Phoenix rising in the backstreets of Taiwan

Posted Tuesday, January 09, 2007, 6:17 PM by Lonely Planet

Joshua Samuel Brown discovers he has something in common with the colourful locals...

The Combat Zone got its name back when Taiwan was still known in some circles as "Free China" and American soldiers came here in droves. The neighborhood was a major red light district, a little slice of Bangkok.

Times have changed, and nowadays it's difficult to say exactly who the habitues of these few grungy alleys really are. Shuangcheng Street, the main road from which the alleys branch off, is a night market to the south while North of the main drag there are a few pubs - places like B52 which seem to be more popular with Filipino and Indonesian migrant workers than either locals or westerners. As for the sex bars, there's still one alley dedicated to them - Lane 32.

It was on this alley that I had a strangely beautiful encounter, innocent yet erotic, with one of the women who works there. Each of the dozen or more pubs had two or three scantily clad women sitting out front, smoking cigarettes, rubbing their hands together against the chill.

I was not merely the only foreigner out on the street, I was the only customer, period. At every bar I passed, the girls called to me and invited me in for a drink. I got to the end of the street, saw what there was to see, and headed back. At the corner, an older woman – obviously the mama-san of one of the bars - walked up to me and asked me why I was cradling books in my arms. I smiled and told her I was a travel book writer, that I was researching an update for a guidebook to Taiwan.

"Well, why don't you list my bar?" She said. "Lots of nice girls."

I blushed slightly. "I'm sure they're all very nice. But the guidebook doesn't really list, um..."

I searched for the most diplomatic Chinese term. One of the women, thin, about 30 with dark eyes and a puffy white sweater drawn over her shoulders, looked me up and down, her eyes resting on my copy of the old Lonely Planet guide I was updating.

"What I mean to say," I continued "is that our book is really focused more on introducing westerners to Taiwan's customs and history - parks and museums. Culture, that sort of thing."

The woman in the white sweater spoke up softly. "I have culture."

I blinked, not knowing how to interpret the comment.

"She is a professional love-maker!" blurted the mama-san.

"I have culture," repeated the prostitute, ignoring the mama-san. "You could say I am like a museum."

I was intrigued. "How so?"

The prostitute bent down and rolled her left pant-leg up to her knee. Every inch of skin revealed was covered in tattoos. Deep forest greens and reds, birds and trees. Butterflies.

"Is your entire..." I began.

"Oh yes, everything. My breasts. Not my nipples, that's too much pain."

She pulled down one corner of her sweater to show me her shoulder, around which I thought I could see part of a phoenix rising in flames. It felt as if we were sharing a moment of sorts. I wanted to show her my own phoenix tattoo, something I brought back from Mainland China years ago, but I was wearing too many layers. Plus, I suspected that stripping in front of a prostitute might entail contractual obligation of some sort.

"Are you going to come into the bar and spend some money?" the mama-san asked in English, clearly in business long enough to have little patience for freeloaders.

"Not tonight. Really, I should be going. So much work..."

"OK. Come back when you want to spend money."

I headed towards the main street. "Goodbye!" Chirped the tattooed prostitute. "Come back sometime so I can show you more culture!"

Read more of Joshua's adventures in Taiwan as he researches the guidebook at
http://josambro.blogspot.com/.

Labels: On the road

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