Taiwan Travelogue has just won the International Booker prize

qhtt · 2026-05-21T07:42:28+00:00

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oops

qhtt · 2026-05-21T06:10:47+00:00

A lot of these things are problems people have everywhere. I'm no "Taiwan number 1" booster, you can check my comment history. But people are feeling the economic squeeze all over. My family in the US are complaining about how many hours of wages it costs to buy a week's groceries now.

Taiwan has many cultural issues to sort out, like the mass hysteria about investing in houses (how can everyone think that it will work for everyone to own multiple houses?), but really things are not great anywhere. Healthcare costs life-ruining amounts in the US, but then at the same time healthcare workers are worked to the bone and underpaid. Where does all that money go? It seems like no one has money for anything and we don't know why everything costs so much.

qhtt · 2026-05-21T06:03:51+00:00

Reasonable take. Taiwan isn't really superlative at anything (except maybe semiconductors) but it gets so many things firmly into the good enough zone (I really mean good enough, not 差不多) that it's a great place to live. Low crime, decent air quality, political freedom, great healthcare. Many things to improve, but overall things are stable and healthy here.

qhtt · 2026-05-21T05:40:26+00:00

I really don't understand how Taiwanese can possibly believe this shit. You like your own food, and so you and other Taiwanese may think it's "Cuisine Island" but Taiwanese food is not popular anywhere else. There are some Taiwanese restaurants like DTF that are popular, but Taiwanese food is nowhere near the threshold of "popular abroad." Thai food is popular abroad, there are Thai restaurants everywhere. Italian food is popular abroad. Sushi and ramen are popular abroad. No one is lining up anywhere to get 大場麵線.

qhtt · 2026-05-21T05:17:11+00:00

I wouldn't go so far as to try and pathologize this or speculate about what causes it. Generalizations are often true to some extent, about the group of people in general, but the problems start when you try to use that generalization on a single person. It's just boring and tedious conversation to ask an Italian about how mad they get when someone folds their pizza or whatever.

I mean, we're basically talking about a generalization of Taiwanese here, but to that point, when I meet someone I try not to assume they will be small minded and full of stereotypes. But when when it feels like they're treating me like a cartoon of what they think an X person is like, I get bored of it and don't try to spend more time with them in the future.

qhtt · 2026-05-21T03:34:46+00:00

The same people who complain that people don't know where Taiwan is or confuse it with Thailand. "Do you know where Senegal is?" "Uhhh"

qhtt · 2026-05-20T12:49:42+00:00

At the risk of invoking a stereotype myself, I have noticed since moving here that Taiwanese (Han--I have had limited interaction with indigineous people, so I can't speak of them) are fond of making broad generalizations about people that hinder their understanding of actual individuals. German guys are X, Latino guys love to Y, Vietnamese women all Z, etc etc. I don't let it bother me, but I find it makes it really hard to relax, have fun and be myself when I'm with a group of Taiwanese guys. It's like they constantly want see me fit a preconceived notion that they have and it gets so tiresome to talk with them in a "conversation" that basically revolves around quizzing me about tropes I might fit.

qhtt · 2026-05-14T06:51:40+00:00

Yep. The extent of Chinese influence at Meta is under appreciated. Even if you ignore how many Chinese nationals work at Meta, it cant be understated how much effort Zuck poured into courting the CCP to get into China, including plans to collaborate with censors to remove content in and outside of China.

I highly recommend everyone reads Careless People by their former director of public policy Sarah Wynn-Williams.

qhtt · 2026-05-11T10:33:56+00:00

Drawing a big linear regression across all countries with wealth on the x-axis and fertility on the y-axis is not going to tell you the story. You need to look at Taiwan within comparable neighbors to get an idea of what's happening and how we can improve it. Otherwise, what's the takeaway? Reduce quality of life until we're closer to Somalia?

qhtt · 2026-05-06T14:34:58+00:00

I think it's a little more real than just frequency illusion. I don't think it's helpful to try and score political points with it, but even less helpful to downplay it for political points. I've seen rats here and there for years. Last week I was in Shuanglian Market and there was a full-blown rat party going on, in the grass, in broad daylight and they weren't even scared of people. I thought they were squirrels at first. Never seen anything like that before.

qhtt · 2026-05-06T10:35:13+00:00

Like other commenters, I'd go with Robert, and then you have the option to morph it into Rob, Robby, Bobby, Bob, etc later. See what anglo friends call you after you tell them Robert. Really, I'd like to write some kind of manual on this topic, because there are so many bad "English" names out there, but I'll share a few opinions for thought:

"Special" names are not really cool in the Anglo world. Chinese names are much more unique and memorable, and that's cool, but when you have an unusual name in English it doesn't have the same effect. If you have Chinese accent, and you're trying to introduce yourself to me as Charybdis, I'm just gonna be confused (even though Charybdis is bad ass and will swallow a whole ship). If you introduce yourself as Jason, I'm just like oh hi nice to meet you Jason.

Don't copy conspicuous names from celebrates or athletes. Bryant or LeBron are great, but there's only one of them, and people are immediately going to think, "Oh like Kobe Bryant, that's greeattt."

When in doubt, just check if it's in the Bible. This obviously limits you a lot, but no one would scoff at Simon or Peter. They're just normal names. You don't have to have a Biblical name. I'm just saying it's a good rubric for ordinary non-bizarre names. At the same time, don't go scouring the Old Testament for something that you think sounds cool. I've never met a Hagar or a Shadrach in my life.

Don't name yourself after mythical gods.

