Tofu is one of the most popular foods in Taiwan. It's popularity swapped over from China with the first immigrants (three to four centuries ago). The word 豆腐, romanized as tofu and pronounced somewhat like dòufǔ, consists of two characters: 豆 meaning "bean" and 腐 meaning "rotten". These rotten soybeans commonly shaped in squares (and sometimes spheres) are every person's favorite here. Believed to be mild in flavor and rich in nutrition, its appeal to the general population of Formosa is beyond obsession. I personally like tofu, but beware, eating it too much might cause you to uncontrollably flatulate 放屁. Other than that, it's pretty harmless.
Tofu is often served at wedding banquets. That shows what a special place it holds for Taiwanese people, as weddings are very important to them.
My wife loves tofu! And so far I have not met a Taiwanese person, who was not enamored with this fine product of the soy family. And therefore I have decided to share with you some of the most popular tofu variations for the very likely case, that you'll find yourself in Taiwan and stand in front of a tofu vendor and don't know what to choose. Your choice:
1. Stinky tofu 臭豆腐
The smelliest brother of the tofu family and like the name indicates: He stinks. But he looks deliciously cute. And guess what: It tastes really good! And he only stinks, before he takes a bath in hot oil, so don't worry. In Taiwan you'll pass by a lot of smelly streets where this hero is being prepared, but even the hottest Taiwanese girls will queue for a while just to get a bite of it. It's my wife's favorite. And whenever I eat it at a stall, Taiwanese look at me with a "wow, that foreigner eats stinky tofu" kinda look. I don't bother, I keep eating. The arguably best stinky tofu in Taiwan is found in Taitung City in a heavily popular stall.
2. Black tofu 香酥黑豆腐
This brother is not as popular and not as common. If people order a lot of different tofus, he's usually the only black one in the bunch. It's not like Taiwanese have something against him, it's just that they prefer the white one a little more. But he tastes great, definitely a must try, if you have the chance to spot him. He's got a pepper-ish flavor to him.
3. Fried tofu balls 炸豆腐丸子
You gotta try the fried tofu balls! Not only are these balls hard on the outside and soft on the inside, they taste really good. The funny thing is, they are so tempting, that you wanna put a whole one in your mouth. But when you do that, you will realize, that it's very hot inside and then you'll chew 'em like a cow. And it never looks good on a non-Taiwanese.
4. Barbecue tofu skewer 烤臭豆腐
This is one of my favorite tofu dishes. These brothers end up on wooden sticks after they've been barbecued for a while and coated with a spicy sauce. This fella is divine! I have nothing more to say: You just gotta try it, if you're in Taiwan. No but-ing allowed!
5. Sautéed tofu 煎豆腐
This lovely dish looks like a delicacy and it actually is one. This relatively uncommon tofu is rich in texture, moisture and flavor and should be eaten as a starter or a side dish. But don't be fooled by his shy persona: He's "da bomb" on your taste buds.
6. Tofu salad 涼拌豆腐
This guy really loves to be covered in vegetables and soy sauce, but underneath he's completely naked. He loves to be eaten together with cabbage and prefers female eaters.
7. Dry tofu snack 滷黑豆干
This one is usually served as a side dish, be it next to an abundant array of Chinese food or just as a small snack in a tea shop. He doesn't want to make you full, but he'll arouse your taste buds and tickle your stomach. Go for it, if given the chance!
8. Marinaded tofu 滷豆乾
This dry tofu loves to spend his time with marinaded broccoli and pig skin, usually found on night markets and eaten on the go. Not my favorite way to eat tofu, but very simple and fulling: Simply fulling.
9. Cooked tofu 紅燒板豆腐
Please skip these fellas, I could not stomach them. They are very soggy and the taste is really not something I'd like to experience once again.
10. Soup tofu 豆腐羹
This is not my favorite way to eat tofu. The soup is very rich, a little bit too rich for me. I would not recommend it to foreigners.
11. Sour and spicy soup 酸辣湯
This is my favorite Taiwanese soup and I swear my wife would confirm this. The soup is usually served with fried dumplings and it's a must, let me repeat, a must to try it, if you come to Taiwan. The soup is very rich, it includes several vegetables, bits of tofu and duck or pig blood. It's a little sour, but very smooth: This must be the Taiwanesesest soup available here. Frankly, I could not live without it anymore. I love it.
12. Douhua 豆花
Douhua is my wife's favorite! It's sometimes called tofu pudding and it's a popular dessert. The one on the photo above is a little soupy, but a lot of douhua desserts look like jelly and can be very sweet. I like this dish a lot and it's also one of the must try desserts of Taiwan.
13. Tofu pudding 豆腐布丁
This dish is also called tofu pudding, but wants to be like the real one: The Chinese word for pudding 布丁 is just a transliteration of the English word, which shows, that the famous English dessert was tried to be made in a Taiwanese way. It's truly a yummy little dessert, but not cheap.
14. Tofu ice cream 豆腐冰淇淋
Oh yeah! There's even a tofu flavored ice cream in Taiwan! And guess what, it's pretty yummy as well. I definitely recommend it to those of you, who are sick of vanilla and banana: Tofu ice cream is good for your stamina and bad for your enemies, because it will also enhance your kung fu skills (that's what I heard from a vendor).
