Is Taiwan part of China or an independent region unto itself? There is much political debate and widely divergent opinions about this question.
Taiwan is technically a republic of China but, until 2008, there were no flights from the mainland to Taiwan. This had been going on for over 50 years.
China doesn't recognize Taiwan as a separate country and, therefore, during most of the four years I lived in Shanghai, one needed to fly out of the country to Hong Kong or Macau and take a second flight to Taiwan instead of simply flying over the straight.
The Taiwanese flag is not permitted to be flown in China and, when attending international art shows in Shanghai, I became used to reading labels under Taiwanese artists' work that read "artist from Taiwan, China."
Having spent some of my most impressionable years in China, I have been kind of confused about this myself.
Well, whether you believe Taiwan is a separate entity or part of China, there is no denying it has a distinctly different feel from the mainland. One of the major distinguishing factors between the two regions is the widespread and continual practice of Buddhism within Taiwan.
Since the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Buddhism wasn't openly practised in China. The cultural overhaul that took place under Chairman Mao's reign distinctly changed the cultural landscape of the mainland as well as imposing change on the spiritual beliefs of the majority of people. Religion was banned and many traditional values that were once held dear by the people of China were wiped out.
But in Taiwan, Buddhist temples abound and people carry amulets openly in their taxi cabs, display them in front of their homes or wear them. Vegetarian restaurants are plentiful here (yes!) and monks in golden and beige robes are a common sight.
When I arrived in Taipei last week, I hopped in a taxi with my mother and we immediately began trying to speak English with the driver. She looked at us, confused and began to speak in her native tongue. We just kept saying, "We are sorry, we don't understand" and repeatedly said the name of our hotel.
It took several minutes to realize that this woman was, in fact, speaking Mandarin. I had never heard the language spoken in such hushed tones. I found this baffling. Mandarin? Where are the harsh tones and loud syllables? From the moment we left the airport, I felt there was something distinctly different about this place and its people.
In Taipei, we went to some fantastic night markets but I found it difficult to engage in my favourite summer sport: bargaining. My tactics are for the mainland, which is raw and loud, always with a hint of laughter; voices escalate and it's an all-out war to get what you want for the price you want. Throwing in lines like "I don't like you" when you end up paying more than you wanted - I swear, it does not sound that bad in context - was just not going to work in Taiwan. I had to subdue my emotions and alter my aggressive bargaining tactics. Quickly, I discovered that I had to go with the flow of this gentle island culture.
Taiwan shares a language (Mandarin) and rich cultural heritage with China. But to me, Taiwan feels like a calm, beautiful and complex little sister to the mainland. My visit there lured me into a web of reading and researching about the fascinating history of China and Taiwan. I loved every minute of my short visit to Taipei. As a Chinaphile, visiting Taiwan added a new layer to the complex understanding of this amazing region.
Naomi Yorke is a Port Coquitlam student who lived in Shanghai, China for four years, writing about her experiences twice a month for The Tri-City News. She now lives in Chicago, where she's attending art school, and continues her column.
