​It’s Mid-September and the unusually oppressive heat of summer is fading at last, replaced by the rich, windy weather (and occasional typhoon) for which Taiwan autumns are known. As a cyclist, it’s my favorite time of the year, and this week’s column would probably be about my upcoming weekend cycling plans, if I’d not been sidetracked by an experience I had in Tainan on Monday, delivering a keynote address on the subject of “Branding Taiwan’s Cities”.
現在是九月中旬，夏天異常炎熱的時候正在消失，取而代之的是秋風豐富的獨特台灣天氣（偶爾有颱風）。 作為一名自行車騎士，這是我每一年中最喜歡的一季節，如果不是周一我在台南體驗的一段經歷，本週的文章可能是關於即將到來的周末自行車計劃。我那時候就這個題目發表主題演講 “品牌化台灣的城市”。
 
 
In typical Friday Column tradition (and in keeping with Lao Tzu’s maxim on travel), I may take a winding route to reach the destination.
在典型的“星期五專欄”傳統（並符合老子在旅行中的格言），我可以採取曲折的路線到達目的地。
 
Before coming on board with MyTaiwanTour I worked as a travel writer, both for travel-guide giant Lonely Planet and several dozen other smaller publications, periodicals and travel websites. Though my work brought me to many places around the world (Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Belize and all over China, just to name a few), my specialty has generally been writing about urban areas. I have an affinity for cities, and have always said that given 72 hours in any city I can gather enough information to be able to offer sound advice to any first-time traveler.
在加入MyTaiwanTour之前，我曾擔任過旅遊指南領先者Lonely Planet和其他幾家小型出版社，期刊和旅遊網站的旅行作家。儘管我的工作把我帶到了世界各地（台灣，新加坡，馬來西亞，伯利茲和中國各地，僅舉幾例），但我的專業其實在於城市地區的寫作。我對城市有著濃厚的興趣，並且總是說在任何一個城市72小時都可以收集足夠的訊息來讓任何初次旅行者提供合理的建議。
 
 
My usual method for getting to know a city is as follows: Before leaving, I do some basic research on the city I’m about to visit. Local history, must-see sights, signature dishes, that sort of thing. Once I hit the ground, I forget 90% of this and get myself purposely lost for as many hours as possible. This is in line not just with Lao Tzu’s maxim about having no fixed goals, but also with that of American writer Lawrence Block, who writes, “Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.”
 我通常了解一個新的城市的方法如下：在離開之前，我會對我即將訪問的城市做一些基本研究。當地的歷史，必看的景點，招牌菜等等。一旦我落地，我就忘記了90％，並故意盡可能讓自己迷路和，而且浪費很多時間。這不僅與老子關於沒有固定目標的格言一致，而且與美國作家勞倫斯·布洛克（Lawrence Block）的格言也是一致的，他寫道：“我們最快樂的時刻就是在我們追求某物時偶然發現另一件事情，像遊客一樣。”
 
Lawrence Block is from from New York City, and so am I. Which is as good a segue as any to the subject of City Branding.
If I were to walk into a crowded elevator anywhere in the English speaking world singing
勞倫斯·布洛克來自紐約市，我也是。這就讓我們連續到下一個話題：城市品牌。
如果我在講英語的任何國家走進擁擠的電梯唱這首歌:
 
Start Spreading the news…
I’m leaving today…
I wanna be a part of it…
 
And then point to someone at random, chances are better than average that they’d respond
 然後隨便指出一個人，他們應該會回應如下:

New York, New York!
 
