Sunday, 27 January 2013

TAIWAN BETELNUT GIRL

Before I visited Taiwan I had heard about the Betel nut beauty (also betel nut girl - Chinese: 檳榔西施). For those who have no idea what I mean, the Betel nut beauty refers to a common sight along roadsides in Taiwan: a young woman selling betel nuts and cigarettes from a brightly lit glass enclosure while wearing revealing clothing. It seems that the betel nut beauty phenomenon is distinctly Taiwanese.
However, when I was in Taiwan I did not see any such beauty in skimpy clothes. Instead, I saw the young miss above processing the betel nut.  Wonder what happened to the Betel Nut Beauties?
According to my tourist guide, such Betel Nut girls are partially prohibited by Taiwan government because the natural environment and soil conservation are seriously destroyed because of the profuse planting of betel nuts and there are some sexual crimes and illegal hires of under-age girls along with the phenomenon.
LINK
To see how these Taiwanese Betel Nut Beauties look like, click this LINK

2 comments:

Kevin said...

I really did like the betelnut girls. Less keen on the betelnuts - which stain your teeth red and give your breath a sweet, sickly smell. Betelnut kiosks are more likely to be seen in small towns and on the outskirts of cities. Sophisticated urban folk are not great consumers of betelnut. Taiwan is a little different - check out "funeral strippers Taiwan". Sounds unbelievable but it isn't.

Miss Cheah said...

Ok. Thanks. I will check it out.