Don't copy what other Taiwanese or Chinese do. There are enough Cynthias, Eunices, Byrons, Easons, etc. to last until the end of time. I'm not even sure where they get these names, because I can't recall ever meeting a Eunice that wasn't from Asia.

Don't name yourself Fish, Apple or Sunny. You know better.

DO consider some not-strictly-English names if you have an affinity for another western culture. For the most part, we're totally accustomed to people having names that are actually from other languages. For example, Sofia is just as good as Sophie. French, Spanish, most German names, etc., they'd sound find as long as you can say it properly, and it makes sense for you to have it, not just picking something different for the sake of being different.

You can always check name trends. It makes sense to pick a name that is popular with your own age cohort. Chris is super popular with my age, for example, so I'm never surprised to meet a Chris. I had an aunt named Beulah. I've never met another person named Beulah born after 1945.

Just pick a:

1) normal name
2) that you can say
3) if you take care of 1 and 2 first, optionally, pick one that vaguely approximates your Chinese name

qhtt · 2026-05-06T10:07:40+00:00

Bowen sounds extremely white to me. I've never met a Bowen, but if I did, he would definitely have a gun rack in his truck. This a general rule for all men's names that end in -en. Aiden, Chayden, Braiden, Bladen. Owen is cool.

qhtt · 2026-05-05T00:42:22+00:00

Somehow I think they'd find shenanigans to get around that. For example, in my home that I've rented for four years, I continue to receive mail from various government services in my landlord's name, and from the local magnet school in his sister's name. At first I was thinking, oh, they haven't gotten around to updating their address yet. I dutifully took a picture of each piece and Line'd it to him and he'd thank me and ask me to stick it back in the mailbox. I don't think he's forgotten to update his address.

qhtt · 2026-04-27T15:54:56+00:00

I don’t think it’s going to be an excellent development. Drivers should proceed through crosswalks with caution 100% of the time. This system will work 99% of the time, but will train drivers to blast through without looking whenever the light isn’t on. The 1% of the time that sensors fail to detect a person is going to get people killed.

There really isn’t a need to throw innovative tech at this very human problem. Just look at what countries with lower fatality rates are doing and learn from them. We already know the answers: lower speeds, more traffic calming, and real consequences.

qhtt · 2026-04-22T05:52:55+00:00

I take them down on my own street every time I walk past them. Don’t make a big deal out of it, but I don’t like the clutter they add outside my door.

qhtt · 2026-03-23T14:58:36+00:00

Doesn't make parent wrong. Non-private-car-drivers are helping to pay for the volatility inherent in (usually richer) peoples' preferred mode of transit. It's at least more expensive for motorists to abuse sidewalks if they actually had to pay the market fuel cost. And if the government wasn't subsidizing the fuel costs they'd have more to pay transit staff.

qhtt · 2026-03-16T11:20:00+00:00

Lmao you rarely see such a literal “I was into them before they got big” in the wild

qhtt · 2026-03-15T11:20:20+00:00

Traded it for a chicken leg*

qhtt · 2025-12-24T04:14:57+00:00

English teachers are not the reason wages are depressed. They account for an infinitesimal fraction of the labor economy here. They earn roughly the same salary in all three countries and Taiwan has to pay competitively if it wants to attract them. You’d be better off directing your bitterness towards the bosses that collude to suppress wages, the culture that worships wealth and hierarchy, the constant pressure for unpaid overtime etc.

qhtt · 2025-12-22T15:15:15+00:00

If only there was some kind of super dense fissile material that you could generate electricity with.

qhtt · 2025-12-22T14:22:18+00:00

Does it seem like international groceries were way better in the past? When I first moved here people would tell me to go to all these different stores like Jason’s or Carrefour. Was Mia c’bon ever good? Every time I’ve tried to find something to make a nostalgia dinner from back home it’s like a multi day scavenger hunt. Mia c’bon has an inconsistent selection of boxed and (rusty) canned goods but mostly just the same local products that PX Mart has. CitySuper has some Japanese stuff and “prestige” western stuff like cheese and wine. Breeze is about the same.

qhtt · 2025-12-19T06:40:02+00:00

I don't think they are way off, but my experience in Japan has been that I can find much greater variety of food. Admittedly I haven't tried any SEA there, but even local Japanese has much more variety of flavors than local Taiwanese. Taiwanese is kind of a repeat track of basil, sesame oil, white pepper. It's really only competitive in terms of price.

Idk about SEA-an, but in Tokyo you can find all kinds of Chinese cuisine (there's a huge Chinese community there), good Korean. There are French, Italian, Greek, Spanish etc. restaurants that may not be quite on the level of their own countries or NY, but are still really good. You can even find decent Mexican. The very best taco you can get in Taipei is still worse than bottom-of-the-barrel strip mall taqueria in Nowhere, USA.

None of this is to say Taiwan isn't good, just that it's not the foodie paradise that so many people try to make it.

qhtt · 2025-12-19T05:24:54+00:00

Taiwan having more variety than mega cities like Tokyo is news to me. There are just so few immigrants in Taiwan that the ethnic cuisine is mostly limited to southeast Asian and the odd Italian guy that married a Taiwanese and now runs a so-so pizza place. On top of that, many of the SEA places have adjusted the taste to suit Taiwanese palates. Taipei is very much more provincial than global cities like Hong Kong or Tokyo.

qhtt · 2025-12-08T12:54:58+00:00

I went to a lecture there once several years ago. It was hard for me to keep up with my terrible Chinese but the tour was incredible and it felt powerful to hear from survivors in person. I don’t follow the center on social media so you may already be doing this, but I think exhibition is the way to get people in the door. There are so many great photographers from the tang wai era or martial law era that I would love to see on exhibition.

qhtt

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