That much of the nation’s tourism is going in the wrong direction was evidenced in the appearance of several giant robots from the Transformers movie franchise in the hot springs town of Jhihben (知本) in Taitung County.
After the robots became popular with visitors and parents were seen photographing their children with the models, the township decided to make them a permanent part of the landscape.
There are also plans for a Transformers-themed resort and shops that would sell licensed merchandise. The township is working on a plan that would require NT$15 million (US$506,278) from the central government.
The Transformers series topped Taiwan’s box offices in 2011 and 2014, easily beating Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (彩虹戰士:賽德克巴萊), which was wildly successful by Taiwanese standards.
From purely a business standpoint, placing giant robots as a tourist attraction might make sense. However, from a cultural point of view, this is simply continuing along the unsettling trend of building European-style castles and other gimmicks that have nothing to do with Taiwan.
Interestingly, poet and presidential adviser Wu Sheng (吳晟) on Saturday said that since the “nation’s subjective consciousness is not strong, it cannot resist the incursion of foreign cultures.”
“Taiwan used to be home to many lovely things, but politicians have ruined them with policies that were created to please people,” he added.
Wu might be referring to history and the larger scheme of things, but his words still ring true in this case.
The town understandably wants to boost its tourism, especially since hot springs are now easily accessible all around Taiwan.
However, it chose the laziest way — just grab some characters from a popular Hollywood movie that has nothing to do with the town or even the nation, or the general geographic region, for that matter.
The plan serves only domestic tourism — and within that, only the segment that likes to go to places just to take selfies and not do much else. It will not promote the local culture or encourage people to stay and explore the area, which in the long run will be much more valuable once the novelty of the Transformers wears off.
Taiwanese keep talking about promoting the nation to foreigners and increasing its international visibility, but this will do nothing to help attract foreign visitors, and even shuts out local tourists who are interested in delving into the local culture.
Even worse is the long-term plan to turn the town into a Transformers town instead of relying on local specialties. That taxpayers’ money could fund it is simply an insult to anyone who cares about preserving and promoting Taiwanese culture.
It is not sustainable, either. What will happen when the franchise’s popularity wanes?
If the hot springs are no longer able to give the town a competitive edge, there are other local elements to draw from. There is a strong Aboriginal presence in the area and in a time when interest in Aboriginal culture is growing, that could be a way to go that also ties into the land.
It seems that there are some missed opportunities that could have been explored before jumping into the Hollywood gimmick bandwagon.
This is not to say that Transformers is bad because it is foreign; the movies are actually entertaining, but there is a place for everything. The robots would make sense in urban areas, where everything is pretty much Westernized anyway, but for quaint rural towns, they are misguided atmosphere-destroyers.
Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan in late February. During their various meetings with Taiwan’s leaders, this delegation never missed an opportunity to emphasize the strength of their cross-party consensus on issues relating to Taiwan and China. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Their instruction upon taking the reins of the committee was to preserve China issues as a last bastion of bipartisanship in an otherwise deeply divided Washington. They have largely upheld their pledge. But in doing so, they have performed the
It is well known that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ambition is to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by unification of Taiwan, either peacefully or by force. The peaceful option has virtually gone out of the window with the last presidential elections in Taiwan. Taiwanese, especially the youth, are resolved not to be part of China. With time, this resolve has grown politically stronger. It leaves China with reunification by force as the default option. Everyone tells me how and when mighty China would invade and overpower tiny Taiwan. However, I have rarely been told that Taiwan could be defended to
It should have been Maestro’s night. It is hard to envision a film more Oscar-friendly than Bradley Cooper’s exploration of the life and loves of famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. It was a prestige biopic, a longtime route to acting trophies and more (see Darkest Hour, Lincoln, and Milk). The film was a music biopic, a subgenre with an even richer history of award-winning films such as Ray, Walk the Line and Bohemian Rhapsody. What is more, it was the passion project of cowriter, producer, director and actor Bradley Cooper. That is the kind of multitasking -for-his-art overachievement that Oscar
Chinese villages are being built in the disputed zone between Bhutan and China. Last month, Chinese settlers, holding photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), moved into their new homes on land that was not Xi’s to give. These residents are part of the Chinese government’s resettlement program, relocating Tibetan families into the territory China claims. China shares land borders with 15 countries and sea borders with eight, and is involved in many disputes. Land disputes include the ones with Bhutan (Doklam plateau), India (Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin) and Nepal (near Dolakha and Solukhumbu districts). Maritime disputes in the South China