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Betel nut beauties intrigue Austrian

Two betel nut beauties prepare their product in the Taizhong area. TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO

The scantily clad young betel nut sales girls, commonly known as binlang hsishi (betel nut beauties), who can be seen in glass booths along roads throughout Taiwan, reflect the country's hybrid culture, an Austrian artist said in Taipei yesterday.

Karl-Heinz Klopf, a public art specialist from Vienna, said that while the betel nut beauty social phenomenon is unique to Taiwan, it actually incorporates many foreign popular culture elements.

"Their singing and dancing performances integrate Taiwan's folk arts as well as Japanese and Western pop cultures," Klopf said, adding that in his eyes, binlang hsishi is both local and global in character.

Klopf made the remarks prior to his departure after a month-long study tour financed by the Austrian Culture Bureau. Klopf is the first European artist to study Taiwan's binlang hsishih.

He has explored the subject from the perspective of urban development, cultural and sociological perspectives and offered many fresh insights. He has filmed a documentary featuring interviews with betel nut beauties and their employers as well as diverse types of betel nut stands along major streets.

According to his study, Klopf said the betel nut beauties represent a perfect public art, and the phenomenon also epitomizes Taiwan's evolution from an agricultural society to an industrialized one.

Initially, Klopf said, betel nut was only a leisure item among Aborigines, and betel nut trees were generally grown in remote mountainous regions. Over the years, betel nut has become a popular "chewing gum" in local society.

"And the emergence of betel nut beauties is a symbol of Taiwan's transformation into an industrial society," he said.

Betel nut beauties are usually concentrated on the outskirts of major cities. Klopf described betel nut booths as structures situated between urban and rural areas.

Once late at night, Klopf recalled, he drove from downtown Taipei to a highway which had many glass-walled betel nut stands along the side of the road.

"At that time of night, the downtown districts were already shrouded in darkness, but the betel nut booths were all brightly lit. You could see the lights from afar, and they looked like shining stars in the night sky," he said.

Coming from Vienna -- an old city known for its rigorous urban planning and strict architectural rules, Klopf said he took great interest in Taiwan's rampant illegal structures.
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