Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Entertainment
By Sarah Wu and Ann Wang

Chinese civil war refugee makes love for Taiwan flag a dining experience

Chang Lao-wang speaks to Reuters at the park he decorates with Taiwanese flags ahead of Taiwan National Day in Taoyuan, Taiwan, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Days away from Taiwan's National Day, a long line of people snakes out of Chang Lao-wang's restaurant, where the Chinese civil war refugee displays his ardent love for Taiwan's flag while serving up Yunnan rice noodles to the lunchtime crowd.

Chang has hung 30,000 flags around his "National Flag House" restaurant and an adjacent park ahead of the public holiday that marks the founding of the Republic of China - Taiwan's official name.

People take photos with Taiwanese flags at the park decorated by Chang Lao-wang ahead of Taiwan National Day in Taoyuan, Taiwan, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang

"This national flag, the whole country must love it together. Only if everyone collectively loves the flag, does the country have a future," Chang, 81, told Reuters at the park in Taiwan's northern city of Taoyuan.

"If everyone loves this flag, other countries won't dare to bully you."

The red flag, featuring a white sun against a blue sky, holds different meanings for people in Taiwan, and is generally not flown outside of Taiwan as other countries seek to avoid upsetting China, which views Taiwan as its own territory and not a country.

Taiwanese flags wave at the park decorated by Chang Lao-wang ahead of Taiwan National Day in Taoyuan, Taiwan, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Many in Taiwan, especially among the younger generation, associate the flag with the martial law era of the Kuomintang party that fled to the island with the defeated Republic of China government in 1949 at the end of a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists.

Some Taiwanese think a new flag is needed to avoid association with China.

But Chang is proud of the flag, the sight of which he says helped him and his mother track down his father after battles. His family would not have stayed together and found safety in Taiwan if not for the flag, Chang said.

Police dogs and their partners pose for photos with the sea of Taiwanese flags decorated by Chang Lao-wang at a park, ahead of Taiwan National Day in Taoyuan, Taiwan, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Born in China's southwestern province of Yunnan, he and his family fled to Myanmar at the end of the civil war along with the remnants of Kuomintang troops before arriving in Taiwan in 1953.

Chang started hanging flags at age 37, putting out fewer than 100. Back then, Taiwan's flags were ubiquitous around National Day, but he says he sees few people hanging them today.

Each year, he receives complaints, with some describing the flags as "garbage" and asking him to take them down.

A woman poses for photos with Taiwanese flags at the park decorated by Chang Lao-wang ahead of Taiwan National Day in Taoyuan, Taiwan, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang

But his flag-raising ceremony draws large crowds each year, with an estimated 20,000 last year, Chang said.

"In those moments, I forget myself," he said. "I think 'Oh, there are still so many people who love this flag and my heart feels very comforted."

(Reporting by Sarah Wu and Ann Wang; Editing by Ben Blanchard & Simon Cameron-Moore)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.