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p88 MAKING CONNECTIONS Going deep into 's history and culture p100 FLORES DE MAYO A field guide to the lush flora of Philippine gardens

000 R1 COVER KF + Spine6.4mm.indd 1 12/4/19 2:50 PM Small but certain TAIPEI ALAMY PHOTO BY PHOTO

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088-098 R1 FEATURE 3 - TAIPEI KF.MS.indd 88 17/4/19 2:19 PM Small but certain might be an island, but its modern-day culture is built on the connections it has made throughout its history. Writer Timi Siytangco explores the capital city of Taipei to reflect on these enduring links ALAMY PHOTO BY PHOTO

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088-098 R1 FEATURE 3 - TAIPEI KF.MS.indd 89 17/4/19 2:20 PM n the winter of 1949, ceramics, paintings, jade, calligraphy and other treasures were packed into 2,972 crates and shipped from Nanking, China, across the Taiwan Strait to IKeelung Harbor in Taiwan. They were from the imperial collection and had already spent 16 years hidden in warehouses and monasteries, TAIPEI protected from the . All that art has been caught in the middle of a stand-off ever since. And this is how the world’s largest collection of Chinese artifacts, representing 8,000 years of culture and history, came to be on permanent display in Taiwan. It survived multiple wars, travel by train, truck and boat and the ravages of weather and humidity. “Fortune was with us; not so much as a teacup was broken,’’ diplomat Han Lih-wu, who organized the shipments, was quoted as saying in the New York Times in 1986.

A dynasty in an object 1 At the National , most visitors make a beeline for the 2 Jadeite Cabbage and Meat-Shaped Stone carved from jasper. These rock stars — so to speak! — sculpted by anonymous artists during the (the cabbage is believed to have been for an empress’ dowry), have their own gallery and maintain a busy tour schedule. When we visit, the cabbage is away at the Taichung World Flora Expo. But no matter. The museum has 670,000 other objects. Jennifer Kung, a volunteer docent, gives us a tour. “I’m a geologist by training,” she says by way of introduction. “I see time in 10,000-year bands.” With that, she leads us on a joyful walk through the galleries, using everyday objects to bring entire 1 and 2 Inside the National 3 Palace Museum 3 Xiao long dynasties to life: ideograms etched on bao 4 A sculpture outside the a wood panel explain the evolution of Chinese characters; a ceramic bowl is a window into the influence of royal kilns. Jennifer explains how an artist

in the Song dynasty held a brush to AND SHUTTERSTOCK.COM ALAMY write elegant calligraphy. Then she sighs: “For me, that period is better

than Ming.” BY PHOTOS

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088-098 R1 FEATURE 3 - TAIPEI KF.MS.indd 90 15/4/19 3:39 PM Once you see it, you see this regard for well-designed objects everywhere. Exhibit A: xiao long bao ALAMY AND SHUTTERSTOCK.COM ALAMY

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Delightful daily details Once you see it, you notice this regard TAIPEI for beauty and detail everywhere. Exhibit A: xiao long bao. Originally from Shanghai, it is Taiwan’s Din Tai Fung that gets credit for bringing the pork-filled soup dumplings to the world, by making that commitment to 18 precise folds in every dumpling. This attention is also found in xue hua bing, literally “snow flower ice”. The name comes from the petal- like shavings formed by a machine purpose-built for this dessert. The technique creates an ice cream-like texture that turns humble shaved ice into a vessel for all kinds of flavors, from the fruits at Ice Monster to the tower of almond snow from Summer Tree Sweet on Dihua Street. Precision and delightful intention has also reinvented that most mundane part of city living: garbage disposal. Whatever neighborhood you’re in, keep an ear out for Taipei’s garbage trucks. Taiwan has one of the most successful recycling systems in the world, and residents keep to a strict schedule. The trucks crawl