Now you know everything about one of Taiwan's most delicious culinary secrets. If you want to eat the best tofu in Taiwan, go and visit Shenkeng 深坑, a small district south of Taipei with an old tofu street. Another famous tofu village is Tai'an 泰安 in Miaoli County. All I can say is bon voyage and bon apetit. Or Mahlzeit!
A lot of you were a little shocked to read my previous post about Taiwanese girls: What experts say, because you thought I completely lost it. But if you've read carefully enough, it must have been soon obvious to you, that the piece reeked of sarcasm and mockery. That post was meant to serve as a reference to the today's post, which will try to talk about the same issue, but on a higher intellectual level.
Taiwanese girls: Stereotypes and reality seems to be a fitting title for a topic, that is very fascinating to many people, but of course there is no objective truth on the matter, there are just opinions and viewpoints. All I can do is touch on some common phenomena surrounding young Taiwanese females and try to explain them with the awareness that this also bears many limitations and poses many traps. But after all, this is just a blog post, not a scientific research and I'm not writing a PhD, I'm just trying to provide something more substantial on the matter, because there's just too much nonsense out there, which my previous post effectively proved.
Young girls in Ximending. They are Taiwan's future.
1 How to comprehend a few million females?
There are many foreigners in Taiwan, who claim to know a lot about the local women, but their opinion is very superficial, oftentimes affected by a bad experience. And based on the words they use, I'd say they don't seem to be the most credible source on the matter. I don't claim to be an expert, but I know few things by now. For me it was and still is a learning process. When I look back I see how many things I didn't understand a year ago and I'm sure, if you rummage around various forums long enough, you will find some statements from me, which I would not sign anymore. Living and working in Taiwan changed me. Being married to a Taiwanese girl and having a lot of female friends helped me to see what influences, guides and motivates them to be the way they are. I often see a similar pattern across the circle of women I have the pleasure to deal with and I intend to highlight them here for you. Are you ready for some shocking revelations?
Taiwan is a country, that is still veiled in mystery for a big part of the outside world. This beautiful, yet for a long time isolated island in the Far East has only been recently discovered by the Western travel and expat communities. And with the help of the world wide web, it's today very easy to spread information and generate a certain set of ideas about the people here. I have no problem with that, if the ideas are thought through and well argued. There are a lot of foreign men, who come to Taiwan, because they are driven by expectations based on stereotypes. And when they come here, they get disappointed, bitter and frustrated. They write blogs, post on forums and sell their experience as the ultimate truth, but by doing that they tarnish the reality for the future visitors and also harm the reputation of the other foreigners, who live here and tend to be a little more nuanced in their views - it's a vicious circle. Based on my last post, that collected some of these often misleading, but mostly nasty comments, you would think that Taiwanese girls are:
- materialistic, career and clothes oriented
- psycho when breaking up with them
- shy in public and while intimate
- obsessed with White guys, especially blonde with blue eyes
- fall for cheap tricks
- cunning, want to steal your money
- don't value your time
- sleep around a lot, especially with rich guys and ABCs
- love only in exchange for money and expensive gifts
- selfish, insecure, self-centered
- wish they were Japanese
- their breath stinks a little
This is just a small fraction of the stuff, that circulates around the web. But as crazy as it sounds, we can't deny that these kinds of girls exist in Taiwan. But they also exist in Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, USA... probably in most developed countries. I'm sure a lot of guys, who say these things, saw an example of that here, but is that enough to label the whole young female population as being that way? Their statements want to generalize and harm the reputation of the Taiwanese girls, one of the indicators of that is the suggestion by Google, when you type Taiwanese girls are...
3 Internal reasons for Taiwanese girls' bad reputation
Taiwan, although a fairly small nation, is very influential in the region, especially in popular culture such as music, dance, cinema and beauty. The late 1980s and early 1990s was a period, that some call the Taiwanese dream. An economic boom, that came much earlier than the one in South Korea and China, but somewhat at the same time with the one in Japan, catapulted this fairly unknown nation into the spotlight of the world. The (at that time) recently acquired freedom of expression laid ground for Taiwanese art to flourish. Those were the times, where China was far from the number 2 economy in the world and nobody heard about a Korean wave. And those were the times that liberalized and changed Taiwan, certainly not like the West was changed in 1968, but in an East Asian society change happens in small steps and gradually - however the 1990s certainly accelerated them. And now after all this transformation (and democratization), this is what an average foreign visitor sees, when he turns on a TV in Taiwan, opens up a Taiwanese magazine or walks around the urban jungle of Taiwanese cities, that seems so generic on the surface:
Betel nut girls
Betel nut girl in Banqiao, 2010.
These skimpily clad young Taiwanese beauties, who sell betel nuts in small booths along the roads in Taiwan's cities and towns are oftentimes portrayed as prostitutes and used as an example, that is applied to all Taiwanese girls alike. This is of course rubbish and much more complex than it meets the eye. Check my post about them and watch a video by Toby Openshaw, a famous photographer and film-maker, who meticulously researched this phenomenon in order to get a better understanding of these girls. They are a part of Taiwan's society, but they do not represent the whole female population of the country.
