and daughters that cannot care for elderly parents, offers 4 different living options, divided into small and large residences, for either single residents or couples. The rooms were very clean, well organized and practical. The residents can enjoy a variety of services and classes.
As we walked through the 1st floor, we peaked into rooms dedicated to different religious practices, entertainment, game rooms, as well as an art class. The art class was in session, the students were practicing sketching octopi and soccer players (2010 World Cup newspaper clippings). The sketched were incredible, and the room was very well equipped, with sinks, various supplies and media, tables and chairs. We were then led to the 7-eleven by the cafeteria, and later to the gymnasium. I remember thinking the gym membership was ridiculously priced, but it was a beautiful gym, very clean, up-to-date machines and equipment.

Dumplings!
As we waited to be seated for lunch, our group was intrigued by a sign that claimed beef from the US was not an ingredient. The sign was of a crossed-out cow in a space suit, with green horns, a red mask and a US flag. Being vegetarian, I am automatically at a disadvantage at a dumplings restaurant. My first roommate, Jacqui had been looking forward to dumplings that were filled with meat and broth. I haven’t been vegetarian for long, a little over a year, and so her description of these dumplings made me question my dietary choice, on several occasions! But the dumplings restaurant had great soup! ☺ I was able a few vegetarian dumplings, one with veggies, plus taro and red bean.

The National Palace Museum
Following lunch we paid a visit to the National Palace Museum. The artwork in this museum was incredible, really! I remember being blown away by the carvings, paintings and cloth murals in the Yonghe Temple, but these carvings were at another level. The ivory carvings from the Ming and Qing era were insane. One piece from the Qing Dynasty, the Ivory Ball, was mind blowing. The ball was composed of 17 concentric carved spheres, that could all rotate individually. To this day, I cannot imagine the technique. The ball itself was approximately 6-8 inches in diameter.
The Ming and Qing Era room was by far my favorite because of the detail, the time and energy invested. The artisans used ivory, but also bamboo, wood, horns and fruit pits. The majority of the carvings were tiny, some could only be appreciated with a magnifying glass. The precision and skill necessary is definitely “uncanny.”
Outside of the museum there were people practicing Falun Gong. A combination of exercise and meditation, Falun Gong has been prohibited in China. As explained in the pamphlets provided by the practitioners, people that engage in Falun Gong in China are arrested, sent to labor camps, tortured, disfigured and many times executed. The location of these Falun Gong practitioners was obviously very strategic, visible to tourists, including Chinese.

Mainland Affairs Council
The last meeting on the agenda was with the Mainland Affairs Council. The focus of this meeting, like many others, was the ECFA (Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement). Apparently ECFA provides Taiwan with regulations to protect its work-force and various industries. An example of the benefits of having come into the agreement is the tariffs on Chinese exports to Taiwan, and lowering or eliminating of tariffs for Taiwanese exports.

Last dinner in Taiwan
This was maybe the saddest dinner, our trip was coming to an end, but worse than that- we were leaving Taiwan ☹. As we sat around the huge round table, Jacqui had the ingenious idea of recording a goodbye from every person by placing her camera on a stack of plates and spinning the lazy susan very slowly, a full 360 degrees.
Towards the end of the meal an interesting conversation was sparked by the men of the group. Apparently Huanlei men had left quite an impression on the women, and the men seemed somewhat threatened by this. But the incredibly attractive men of Huanlei were not the sole reason for our love for Taiwan. As for myself, my experience in Taiwan was lovely! Not only did we witness inspiring efforts and examples of self-reliance and sovereignty, but the different people I encountered were friendly, kind, patient, warm. An example of this came after dinner, in our attempt to catch a midnight train.

The Night Market and the Midnight Subway Incident
We were on the search or “I heart Taiwan” T-shirts, because yes, we definitely heart-ed Taiwan. In our search, going back and forth through the same alleys, I was reminded of the swap meet I worked in several years back. The difference however, was that throughout the night, a handful of vendors would spot a police officer and run with their merchandise! The look out would give the signal, and off the vendors would go into the shadows of the market. Perhaps this was an attempt on behalf of the police to reduce boot-legging? On our way to the subway platform, I saw a t-shirt that read “1% Mexican” and “Sureno,” a flawed attempt to reproduce Southern Californian gang-wear.
On the subway platform, we waited for over 30 minutes. The red train was not coming, and soon, the green line was also not in service. A couple of sympathetic Taiwanese girls approached and despite obvious language barriers, tried their best to explain that the train would not come. They went so far as to ask the information attendant for a refund for us. In a way I was glad to be in that predicament to witness such kindness.

[clay dube]

Rosalba, It was hard to read your post. Now I want dumplings. 😛 And I, too, remember the generosity of the people we met. It was great that you remembered those who sought to help you return from the night market.

With regard to the Taiwan health insurance system, I'm impressed by the amount of information available in English at the system's website. Please check it out:
http://www.nhi.gov.tw/english/index.asp. The program overview tab at the left leads to a handy set of pages about benefits, costs, and the like.

[Anonymous]

that many grammar mistake huh? heehee

[Author]

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