Kaohsiung Pedestrian 高雄行人: July 2004

Xiziwan 西子灣

Xiziwan is a beach north of the mouth of the Love River. Qijin (see below) is an island to the south of the river.

Beach

Part of Sun Yat-sen University is visible on the right.

The sign touts the health benefits of seawater; this beach is next to the Love River and the port of Kaohsiung, so I wonder.

西子灣不太乾淨

They keep the beach pretty clean (they should; they charge admission), but there's still a lot of flotsam. Together with the organic and inorganic waste from the river and sea, not to mention possible radioactive waste, I wonder if it's a good idea to swim here.

Qijin-旗津, or a waste of taxpayer money

These pictures actually make it look much nicer than it is. Early in the morning, around eight o'clock, it was almost deserted. A very awkward climb over the rocks in the foreground brings you to the end of the walkway on the right (see below).

The walkway on the right, already falling apart, doesn't have direct access to the beach.

The sign is a warning to watch out for these rusty "kites".

couple of them have already broken from their mounts and fallen to the ground.

More crappy decorations.

A real boondoggle.

Close-up of the rusty fallen-over crappy decoration.

Lots of driftwood on the beach.

The blue sign explains that Qijin Beach Park (which extends from from the beach "resort" in the north--I guess they mean Xiziwan--to the sewage treatment center in the south) is dangerous because of deep water, high waves, an uneven surface under water and dangerous currents, so that swimming and other recreational activities in the water are prohibited.

The vandalized red sign warns against climbing over the railing, but I didn't see a sign explicitly forbidding walking on this part of the beach.

The blue sign is dated 1997, and the buildings and terraces are already falling to pieces.

No swimming sign; the bottom two lines have empty spaces for how many have drowned here

ever, and

this year.

The staff obviously can't be bothered to keep it up to date.

The restaurants in Qijin might be OK; we were there in the morning before they opened. Other than that, the only part of Qijin that I can vouch for is the short ferry ride over--only $NT10.

Here's one of the ferries. The lower deck is for bicycle and motor scooters (what else?); on many of the ferries, the upper deck is air-conditioned.

同鄉會

A "tong xiang hui" is an organization to help Chinese who migrate from the same hometown to the city. I've always thought it odd that Kaohsiung has one for people from Chiayi, which is only about an hour an a half away.

A Buddhist temple, showing some regrettable architechtural influence.

Many of the temples showed other regrettable influences, supporting one candidate or another in the recent city council elections.

再大的鳥都裝得下

Even the biggest of birds can fit in our pants.

Recently we were all in a tizzy here about the liu niao xia 遛鳥俠. A xia is a martial arts hero. "Liu niao" is the Chinese custom of taking your birds for a walk (see below). Lin Yutang identifies niao as a variant of diao 屌, penis. Anyway, liu niao xia is a humorous phrase coined to refer to a college student who streaked because he lost a bet when the Lakers lost. So you see, it's really the Americans' fault.

"Bird walking": The bird walker holds on to the top of their cages and swings them while they grip their perches. Are they hanging on for dear life? Or do they like it? I don't know. It's like Zhuangzi 莊子 and Huizi 惠子 at the Hao 濠 river bridge. I recall an article about the treatment of animals, and how it was difficult to figure out what was best for them. The writer conceded that one could observe what the animals seemed to like, but then went on to argue that what animals liked wasn't necessarily what was good for them.

This sign informs local residents of where and when the garbage trucks will stop and that they should bring out their trash at those times. There's only a two-minute window between 16:58 and 17:00. Apparently the city government forgot that most people have jobs and don't have time for this, but they still remind us we're not supposed to leave our trash on the ground. There's been some improvement with public trash cans, but many major avenues don't have them.

Trash on the streets

People still pile their trash on the streets; NKI-590 drove in front of me as I was crossing the street (She's preparing to make an illegal left turn).

There are private companies; one wonders why the city government doesn't just turn everything over to them.

高雄--行人地獄

Kaohsiung--pedestrian hell. Ieuan Dolby on what it's like in Kaohsiung (and most other Taiwanese cities outside of Taipei). The only quibble I have is that strictly speaking, the primary two-wheeled vehicle should be called a scooter.

XXY-782

There are still people driving motor scooters on the sidewalks because they don't want to bother to make a left turn on the street.