There are a lot of Taiwanese TV shows, that are very shallow. For me this is entertainment in its most basic form, where you can just switch off and listen to trivial things. Some of these shows use young beautiful women in skimpy outfits to chat, play games or perform something. A lot of shows focus on outfits and beauty tips, where makeup is applied or various outfits exchanged and so called "experts" then explain to their female viewers which clothes, makeup, creams, diets etc. are good for them. It's probably well connected with the powerful beauty industry and a win-win situation for both, the TV channel and the company, who sponsors it. The girls in these shows are a part of Taiwan's female population, but do not represent a big fraction of it.
A performance, that conveys a certain image that may not always match in reality.
Idols from the pop industry
Dream Girls are one of the popular girl groups in and outside of Taiwan. (photo source)
Taiwan is home to one of the biggest music industries in East Asia and it's the center of Mando pop and Taiwan pop. It attracts talents from countries with Chinese speaking population such as China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and USA, shapes them and exports them back. The music labels here are powerful and influential and control a multi-billion industry. And they have the power to shape an image of a girl, that is idolized and admired, usually for her beauty, less for her intellectual abilities. Of course that's all well known to the people in the West, because we showed the world how it works (and how you can make money), but it still doesn't make it right. Yes, Taiwanese female idols are pretty, most of them are also very talented, but don't assume they represent the majority of the girls here.
Models and the beauty industry
Sonia Sui is currently one of Taiwan's most influential models. (photo source)
Taiwan's beauty industry is as powerful as the music industry, when it comes to creating idols, pushing trends and making money. Both have managed to make beauty one of the core ideals for young Taiwanese women. I have nowhere seen so many advertisements focusing on beauty products, fashion trends and personal appearance as in Taiwan. Some of the finest models and model agencies come from Taiwan or are based here. So far in this part of the world most of the beauty and fashion trends come from Japan, a lot also come from Korea, but Taiwan is filtering them, adding its unique touch and dispatching them further into China, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, influencing the local Chinese population in these countries. There are certainly a lot of beautiful girls in Taiwan and a lot of the beauty is enhanced by various products, which is all fair play, but that doesn't mean that every girl matches the image of Sonia Sui and alike. If that's what you expect, you're definitely going to be disappointed, when you visit Taiwan.
One of the beauty ideals of Taiwanese girls is very pale skin. (photographer source)
Taiwanese drama
The Fierce Wife was a popular Taiwanese drama in 2011. (photo source)
The Taiwanese drama is a very well established term in the Chinese speaking world. Taiwan is the biggest exporter of sappy soap operas in Chinese language, that moralize in the areas of romance, relationship and family matters. I guess you could say this is where Taiwan's soft power comes out the strongest, but I often wonder, if they use the right "weapons" for that. Nevertheless, these dramas usually end with a happy end, where the handsome guy falls for the average girl next door. The family matters of course get resolved, because the kids stop to rebel against the parents' wish and show "respect", which brings back the lost "harmony". These dramas represent your average next door Taiwanese girl in a way they want her to be and not the way she usually is. Like always, some girls will be close to these characters, but many will be very far from them.
TV commercials
Cute and sexy is how the commercials want you to believe Taiwanese girls are.
Taiwanese TV commercials like to use cute girls who sing and dance. Usually they are (or they will become) celebrities and then appear in various other commercials and talk shows. It's a very similar pattern to the one in the music and beauty industry: They try to create role models and idols and they have a strong focus on happiness and harmony, something that is very important in a society with Chinese roots. Of course these girls are so jumpy and fired up only on TV, don't expect this type of girls on every corner in Taiwan. You can check a collection of these commercials here.
The party goers
Quite many young girls in Taipei like to go to night clubs. (photo by Steven Vigar).
So you heard, that Taipei has an awesome night life? Right. You came here and realized it's off the hook, because you met few girls and had tons fun. Good for you. But clubbing is by nature a venue, where people want to have fun and meet other people. Hooking up is something they look for, so it won't be that hard to meet someone and get involved for a night or two. But does that mean all Taiwanese girls are that way? Of course not. This is part of urban life in most big cities of the size of Taipei.The stories, that base on encounters of foreigners with female Taiwanese party goers are always interesting, however a lot of times exaggerated. But how much does this represent the whole reality of Taiwan's young women? I would say just a small part, because most girls and young women in Taiwan don't have the luxury to go to a night club very often.
The bloggers and writers
Illy Queen is one of Taiwan's most popular bloggers. (read more here)
The idea of having someone to look up to, a role model or an idol, is quite strong among the young female population. So it's no wonder, that in a country, that supplies the whole world with computer parts like no other, the internet infrastructure is among the best in the world. Taiwan's online community is huge and it attracts not only the young people of Taiwan, who engage in various social websites, forums and blogs, but also youngsters from China, Singapore, Malaysia and even from Western countries. Being an online celebrity many times means being one off the LCD screen as well. And these girls are in no way different than idols in the pop industry. Sadly, a lot of these shooting stars, once they realize they can make good money, become a marketing tool of various companies. It's a common pattern in Taiwan's entertainment industry and it shifts a lot of young girls in certain directions.
