I'll be traveling to TaoYuan in September this year and staying there for quite some time.  I'm embarassed to say this will actually be my first time there.  Does anyone have some good advice on places to go and things to do?  I'm not really sure what to expect but am looking forward to it!

Thanks!

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天黑黑

我的小時候吵鬧任性的時候
我的外婆總會唱歌哄我
夏天的午後老老的歌安慰我
那首歌好象這樣唱的
天黑黑欲下雨天黑黑黑黑 
(Taiwanese: "Ti-o-o, beh-leh-ho, ti-o-o, o-o")

離開小時候有了自己的生活
新鮮的歌新鮮的念頭
任性和衝動無法控制的時候
我忘記還有這樣的歌
天黑黑欲下雨天黑黑黑黑 
(Taiwanese: "Ti-o-o, beh-leh-ho, ti-o-o, o-o")

我愛上讓我奮不顧身的一個人
我以為這就是我所追求的世界
然而橫衝直撞被誤解被騙
是否成人的世界背後總有殘缺
我走在每天必須面對的分岔路
我懷念過去單純美好的小幸福
愛總是讓人哭讓人覺得不滿足
天空很大卻看的清楚好孤獨 
~ ~ ~ ~ 

天黑的時候我又想起那首歌
突然期待下起安靜的雨
原來外婆的道理早就唱給我聽
下起雨也要勇敢前進
我相信一切都會平息
我現在好想回家去
天黑黑欲下雨天黑黑黑黑 
(Taiwanese: "Ti-o-o, beh-leh-ho, ti-o-o, o-o")

Great song!

I also find Taiwanese pop music to be just as pleasant to listen to as mainland Chinese music. Jay Chou is actually Taiwanese isn't he? Anyway.. I am trying to work out who this band is and what other good songs they have.. may be what album this song is will also help. Would help to have English and Chinese name for the band. Obviously this song is called 你好吗.

On the Chinese side of the date line, today is the anniversary of a 1947 Nationalist Chinese massacre now referred to as 228.  On February 28, 1947, the Nationalist Chinese military put down a largely peaceful protest with machine gun fire killing over 10,000 Chinese.  (The conservative estimate!)  This Wiki article gives a reasonable synopsis of the incident.  For more detail there are also several western eyewitness accounts in the public domain.  I've read one of them, Formosa Betrayed by George Kerr, which provides a chilling account, albeit one considered by some as slanted towards the Taiwanese elite.  This web page presents a different perspective of how mainland Chinese were targeted by both the Nationalist Party and local Taiwanese reprisals.

For the many sinophiles on this site, this is old hat, and I apologize.  Also, I am not expressing an opinion on unification, which is one that Chinese need to decide.  Nevertheless, to understand cross-strait relationships, one has to understand February 28 and the Taiwanese White Terror that followed.  2-28 is now commemorated every year by politicians and has a memorial park in Taipei

Hey all, I know most of you probably know the major vocabulary and grammatical differences in Mandarin between China and Taiwan, so I wanted to just start a running post of the little things that come up and maybe one day put them all together in a big list.

Here's one that I just learned last week.  Oh, and by now means am I saying these are fact... just offering up for discussion.

搞 gao3 - From what I understand this word can be used in China to describe a field that you do.  Such as 搞銷售 gao3xiao1shou4, to do sales.  I was told that in Taiwan this word is almost never used in that context and you should be careful if using it because it actually sounds a bit rude.

BBQ - in China it's 燒烤, Taiwan is 烤肉 is more common.

That's all for now, hope to have more to share soon.

台灣的朋友們，大家好。

Wouldn't it be great to meet up with your fellow poddies once a month?  Wouldn't it be great to travel to some of the many picturesque towns and scenic spots on this 'Beautiful Island'?  Eat some Chinese food, absorb some culture, practice our Chinese, etc....all the things we love?

Taiwan is a small island.  With the high speed rail, and all the other efficient means of transit here, we have no excuse not to!

I'm thinking we could coordinate something monthly or bi-monthly.

If anyone is interested, please let us know on this thread.  Once we get a decent response, we can discuss our first destination and details.

I'm hoping we can get at least a handful of poddies...it could be a great time.

Brent