down the street playing a cheerful 5 arrangement of Beethoven’s “Für Elise” as everyone comes down with their color-coded trash bags, tossing A nod to Japan until the end of World War II. The them straight into the trucks — Soulfulness balanced by Japanese also established Baroque- garbage day has become a community meticulousness rules other areas of style government buildings, durable event that also limits the need for urban design, like Taipei’s street plan, infrastructure that remains in use trash bins. The result: clean streets, no a grid system built by the Japanese today, and many of them are getting smells, no vermin. when they ruled Taiwan from 1895 a second lease on life. A standout example is Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, which was built in 1937 6 as the Matsuyama Tobacco Plant of the Monopoly Bureau of the Taiwan Governor’s Office. It was the island’s first modernized tobacco factory and it helped Taiwan survive the economic downturn of World War II. Today, it is a creative hub, home to the Taiwan Design Museum, shops promoting local designers, a bookstore SHUTTERSTOCK.COM dedicated to local authors and, on the second floor, a sprawling workshop

PHOTO BY PHOTO and makers’ space.

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088-098 R1 FEATURE 3 - TAIPEI KF.MS.indd 93 15/4/19 3:39 PM For travelers, the most obvious Going local reminder of Taiwan’s enduring Via the THSR, we head to Fu Wan connection with Japan is its bullet Cafe Villa in Pingtung County, where train. When the Taiwan High Speed chef and entrepreneur Warren Hsu Rail (THSR) was conceived in the has turned his family’s fish ponds into Culture 2000s, it was the first time the a leisure farm and award-winning shinkansen was exported overseas. chocolate brand. Leisure farms are vulture THSR travels along the island’s the Taiwanese version of bed-and- Essential stops for a quick but western rim. We ride it south to the breakfasts, and are such a popular well-rounded tour of Taipei end of the line, Zuoying station in option for local holidays that an

Kaohsiung. association exists to support their

TAIPEI National Palace Museum development. Every farm has its own Plan ahead and book the free personality, a reflection of the area and English-language docent tour. the owner’s interests. The museum’s northern branch 7 In Pingtung, the government had in Taipei has two daily. The southern branch in Taibao is been convincing betel nut farmers a modern and green facility to switch crops, and cacao turned surrounded by 50 hectares of out to be a good alternative. There parklands and a bird-watching were plantations in the hills near the platform. npm.gov.tw

Hsu family ponds, and so Warren Songshan Cultural and saw an opportunity to marry his Creative Park love for unique flavors with an Originally Taiwan’s first understanding of local agriculture. modernized tobacco factory, He convinced his parents to build a it is now home to the Taiwan Design Museum and has a full state-of-the-art chocolate factory on calendar of design exhibits. fish pond land. The result is Fu Wan songshanculturalpark.org Chocolate, one of a handful of bean- to-bar chocolate makers in Asia. It Dihua Street The main shopping street in Dadaocheng, the oldest district of Taipei, has 120-year-old 7 Raw, split cacao beans architecture and traditional 8 Harvesting cacao at the Fu shops for dried goods, tea and Wan Chocolate plantations candy. Make a stop at Xia Hai City God Temple, where single locals still come to pray for a 8 good marriage.

The Red House The city’s first government- run public market has been converted into a market for local crafts and the square next to it is Taipei’s LGBT hub. redhouse.taipei

Cafés Taipei has an evolved coffee culture, with high-personality cafés peppered throughout the city. Get your third-wave coffee fix at Tamed Fox (tamedfox.tw) or go old-school with Fong Da Coffee (42 Chengdu Rd), which has been around since 1956.

Leisure farms There’s a farm for every kind of traveler. Visit the Taiwan Leisure Farms Development Association website to find the farm for you. www.taiwanfarm.org.tw

