Taiwan's Hawaii

07.06.2010
Kenting Beach
Nan Wan (South Bay) Recreation Area


Yesterday I went to “Taiwan’s Hawaii” – Kenting Beach. Kenting is a peninsula in the south of Taiwan and most of it is protected as a National Park. The bay to the west of the peninsula is very calm and the beaches there are popular for swimming and recreation. The National Park designation means the water is by far the cleanest and clearest I have seen anywhere in this part of Asia. (Compare to the trash actually floating in the water in the swimming beach in Hong Kong). The water is green blue, clear, and surrounded by lush jungle covered mountains. (Which my husband Jesse had to try to ‘machete’ his way through to dig up rock samples) The sand on the beach is not bad and is kept pretty clean for the number of people visiting and leaving behind cigarette butts and napkins en masse. I have to say it is the best I have seen a ‘scenic recreation’ site kept in Asia thus far. It was very enjoyable to swim here – the water was warm and clean. The comparison to Hawaii is a bit of a stretch, but not too far. It is beautiful – but it is developed, too, as with all scenic areas I have encountered in Asia. If the crowds, traffic, noise, grime, and grit of Taibei are getting to you, a weekend in Kenting swimming at South Bay beach would be a welcome respite.

Having lived in southern California and grown up going to the beach in Florida every year, I have particular expectations about ‘beach behaviors’. Going to the beach in China is completely different than in North America. For example, there is a small area designated for swimming, rather than the whole beach. Some places in the US divide the beach between surfing and swimming areas to avoid collisions, but in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan there is a designated swimming area and needless to say it does not extend beyond where an average person can remain standing in the water. In some places there are also shark nets, though I do not know if they are actually necessary or part of some sort of paranoia. I understand the tides and undertow in the ocean here are strong and dangerous, but I also think there is an element of feeling that if everything is controlled and organized it is better. The focus on control and organization runs throughout Chinese culture in nearly all of my personal experiences. To have a free for all on a public beach like in the US would be much too chaotic.

Also notable is the Chinese desire to avoid the sun. At the beach in Kenting, similar to vacation spots in Mexico, the banana boat, jet ski, and inner tube rides are very popular. There are many things to entertain oneself because to lie in the sun is simply not one of the choices. Now, we all know sun exposure is harmful and can cause skin cancer. I suppose the general American approach to this is to either not care, or to lather on sunscreen, throw on sunglasses and a ball cap and then not to worry too much about it. The Chinese really, really do not want to burn or even grow tan because it is considered a sign of lower class to have brown skin. So you see then in long sleeves, full face covered with a scarf, and always, always under a large umbrella. It is without question you will purchase the large sun umbrella. I enjoy the sunshine and being a ‘healthy’ tan – although I am pretty sure such a thing is a fiction. I wear sunscreen, but I do not avoid the sun as Chinese women do. They comment on my brown skin – I am not sure how to take it – as, “I am worried about your health,” or “I am confused why an educated woman would have brown skin,” or “How hideously ugly your brown skin appears,” or “You should worry about looking like an old woman, lao wai (term used for foreigners in China and Taiwan meaning ‘old foreigner’).” I guess it is all of the above. It is interesting to travel and to experience different conceptions of beauty – it is good for all of us to experience the slight discomfort of not fitting the local idea of beauty. I hope it allows us to experience the covers of the magazines at the grocery checkout and their ubiquitous ‘beauty advice’ differently. At least we can recognize them as a local cultural hegemony – a product being sold to American women using subtler marketing techniques than the used car salesman yelling “I can make YOU a deal!”

Speaking of the cover of Cosmo magazine, Chinese women are much more conservative in their bathing attire than European or American women. Although I saw bikinis for sale in the stores near the beach, I never once saw the bare stomach of a Taiwanese woman. If they were wearing a bathing suit at all, it included shorts or a skirt and a short or long sleeved t shirt over top of it. This is partly related to sun exposure but also a conservative culture of body exposure. I always wear a one piece here - I do not go so far as to also wear shorts and a t-shirt to swim, but I know better than to sport my string bikini welcome on the sands of Salt Creek or Newport Beaches (in other years when I was a few pounds lighter).