Shan Ding Lu

Daliao is very working class. It sits right on the industrial saturated rural edge of Kaohsiung city.

Our immediate neighborhood is made up of ordinary working people. The type Australian politicians like to call “battlers”. They are also a wonderful mix of young and old. They are mostly native Taiwanese but a few KMT immigrants, Indonesian and Philippine maids and Vietnamese brides as well.

Taiwanese is the language of the streets. The community loudspeaker only broadcasts in Taiwanese, the young and middle-age communicate in Mandarin between themselves but the old and intergenerational language is Taiwanese. Most houses contain three generations, some four. Of the six houses surrounding us there are 4-2, 4-3, 6-2, 8-3, 6-3, 5-3 (people-generations) and us at 5-2.

The house next door sells vegetarian meals on a very low key basis.

Not far away the local breakfast store provides a variety of tasty and filling meals.

Every day a dozen or so vendors drive by selling fruit and vegetables, household items and sweet tofu snacks. There is even one that occasionally comes by collecting old scooters.

The temple at the end of the street is a key social point and the place for many local activities.

The street is a very social place. After school and in the evening there are always kids out riding bikes, people out chatting, playing badminton and generally whiling the time away.

There are a few Vietnamese wives and a lot of Indonesian maids. An Indonesian maid is now the primary form of elderly care.

Overall, the very noticeable thing is the good healthy mix of young and old

There are plenty more photos from around the neighborhood in The neighborhood album section.

Tags: Around Da Liao, Children, Shan Ding Lu // 8 Comments »