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burst onto the international stage in 2017, winning competitions with its 70% Taiwan cacao and Asian flavor In Warren and Han, we see the epitome combinations. We spend an afternoon tasting square after petite square of of a phrase the young Taiwanese have chocolate that Warren lays out on a latched onto in recent years: xiao que long wooden plank — first the classic dark chocolates, then the nama (a xing, “a small but certain happiness” Japanese chocolate recipe that uses fresh cream), then his own inventions: rose lychee nibs, dried mango, Thai curry shrimp. Throughout the day, and 11 for the rest of our stay, a smile never leaves his face, and I’m not sure who is enjoying this more, him or us. Back in Taipei, we finally try hotpot, the default meal for socializing among the Taiwanese. On first look, it isn’t our thing — smoky rooms, cumbersome 20-page menus, cooking your own food — but Mr Meat Hotpot & Butchery changes that. Han Chen opened Mr Meat four years ago to showcase local producers. His is a short menu — one page! But it elevates local meats like black swine from Dong Bao, cherry duck and Fun Sun chicken to the same level as Spanish Ibérico pork, American Angus beef and New Zealand lamb. In Warren and Han, we see the epitome of a phrase the young Taiwanese have latched onto in recent years: xiao que xing, “a small but certain happiness”. It was coined by Japanese author Haruki Murakami (who of course has a massive fan base in this country) to describe the

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088-098 R1 FEATURE 3 - TAIPEI KF.MS.indd 96 15/4/19 3:39 PM A noodle shop in the shadow of the Taipei 101 building Authentic eats

Taipei Eats Tina Fong and Mike Lee, Taiwanese who grew up overseas, came home and created walking tours as an easy way to show tourists the

TAIPEI breadth of their hometown’s food culture. taipeieats.com

Taiwanese breakfast Watch the city wake up at Taipei’s breakfast shops. Yong He Soy Milk King operates 24/7, and specializes in bowls of savory soy milk called xian dou jiang. 102 Sec 2, Fuxing South Rd, Da’an District

Dumplings Pay homage at the original Din Tai Fung (dintaifung.tw; 194 Sec 2, Xinyi Rd) mothership on Yongkang Street. Then go local with Zhang Ji Fried Dumpling (10 Emei St), a no-frills, no-English restaurant in Ximending.

Snow ice Waiting at Ice Monster (ice- monster.com) is worth it for the Mango Avalanche, but you can also skip the lines and go to Summer Tree Sweet (240 Sec 1, Dihua St), where you can enjoy almond snow ice, while appreciating century-old architecture in the neighborhood.

Locavore meals pursuit of everyday pleasures and which literally translates to “inside Mr Meat Hotpot & Butchery the appreciation of transient bliss. A the alley”. (5 Ln 81, Sec 2, Dunhua South Rd) is simply hotpot for locavores, good cup of tea, say, or a well-designed We walked into Longtang Limian while Taïrroir (tairroir.com) by bowl or one wonderful bite of food. A near closing time. The light from its chef Kai Ho reinterprets Taiwan moment of simple, tangible joy that single window spilled onto the street, cuisine through modernist menus turns the mundane into a moment. a quiet lane in the affluent Da’an featuring indigenous produce. In hindsight, this outlook should not district. Unlike the slicker, well- Fu Wan Chocolate (fuwanshop. com) is one of a handful of bean- be a surprise. It’s been evident from staffed shops around it, this simple to-bar chocolate makers in Asia. the evening we arrived. Tired from joint was run by a young couple who If you can’t make it down to the the flight, train trip and Uber ride that served customers 10 hours a day. farm, their chocolate bars are were required to reach our hotel, and The place was empty except for one available online. shivering from the rain, we stepped out customer waiting for his takeaway. Beef noodles to grab a quick, easy meal. For a minute, he silently watched us Though the dish is ubiquitous, If Taiwan were to pick a national trying to read the menu with Google one of our favorite versions is at dish, beef noodles may be it. The Translate. Then, he leaned over, and Longtang Limian, located on a side dish was introduced by veterans of whispered in a conspiratorial tone, street in Da’an. 48 Siwei Rd the Chinese Civil War. Today it is “The beef noodles are very good.” available everywhere and there is And that was how our first evening in no point picking the “best” one — in Taiwan turned from an unremarkable Taipei’s first Michelin Guide, eight travel day to a memorable one slurping Cebu Pacific flies to ALAMY of 36 Bib Gourmand recipients were egg noodles and braised beef doused in Taipei from Manila. beef noodle shops. The shop we now a rich, dark, spicy broth. It was exactly cebupacificair.com

call our own is Longtang Limian, the warm welcome we needed. BY PHOTO

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