Going to Taiwan - Got any tips/advice/recommendations for me?

[madMUHHH]

Hi there fellow Bums!

 

I recently got the confirmation that I will be granted a scholarship for learning Chinese in Taiwan during the next semester (starting in September). So I will go to Taipei for half a year and study at the National Chengchi University. Right now, I'm in my second semester of learning Mandarin, so I do know some Chinese already, even though I only know fairly basic stuff.

 

Since this is the first time I'm visiting Taiwan/Taipei and I want to make the most out of those six months and I assume that at least a few of you people might have been in Taiwan (or mainland China) already, I wanted to ask you people for some help and advice.

 

So anything, that you think that could be helpful from getting by in a foreign country/university, finding a place to live, places I just need to visit, where to find good food, and of course anything that is cultivation/qigong/bagua/tcm related, e.g. good places or people to learn that stuff from would be greatly appreciated. Really anything, even if it's the most trivial seeming bit of advice.

 

I already do have one basic questions. I already know that accommodation is relatively expensive and food and transportation are dirt cheap (judging by middle European/German standards). So what about clothes and electronic devices?

 

 

 

 

[Stosh]

Im told it is a good idea to hire a trained guide ,for a while, travelling in the east.

[Wells]

places I just need to visit

 

and of course anything that is cultivation/qigong/bagua/tcm related, e.g. good places or people to learn that stuff from would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hey dude,

 

if you have the possibility to visit Grandmaster Waysun Liao's Taichi Tao Temple School in Taiwan (and maybe even train there!), that would be awesome!!!

http://supremeboundlessway.com/2011/10/12/taichi-tao-%E2%80%93-then-and-now/

 

A report on thetaobums about that would be very appreciated!

 

I don't know where in Taiwan the temple school is located, but a call at the taichitaocenter in Chicago should give you this information!

http://taichitaocenter.com/sections/contact.php

Edited May 30, 2013 by Dorian Black

[Wells]

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffatorquantico.blogspot.de%2F2011%2F11%2Fmuitas-pessoas-hoje-veem-tai-chi-como.html&act=url

 

More infos + some photos!

[JustBHappy]

You will do fine in Taipei, it's an easy city. No need for a guide or much worry. Most people who come to Taipei complain that people speak English to them! They try to use their Chinese and people reply back in English. Oh to have such problems! Once you leave Taipei and head on down to central/southern Taiwan then things gets a little more challenging. Not only are there few people that will/can speak in English, many of the older folk use Taiwanese instead of Mandarin.

Taipei, like I said, is an easy city. You could even get by without ever buying a scooter/car and just use the MRT and public transportation system. It is really quite convenient.

Housing sucks in Taipei compared to the rest of Taiwan. You might have to share an apartment. Don't rent an apartment near a school or a temple.

Buy all your electronics at home before you come to Taiwan. The quality sucks, and the price is higher. I don't know about Germany, but this is true for me being an American. In fact when I buy something I always consider having someone in the states buy it for me then send it to Taiwan. I never have though, because the customs here is notorious for being nasty when it comes to electronic goods. Just for a comparison, before you come, go to an electronics store in Germany and write down some specs on the laptops/cameras and the prices, then when you get to Taiwan see how they compare. The prices are higher, and the specs are pitiful.

Don't sweat it, like I say, Taipei is easy. There are tons of furriners and the people are civilized, quite unlike what you find down south.

Many great martial art and qi gong masters are in the Taipei area so there is absolutely no shortage of incredible teachers. You can find anything from the penis/ball weight hanging dudes to the living lineage of Chen Man Ching. It all depends on what your looking to practice. There are many great Gao y sheng lineages alive and thriving if your into Bagua, there are also some insanely powerful white crane masters, hard gong masters, mantis, etc... you name it. If your into martial arts, you are coming to the right place. Six months is not long, but I'm sure you can make the most of it.

All your day to day questions can be answered on the flob (forumosa) , the not so affectionate name for the English language forum. You might want to search and research first though before asking 'stupid' questions or your likely to get flamed. It's mellowed out through the years, but it still common for rudeness and venting to arise.

If you come across the nastiest smell in the world, and find lots of people lined up at its source, thats stinky tofu. They take perfectly good tofu and ferment it until it's covered in mold. The crazy locals love it. You will smell it a block away.

[madMUHHH]

Thanks for the long response, I really appreciate that.