NYC is easily the most well-branded city on the planet. Barely a day goes by in Taiwan where I don’t run into at least a couple of people advertising some aspect of my hometown on their clothing, whether it’s a T-shirt bearing the letters NYC, some variation of the city’s iconic skyline, or just the NY Yankees Logo. I’ve had farmers in rural China ask me where I’m from, and when I’ve answered Niǔyuē (New York), they’ve given me the thumbs up and responded Dà píngguǒ! (The Big Apple!)
 紐約市很容易成為地球上品牌最好的城市。 在台灣我幾乎每天至少會遇到一些穿著廣告我的家某個方面的衣服, 不管是帶有NYC字母的T卹，紐約城的天際線的某個角度，或 只是紐約洋基標誌。 我曾在中國農村有遇過農民問我從哪裡來，當我用中文回答 “紐約” 的時候，他們給了我大拇指，並回應了”大蘋果！”
​
Not surprisingly, New York City has consistently been one of the world’s top ten most visited cities for decades. While I gave up NYC residency about the same time I came legally of age, I’ve never given up my identity as a New Yorker (or the distinctive accent).
毫不奇怪，紐約市數十年來一直是世界十大旅遊的城市之一。 雖然我早就放 棄紐約市居民”法律上的”身份，我還沒有放棄我作為紐約人的身份（或特殊的口音）。

​So, finding myself among esteemed company as one of two keynote speakers at a seminar put on by the Dream Travel Taiwan Alliance (the overarching purpose of which was to share and discuss best practices in international destination marketing and the latest trends in the global tourism industry, specifically as applied to cities looking to develop their own marketability as tourist destinations), I began by speaking about the success that New York has had in branding itself.
 因此，我在 “ 讓世界旅人。看見台灣” (Dream Travel Taiwan Alliance) 舉辦的一個研討會上，發現自己是在重大人物之中當主題講師，主要目的是分享和討論國際目旅遊行銷的最佳實踐和全球旅遊業的最新趨勢 ，特別是適用於希望發展和市場化為旅遊目的地的城市），我首先談到紐約在品牌化方面取得的成功.

I specifically started with New York, despite the fact that I realize the impossibility of any other city replicating NYC’s formula for success. NYC has so many icons (Times Square, The Statue of Liberty, The Empire State Building, a globally-known song called New York, New York, for god’s sake) that it would be impossible for any city lacking these things to ever be as successful at branding itself as a tourist destination.  
Or is it?
 我特意從紐約開始，儘管我意識到任何其他城市都不可能完全模仿紐約市成功的方式。 紐約市有非常多的標誌（紐約時報廣場，自由女神像，帝國大廈，連還有全世界知名的紐約紐約歌曲），任何缺乏這些東西的城市都不可能成功地把自己塑造成旅遊目的地。
還是呢？
 
 First, everything that Singapore does well, it does really well. Great food, great transportation, great nightlife and cool, safe neighborhoods in which to wander. If you’re going to Singapore for those four things, you’re going to have an excellent time. Singapore has fine museums and good shopping, but these are not the things that primarily draw people to visit Singapore. It’s the food, convenience, nightlife and “safely exotic” vibe that brings visitors in by the millions.
 首先，新加坡所做好的一切，確實做得很好。 美味的食物，很棒的交通，良好的夜生活和涼爽，安全的街區，令人放心在其中漫步。 如果你要為了 以上的四件事情去新加坡，你會有一個美好的經驗。 新加坡有很好的博物館和很好的購物場所，但這些並不是主要吸引人來新加坡的東西。 主要是食物，方便，夜生活和“安全的異國情調”的氛圍，帶來數百萬的遊客。
 
 Second, and as importantly, Singapore knows how to get the message out about what it does offer. If I were to walk into any elevator in the world and ask random strangers (in their language of course) about Singapore, chances are better than average that they’d respond with some variation of “Great food, safe, clean and easy to get around.” (I doubt the Merlion would even come up.)   
 其次，同樣重要的是，新加坡知道如何將訊息傳達出去。 如果我要走進世界上任何一台電梯，問任何陌生人（當然是用他們的語言）關於新加坡的話，那麼他們會回應一些“偉大的食物，安全，乾淨，交通方便.” （我懷疑他們會提到魚尾獅。）

