Taiwan as an ideal holiday destination
Published on: Sunday, February 12, 2017
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TAIWAN appears to be a popular destination with Chinese New Year travellers not only from Sabah but also those from Peninsular Malaysia and other parts of the world.
Come Chinese Lunar New Year, Chinese Malaysians are ever ready to holiday in the Republic of China – one of the top five countries to be visited, the others being Singapore, Thailand, Korea and Japan.
The land size of Taiwan is 13,974 sq miles with a population of 23.52 million, 50 times bigger than the island city-state of Singapore with an area of 277.6 sq miles and a population of more than 5.4 million.
President of the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre (MFTC), Datuk Adeline Leong said currently, three Airlines, namely MAS, AirAsia and Malindo Air, are serving KK and Taipei every week totalling 18 flights. Statistics show that 450,000 Malaysians visited Taiwan in 2015 while 280,000 Taiwanese visited Malaysia.
This, she said, speaks volumes of Chinese Malaysians’ affinity for Taiwan from various perspectives, including culture and education.
“Chinese Malaysians feel very much at home in Taiwan because of similarities in language and culture.
Both Taiwan and Malaysia have been focusing on preservation of cultural heritage. Taiwan has 16 ethnic groups and Sabah has 33 ethnic groups plus 45 ethnic groups in Sarawak (both eastern States of Malaysia on Borneo Island).
“There are many similarities among these indigenous people as they belong to the same Austronesian culture.
Hence the resemblance in language, costume and dance,” Leong said.
A Kadazan Dusun Murut (KDM) dance troupe from Sabah was invited by the Council of Indigenous People in July 2016 to participate in the 3rd Global Indigenous People Cultural Performance which covered four cities in Taiwan over 10 days.
“And the Night Market food of course! The allure of Taiwan’s thronging Night Markets is a key factor,” Leong said, adding there are over 100 night markets in Taiwan. To name a few, these are the Feng Jia Night Market reportedly one of the largest night markets in Taiwan and the best in Taichung City (Xitun District), the Cheng Huang Temple Night Market (next to the Cheng Huang Temple (or City God Temple) in Hsinchu, the oldest city in northern Taiwan, and the Shilin Night Market in the Shilin District of Taipei. Hsinchu is about one hour and 10 minutes’ drive from Taipei, depending on the traffic.
To food lovers, the Shilin Night Market is the biggest and most famous night market in Taipei City, featuring hundreds of authentic Taiwan eateries and goods vendors, including fashionable clothing and souvenirs.
The MFTC President said another unique feature about travel in Taipei is its “EasyCard” facility.
“It is a ‘touch-and-go’ IC ticketing system which can be used for the Taipei Metro, bus services, the MRT, designated car parks, the cable car ‘Maokong Gondola” and entry to the Taipei Zoo. Also you can use the EasyCard to pay for your purchases at stores such as the 7 Eleven Shops.”
Meanwhile, Leong said the MFTC welcomes the Taiwan Government’s New Southbound Policy Initiatives “towards mutually beneficial relations between Malaysia and Taiwan”.
“On this score, I foresee a positive development with this Policy and trust the ability of Taiwan in carrying out the necessary programmes to spur greater interaction with the countries which fall under the ambit of the Policy, particularly in the wide-ranging fields encompassing trade, investment, education, culture and tourism,” she enthused.
In the field of education, Leong said, there were many MOUs signed between Malaysian Universities and Taiwan Universities. Universiti Malaya (UM) alone has signed MOUs with 16 Taiwanese counterparts.
“With the New Southbound Policy, the Taiwan Government is focusing on giving more Fellowships to ASEAN nations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan, for instance, is offering about 100 scholarships every year and allocating more of these scholarships to the Asean countries.
“In addition, Chung Hua University is offering 20 scholarships to Malaysia in postgraduate studies in the fields of Engineering, Business Administration, Culture and Tourism, and other disciplines. On top of it, the Shanghai Commercial and Industrial Bank is offering RM30,000 worth of scholarships to Malaysian students in Taiwan,” she said.
And like Malaysia, Taiwan also advocates the construction of “green buildings” as reflected in the Green World New World Hotel and Taipei 101, reputedly the world’s tallest green building at least for now.
Vouching for Taiwan being a “choice destination” for Chinese Malaysians from Sabah, longtime tour guide, Joeylyn Law said Malaysia and Taiwan have so much in common. “No linguistic problem, they speak the same language –Mandarin (official language of Taiwan).
Simply, Malaysian Chinese love sightseeing…viewing the mountainous terrain and traditional Chinese temples, among other places of interest. And to many, Taiwan is a shopping paradise apart from its cuisine that appeals to the palate.”
The braised beef noodle dish (also known as Taiwanese Beef Noodles) is said to have originated in Kaohsiung at the southern tip of Taiwan.
Taipei’s tour guide Xiao Ker is comfortable with Malaysian tourists, saying she does not encounter problems in handling them on the ground. “Generally, they are a cooperative lot, and keep to the schedule,” she said tersely, adding there are, of course, some “demanding” ones as with other nationalities. To great grandmother Chin Kui Jin, the boredom of travelling to Taiwan again and again is out of the question.
Despite her advanced age, the 87-year-old third-time visitor from Sabah walked briskly, putting younger women to shame as some of them were lagging behind due to sore feet. “Taiwan is vast…you can’t visit all the places of interest in just one or two tours. That’s why I chose Taiwan again this time around – my third visit,” she said.
Asked on her longevity, Chin praised God for His blessings on her apart from attributing it to a healthy lifestyle.
“God Willing, I am going to be 90 soon.”
A Must-See tourist attraction is Jiufen (which literally means nine portions), a famous mountain area in the Ruifang District near Keelung City (and also near New Taipei City). Originally, it was a remote village which housed nine families, and later developed into a prosperous gold mining town. However, it declined when the mine was shut off in 1971.
The key attraction is Jiufen Old Street, a long, narrow winding street lined with food stalls, souvenir shops, tea houses and artist shops. Hence a haven for Taiwanese culinary delights, for example, traditional glutinous rice cakes. By the way, the other side of the coin is that there was a decline in the number of Sabah tourists to Taiwan during the Chinese New Year season this year compared with the situation in 2016, a Daily Express check found.
Tour operators blamed it on the sluggish economy and currency exchange rate where 1 Malaysian Ringgit equals 7.01 New Taiwan Dollar (NTD). The value has depreciated over the years from 10NTD in 2012.
However, they noted that there is an emerging Free Independent Traveller (FIT) market because travellers prefer self-exploration and flexible hours to escorted travel.
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