Food.
Lots of Food.
Wait…I should probably explain what a Taiwanese Hakka is, just so you know.
Just in case you don’t know.
In broad, general strokes, Taiwan has 3 ethnic groups: Aboriginal, Hakka, Hoklo, and Immigrant (a.k.a “Mainlanders”). Aboriginals are those that are native to Formosa (and surrounding islands that make up Taiwan). They are the ones that migrated to and settled the island (and surrounding islands) first. Hoklo are descendant from labor imported from Fujian province by the Dutch during the the period that Formosa was a Dutch colony. They are primarily a mix of lowland aboriginal and Fujianese. They consider themselves to be culturally Taiwanese. Immigrants are mainland Chinese that immigrated to Taiwan from China starting in the 50s and, thanks to continued KMT “nationalist” programs during the 60s and 70s, primarily consider themselves “culturally Chinese”.
Aidan Studies a Model of Traditional Taiwanese Hakka House
Hakka are descendant from the first and second waves of immigration (~1914 and 1918, if I remember correctly) from China. They are primarily from Guangdong and Fujian in mainland China, but do not consider themselves to be “Chinese”. They consider themselves to be Taiwanese.
Here’s the Wikipedia article on the Taiwanese people if you want to read more.
Okay, now that the educational stuff is out of the way, back to the food. Honestly, before going to the Hakka Exposition most of my experience with Hakka food hadn’t been that great…”salty” comes to mind. Of course, there are good reasons for that, such as salt being a great preservative when there’s no refrigeration available, but still…salty.
And some of it is, but I was really surprised that some of my Taiwanese favorites were either Hakka in origin or had Hakka versions that tasted wonderful.
Yeah, I know. I’m sounding like Hungry Girl. 
But it’s the truth. Sausages (a nightmarket staple), bamboo rice, rice dumplings, and on and on and on. Of course, many Hakka are also farmers, meaning there were also plenty of fresh fruits to be had. It is the peak of strawberry season in Taiwan, you know 
.
Aidan Eating Condinsed Milk-Covered Strawberries
There’s even stuff for the kids…sweet popcorn, strawberries smothered in condensed milk… oh, you mean non-food related things? There are interactive displays around as well as DIY crafts. YoYo TV even showed up ~2pm and put on a show.
A YoYo show at the Hakka Expo. Don’t ask, I haven’t the slightest. But my kids enjoyed it.
If you want to go there are only a couple weeks left as the exposition ends on February 15th. In Taipei, just take the MRT to JingAn and go outside. There’s a free shuttle bus that leaves every 40 minutes. There’s no entrance fee to either the expo, which is primarily outside, or the Hakka Museum.
But be sure to bring money for food… .
Ian chomping down on sweet popcorn.
Further Information:
Taipei County Hakka Expo (2008-2009)
Dates: 2008/12/27 – 2009/2/15
Website (Chinese): www.hakkaexpo.com.tw/main.php
Taipei County Hakka Museum Website (English): en.hakka.tpc.gov.tw/web/Home
Note: Sorry about the lack of photos. I took a number of photos digitally but my storage HDD is having “issues” at the moment. B&W film photos will come later.
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haha.. thanks for the nod/link…