Topic "My Taipei My Street 2 First Look: Taipei Residents · Zhan Hongzhi

Written by | Zhan Hongzhi (Chairman of PChome Online) Photography | Chen Jianzhong

I came to Taipei to study when I was young, and I have been involved in the world since then. I have lived in the world for nearly half a century (only a short period of time in New York), of course, I occasionally travel, long or short, and even forget it. Go back, but Taipei is the place I call "home" after all...

Although it is a home, I have moved many times in Taipei (14 times in total), and the location of my home is actually a bit volatile. Earlier, my home seemed to be just a place to sleep. When I woke up, I walked around the streets and alleys of Taipei, looking for something, looking around, full of curiosity. Today’s home seems to be glued together. I don’t move anymore. I don’t move around very much. Taipei is still there every day. Looking out from the floor-to-ceiling windows of my home, the vicissitudes of life are evolving before my eyes. Changes, viaducts were erected, the skyline changed, and I also knew from the newspapers, magazines and the Internet that there were many new things happening every day. I occasionally got a heartbeat, but most of the action didn’t happen, I just lived in a small room. Inside. I'm fine, I know Taipei is fine too, just forget about each other, I don't use her much anymore.

I consider myself to be a lover of Taipei. Any friend or enemy who speaks ill of Taipei will be defended by my passionate, devious, warm or joking. Some of the main purposes are indeed to see me, and by the way, to verify whether the "my city" I describe is really as interesting as I said.

Some of these foreign friends will be taken by me to Binjiang Market, some will be taken to Huaxi Street or Dihua Street, and some will be taken to the Palace Museum or Eslite Bookstore, depending on what kind of people they are; Of course I also have a list of restaurants, roadside stalls, dessert shops, coffee shops that I can take these friends to. For the above-mentioned places and stores, I have my own set of stories and lines that are overcooked and hyped. I hope these friends will be genuinely happy and amazed (I also arrange parties where they get to know some interesting people in Taipei) and they will say, "Wow, Zhan, thank you, we never knew Taipei was so interesting, I I must come again." I nodded and smiled, with a narration in my heart: "You are the 247th person to be deceived."

But the Taipei that I use every day is only a very small part of the real Taipei (even the shape is broken to be difficult to explain, just a few small points). I'm no longer the seeker and finder, I'm like a cat crouching on the sofa most of the time, the existence of the world is just a concept, and it has nothing to do with me. The beautiful Taipei streets in my mind are probably long gone in the real world. Maybe I should confess more frankly. What I love may not be the real Taipei with geographical significance, but the afterimage of Taipei with its own youth.

For example, Yongkang Street in Taipei is now a fashionable tourist street. I lived in Jiekuma on Yongkang Street for more than ten years. At that time, it was not lively, and there were no tourists on the road. They all went to the street to buy vegetables and wash their hair. Neighbors with familiar faces. Now it has been changed to Showa Town, an antiquities market. At that time, it was still the Jinan Market with abundant fruits and vegetables, meat and fish. The vegetable vendors were familiar with us. My mother-in-law is very old. Sometimes she does not want to carry heavy things, so she calls Ask the vegetable vendor to bring vegetables or fruit over. Vegetable and fruit vendors are not always honest. Sometimes there are some materials that are not very fresh hidden in the bottom of the basket. The old lady is not happy. The next day, she ran to the vendor with the rotten fruit, dropped the things and said, "Hey, this Please eat." No one replaced anyone, and they still bought things every day, and they were still old neighbors who depended on each other.

I also always wear shorts and slippers and carry a pot to the street vendor next to the park to buy rice noodle soup. Once, I didn’t expect the diva singer Cai Qin, who was also a neighbor, and she was accompanied by Hong Kong superstar Leslie Cheung. Feeling ashamed, but still bit the bullet to say hello, Cai Qin warmly helped to introduce: "This is what I often mention to you..." Leslie Cheung's eyes were bright, with a bright smile on his face, he held my hand tightly : "It's such an honor, thank you for writing the song for me." I knew he took me for Liang Hongzhi, but I had no time to defend myself, so I said embarrassedly, "You're welcome, you're welcome."

However, Yongkang Street became lively afterward, bars began to appear, there would be noisy customers at night, storefronts of Wenqing's creative small things began to appear, and grocery stores selling pots and brushes began to withdraw. The small shop where I went for a walk in the morning to eat Taiwanese dried noodles was also closed. The tailor’s shop was still there, but there were few regular customers. The master stood at the door with a tape measure around his neck. When he saw me, he couldn’t help but touting, “Zhan Sir, you haven't made shirts for a long time, come in and look at the materials." The light and comfortable old residential area has turned into a place where new fashion sprouts, and I know I should move.

Now I live in an old apartment on Xinyi Road (sometimes I feel it is necessary to "do more"), I have gradually become a dweller who does not go out very much. After my wife passed away, there are even fewer guests at home. . I go to get off work every day, clean cat litter and prepare cat food, cook and make coffee by myself, and I rarely sit in coffee shops. I do most of the things near where I live, I buy bread at a regular store, I buy Taiwanese bread to go to Lily Garden, I buy European bread to go to Purebread, I pick up the parcels I bought online at the regular Xiaoqi….

