The Dangers Of Dengue

After a 20 hour journey, I finally made it home around lunchtime on Tuesday. About two hours later, I started to feel a lump in my throat and by the end of the day, I was developing a fever of some kind. Wolfie and I went out for a meal last night, after which we hit a few bars and eventually ended up in BrewDog, where we thought it would be a good idea to buy more shares and get our photo taken for a rogue's gallery on the bar wall. We got home past midnight, rather drunk, and proceeded to fall asleep. In the middle of the night, I was awoken to hallucinations and the need to go to the bathroom, which resembled a Chinese man's house rather than my own home's. The imagery eventually morphed into that of my own bathroom, after which I traipsed back to bed, eventually waking up with a thumping headache, an aching throat and pain in my lower legs. I have been this way ever since. I don't know what it is but the worst it could be is Dengue. My feeling is it's dehydration after breathing recirculated air on a 15 hour flight. I'm hoping it's the latter. Anyway, while I am suffering, I have a few more days of my holiday to write about, days which I couldn't write about at the time due to how busy I was.

Last Thursday, I was awoken hideously early in the homestay on Matsu as our flight off the island, back to Taipei, was scheduled to depart at 8.10am. After a breakfast of meaty pancakes and folded up egg, the homestay owner kindly drove us down to the airport, where we boarded the cute little prop plane whose capacity was a mere 50 persons, many of whom were army guys who had been training on the archipeligo. Fifty minutes later we were back in the Taiwanese capital and a further 30 minutes after that, we were on the road to the National Palace Museum in the northern district of Shilin.

The National Palace Museum is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Taipei, as evidenced by the vast number of mainly Chinese tourists who were roaming the building. Outside, a group of around ten monks were sat in permanent meditation, protesting against political prisoners that the mainland government had allegedly incarcerated. We were handed a leaflet concerning this at the top of the huge rolling stone staircase which is at the forefront of the imposing Museum, which is set upon a hill looking down on a rather shabby collection of flats.

The National Palace Museum is most famous for its priceless collection of Chinese art, much of which was smuggled out of China in February 1949 as Taiwan's founder Chiang Kai-shek retreated from Communist forces shortly before the fall of the city of Nanjing. Understandably, the Chinese now want their art back but the Taiwanese point to the fact that had they not taken it with them in 1949, it could have been destroyed in the Cultural Revolution which China underwent in the 1960s and 70s. While the Palace Museum in Beijing's Forbidden City does have more works of art, the most valuable and outstanding is on display in Taipei, hence why the repatriation of the works is such a contentious political issue. Indeed, the belief was that the artwork remaining in Taiwan was to be a temoprary thing - it wasn't until 1965 when the Museum was created, at a point when the political dispute between China and Taiwan was so intense that any agreement was deemed unlikely.

The pieces on display span five thousand years of Chinese history, and the collection includes pottery, metalworks, furniture, tapestries, documents and writings. There are 654,500 pieces so not all of them are on display, but the order of the exhibits is logical, starting with the earliest works on the top floor and the newer ones on the ground. We only had two hours to spare in the Museum so we couldn't visit every exhibition, or indeed do it much justice, but we did get to see some of the highlights, including the fantastic Jadeite Cabbage with Insects, an exquisitly crafted piece of jade which is breathtakingly beautiful. We had to queue amongst the Chinese tour groups, and were often jostled by impertinent tourists, but seeing this Qing dynasty piece was truly magical.

Another highlight for me was the range of stunning bronzes on display on the top floor. At a time when Western Europe was still struggling with simple pots, the complex designs of these giant cooking recepticles and ritual vessels was mindboggling. The pieces were all crafted between the Neolithic Period and the end of the Han dynasty in 220AD, and the sheer amount of detail that had gone into them was mindblowing. Each dynasty had a different theme, and you could chart the development of techniques and the evolution of belief systems throughout the ages. The same is true of the jade pieces which are also on display here, with their designs showing how humans' relationships with the spirits changed over the course of time. The highlight in this room is the San P'an Basin, which is a ritual water vessel upon which is written a 350 character inscription. The range of bells - eight of them in total, all differing sizes - highlighted the importance of music in this period, while the vast range of different cooking pans demonstrated the importance of food and ritual during this time. It was the patterns though that were the highlight for me, their intricate nature highlighting the importance of these vessels, while the animal mask design of the early Neolithic period added a nice furry element too.

