Article & photos by Lenora A. Hayman
The food, music, lectures, films and arts provided a busy Labour Day weekend 3-5 Sept. 2011 at the 22nd annual TELUS TAIWANfest 2011.
Along the 600-800 blocks of Granville St. happy families were seated at round tables set with the traditional, red-flowered table cloths, eating Taiwanese and Hakka food, at the Vancouver 125, the first Taiwanese Street Banquet in Vancouver. I tried a giant octopus ball, a rice cake filled with cabbage, quail egg, shrimp, onion, ginger and corn together with a refreshing mango, green tea and milk drink.
After Chef Hung, a 3-time champion of Taiwan’s Beef Noodle contest, had completed his demonstration, the waiting in the long line-up was worthwhile to try his winning recipe.
The Jing Si Tea Ceremony was poured harmoniously by Josephine Lee of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, inaugurated by the Buddhist nun Dharma Master Cheng Yen. Jing Si means “contemplating in a peaceful way”. Master Cheng Yen encourages us “to harbour good thoughts, speak good words and do good deeds” This wonderful group has voluntarily provided assistance to the tornado survivors in the USA, Haiti earthquake and Japanese tsunami. At the festival they were manning the different recycling boxes.
At the Chinese Medical Consultation Tent, I learned that those with liver dysfunction are more vulnerable to declining eyesight and not to assume that decline in vision is an unavoidable part of aging!
Prof. Jolan Hsieh, Ph.D is an Associate Professor at the College of Indigenous Studies at the National Dong Hwa University, having received her Ph.D in Justice Studies at Arizona State University, USA. Prof. Hsieh, gave an excellent seminar on (De) Constructing Indigenous Stereotypes in Taiwan. Prof. Hsieh is a member of the Tainan County coastal region Ping Pu Siraya group, one of the 14 recognized Taiwanese Indigenous Aboriginal or First Nation tribes. Other Taiwan Indigenous people live in the mountain areas. There maybe 20 non-recognized and unidentified aboriginal groups remaining in Taiwan. The Taiwan Aboriginals are not Asian and some believe they are Austronesian related to those living in Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Oceania(Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia). Others believe that Taiwan is the original homeland of all Austronesians. There are now assigned, Indigenous seats in the Taiwanese National Legislature.
At the Roundhouse were creative displays from the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan’s first ceramic theme museum. The Danyon Studio had a quaint, giraffe ceramic set and the Excellence Collection, a ceramic stapler embossed with the national flower, the plum blossom, which only blooms in the winter. For 38 years the Shin Tai Yuan International Development Co, Ltd. has been in the business of ceramic glass transfer, printing and blending art into life. It is one of the suppliers of Disney and Starbucks. Their Red Flower series of coffee mugs, coasters and plates on display were one of Taiwan’s top 10 souvenirs.
The TELUS Main Stage, in front of the Art Gallery was constantly busy with film and live acts.
Ming Cheng Huang aka “Mr.Candle’, a circus artist, has taken photos of himself, handstanding and handwalking around Taiwan on roof tops and cliffs and now Niagara Falls and in Vancouver. He showed us how to train a talent into a job, by following a dream, having a life of his own choosing and bringing attention to our environment.
The glamorous and talented Taiwan Rising Musou Girls’ Band played instruments such as liuqin, yangqin, xiaoruan, zhongrun, pipa, erhu, cello and percussion fusing east and west music.
The Guardians of Taiwan with faces half-painted with bright tattoos, focused on combining Taiwanese Folk with Rock and Roll.
This was followed by the Techno Prince- a dance parade of 3rd Prince Li Nezha (a Shang Dynasty 1766BC -1050BC Deity in mythology) in the form of a young man with a huge head mask, fighting demons to protect people at temple carnivals. Children and adults joined him in a modern, pop-culture dance to the tempos of electronic music.
On Sunday evening, an Olympic-size crowd swayed to the Alternative Taiwanese Rock Band called Champion Della Ding, a beautiful, young, China-born, Taiwan-based star, backed by the Magic Power band had the young folk, screaming with delight, when she sang Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” in English.
All the well-behaved crowd was still on a high as they safely, rushed home.
All photos by Lenora A. Hayman.