 

 

Many great martial art and qi gong masters are in the Taipei area so there is absolutely no shortage of incredible teachers. You can find anything from the penis/ball weight hanging dudes to the living lineage of Chen Man Ching. It all depends on what your looking to practice. There are many great Gao y sheng lineages alive and thriving if your into Bagua, there are also some insanely powerful white crane masters, hard gong masters, mantis, etc... you name it. If your into martial arts, you are coming to the right place. Six months is not long, but I'm sure you can make the most of it.

 

That's cool! Might actually even be a bit overwhelming for me, as I'm not really that well versed concerning what kind of martial art styles exist and what specific styles are good for or not. Any suggestions how to best locate a specific school? Are there specific places to go, should I just google it, ask people, or what would be a good strategy?

And yeah, six months probably isn't enough time to really get into any of those things deeply. I'm kinda wondering whether I should have applied for a whole year instead. But then again, I'm not sure whether I really could stand just doing language courses for a whole frickin year. ^^

And thanks for pointing me to the forum, I definitely will check that one out.

 

 

 

@Dorian Black: Thanks for those links, took a quick look at them and was overwhelmed by the amount of text, so I will check those out later.

Edited May 31, 2013 by madMUHHH

[Wells]

@Dorian Black: Thanks for those links, took a quick look at them and was overwhelmed by the amount of text, so I will check those out later.

 

LOL, ok!

 

Waysun Liao is often or maybe most of the time in the Taichi Tao Center in Chicago, but the source school / headquarters is the temple / school in Taiwan. So I guess there are pretty high level spiritual masters in this school in Taiwan. Check out the following experience from a thetoabums member with Waysun Liao, imo he is possibly one of the highest developed spiritual masters in the world today:

 

 

TTB member forestofsouls talks about his encounter with Waysun Liao here:

 

http://thetaobums.com/topic/2126-actual-manifestation-of-chi/

 

Quote

I was perusing the John Chang thread recently, and it made me wonder: how many people out there have actually met some one who could provide a real, demonstrable manifestation of chi or chi-like phenomenon? I think that Mr. Denty is right: once you taste the real thing, there's no doubt whatsoever. Personally, I've met two. The most powerful was Master Waysun Liao.

 

When I met Master Liao, I wanted to "test" him. We've all seen those martial arts demonstrations where the so-called master demonstartes mystical techniques on people of their own choosing. I had this in mind and wanted to test ML. Much to my surprise, he ASKED me to test him. At one point, I had my body wedged between the floor and his arm trying to keep him from lowering it, all to no avail. But the real kicker is when he was demonstrating how chi should feel when one is practicing correctly. Make no mistake, this stuff is as far from imagination as the law of gravity.

 

I'm wondering if anyone has had similar first-hand experiences, and if so, with who.

Quote

&quo

t;Problem is what is 'chi'? How does Master Liao 'demonstrate' how chi should 'feel'? Alot of stuff that some people call 'chi', because they don't understand what is going on, is actually body mechanics, conditioning, etc.

So I think we should put some context around the examples.

Good thread, btw, not trying to poo poo it right off the bat.

T"

 

Sorry, I haven't gotten the quote thing figured out.

 

What we did was we all gathered in a circle. Master Liao had us put our hands out in the tai chi ball stance, which is standing shoulder width apart, with our palms facing one another, perpendicular to the floor. Sort of like holding a beach ball in front of you. He placed his hands around my hands, without touching. Then he said, let me know when you feel something.

 

Mind you, I was a chi skeptic at this time. I could feel vague light buzzings, but nothing substantial.

 

What I did was try to keep an open, empty mind and a relaxed body. I was curious, but quite sceptical. What happened was it felt like suddenly I was hooked up to a power generator. When I was younger, I once grabbed a refrigerator that wasn't fully grounded, and was mildly electocuted. It was similar, but it felt good. It started out vague, then I felt a lot of pressure as though I was submerged under water. I said nothing, and the feelings got very strong. Then the pressure gave way and it felt like liquid electicity was flowing throughout my body, and it felt as real and vivid as an oak table. I also felt my lower dan tien and upper dan tien swelling and opening, and it was ecstatic. It also felt like there was a fine electrical wire connecting the two dan tiens. I felt giddy and high, and couldn't stop smiling. It also felt there was an actual ball between my hands.

 

The main thought I had was "Oh my God I can't beleive this is real!"

 

Master Liao said that the object was to cultivate oneself so that one could feel that way without a master "charging you up".

 

To some extent, we all feel chi: when we are well rested and feel alive. But this was magnified many times over. I would say chi is energy, much like electrical energy. I've been told that some people can hear it, some people can see it, but most feel it. When talking about chi, I mean feeling electrical energy with no technological source that feels as vivid as physical objects.

