A Guide to the Media-Manufactured "Taike" Image
* Always smoking--favorite brands are Longlife Premium and Seven Stars.
* Speaks Mandarin with a heavy Taiwanese accent. Sprinkles the occasional English word in--with each syllable stressed.
* Loves Taiwan-style cocktails like Kaoliang and plum juice or red-label rice wine and Vitali soda.
* Mobile phone has a light-up antenna, glowing stickers, and clear, flashing buttons.
* Applies bumper stickers to car with slogans like "Speed Demon," "Ride Like the Wind," or "Hot Chicks Only."
* Loves customized cars, with the stereo blasting out the driving rhythms of Taiwanese-style trance music for all the world to hear.
* When riding a scooter, keeps knees jutting out to the sides.
* Loves counterfeit fashions and rapper-style thick gold chains, attempting to copy the Hip-hop style.
* Wears oversize shirts--in loud colors or white--bought from the night market, along with surfer shorts.
* Wears white socks--if any.
* Bleaches hair.
* Wears rubber "bathroom slippers" out, and puts his stuff in a cheap plastic bag from a roadside food stand.
* Covered in wild tattoos.
* Mobile phone hangs from belt. Ringtone is a deafening pop song.
* Females wear large hair clips, thick-soled boots, and super-short skirts--in all seasons.
* Often thinks others are "so Tai!"
source: Eslite Reader and Net and Books/compiled by Chang Shih-lun
The record industry has put together a Taike Rock concert for two years in a row. Crowds flocked to see acts like Wu Bai (center left), The Clippers (center right), and Bobby Chen (bottom right).
Traditional folk culture is also being picked up and changed by youth. Pictured above, the legendary character Nezha sashays along the street to electronic music, wearing sunglasses; below, young fans of Pili puppet theater cosplay their favorite characters.
Tacky and proud of it! The word "Taike" has gone from being an insult to connoting a youthful style.
Generation, the show hosted by Tsai Kang-yung (center, kneeling), has been a major force in propagating the recent Taike phenomenon.