The late night girls
A girl from a Friday night TV program.
A lot of Taiwanese TV channels have various programs on Friday and Saturday night with scantily clad young girls dancing in bikinis, playing silly games in bunny outfits or answering calls of usually older male viewers and trying to make them talk as long as possible, because they pay a lot of money per minute. This is in stark contrast of a society, that can hardly accept public display of affection, even breastfeeding would cause a minor scandal. I have no idea where they find these girls, who fill up the nightly program during the weekend, but don't assume that these girls represent a big portion of the Taiwanese female population. To the contrary.
4 Two sides of a coin
Although Taiwan seems chaotic at the first glance, people love order.
To understand Taiwanese girls, one needs to understand the Taiwanese society, which is in many ways very unique. What do you get, if you politically isolate a traditional Chinese society on an island for 60 years? Right! You get the Taiwan of today. The country is full of contradictions, for example seeing an ubersexy girl in high heels burning joss sticks in a temple is no rare sight. Young people want to express themselves in a society, that forces them into conformity and harmony. "We Taiwanese are very family oriented", I often hear from them. But for me that means that the parents get too much involved in the life of their children and not only that, they do so all the time. You can be 20, 30 or 40, it's expected that you follow a certain way they lay out for you or at least take their suggestions and expectations into consideration, when you do something. Sure, young Taiwanese find ways to avoid conflicts and still have it their own way, but it's quite stressful. Now imagine what a big challenge can it be for a Taiwanese girl to introduce her new foreign boyfriend to her parents. In some cases, it won't be a big problem, but in many cases she will be thoroughly questioned and your motives of dating their daughter will be highly suspicious to them. Taiwanese parents tend to overly worry, but at the same time they tend to believe, that they know better, what is best for their daughter. That roots in the Confucian concept of "孝" or filial piety, where respect for parents and ancestors is one of the highest virtues in the society (read more here). Now combine this with the need of the young people to express themselves and you will get various ways, where these confines want to be broken, where the constraints of a hierarchical family structure want to be evaded. Sure, young people don't have a lot of time in Taiwan, as they're either studying nonstop or working like slaves, but the free time they have would be spent with friends or used for various activities and that's the part, where various idols and celebrities mentioned above enter a young Taiwanese girl's life.
Young people in Hsinchu at a concert near the famous East Gate trying to escape.
Whatever your personal experience may be, you have to take all the things I have mentioned so far into consideration in order to understand the Taiwanese girls a little better. Of course this is just one side of the coin, the other is the character, the intellect, the social status and whatever happened in her life that made her the way she is. The latter points are crucial to understand your girl and see her as the individual she is. But you still can't deny all the other influences from the society she grew up, even if she's different than what her parents want her to be, she'll always be aware of their expectations and subconsciously she might be affected by that.
5 I don't know how Taiwanese girls are, but...
I've seen a lot of interesting phenomena during my nearly one year in Taiwan. Some of it surprised me, some of it made me chuckle and some of it upset me. But nevertheless, I have learned a lot in the process, which will not be finished any time soon. Let me share some photos and videos of the things I have seen a lot of times in Taiwan. They are all related to Taiwanese girls and I hope it will serve you as a reference for a better understanding:
A lot of girls wear contacts and glasses. I've nowhere seen more people with bad eye sight like in Taiwan. No idea where this roots, but it's quite significant.
Wearing frames without lenses is the latest craze in Taipei this year. It swapped over from Japan and it might become yesterday's news very soon. (photo source)
These are no outfits you'd see on Taipei's streets during the day, but you could spot girls in clubs who wear them (and it doesn't mean they are promiscuous!).
A lot of Taiwanese girls place great importance on the look of their hair, pay a lot for a good hairdo. Long hair dominates, curly is considered cute (photo from an ad).
Young beautiful women are commonly found on huge advertisements around Taipei. They are one of the main focuses of the advertising industry.
The concept of cuteness is strongly present in today's Taiwanese society.
The ideal of a romantic everlasting love is something a lot of Taiwanese girls dream of. Keep that in mind, if you seriously fall for a nice girl and don't play with her.
The wedding is one of the most important things in a Taiwanese woman's life. Foreigners, who say they are serious with a girl, but don't consider to marry her, are contradicting themselves from the standpoint of a Taiwanese girl. You can read more about it in my famous post: Everything about Taiwanese wedding.
Taiwan is home to a lot of talented girls and it's always amazing to me how humble they are, when you praise them. The girl above garnered world wide attention.
A lot of girls love to dance. They gather in public places such as the Taipei's subway and exercise together. Taiwanese like to do things in groups.
Celebrities have a great impact on young women's lives. On the photo above you can see a book signing by a popular writer, that attracted a lot of fans.
A lot of Taiwanese girls would protect themselves from the sun with an umbrella, because tanned skin is considered ugly in Taiwanese culture.
Just like many Taiwanese men, a lot of girls are into photography. It's probably one of the most common hobbies young people engage in.