On the second floor, we walked around the exhibits charting the rise of Chinese calligraphy, but not being able to read Chinese was certainly a drawback here. I could admire the neat writing though, which at least was something. I got more out of the ceramics section, which showed the range of different pots and vases used across the differing warring states which made up China throughout the ages. The change in glazing and paint through time and across regions was something of particular interest as it helped to provide a technological narrative through history of the changes being made in the area. China's golden age, the Tang Dynasty, was well represented here, which was one of the few times when curvaceous plump women were deemed more attractive than thin ones. The artwork on the pottery reflected this. I tried to find the rare ceramic Narcissis Basin but despite being green-blue in colour, it was difficult to find.

The final section we visited was on the ground floor and dealt with more modern history, specifically trading routes in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. This was my period of history at university but as is often the case, it is the European perspective that was taught rather than the Far Eastern one. Details of trade with other nations, as well as the establishment of fishing villages and ports, added greater flavour to the Chinese story and it was great covering so many periods of history in such a short time. Granted, we didn't see everything in the museum and I did have a bit of an argument with Cheetah about the need to visit an umpteenth gift shop - I would have preferred another 10 minutes looking at the exhibits - but for what little time we had, we did the place justice. However, we had to go as we had a date in Taichung, a city some 150km south and we couldn't be late...

Strawberry Flavoured Penis Waffle

The city of Taichung is the third largest in Taiwan. Situated west of the main mountain chain which runs through central Taiwan, Taichung is considered the capital of the central part of the island. It is a large university town, which is the reason for my visit, as my friend Furrfoxx, who I had met the previous Sunday, had offered to show me around.

After picking up my bags from Cheetah's place - the ones I had left behind as I didn't need everything for a two day visit to Matsu - we got on the road, stopping off at a 7-Eleven on the way to sample a local delicacy, sticky meaty rice wrapped in a bamboo leaf. All you need to do is bung it in the microwave for two minutes then unwrap the leaf, tear a sliver off and then use it to grab at the rice. It was very tasty indeed but the leaf didn't prevent you from getting your paws all sticky.

The drive down to Taichung was largely uneventful - motorways are the same in most countries really although some of the bridges on this road were fantastic feats of engineering, spanning huge estuaries which were miles in length. Like in the Philippines, the Taiwanese roads are tolled and we passed through four stations on our journey. We didn't have to stop at them though, you can buy a special tab which you affix to your windscreen, allowing you to pass through the toll booths unimpeded. Like with London's congestion charge, it's prepaid. On our journey, we also saw the ubiquitous flashing lights marking a shop which sells a special type of chewing gum which gives you a significant energy boost. Usually staffed with scantily clad, nubile young women, these typically cater to truckers who may need the chemical enhancement provided by the sticky product.

We arrived in Taichung early afternoon and drove straight to Furrfoxx's university, which is situated in one of the suburbs. He was there to meet me on time and had a present for me - a darling cub badge of my character. We then headed to a surreal park, behind which sits a colourful alleyway created by Rainbow Grandpa. Grandpa is pretty well known in the area as his colourful paintwork adorns what would otherwise be a drab community area. His artstyle is rather unique and based around animals and people, his tags adorning the walls of many of the basic houses in this area, as well as the pathways. In one of the awnings sits two women who offer products based around Grandpa's artwork. I bought a postcard of a rabbit that looks like he has been turned into a sex doll and some shells coated in cloth with dogs printed on them. As urban gentification projects go, this was quite good, and I enjoyed nosying around, even though I was being frequently bitten by the pesky mosquitos. After this, I also checked out the temple opposte the place we had parked while we and some locals also saved a distressed bird who had fallen out of his nest and onto the road. We didn't want to see him get squished by any passing traffic.

After this, we headed to the downtown and an art gallery by the station which I think was called Stock 20. It houses works dedicated to the aboriginal tribes who lived in Taiwan before the Chinese diaspora, focusing on their clothing, fashion and belief systems. The area used to be a stock room, built in the 1930s but has since been converted into an area for the arts. The centrepiece of the museum was an exceptionally long animated video detailing a story about the importance of going back to your family to help out with the harvest. The family at the centre of the story struggled to do this due to the meany boss of the fish plant at which they worked, but I imagine the story was merely an allegory and everything ended well, with even the meany boss getting in on the dancing.

