Business before Customs

I went down town today just to get out of the house because it’s just too cold indoors. Concrete apartments are terrible places to live in, cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

Anyway, sort of by accident I came across a pre-Chinese New Year event – really just a cash grab for local businesses I think. Well, What I really wanted was “Chou Doufu” or that smelly Tofu that many people notice when they come to China. Honestly, I love it and since I don’t eat much meat it is my source of protein. Besides I don’t actually think that it smells all that bad.

So I am wondering down the local street, which is covered by tents all the way down 3 blocks of streets and crowded with people looking for my favorite Chou doufu vendor. I arrived to find that they were closed, normally they are always open – and found another vendor further down the series of tents. I bought one for 40 yuan but it was just one! It was coated in some kind of sweet disgusting sauce. This is not chou dou fu! It doesn’t even have the authentic taste, and there was no authentic smell around! I thought this event must must be some kind of cash grab – pre Chinese New Year style for the following reasons: #1 the taste was not right, #2 there was no smell around. It was definitely a cash grab and it was in a watered down version of traditional Chinese food to please business and overly sensitive people. A little further down, in fact at the very end of the street and all the commercial vendors I did find one place – oh yes the wonderful smell, and the taste – the taste the way it should be – with lots of togarashi or hot pepper sauce.

Just another way where Taiwan seems to feel that they must water down their culture to satisfy business. If it was another country then it would be fine but this is Taiwan be yourself not someone else.