And since photography is such a popular hobby, a lot of girls would like to pose as models in various settings. You can see similar images near popular spots.
The photo above shows, that many Taiwanese women love taking photos of flowers and like considerate guys, who would hold the bag and the umbrella for them.
A mother and daughter enjoying a view together. Most Taiwanese girls have a special bond with their mothers.
Taiwanese girls also place great importance on friendship. "Friends are the family you choose" can be taken quite literally in Taiwan.
Young Taiwanese burning paper money on the street: A lot of Taiwanese girls are living between modernity and traditions without any problems.
Many Taiwanese girls are into art and love to join exhibitions and events.
Maybe my post demystified some of the fix ideas about Taiwanese girls, maybe it reinforced them, I'm not sure. But hopefully it highlighted the most significant aspects, that need to be taken into consideration, when you try to understand the young women of Taiwan. And understanding instead of prematurely judging is something I see as the most important thing in all my posts related to Taiwan and I will not stop emphasizing that in the future.
And at last: Whatever might have brought you to Taiwan and whatever experience you might have had with a local lady, never forget to see every woman as the individual she is and with the background that shaped her. And never forget to take a look in the mirror: It might well be that it was you who hasn't met her expectations.
I'm a young healthy European guy and I moved to Taiwan. I was forced to marry my Taiwanese wife, because her culture said so. And thus I decided to write this post, because I would like to warn other foreigners to not not follow my steps. This post is dedicated to all of you from first world countries, who plan to move to Taiwan in order to pursue a career in primary education and help the local children developing emotional, social, and intellectual skills from infancy to adulthood. We need you, of course, but be warned: The extremely aggressive female population is waiting to abduct you - literally on every corner. And that's just the most harmless thing a Taiwanese woman can do to you. If you wanna know more, read on.
Many foreign guys ask themselves: How are Taiwanese girls really? Of course by spending nearly 8 months on this island, I know almost exactly, how most of them are, maybe I missed to see few of them, but I believe I still have a good grip of the whole female population here. However, there are various real experts on the Internets, who know Taiwanese women much better than me and I decided to collect their best moments and share them with you here, just for your reference. This is of course just one part of the enormous resource on Taiwanese women you can find online: Some of it might surprise you, some of it might shock you, but one thing is sure: This is all 100% true, as these boys are truly experienced and razor sharp analysts.
Following is a look on Taiwanese women through the eyes of a selected group of foreigners. The text with a grey font and background is someone's quote from a blog or forum and includes a link to the source in the title. Under every quote is a small commentary written by me. I am just reposting what I found online and I am not associated with any of the persons or websites below.
This is what world's finest experts say about Taiwanese girls:
Firstly I should say that I happen to prefer TW girls in the way they look, not just fashion wise, but just the way they look, like bigger eyes and softer features. So needless to say when a pretty TW girl asked me to be her boyfriend I couldnt resist - WOW, my first asian gf at the age of 22 (I started late). She was incredibly cute sweet but after 6 months the novelty of a pretty face wears off when all you hear is nagging, she was soooooooooo demanding in every way, she called me like a million times a day and after a while she was even trying to control what time I went to sleep and woke up! I spent sooo much money on the girl it was unreal!... 'materialistic' isn't the word
Anyway, when I finally broke up with her it was a complete disaster she turned into the legendary 'psycho mei mei' type, just the type my TW expat friends had told me to avoid at all costs.
On the postive side all my friends were jealous, especially the asian guys and she was *insane* in bed
My more mature friends assured me that it was just a case of her being young and immature, no wonder why you guys on here are dating older TW girls, they're much easier to date, from what i've heard. (by user g1zmo)
What he said is of course completely true. I have seen so many psycho mei meis around Taipei, it's quite scary. You can see them with their bedazzled cellphones full of Hello Kitty key chains, how they shout and scream and try to control the poor Western guy. Sometimes they would also scratch your face in front of their other psycho mei mei friends, who will then take trophy photos with your heavily scarred face (and keep in mind, that Taiwanese girls have insanely sharp nails).
I spent 14 months in Taiwan (Jul 06-Aug 07). I dated a few Taiwanese from 25-43. They all had the same characterisitcs. Financially independent (one was actually very rich). No action until at least the third date. Then they had to say 'no' three times, even while undressing themsleves. Then....... they wanted to get married and started talking about it. In public, cold fish. In private, hot.
But, they are basically interested in their career and clothes. Thanks to the effeminate nature of their young men and the drunken behavior of the old men, the ladies are not interested in men.
Thank good that Thailand, the Philippines and Hong Kong were all easy to reach.
(by user Raven767)
This is of course completely true. My career oriented and clothes obsessed cold fish wife couldn't agree more. She married me, but only to have this ticked off from their partents expectation chart. Now she's mostly focused on career and clothes and I'm regularly flying to Thailand.
Stereotypically have high standards income wise. you better be rich. they will marry rich with less regards to looks and personality although they want both. they say taiwanese girls have too high of standards and thats why taiwan has the 4th highest divorce rate in the world.
