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Wednesday, January 23

The Writing on the Wall

Tianmu is quiet during the day. The streets are relatively empty and most of the stores are closed. Everyone is still asleep. People here say that Tianmu runs on U.S. time, opposite from every where else, because it is at night that the city truly comes to life. The stores open and turn on their neon. Stoves fire up in restaurants, and housewives fill the streets looking for tonight's kitchen. Students come out of the woodwork as well, decked out in the latest fashions for a night on the town. Taxis and buses line the streets and it seems as though the whole of Taipei has somewhere to go. I am discovering that the thing I love most about the night markets is the abundance of color.










 That may seem like a trivial thing to most of you, but for someone who has spent most of their life in a town where the predominant color scheme is brown, it is a big deal. My eyes are feasting on the color here. Everything is bold and brash, which is starkly different from the muted colors that I have grown so used to. In the early 1800's Romantic era writers condemned the city for its bustle and pronounced the country to be the ultimate panacea. It was praised as a balm for the soul, the ultimate restorative after the city's chaotic and unrelenting pace.
After spending the longest time I have ever spent in a big city, I am finding the reverse to be true. In my hometown, I was starting to feel lethargic and unfulfilled, but now that I am here, I have direction and the energy that comes with setting a definite goal. However, I am not so foolish as to think that the city is the ultimate cure-all for life's ailments. I have figured out that it is not so much the city itself that has brought me clarity, but the change in routine. I would argue that places don't serve as a balm for the soul. The balm is change. We humans love habits, so much so that we tend to dig ourselves into a rut, and then wonder why our life is so predictable and boring. A little change is good, it shakes up your methodical life and makes you scramble to pick up the pieces and rearrange them into something more stable. It makes us stronger. It also makes us appreciate the previous arrangements that we had, and the parts that still remain intact from it become all the more precious for it.

But enough of this sentimental poetic stuff. The night market that is featured in the pictures above is the famed Ximending. Today, my cousin, my uncle, and I went on an "outline" tour of the place. This kind of tour is where we just look around and familiarize ourselves with the merchandise and prices. Later, my cousin and I will return with some of my other cousin's friends who know the area well and we will do our serious shopping then. For now, we only bought special things like this:











There was a guy out on the street doing these paintings, and so both my cousin and I got one. The Chinese characters on the far left make up a phrase that refers to a time when students would take a government test and the three students with the highest scores were given government jobs. These students would have their names written on the wall in gold ink, and it was a big deal. So, essentially, the phrase means "your name will be on the wall in gold ink." My cousin and uncle chose it for me, (since the only Chinese characters I know would make no sense on a poster), to wish me luck in being accepted to the college of my choice.
Each of the drawings mean something different, here are the meanings:
If you double click on the pictures they get bigger. The numbers circled on the pink page, are the drawings that appear in my picture.
Here are some pictures of the artist at work:


There was another artist nearby, and he did some really amazing spray painting work. He sat in the street furiously spraying a canvas with paint, and then when he was finished with the design, he used a blow torch to set the paint and give it a shiny finish.

Well, that is good night for now folks, I will return tomorrow night with more pictures.

4 comments:

  1. that was super! I wanted to see what those spray guys do, but I didn't have time/patience to stop and wait until they finish spraying... don't forget to pack the writing safely when you come back, between cardboard or rolled up inside tube, that if he didn't give you something to put in. :)

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    Replies
    1. Yes, Peter is going to find me a tube to put it in for the trip home.

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  2. Cool poster! I loved the night pictures of the city..

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  3. The poster is great! What a fun time you are having! BR

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