Taiwanese really touch your heart

The subway trains and stations in Taiwan are spotless.

DATELINE TAIWAN – Maybe it was because I was holding a map, or maybe it was the puzzled look on my face, but whatever it was a lot of people wanted to help the stranger who seemed lost.

The scene I just described happened today while I was riding Taipei’s marvelous MRT –half subway, half light rail transit (LRT) system– to the northern river city of Tamsui, about an hour outside Taipei.

Unsure of where I was going, I kept looking at the transit map so I didn’t miss my stops en route to the city where Canadian missionary George Leslie Mackay established a hospital and college back in the late 1800s.

My constant referring to the map prompted several people on the train to approach and ask if I needed help. One woman, a Taiwan native who now lives in Vancouver but is here this week for the Mid Autumn Festival, insisted that she take me to the right platform so I got on the right train.

When the people on the train weren’t asking if I needed help finding my way, they were offering me their seat. That’s the kind of people Taiwanese are. They always greet you with a smile and may be even politer than Canadians. They are certainly the nicest people in Asia, which is saying something since most Asians are always kind to strangers.

It’s the people who really sell you on this country and they are the reason Taiwan touches your heart when you’re here.

(By the way, public transportation in Taiwan is really cheap - my fare to Tamsui from Taipei was less than $3 Cdn. One thiong you also notice about the subway system here is that it's very clean - and the people here are proud to tell you that Taipei's Metro is recognized as the cleanest in the world. Now that is something to be proud of.)