(they want rich guys that are Romeo's.) if you're white that's automatically +3. more especially so if she's a foreign student. and this is all in the assumption that she is of normal intelligence as most people are
oh, they love brand names. coach, lv, gucci, lacoste, (seems like a fob brand) tommy, etc. (by user mndeg)
I completely agree. If you're a rich guy and Romeo, you will have no problems with getting a Taiwanese girl. Can you imagine, if you're rich, a Romeo and white at the same time? That's probably +6 then.
When you are dating a Taiwanese girls it is necessary that one has self control not to praise a lot about her physical appearance and make her jittery. In order to draw the interest of the Taiwanese girls one should have funniness in their talk which most of these girls like. In addition, instead of doing all talking also let the girl talk for some time i.e. you should also be a good listener. One more important trick that you can make use of is to have association of people from Asia. When dating a Taiwanese girl this will help you adjust to their people and traditions as well.
One should try to create a well mannered effect on Taiwan girls which is very important. You need to portray yourself as a down to earth and unfussy person. It is necessary to know the Taiwan culture as it is quite different from that of the US or UK. You should intermingle well with girls in Taiwan
Taiwanese girls are attracted to westerners very easily so all that is required by you is to maintain a good rapport or reputation with your Taiwan girl. This will make the things more simple for you. In order to continue the conversation you should talk in tune with the Taiwanese girl that love to talk as much as possible about their family and friends.
Awesome tips! I used that trick on my wife and wore a Qing dynasty shirt on the first date and tried to impersonate Bruce Lee. It worked.
5. You are special in Puerto Plata
Questions and Answers about Taiwanese Singles, Source: Taiwanesewomen.net
1. How big is Taiwan? It is the Eastern half of an island in Asia. The people are a mix of Oriental, Middle East, African and Native Indian.
2. What is the best location? All the locations are very good but Taiwan is the best if you like dark, Asian women. We have about 70% of the men getting engaged on their first visit.
3. Is this place safe to go to. I have heard bad things about Asia? All our locations in Asia are safe to go to. Over 3000 men from the United States go to Asia each year to meet women in introduction agencies. None have ever had any problems to our knowledge.
4. Does Taipei have a airport, what is the symbol? Yes, The airport symbol for the Taipei area is POP in Puerto Plata. Flights come from Miami, Houston, Panama City- Panama, and New York City. The airport is 15 minutes from the agency.
5. What is my money worth in Asia? The US Dollar and Euro are worth 2-3 times as much. You can change the money at Yen or use an ATM or Credit Card with a 4 digit pin number. There are ATM machines everywhere.
6. How do I call the USA or Europe from Asia? Go to a internet café and ask to use the internet phone. It goes through the internet and is cheap at around 10 cents a minute.
7. Is there a gym to work out in? There is one gym in Taipei and a few more in Puerto Plata.[...]
1. I am just a average man, why would such beautiful women be interested in meeting me? You are not average in their eyes, you are very special. You are a very rare option with qualities, men in her country do not have. They are convinced men from the USA and Europe are much more faithful. The women also want an older man, they feel the older men are more stable and less likely to cheat on them.
Great tips! In Puerto Plata, but even more so in Taipei, you will find a lot of Indian restaurants, they are usually full to the last bit. That one gym in Taipei is usually full, too, but you can always go to Puerto Plata, they have a plenty available for you.
Girls may seem outgoing, flirty, relaxed, because they watch 'sex in the city' and are independent. This doesn't mean they will go home with you. However, some might. Don't be a jerk and assume a girl wants to sleep with you. Don't ask her if she will. Taiwanese girls are like girls everywhere, they respond to touch - a universal language. Can't speak to them? Doesn't matter!
When you meet them, get a phone number or msn and ask them out (some girls don't like to go dancing or to a bar; if they don't, then take them to a park or coffee shop). Initiate touch early - but be careful! Don't grab at them. Joke and make fun of them a little, tease them. If they laugh or punch your arm or shove you, that's good. If you get the chance, try brushing your fingers over her arm or leg. Don't grab and hold her hand, but if your hands bump into each other often, take it, squeeze it, and let it go. Eventually - if you find you're holding hands with her, it's probably ok to kiss. If you can kiss her, invite her home (make sure you have a reason - not just sex). Invite her for dinner, or to see your book collection or something.
Ok ok, so for some guys, this process of courting might be too long, maybe you're on holiday and just want to find a girl quickly. Go to the bar, smile really big and stupidly, and try and dance with all the girls there. Most of them will run and hide. The slutty ones will grind up against you and you can probably take them home. But know that you're lowering the already poor repution foreigners have here.
This is truly a treasure! Best is, you pretend you're deaf mute and touching is the only way for you to communicate. Try to tell her that by writing it on her back with your finger - in traditional Chinese! That will surely impress her.
I have one buddy who dated a Taiwanese girl. He said she wouldn't even take her top off during sex. I ain't saying that's all Taiwanese women, but there you go. (by Jeremy)
He has a strong argument! And I ain't saying every Taiwanese girl wears Hello Kitty socks, but once my friend told me he saw one, so there you go.
Taiwanese women, unlike Western woman, do not tend to yell and scream, as they have been taught from an early age to show respect and honour their home and family.
