One of Taiwan’s truly unique albeit controversial features is the habitual chewing of Betel Nuts–a highly addictive fruit that masquerades as a mildly euphoric alkaloid stimluant known to Taiwanese folks as ‘bing lang’– that’s chewed somewhat like tobacco by a fairly sizeable percentage of adult males here. Bing lang contain a strong red pigment that’s spit out by its practitioners that wreaks havoc on the teeth and gums and smears streaks of strong red dye all along sidewalks across the island.
Equally unique and far more pleasant to look are the rows of ‘betel nut girls’ (bing lang shi shi 檳榔西施) that sit in small glass telephone-booth-like neon-lit stands wearing incredibly skimpy outfits, selling the fruit along with cigarettes, oolong tea, and other delights to car and truck passengers along busy streets and near highway on-ramps. According to local legend, some bing lang beauties will hop in the car with you and give you a little more than you bargained for if you include a reasonable tip along with your purchase. For a collection of photos of bing lang beauties by the rather Lebowskian seeming Brian David Phillips, the self-proclaimed “American Werewolf in Taipei”, click here. (not work safe)
7 responses so far ↓
1 Gus Lonzo // Dec 17, 2007 at 1:11 am
Well, I don’t know about the women (the one in the pic looks pretty skanky if you ask me) but that addictive fruit sounds just like the thing. For an ex smoker of 25 years, a fruit addiction doesn’t seem all that bad. Quite the contrary. It would sure beat chewing tobacco, which I’ll never start using, but which I’ll never condem either. Because if there’s one thing that life has taught me so far, it’s this–it’s all lemons. The whole thing is lemons, and it’s only our ability to make lemonade that makes life bearable. Of course we would love to smoke! Of course we’d love to eat fast food everyday! Of course we’d like to put sugar in our coffee! Your god dam right I’d like some dessert with that! But nooooooo… Can’t do it. Mother nature hasn’t gotten her shit together yet for me to indulge. Nevermind that she’s had millions of years to breed super bodies that could handle eating rust, let alone sugar. But noooooo… too much sugar will reek havoc on your system, don’t you know. So, here we have an addictive fruit. All I can say is, where the hell can buy it?
2 A.S. // Dec 17, 2007 at 8:34 am
Boy Gus, I don’t smoke or eat fast food, and I hate sugar in my coffee. In fact I like it bitter, though with milk so it doesn’t hurt my stomach. Point it, I don’t agree. Now, that girl in the photo, who you dismiss as skanky, well, I have to take exception to that. I think she looks kind of cute. I’m skeptical of the way you dismissed her. Almost as if you didn’t want to get too fixated on it. Maybe this is the root of your problem. Maybe when you stuff your mouth full of sugar you’re actually trying to control women. Maybe when you say you want the fruit, you mean the girl.
3 Gus Lonzo // Dec 17, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Slow down Sigmund… But let’s say you’re right. Let’s say that I want the girl. The problem is, that I’d probably catch something from such a fine lady (as she most certainly must be, judging from the fact that she’d hop in my car and make the ride worth my while, not to mention her exqusite taste in clothes) and that “something” might even be the death of me. And so, once again, here we have yet another addiction (the orgasm) that is bad for our health. In a word, more lemons.
4 IronChef // Dec 19, 2007 at 1:44 am
Betelnuts give you oral cancer.
5 jackson // Dec 19, 2007 at 2:05 am
In addition to making people’s breath smell awful and turning their teeth a heinous reddish brown color.
6 Gigs // Jan 22, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Betel nut is every bit as addictive as tobacco, and just as bad for you (as chewing tobacco). Don’t get into it, it’s not worth it.
7 yoshi // Jan 23, 2008 at 8:17 am
i had to search and search for a betel nut girl who would take a picture with me. in taichung the girls were adamant against taking a pix with me. i finally found one in tainan though. i just had to show my friends in the states what these girls are really about. as “skanky” as they look they seemed pretty innocent and a bit timid. just trying to make a buck. there are these stands everywhere. some stands have better fruits than others. that is what i was told. i did try it once. it didnt taste bad or anything like that and didnt seem too addicting. only tried it a few times though.
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