​I’m of the opinion that, like in the case of Singapore, iconography will not be the most important part in the success of getting the message out about what Taiwan’s cities have to offer travelers. True, Taipei has done pretty well for itself with Taipei 101 (which kind of serves double duty as overall branding icon for Taiwan), but I don’t believe that people visit Taipei specifically to visit Taipei 101. It may be a focus point, and a good symbol, but a visit to Taipei 101 should just be a small part of any Taipei visit.
 我認為，像新加坡一樣，在傳達台灣的城市能提供給旅客的好處的時候，地標不會是最重要的部分。 的確，台北在101（台灣整體品牌形象的雙重職責）方面做得相當不錯，但我不相信觀光客為了101而專門去拜訪台北.這可能是一個焦點， 且一個很好的象徵，但是參觀台北101應該只是旅遊台北的一小部分。
 
 
Other Taiwanese cities offer their own unique variety of experiences and, like Singapore, defy traditional single-sentence branding.
 台灣的其他城市也有自己獨特的體驗，也像新加坡一樣不符合傳統的 “單句品牌化。”

Tainan (where the meeting was held) is a hotbed of culture – not just traditional Han Chinese culture, but a sort of new, hipster culture with a vibrant nightlife featuring artist-run coffee shops and collectives in winding cobblestone alleys built during the Qing dynasty. (Not for nothing is one of the chapters of my upcoming book called “Tainan is the Portland of Taiwan”.)
 台南（會議的地點）是一個文化焦點，不僅是傳統的漢族文化，而且是一種新興的時髦文化，擁有充滿活力的夜生活，藝術家經營的咖啡店和聚集體在清朝修建的鵝卵石小巷。 （順便提一下, 我即將出版的“台南是台灣的波特蘭”書的其中一個章節是關於這個）
 
I spent a most excellent week in Taichung earlier this year, visiting world-class museums, art parks, restaurants and night markets. I also went scuba diving in a hotel in the middle of the city. (Google “Dive Cube Hotel Taichung” for more info on this most unique venue, a hotel with an 18-meter-deep scuba diving pool).
今年早些時候，我在台中度過了一個非常好的一周，參觀世界級的博物館，藝術公園，餐館和夜市。 我也在市中心的一家酒店去潛水。 （去谷歌:“台中潛水立方酒店”了解更多有關這個最獨特場地的資料，一家擁有18米深潛水游泳池的酒店）。
 
Kaohsiung, which many international visitors have traditionally seen as a place to pass through on the way to Kenting, is working to brand itself as a sort of slower-paced Taipei, an international harbor city with art, music and culture, not to mention amazing temples and superlative food. I spent several days there earlier this year and found it to be all that and more. Still, I’d be hard pressed to summarize this into a single sentence, let alone an icon – besides that hotel with the two legs (and maybe the Love River).
高雄，一個許多國際遊客被視為去墾丁必經過的地方，正在努力將自身品牌作為一種節奏慢台北的國際港口城市，藝術，音樂和文化，更何況驚人寺廟和最高級的食物。今年早些時候，我在那邊待了好幾天，發現它真的是這樣子, 還有更多。儘管如此，我還是很難把以上所說的總結成一句話，更不用說一個地標- 除了那個有兩條腿的酒店（也許愛河）。
 
And this may be for the best. To paraphrase another speaker at the seminar (one whose finger was firmly on the pulse of current travel trends), today’s travel trends are increasingly being shaped by millennials, and millennials are increasingly looking for experiences matching their own interests and passions, rather than some great collective consciousness’ idea of what a vacation should be.
Taiwan’s cities offer a vast array of experiences catering to a wide variety of interests. Though this wide appeal makes Taiwan’s cities difficult to “summarize”, it make them way more worth visiting.
 這可能是最好的情形。我套用在研討會上的另一位發言人的話:（一個非常了解當前的旅遊潮流趨勢），今天的旅遊趨勢日益受到千禧狀，千禧一代越來越多人尋找配自己的興趣和愛好的經驗，而不是一些 “偉大集體” 認為怎麼樣才是渡假。
台灣的城市提供廣泛的經驗，迎合各種各樣的利益。雖然這個廣泛的呼籲使台灣的城市難以“總結”，但這讓它們更值得一看。
 