That's of course 100% true. So far there is no official account of a yelling or screaming Taiwanese woman. If ever there was a woman screaming, she was immediately deported on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.
Most males will have no trouble finding girlfriends. Caucasian male foreigners are appreciated, even sought after, and you will see many Taiwanese female/foreign male relationships. Slim, blonde-haired, blue-eyed males will have to beat the girls off with sticks. Taiwanese women prefer tall, thin, men but a stocky guy like me never had any trouble dating here.[...]
Finally, don't be fooled by politeness. Politeness is to Chinese culture what a pearl is to an oyster: a beautiful secretion around a major irrititant. It is the opposite of being accepted. Its purpose is to keep you at arms length and under control. You know you are accepted when they start treating you like crap just like everyone else.
So true! As a Caucasian fairly slim almost blue eyed male with lots of secretions I can wholeheartedly confirm, that I need to carry a stick with me to beat off all the clingy Taiwanese girls, when I go to work. They are like flies. During rain I use the umbrella.
Taiwanese are xenomanias. I am not saying all the Taiwanese are all like this, but most of Taiwanese have this trend including me. If there are two boys standing in fornt of me, one is a Taiwanese and another is an American, I will talk to the American boy. Even the Taiwanese is really a handsome man and the American is ugly, I will first talk to the American. Why? It's all out of curiosity. The first sight I see is their appearance, the American is so different with me, so I am curious.
This is exactly as I saw it many times near Longshan temple in Taipei.
Ask a lot of questions when communicating and be alert for inconsistencies or requests for money. Make notes if you are suspicious of single taiwan women. If you are suspicious of taiwan brides or if someone asks you for money, use common sense and then report the situation to the taiwanese brides website. This is simply most websites do not validate the identity of a member or the information that they submit on a profile.
Useful warning! Taiwanese women are always suspicious, especially if they dress up as brides. Don't be fooled, they will ask you for money, usually they will say something like: "Give me money!" When you hear this, don't be fooled and ask a lot of questions.
I don't know if it's a uniquely Taipei-thing, but it seems to be: I'm running into scads and scads of women who are trying to cram me into their schedules and not properly valuing my time. Frankly, this kind of behavior drives me rather nuts. Maybe this is what things look like in a developed nation where women are accustomed to submissive men. I don't know. At first I thought I was having an attraction problem; maybe girls in Taipei just don't like my flavor of sexiness.
No doubt, it's all about the flavor of sexiness. And in order for a Taiwanese woman to handle all your flavors, she'll need to make schedules of course.
Met a Taiwanese girl in The Muse then arranged meet last night - Sunday night. She didnt pay for any of the food and came back to my place. We got down to it quite quickly. I thought she would have been tighter as the last Taiwanese girl I was with was super tight. She then told me about her life - married to a 40 year old Japanese guy when she was 22 who changed right after marriage so she got divorced. Then dating a Brit guy who died of liver cancer at the age of 40. This sent alarm bells through my hydrochondriac personality. if he had liver cancer then maybe he had Hepatitis B - a common cause. Hepatitis B is an STD. I did have the hep B vaccine five years ago though and i wore a condom.[...]
What does ethnicity have to do with being "tight" ??
She probably wasn't Taiwanese, as all of them are super tight and super into 40 something Japanese men, which is of course defined by their ethnicity.
14 Taiwanese girls' intensions is to get laid in the pubs
I mean most of them, aging 20~28
a bunch of whores who don't appreciate how well they were treated sincerely, they don't give shit about ethics they like to suck cocks of those so called ABC and RICH KIDS or any foreigners that doesn't speak CHINESE. FUCK!
and they try to get laid in the pubs, thats their intensions.
So fucking pathetic and lame, strange creature.
So true! All Taiwanese women go to pubs, because the pubs were initially invented in Taiwan, before the British colonialists stole the concept and brought it to England.
I'll give you a huge tip. EVERYTHING is simply a business transaction in Asia. Don't even complain about ethics, it's the rules here. Call it how it is. If you want a TW/HK Girl to open up, or open legs, you need to speak the correct language. The language of love that truly speaks to their Hello Kitty Hearts is Visa, MasterCard, Gucci, or LV. Don't waste time on the Chinese Lessons. Just focus on business and making more money. It's all about reciprocal dating or socially accepted hooking up. Just up your game, and you will have more psycho shao jie than one can handle in a lifetime. Careful, when you fall into this category, they will work hard to close the deal quick (Marriage, Control Money, Babies, Sex, Etc.). TW girls will be either super slow or quick depending on how they can get the upper hand. A last effort is to be an overly sensitive little bitch that will carry their purse while they go shopping. (Refer to TW TV or local Sogo Mall) I have seen many friends fail with this method. It's just not worth the return on the long term investment, because buying face with other people's money is the business and dating strategy. TW/HK girls can be worth it, just know each ones game before making an investment. More importantly, know when to say "next".
So exactly true and truly educational! I couldn't have described Taiwanese females better than this. However, I need to add something important: I bought my wife's Hello Kitty heart with American Express, though. But that's the new generation of Taiwanese women, they don't accept Visa anymore.