My hotel, the Garden Hotel, was nearby, just the other side of the railway station so we headed over there with my increasingly heavy luggage and checked in. We then grabbed the car, which had had a little prang on our way into the car park in which we had parked, and headed to one of the famous night markets, which is one of the most popular things to do in Taiwan. By the time we had got there, around 8pm, the market was teeming with people, all looking for cheap, wholesome food or goods to purchase from the variety of shops in the area. Furrfoxx bought me a beer latte, essentially Heineken mixed with frothy milk. This works surprisingly well, the sweetness of the milk cutting through the bitterness of the beer. We also walked around a little while, soaking up the electric atmosphere as shoppers and diners did the same. We noticed a place which sold cake in the shape of a penis, and thought we had to have a taste, so I ordered a strawberry flavoured penis waffle, which took quite a while to make. They advertise their product as a 'Piece of Gayke' and you can choose a range of fillings and sauces to complement your penis. As usual, I went for everything pink and I was soon enjoying sucking on penis in front of everyone at the market. Perhaps it was a little touristy, gimmicky even, but it raised a laugh and was great fun.

Instead of trying the local cuisine, Cheetah fancied going to The Bear Paw for some fried chicken. This is basically a fast food joint but the burgers they serve all have a bun in the shape of a bear paw. You can get wholemeal, white bread or pink bread, so you can guess which one I went for. The sandwich itself, when it arrived, was rather nice and very filling, but it did make me feel somewhat bloated towards the end, particularly in the wake of my penis cake. After this, and having a brief look at the entrance of another university, we opted to call it a night and head back to the car, culturally and quite literally full. We called in on a chinz shop on the way back, where I picked up some bath tiles with a cartoon fox on them, before I was dropped off back at my hotel. After having said goodbye to Cheetah, who had been an excellent host over the previous four days and who had to travel back to Taipei that evening, I settled myself down for what I thought would be an early night. But sometimes travelling throws up surprises.

Around ten minutes after getting back to my hotel, I received a phone call from Furrfox, asking me to book another hotel room as Kala and Eden were driving down from Taipei that very evening to see me. As I didn't know their real names, nor do I speak Chinese, this proved to be somewhat difficult and I had my own issues to deal with as I had just broken the flush in the toilet. Anyway, we muddled our way through, with Furrfoxx speaking to the nice check-in lady on the front desk before I eventually had to move rooms as the toilet was refusing to fill up with water (Kala did actually fix this later on, he's clever like that). In addition to Kala and Eden visiting, it transpired that Furrfoxx wanted to stay with me rather than his dorm some 45 minutes away, so he was coming down too and we were to share a bed for the next two evenings. Furthermore, a furry called Owww was also going to come visit, travelling the 150km from Taipei to Taichung the following (Friday) morning, arriving at the city's main railway station at 9:15am.

I stayed up and waited for the trio to arrive, which they eventually did at around 12:45am. I invited Furrfoxx into my room, he got himself settled and we watched some of the disturbing Japanese porn channel together, which was a mainstay in every hotel in which I stayed in Taiwan. Furrfoxx particularly liked the gargling sounds the women made when they were giving head, finding it rather amusing to the point of hysterical laughter. I tended to watch it largely because every TV channel in Taiwan was in Chinese, so this was one of the few things I could understand. Furthermore, Taiwanese telly seems to consist of home shopping channels, Buddhist programming, the news or garishly bright quiz shows which look more interesting on first inspection than they actually are. We also chatted a while before heading to sleep in preparation for a massive day of sightseeing the next day.

With my usual inability to get out of bed, coupled with Furrfoxx's super-long showers, we eventually got out of the door at around 9:30am and headed to the railway station to meet Owww. We then drove to McDonald's for a quick sausage and egg McMuffin - as much of an indigestion causing mistake here as it is back home - before heading to the small town of Wufeng some 14km away. Here is situated the 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan, a sobering and vivid exhibit centred on the destruction wrought by an earthquake which ripped through the area at 1:47am on Tuesday 21 September 1999. Taiwan is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the mountainous island is created (and is now being elongated but is getting higher) by the subduction of the Philippine plate which is moving north-eastwards underneath the Eurasian plate, and regularly experiences seismic activity, but this 7.3 magnitude quake was one of the most destructive in the country's history. It killed 2,415 people, wounded over 11,000 and destroyed 50,652 buildings, making it the second most destructive in Taiwanese history. Its epicentre was in the nearby town of Jiji (hence why it's known as the Chi-Chi earthquake), while an aftershock measuring 6.7 on 26 September actually caused most of the damage as the buildings had been weakened by the previous event.