I still use some places in Taipei. For example, I go to Binjiang Market and Xinwei Market to buy vegetables; I go to "Yudingwu" on Zhongshan North Road to buy "Xingong Pork", and "Meifu Supermarket" in Neihu I buy aged sirloin steak from Snake River Farms; when I invite my friends to eat Japanese food, I choose "Taoyu" or "Ziyuan"; when I invite my friends to eat French food, I choose "Patrick"; when I eat Chinese food Sometimes, I like to go to "Sanfen Chess" or "Tianxiang Lou"; when I eat Taiwanese food, I choose to go to "Shan Hai Lou" or "Ming Fu"; An unnamed rice noodle soup stall on Liangzhou Street…. I only go to the shops I remember, I no longer explore and discover.

Just when I thought that life was about to be like this, there was nothing unhappy or unwilling, I have seen strong winds and waves in Taipei, and here I have seen street storms with water jets and barbed wire, and here I have seen both passionate and peaceful regime changes. ; I am here to marry and have children, and make friends with all kinds of wise and knowledgeable people. I am happy to live in peace with my city, and I don’t mind taking the occasional street parade. I am very happy to die here. It is a comfortable, safe and comfortable place. 's dwelling place.

But life is not like this. When the heart is still like water, there are always ripples caused by small stones, making life an unexpected little adventure.

Not long ago, I received the Taipei Citizen's "Respect for the Elderly Card" and officially became an officially certified elderly person (the social worker also left a leaflet at the door reminding me of the risks of living alone for elderly people). I was a little bit sad and happy, sadly, is it so soon? Am I getting old? Is my youth all over? I haven't had time to do all the wild and bad things I've longed to imagine. Am I going into my twilight years? The good thing is that life has come to a moment when it seems like I can unload the burden, and I seem to have better reasons for making irresponsible decisions; what's more, it turns out that the elderly have such clear benefits...

One of the benefits is that the MRT and bus are only half price, and 480 yuan is also stored in the card every month for you to use. The night I got the card, I thought I should go for a walk, try this free MRT or bus, and take a longer trip, but where? freshwater? Beitou? Still have no destination, just let the train take you around and take a look at the night view of Taipei? I usually have endless meetings and endless schedules, but suddenly I want to become a Shu Guozhi, relax, take a walk, and can't think of where to go?

I suddenly remembered that I had read Hong Aizhu's "Old-School Girl Shopping Route" not long ago. Entering the subway station not far from home, the Respect for the Elderly card is the leisure card. Once the beep sound is swiped, the gate will open. After entering the carriage, the train swayed, changed trains at Dongmen Station, and then slowly swayed to Sanmin High School. Get off at the station. When I came to Luzhou, of course, what I thought of was a bowl of chopped noodles with clear soup. I remember the small shop I used to like, called "Elephant Chop Noodles". The door of the store was closed, and I remembered that I used to come to eat in the morning. However, Luzhou is a famous place for cutting noodles, and there are so many famous shops. According to the information mentioned in the book, they immediately found a replacement near Yonglian Temple.

After eating the sumptuous sliced noodles and black and white slices, I went to the Yonglian Temple, which was still prosperous during the epidemic, and continued to follow what the book said. I walked into the market, found the "weird Laozi green herbal tea", and bought a cup of green herbal tea. , which used to be the standard drink of my childhood, and I haven't tasted it in years now. After drinking the herbal tea, I strolled to the traditional cake shop "Longfengtang". The cake shop has many fancy styles and dazzled eyes. I greedily bought a bag full of egg yolk crisps, curry crisps, mung bean cakes, red turtles, and hemp cakes. I found a bench in a nearby small park, sat down and ate a mung bean fen, and then watched the stalls with interest in the night market, but I couldn't eat anything.

After visiting an urban village that I hadn't visited for many years, I came home with a bag of cakes. For those who lived in the dwelling, this was a rare and surprising trip to Taipei. Don't feel sorry for me, my quietness and boredom are my way of life, I don't have much future (but who knows?), but enough past to regurgitate. I just need to sit quietly on the sofa and stop adding trouble to the world.

Will Taipei continue to change? She's going to be something I don't know at all, but so what? Most of my life is connected to a city called Taipei. She constitutes the stage for all my struggles to survive, and she also silently becomes the backdrop for all my joys and sorrows. All my memories include a dimly photographed Taipei street. If Taipei can have its own memory, and I also hope that she will remember me, a young man who has worked hard to live here... ●(The original text was first published on the OPENBOOK official website on 2022-08-18)

My Taipei My Street 2
Author: Li Jinlian Editor-in-Chief Publishing: Trojan Culture ➤➤ Coming soon on 8/31

About the Author: Li Jinlian (Editor-in-Chief)

After graduation, he worked as the editor-in-chief of Huanhua Publishing Company, Times Publishing Company, and China Times [Open Volume]. He has won the Times Literature Award, the Golden Tripod Award for Publishing and Reporting, the Golden Tripod Award for Special Contribution, and the Golden Tripod Award for Literary Books. Published a collection of short stories "Sounds of the Mountain" and novel "Floating Water Records"; currently a freelance writer.