 
It’s just a question of getting the message out.
And New York City boy though I am, my advice to my friends in charge of doing this is to look to Singapore for inspiration.
Until next week, Joshua Samuel Brown  
Editor in Chief, MyTaiwanTour
 這只是一個讓消息傳播出來的問題。
儘管我是紐約市的男孩，但我對負責這個工作的朋友的建議是: 向新加坡尋求靈感。
直到下週，喬舒亞·薩繆爾·布朗 (Joshua Samuel Brown)
MyTaiwanTour主編
 
(Branding Taiwan’s Cities 品牌化台灣的城市) originally ran at the MyTaiwanTour Journal.  All photos and text posted in the above blog were taken from https://www.mytaiwantour.com/blog/. Follow this link for more stories like this one!
 
Visiting Taiwan? Let MyTaiwanTour help curate your experience. Find them online at https://www.mytaiwantour.com/  

​（Branding Taiwan’s Cities 品牌化台灣的城市）最初跑在MyTaiwanTour學報。 https://www.mytaiwantour.com/blog/. 點擊此鏈接獲得更多這樣的故事！
 
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台灣對外國人很陌生，很稀奇。台灣有的東西會把外國人嚇一大跳。身為美國人的我們想要讓台灣人了解我們外國人對台灣常發生的問號。這不是一個很完整的列表，只是為了讓台灣跟外國跟了解彼此的文化。
(Taiwan is strange and new to foreigners. Many things in Taiwan take foreigners by surprise. As Americans we want Taiwanese people to know what kind of questions foreigners have when first coming to Taiwan. This is by no means a complete list, but is written with the intent to help Taiwanese and Foreigners have a better understanding of one another’s culture.)

10. 怎麽這麽多機車？ Why are There so Many Scooters?

相較之下，外國國家騎機車的很少，特別在土地大國，像美國加拿大，騎機車比較不方便。來到台灣的新外國人可能會覺得很意外，而且覺得臺灣的機車又吵又污染。
(In comparison, there are very few mopeds or scooters in foreign countries, especially in places with vast amounts of land such as the U.S. and Canada. Foreigners coming to Taiwan for the first time may be taken aback, and may feel that scooters in Taiwan are too loud and pollute the environment.)

9. 爲什麽到處是哈比人房屋？Why are there Hobbit Homes Everywhere? 

臺灣到處都是很有特色的墳墓，跟一般外國十字架墳墓很不一樣。跟臺灣的傳統不收悉的外國人可能會誤會這些墳墓是房子，以及很像哈比人的房子.
(Taiwan has many intrastate tombs scattered throughout Taiwan, that look different from typical gravestones in other countries. Foreigners unfamiliar with Taiwan’s traditions and culture may misinterpret these tombs as actually being houses, houses that look a lot like hobbit homes from the Lord of the Rings.)
 
8. 怎麽到處都沒有垃圾桶？Why are There no Garbage Cans Anywhere?

很多外國人來台灣第一個去觀光的地方就是夜市。有的夜市垃圾桶的位置很不明確，加上外國人手上拿這些垃圾，導致很多外國人抱怨到處沒有垃圾桶。
(For many foreigners one of the first places they go sight-seeing is a night market. Some night markets do not mark trash canisters well if at all. This in addition to the foreign tourist always having to hold garbage in their hands can lead to some frustration and complaining.)
 
7. 爲什麽你的名字叫“Apple?” Why Is Your Name Apple?

「蘋果」在英文不是人的名字，儘管如此還是相當多的台灣小朋友叫「Apple」。其他類似的名字「Seven」「Taco」之類的是像外國人取「溫開水」「木森林」之類的奇怪名字。
(“Apple” in English is not a name. Despite this, there are still many Taiwanese children with the name “Apple” or similar non-names such as “Seven” or “Taco.” These are the Chinese equivalent of being called “warm drinking water” or “wood forest.”)
 
6. 我爲什麽一定要吃臭豆腐？Why do I Have to
Eat Some Stinky Tofu?

臭豆腐對沒有吃過的人真的很臭，跟大便差不多。但是台灣似乎很堅持每一個外國人一定要吃這個美味的名產。對新的外國人來說這樣的熱情其實是折磨。
(For people that have never eaten stinky tofu, it really stinks, like raw sewage. But still Taiwanese people insist that ever new foreigner try this tasty delicacy, even though it is torture for most of them.)
 
