Some souvenirs form Taiwan’s Palace Museum
It always makes sense when somebody claims that the National Palace Museum in Taipei is a must-visit for every Taiwanese people. As a matter of fact, though, I had never been there until this summer, as I live in the southern part of the island and I seldom visit Taipei before high school.
Nevertheless, I’ve noticed that souvenirs from this museum are very characteristic of the eastern culture, and are very suitable as presents not only for friends but also in international exchange activities. The museum also hosts a quite-famous Facebook page to introduce their products in an interesting manner.
As my family drove all the way north to help my sister move into the dorm at the end of summer vacation, we also got a chance to hang around Taipei as tourists. Thanks to this, I eventually made it to visit the National Palace Museum, and of course, I picked up some souvenirs that I discovered right during my visit. I will make some brief introductions of them below.
Mini Magnet: Jadeite Cabbage
翠玉白菜小景磁鐵 NT$200 (US$6.5)
A lovely fridge magnet which can also stand as a display itself. The Jadeite Cabbage is one of unofficial “3 treasures”, on which a very wide variety of products are based. We can even see a particular section of “Jade cabbage” within the best-sellers on the shop’s official site.
On the background of this magnet is a paint of Qiu Ying (仇英 桐陰晝靜圖, Ming Dynasty) and a poem made for it.
Ruler-Man
神來一把尺-漢子 NT$100 (US$3.2)
The National Palace Museum Shop is famous for its affordable stationeries. With some fun words from emperors of Qing Dynasty, many like to buy them to family members or friends as a blessing.
朕就是這樣漢子，就是這樣秉性，就是這樣皇帝。爾等大臣若不負朕，朕再不負爾等也。勉之！
On the ruler writes the first three sentences above by Kangxi Emperor, meaning “I am such man, such disposition, such an emperor.”
Maps of Taiwan
臺灣地圖(經摺裝) NT$380 (US$12.3)
I am one of the many “geographers,” who participated in the local geography olympiad qualifiers exam and camp during high school. Therefore, it was a huge surprise when I see this ancient map in the bookstore. And it is amazing to have a bookstore inside the museum as well.
This map basically features the western part of Taiwan, about which Chinese people knew more.
最近開始仔細聽羅大佑，戀曲1990循環播放好幾天。可能是由於五聲音階和編曲的節奏，儘管沒有刻意安排傳統樂器，我覺得戀曲1990其實頗有現代中國味，剛好配這篇故宮的文章。這也滿符合我理解的羅大佑人設，東方人骨子裡的東方特色。
再附上中國歌唱節目的版本，兩次轉調和爵士唱法充分展示演唱技巧。我和周董一樣，聽到第一句主歌就煞到了，聲音真棒。我發現很多版本的戀曲1990都是輕鬆的曲風，就沒什麼中國味了，但依然不失為動聽的音樂。
我決定用英文紀錄在臺灣境內的旅遊體驗。
各景點的開箱文網路上多到滿出來，不差我一個；但有時我還是想分享照片和心得，那麼不如在這個英文使用者為主的平臺，用英文發表，除了給外國朋友做個參考，更有助提高我國能見度。
至於一些想法雜記，應該還是會用中文，不然翻成外文不但耗費心神，傳達也沒那麼精確。