The Fast Life in Taiwan

Life in Taiwan is often a mass rush. The idea of sitting down to a lengthy three hour meal, resplendent with wine, appetizers and twelve courses is a non-starter. The thought of roaming the streets all day looking for a perfect gift never enters the mind and relaxing in-front of the TV with a bag of pop-corn is left to the kids. Money earned is a day well spent and so amenities and eateries revolve around persons that will not be stopping for long.

Fast Food

Fast food was in Taiwan eons before McDonalds opened its first door in America. The Chinese Take-away was around long before Pizza Hut or KFC came on the bandwagon. In fact sweet and sour pork and "flied lice" was not a hard concept to build on in western countries: simply because it is a way of life back home.

Buying a quick drink at Taipai 101 Food court
Drawing Copyright © Ieuan Dolby, 2006

To sit in a restaurant, large, small, expensive or cheap, is an exercise in speed and dexterity. The action of entering the establishment causes a waiter or waitress to come bowling over intent on seating the new arrivals as fast as possible. Upon being physically pushed into the seats a menu miraculously appears under the nose and the waiter (waitress) will stand overpoweringly beside the table until an order is given. There is none of the freedom allowed in European countries, none of this mulling and chatting over the merits of a certain dish, no questions tolerated about how a certain dish is served or cooked, and certainly no time given for taking a sip of wine and talking about something else.

Ordering Food at Taipai 101 Food Court
Photo Copyright © Ieuan Dolby, 2006

Sit down and order or is it 'order and sit down'?

It would be a safe bet to say that a maximum of one-minute passes between opening the door of the eatery and between ordering the food. An even more amazing feat of harassment is the speed with which the food arrives. No sooner has the order has been given than the steaming bowls of chicken noodles, the Thai Lemon Fish or the Sashimi is 'plonked' unceremoniously down in front of the customer.

It is not typical of Chinese restaurants to offer wine with the meals. Water is the name of the game and this only to help food be ingested quicker. Water helps to wash down the meal and so speeds up the time of departure. And so between receiving the food and finishing the meal ten minutes has passed. Add this to the one minute from entering the door and sitting down and add another minute for paying the average customer spends 12 minutes over his dinner.

The Convenience Store

A typical 7-Eleven all over the world
Photo Copyright © Ieuan Dolby, 2006

Taiwan, with a culture based on speed, efficiency and the making of money accepted convenience stores into society very quickly. The idea of being able to purchase food items, drink, fast food, magazines, videos, toys, etc, 24hrs a day and at any corner of a street makes life easier for an extremely busy and rushed population. A life can be lived from a convenience store, burgers and hot dogs can be readily cooked, newspapers, magazines and coffee bought, ice-creams, condoms, medication and sunglasses can be picked out of a selection and all fresh and well presented.

It is nearly possible to see one convenience store from the door of another, a veritable network of stores spanning every street, corner, village and town on the Island.

The Seven Eleven Store is the most popular and owned by The President Chain Store in conjunction with the Seven Eleven Inc in the States. The first store opened in 1980 and since then has grown to cover 2686 Stores (as counted in November 2000). They are third on the list with the USA with 8478 stores, and Japan holding second place with 8478 Stores. This though does not give a realistic figure. Dividing each countries population by the number of 7-11's gives Taiwan the leading edge at 7041 potential shoppers for each seven eleven convenience store. Japan has 14946 and America third with 48359 customers for each store.

Of course in Taiwan other brands/stores can be added like Family Mart which has over 1500 stores and various other chain and local stores.

Naturally the prices for goods sold are far higher than in the markets or supermarkets but that is something that the citizens are willing to accept - the price for speed, ease of shopping and availability.

The Market Place

The Saturday morning vegetable market, the monthly bring and buy sale, the twice yearly car-boot sale or the book fare have no place here. Markets are another part of a fast culture that are everyday and every night. Markets are found everywhere and some on a twenty four hour basis. It is though more common to find one market open in the morning, another solely in the afternoon and then another one that will cater for evening customers and those that cannot sleep.

Night markets that sell a whole variety of goods open up late evening and don't finish until the sun is thinking of coming back for another day. All markets are combined with fast eateries offering a massive variety of foods from Noodles, Burgers to Dim sum and people crowd around the mixed assortments of rickety tables and plastic stools to wolf down 'dinner' before proceeding with the shopping. Markets are available all year round come rain or sun and there is never a shortage of customers to buy cheap goods ranging from earrings to socks, cakes, buns and sweats to bed spreads.

Specialized markets deal in fruit and vegetables, others in fresh meat (from alive to ready to cook whilst you wait), some for second hand goods and more still for dry provisions.

Markets are a way of life that adds speed, efficiency and the ability to shop at any time of the day.

The above aspects of life: the fast food eateries, the convenience stores and the markets show Taiwan's leading position as the King of Speed in a clear and concise way. There are many other cultural, fashionable and physical signs that portray and back-up this tribute to 'speed and efficiency', some of which can be found by simple observation. But the three topics above clearly show the difference between cultures and what drives the Taiwanese to wake up for another day. Whether one culture is good and the other bad is not under discussion, this article is only written to show that a difference exits between a Western Culture and a Chinese one.