5. 大家戴口罩是因爲…? What’s the Deal With Everyone Wearing Masks?

在台灣為了禮貌很多感冒的人出門會戴口罩，以避免病毒傳染的發生。我的台灣朋友跟我說這個大概是禽流感病發就開始很流行。另外騎機車戴口罩也會避免汙染物的吸收. 但是外國人不知道，在美歐國家大概只有專業醫護人員會戴口罩，所以看到這麼多人戴口罩會感到困惑。
(In Taiwan it is courteous and polite to wear masks in public if one is sick to prevent communicable disease from spreading. My Taiwanese friends this trend started with the outbreak of bird flu a few years ago. It is also common to wear masks when riding a scooter to prevent breathing in pollutants. However, foreigners don’t know about this trend. In western countries it is common to wear surgical masks only in a hospital, so when they come to Taiwan and see so many people on the street wearing surgical masks, they may get confused.)
 
4. 爲什麽穿牛仔褲去海邊玩水？Why are so Many People Wearing Jeans at the Beach?

很多西方觀光客想去享受台灣的熱帶海灘，在那邊就是要穿泳衣曬黑玩水。但是台灣人去海邊比較保守，有的還穿長袖長褲，帶雨傘，為了避免曬黑的情況。外國人在旁邊看可能會好奇，想說為什麼台灣人不愛玩水享受她們國家的寶貴沙灘。
(Many western people come to Taiwan to enjoy its tropical beaches, wear a swim suit, get tan, and swim in the ocean. But many Taiwanese are more conservative when they go to the beach, hiding from the sun in long sleeves, long pants, and under umbrellas. Foreigners seeing Taiwanese people stomp in the ocean with long pants and umbrellas might shake their heads in curiosity.)
 
3. 大晴天爲什麽有人帶雨傘？Why do People Have Umbrellas out When it's Sunny? 

膚色比較白的外國人就是太白，想要變黑一點，甚至在美國有很多人花錢去曬黑店，雨傘從來沒有用來遮蔽皮膚過。所以外國人來台灣看這麼多人大晴天三十幾度的天氣帶雨傘長袖會覺得奇怪。
(Foreigners with lighter skin tend to want to tan themselves and make their skin darker. Americans spend thousands of dollars a year in tanning salons, and umbrellas are almost never used for blocking out the sun’s rays. So when foreigners come to Taiwan and see people with umbrellas in the 30 degree weather, they might think it strange.)
 
2. 怎麽到處都沒有厠所？Why are there No Restrooms Anywhere? 

在美國好像每一個商店都有廁所，不管是買衣服，文具，或吃的都一樣。來到台灣的外國人可能會很訝異一般商店或餐廳沒有廁所。我有認識幾個外國朋友因為這樣不小心把褲子弄髒，其他不用說。
(In America there seems to be a bathroom in every shop or store, however in Taiwan foreigners might be shocked to find that not every restaurant or store has a restroom. I’ve known a few foreigners who because of this have dirtied their underwear. I’ll stop there.)

1. 臺灣不是泰國嗎？Isn’t Taiwan the Same Thing as Thailand? 

令人失望的是很多外國人不知道台灣的存在，反而認為台灣只是泰國的另一個名稱或根本沒有學過亞洲的地理。但是我想說很少台灣人已經有美國50洲背下來。
(It’s really sad but many foreigners don’t even know that Taiwan exists, or think that it is another name for Thailand, or simply know very little about the geography of Asia. But on the other hand I doubt the average Taiwanese citizen can name all 50 states.)
 
像我一開始說的，這個不是一個完整的列表。如果妳想要加其他想法或問題請在下面留言！請記得按讚和分享！
Like we said in the beginning, this list is not a complete statistical analysis with scientific data. It is just some fun things that foreigners think about when coming to Taiwan. If you feel like we missed anything, please let us know in the comments below! And don’t forget to like and share!