 

I agree with what you say, T. I firmly believe that most of the stuff on chi out there is imagined, wrong, or mistaken. Which is why I wanted to start a thread, to try to separate out the phonies. Now I'm not saying that Master Liao is the ONLY possible source of authentic chi exercises, just one. I think Wong Kiew Kit may be another, but I don't have direct experience and so I can't say. I hear Yan Xin does some amazing things, but once again, I don't have direct experience of it.

 

[JustBHappy]

Just go to the parks near your apartment in the mornings and evenings. Many teachers also teach at schools or Universities or other public places. It's all going to depend on your schedule, your transportation and where you live and go to school.

 

I like to visit what I call "push hands" park since there's so many different groups and people to push with. I think it's called peace park, or 288 park but for some reason they keep changing all the names so I'm not sure. Not sure about other days, but on Sundays you can find a ton of groups doing Tai Chi, some Wing tsun, some white crane, maybe the crazy drunk master, mantis, qi gong, etc..... It's a cool little park with good energy. A great place to get tossed around by little old Taiwanese men.

Chiang Kai Shek park is also where some groups practice, but once again I think they changed the name to something more politically correct since Ma's been in charge. This is where Lou De xiu teaches his style of Bagua. The last time I was there he had tons of foreign students so that might be a good option for you if your into it and your transportation and schedule allow for it.

Some of the more famous masters also have physical schools, websites, and don't teach in parks. There are also some like my Gao Bagua Sifu, that don't teach publicly. It's going to take some guanxi and/or yuánfèn and some skills to find and be accepted by these and if your only staying for 6 months it's likely a waste of time to even try.

 

You just need to get out and watch and meet some people until you find an art and teacher that works for you. There are also a few old threads on the local forum to answer this very question. You can also google it once you have a more specific idea of what you want to learn. I seriously don't think you will have a problem in Taipei finding some good teachers to choose from, maybe right in front of your apartment in a little unnamed park.

[madMUHHH]

Housing sucks in Taipei compared to the rest of Taiwan. You might have to share an apartment. Don't rent an apartment near a school or a temple.

 

 

Hey there,

I am currently looking out for some appartments and I was just wondering, what exactly is the reason for this? The noise level?

Edited June 11, 2013 by madMUHHH

[JustBHappy]

Yes exactly, it can be quite noisy.

I think that once you get here and meet some people that you will have a better chance of finding a good apartment. There are likely some helpful resources at the school also. For many of us, paying our dues while living at the shitty hostel near the main station has become a rite of passage. One could write a book about the characters... er creatures they encountered while there.

I would also highly recommend trying to find an apartment that is near one of the MRT stops. It's a great system and it's a lot more civilized than the ones you find in China. People will actually wait for passengers to get out before walking/pushing into the MRT car.

Edited June 12, 2013 by JustBHappy

[de_paradise]

For many of us, paying our dues while living at the shitty hostel near the main station has become a rite of passage. Once could write a book about the characters... er creatures they encountered while there.

 

Ah ha ha. Yep. Happy Family, Taipei hostel, thats before I discovered the grungy hotels behind the station rented by the month.

 

www.tealit.com to find aparments, also http://rent.591.com.tw/, and a site called Rakuya, and also Yahoo Taiwan called Chimo has listings somewhere if you can navigate it. Not like the old days where we had to schlep around areas looking at red colored notices.

[madMUHHH]

Ah ha ha. Yep. Happy Family, Taipei hostel, thats before I discovered the grungy hotels behind the station rented by the month.

 

www.tealit.com to find aparments, also http://rent.591.com.tw/, and a site called Rakuya, and also Yahoo Taiwan called Chimo has listings somewhere if you can navigate it. Not like the old days where we had to schlep around areas looking at red colored notices.

 

Yeah, I already know about tealit.com.

 

Concerning the other sites.

Woah, holy smokes! Soo many Chinese characters! Who the hell is supposed to be able to read that!? Those Chinese people are simply crazy. Haha, just kidding. My Chinese is fairly basic though, so we'll see if I'll be able to make much of those sites. The fact that I only know simplified characters, doesn't help either. 我说一点儿汉语。 But thanks anyways!

Edited June 12, 2013 by madMUHHH

[de_paradise]

The translate option on your browser? (I use google chrome)

 

Theres a martial art bookstore with some English books at Chongqing South Road, Taipei, No. 63, 5th Floor, Room 501 that is called http://www.lionbooks.com.tw/ Lots of times there is pamphets from teachers who have ongoing classes, in Chinese of course.