N9-9293

Still blocking the crosswalks in July.

ZH-9493

Still blocking the arcades in July.

YDH-685

I took these two pictures in early July, after the new traffic rules were supposedly in effect. This woman seemed to think I was with the police, and wanted to know what I was doing.

License number WTF-718

This one didn't mind so much.

Idiotic rules

I thought there was more to this month's new rules than this:

The National Police Agency yesterday said that police officers who take pictures of traffic violators from unauthorized locations will be disciplined.

The new regulation, which became effective on July 1, allows police officers to take pictures of traffic violators from any point within the "road area," including bridges, pedestrian overpasses and road shoulders. Alleged traffic violators can appeal if they believe that the pictures of them were taken improperly.

Pity the police. When they try to enforce traffic regulations, they have to deal with crap like this.

In related news, the [National Police Agency] has issued the results of a crackdown against traffic violators on the first day of the implementation of stricter traffic rules.

According to the figures, 10,951 motorists, motorcyclists and scooter drivers were pulled over for violating traffic laws. Of these, 4,984 motorcyclists and scooter drivers were fined because they did not follow the "two-stage left turn" rule.

For motorcyclists and scooter drivers to complete a left turn, they must cross an intersection twice -- a process that requires them to wait for two signal changes.

I have seen that two-stage turning, but I'd estimate at least half of the riders illegally cut across the crosswalks. Then there are those that drive on the wrong side of the street (at least that keeps them of the sidewalks).

Taichung traffic sounds pretty bad, too.

New Traffic Rules

There are supposedly new traffic regulations as of July 1st. One banner says, 車讓人--斑馬線上“行人優先” Vehicles yield to people--in the pedestrian crossing, "pedestrians have priority" (it goes on to say that automobiles that do not yield to pedestrians will be fined 600-1800 Yuan).

The other says, 行人快過斑馬線、不要委違規過馬路 Pedestrians quickly cross the pedestrian crossing, and do not cross the street against regulations (it goes on to say that pedestrians who violate the regulations will be fined 360 yuan or will have to undergo 1 to 2 hours of classes.)

I suspect that neither will be properly enforced.

How Taiwan is Like Italy

Italy Tries to End 2-Wheel Anarchy: Scooter License Now Required for Youths By Daniel Williams. Even though it's about Italy, it could be talking about Taiwan, even up to and including a July 1 deadline for new traffic policies.

The buzzing, weaving hordes of young motor scooter drivers is one of Italy's most common and horrifying street scenes. Now the government is at least trying to license the chaos...

Teach kids the rules, goes the logic of the campaign against two-wheeled anarchy, and they will stop meandering the wrong way down one-way streets, making left turns from right-hand lanes and parking wherever it's convenient...

At stake [are] the dreams of preteen boys and girls to do what older siblings had done, speed off to the beach or mountains with pals hanging on precariously.

For mid-teens, motor scooters are not just a means of transportation, but freedom machines, no less than cars are for American teens...

The scooters [mean] freedom for parents, too, who were relieved of having to cart their children to soccer practice and ice cream parlors. All kinds are driven here -- fancy Arilias and Vespas and rickety mopeds, barely more than bicycles...

Licensing the young scooter drivers is part of a long-running Italian campaign to get its traffic rules in line with European Union standards and bring a measure of order to its clogged streets and highways.

Just over a year ago, Italy required motorbike riders of all ages to wear helmets. In most of the country, they complied, if slowly. In Naples, however, boys and girls continue to eschew the helmets. After a boy was killed in an accident, his friends said he refused to cover his head because it would mess up his gel hairdo.

In view of the mixed success of past moves to get tough, some people here remain skeptical that scooter licenses will do much to curb such practices as passing on the right or driving into incoming traffic.

This is what they call a qilou 騎樓 in Taiwan; the closest translation seems to be "arcade". In theory it would be nice because one could walk sheltered from the sun, as hot as it is here, or the rain. But...

The middle of the block is blocked by this crap that has been sitting there for years.

On the other side of that, there's this illegal building that's been there for years (the Hotel Sunshine, below, is on the other side).

陽光大飯店

Hotel Sunshine partially blocks the arcade with its limousine. The far end is also blocked by a curtain and a large sign advertising a "club" (a hostess bar), although this site says it's just a piano bar.