16 Taiwanese girls are selfish, insecure emotional vampires
i find TW women to be utterly selfish, insecure, and self centered. As I have seen with many couples and unfortunate friends, when they age it's even more nonstop bitching and moaning. The focus just becomes on more money, more eating, more competition to show off to family and friends. You can forget about an exciting sex life. Lately i look at them with a mild disgust, despite some of their physical beauty.
No pussy is worth being constantly drained by these emotional vampires. Funny, with the many new girls I meet here, I aways say to myself "this one is different". LOL! Nope, same shit with a different package. Same movie played over and over.
Amazing conclusions and all so true! I have nothing to add!
I'm ABC and I love Taiwan. Girls are so easy here and as people have racist attitudes towards whites and blacks, they'll kiss your ass if you're ABC. You do understand why Taiwanese girls go for ABC guys, right? From the day they are born, Taiwanese guys pass on all their negativity and insecurities into the heads of their girls. Taiwanese guys aim to control their girls by putting them down and making them feel ugly and empty inside. They worry that if they say warm positive things to their females that they'll become too confident, realize that their guy is a loser and leave them for some other loser. Western men were very popular with Taiwanese girls in the 80s and 90s. Seeing this all too often, Taiwanese guys became very bitter and jealous and for the last 10 years have been telling their girls that Western men are bad. They give no more reasons than that, just that Western men are bad. Instead of improving themselves, Taiwanese guys have to tell girls that other guys are worse than they are. Taiwanese guys don't realize that many of their girls cheat on them with ABC guys. The girls like us as we're much more charming, interesting, funny and better looking as their own pussy guys. Me and my other ABC buddies always used to come over to Taiwan for the summer for the girls; they loved us! Then they went back to their weak little pussy Taiwan boyfriends.
Yes! Taiwanese women love ABCs. It's in their nature to feel compassion with those, who need to leave their country in order to get a little love.
TW girls... as far as I know, they wish they were japanese. When they speak, to differentiate their MANDARIN from what their Chinese cousins over in the mainland, they always speak in a really fake ass Japanese wannabe tone. It's so fucking lame. I know I know, there's a bit of history of Japanese occupation of TW, but you don't see Koreans, as cocky as they can be sometimes, completely idolizing another nationality to a point of basically copying them. It's funny how TW wants to be recognized as its own state, with its own nationality, but in the end, all their pride is nothing more than a facade, an image. And if the Japs have an attractive image, they'd rather become semi-Japanese. That's fucking lame dude. That's not pride, that's just ignorance and a lack of self-worth.
So true! Taiwanese girls commonly wear kimono, eat sushi most of the time and uncontrollably giggle, when they see a man.
One very noticeable difference between China and Taiwan is that Taiwanese women frequently have fuller bottoms. I'’ve only been in the country a month, so my studies on the issue are hardly authoritative, yet the difference is pronounced. Fuller – not especially in the width and height dimensions; it’s in the depth department, in that mysterious and so hard to draw z axis. Is it a sign of more affluence in Taiwan, that greater comfort and security allows women’s bottoms to flesh out?
Perhaps, but I am increasingly of the opinion that many women here are flaunting their bottoms, sticking them out a fraction, even carrying them with a knowing swagger.
Good observations! That's because Taiwanese girls eat a lot of papayas.
Taiwanese women like stinky tofu and pig's trotter which makes their breath stink a bit.
Taiwanese women are good at Tai Kwon Do but suck at Wing Chun.
Taiwanese women are far less arrogant and tend to have a sense of inferiority; having no really great celebrities such as Hong Kong Fuey, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee to make themselves feel better about being Taiwanese. (by user Tommy525)
Oh, they don't only like stinky tofu! They love it! The stinky breath is considered an aphrodisiac in Taiwanese culture. Combined with a Tai Kwon Do performance, you will not be able to resist a Taiwanese girl's charms, even if she only does this to make herself feel better.
Now that you've read what foreign experts say, you must be truly speechless. Believe me, when I've read all this, I was speechless, too. I couldn't be prouder of these foreign men, who are so knowledgeable and come to Taiwan to research our women and help to spread around the globe all the best qualities of Taiwanese girls, so that peoples of the world know exactly how our women are. Maybe some of these experts didn't hit the nail on the head from time to time, because they spent too much time in the gym in Puerto Plata, but all in all you have a priceless treasure of highly intellectual conclusions about the lovely ladies of Taiwan.
Note to Taiwanese: 親愛的台灣朋友們：這篇文章當然是開玩笑的，我真正的意思跟我所寫的完全相反。我討厭這些在網路上散播無知言論且讓我們這些正常人看起來很糟的外國蠢蛋。在我的下一篇文章裡，我將會以同個標題寫出我個人的觀點，並試著寫出更接近台灣女性的真實面相。
). She was incredibly cute sweet but after 6 months the novelty of a pretty face wears off when all you hear is nagging, she was soooooooooo demanding in every way, she called me like a million times a day and after a while she was even trying to control what time I went to sleep and woke up! I spent sooo much money on the girl it was unreal!... 'materialistic' isn't the word 
all my friends were jealous, especially the asian guys 
and she was *insane* in bed 