The Museum is centred around the Guangfu Junior High School, which was largely destroyed in the quake. Fortunately, as it struck in the early hours of the morning, no one was in the school at the time. The Chelungpu fault line, the largest in Taiwan I believe, runs across the school's running track and you can see the crack in the earth where one side has been uplifted. The stands have been all but destroyed, while the Southern Classrooms are a mere shell of what they once were. At least they survived largely intact though, as opposed to the Northern Classrooms which today largely represent a pile of rubble. One of the bathrooms is exposed, with urinals and toilets literally dangling from their pipework, while TVs, desks and chairs lie mangled in the masonary, which is left exactly as it was after the quake. In one section of the classroom, the two story building has been compressed into a height of around four feet as the structural supports have given way. Seeing this in the flesh, with pictures showing what the school looked like on the preceding Monday before the quake, was very poignant and it was very humbling to consider the power of nature and how little control us humans have over it.

One of the reasons why there were so many fatalities in 1999 was due to the illegal construction of buildings. Most constructions in Taiwan must now undergo rigorous safety tests and there is part of the exhibition dedicated to the methods used in order to prevent widespread destruction caused by natural disasters. There has been criticism of the Museum for ignoring some of the failings of the time, including the slow rescue response, but I think many of these issues are addressed here and the creation of such a facility shows the desire to learn from the legacy of the disaster. There are also interactive exhibits on earthquake science, while the highlight for me was the chamber in which you get to experience a 7.3 magnitude earthquake while watching a movie containing the news reports from that day. That was pretty scary, even though it was only a demonstration in which we were expecting what was coming and were forced to sit on the floor, well away from loose falling objects during the simulation.

We also watched a 3D film called Rescue, which was a charming little parable about a futuristic city's attempts to bounce back from a devestating quake which had once hit it. Reading English subtitles in 3D made my head hurt. The photo gallery of the destruction wrought on the rest of central Taiwan, including downed bridges and smashed houses, was equally sobering, as was the chronology of the disaster, detailing the response of the government and the international community in the days following the earthquake.

By the time we were ready to leave, we had already spent a fascinating four hours here and the heavens had opened, spewing daggered rain at us. Needing some food, we braved the downpour and headed back to the car park, darting over a bridge which has the seismic graphs from that evening carved into it. Back at the car, we quickly dried ourselves before driving into a local town to go to a small restaurant that I believe Kala knows well. It specialises in duck, and soon we were eating a delicious bento box full of local fare, the centrepiece of which being roasted duck and aromatic rice. I also got to try some strange mushy blue vegetables, whose name escapes me, while my new friends were shocked over my ability to use chopsticks, surprised that I could pick up a single grain of rice using them. Let's say that I had had a lot of practice with chopsticks during my previous two weeks in SE Asia by this point.

The food was very good, the only downside about this restaurant being the choice of music. The owner is an Evangelical Christian and had the same Hallelujah track on loop throughout our meal, meaning we got to experience it on no less than 13 occasions during eating. The song sounded a little like a Communist march and, although not bad, having it tattooed into my brain in this way is certainly not something I appreciate. Once, perhaps twice, would have been enough. Still, I can't fault the food and this is merely a small grumble, we should have had the nous to find the CD player and turn it off before we had finished our meal. It was also around this point, perhaps slightly earlier, that Furrfoxx decided to miss his exam, which had been scheduled for that afternoon, as he was having so much fun sightseeing with us. I tried to pursuade him about the importance of taking the test but he assured me it wasn't that much of a big deal and he'd rather spend time touring around the local area, particularly as he rarely gets the opportunity to do this. I hope missing the exam won't prove to be too costly.

If observing a destroyed school was sobering, our next stop is one of those which has left an indelible mark on my mind. We headed to a local village to see a temple which had also succumbed to the ferocious earthquake. Instead of building a new temple where the old one once stood, the Buddhists here had built a new temple in front of the damaged one, leaving the old one on its original site. The mangled remains of the building, with turrets listing and the roof caved in on itself, was a surreal sight, as was observing the handful of wires which preserved the structure in the way it had collapsed on that September night. Never had I seen something so beautiful look so tortured, with dragons drunkenly lurching in a variety of angles relative to where the building's brickwork had finally rested. No one is monitoring the site, so you can walk around the building and even touch it if you want (not recommended), so I got to observe the whole structure in intimate detail, including seeing some of the internal carvings crushed by the weight of the masonry of the building's exterior. It is clearly still a temple, it just looks like one which has been bombed from the inside, causing it to implode. It's very sad to see something of such architectural beauty in such a sorry state, particularly as the grand frontage has largely survived intact, it's just collapsed. Again, it is another reminder as to the awesome power of nature.

There is a market next to the temple, and we had a quick walk round before heading back towards Taichung and our next attraction. I was given a yellow jelly product that tasted a bit like ear wax - I quickly disposed of this - before climbing back into the car to continue our day of touring.