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that she does not believe she needs to behave like those women. “I’m not like them. I’m the most traditional type. Customers buy just because they want to eat, not because of those beautiful girls. And it’s not exactly the case that they sell much more than me just because they are more beautiful and dressed more sexily,” she says. For those with a serious betel nut habit, like Mr Liu
the peanut roll seller, it doesn’t make economic sense to buy from Betel Nut Beauties, who tend to charge a premium for what is essentially the same product. “For frequent consumers like me, no, I wouldn’t buy
from them. They are more expensive. You can only buy seven betel nuts from them with NT$50 (US$1.6), while you can get 14 for the same price from other sellers,” he says. There is a clear gender divide between betel nut
consumption and sales: attractive women selling the nuts to an overwhelmingly male customer base. “Some betel nut addicts may tend to mistakenly think they present a manly and heroic image when they chew betel nut. These people, influenced by their peers, began to gather and hang out with others like them from their adolescence. An old saying may help explain: ‘Birds of a feather flock together’,” says Dr Hahn. The Taiwanese government is far from
Indeed, one false move on this road winding
tortuously through the Taroko Gorge could easily lead to a car’s occupants plunging hundreds of metres to their deaths; I would probably take to chewing betel nut if I had to drive on this road every day. However, Dr Hahn, who also serves as the chairperson
for the Taiwan Alliance for areca nut control and oral cancer prevention, argues there are better ways to keep oneself alert. “It’s just not necessary to take such a fatal measure in order to achieve the desired effects. Sometimes, when we educate people about the negative effects of betel nut, some say that it’s just a kind of culture in Taiwan and ask us not to say bad things about it. However, though we admit that it’s part of local culture, it’s not good for personal health and the environment, so we shouldn’t encourage people to continue to do this,” he says. Still, from spending time at Ms Zhu’s shop, it’s clear
that there is a voracious demand for the nuts. Almost the moment we arrive, a customer rolls up to purchase a bag. Forty-year-old Wu Zhi Wen, a concrete industry worker, says he has a two-bag-a-day betel nut habit, despite knowing it is bad for his health. Seller Zhu, too, is well aware of the negative health
consequences of consuming her product, saying that the high levels of calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) can cause oral cancer. Still, the trade is thriving; in many areas, betel nut shops compete so fiercely that it is common for stores to be run by “Betel Nut Beauties”, attractive and scantily clad women designed to lure the mostly male clientele to buy the nuts. But Zhu is so confident in her product’s desirability
bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om
blind to the problem of betel nut consumption. In 1997, December 3 was officially designated as “Betel Nut Control Day”. And there has been
a big drop in betel nut consumption. In 2007, 17.2 per cent of the male population chewed betel nut – this was down to 6.1 per cent in 2017, according to data from Taiwan’s Health Promotion Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Betel nut production also decreased from 160,118 metric tons in 1996 to 102,165 metric tons in 2017. “Our strategy of betel nut control is
different from that of tobacco control. For the latter, we usually take direct action against the big tobacco companies, like blaming them,” says Dr Hahn. “However, we don’t want to go against those individuals who grow or sell betel nuts, because they are relatively more vulnerable compared to the large tobacco companies. Instead, we’ve adopted other measures by educating betel nut addicts about the negative effects and persuading them not to chew, while appealing to those who have never chewed betel nut not to cultivate this habit. Thus, the population of betel nut addicts is expected to decline. And so will the demand.” BT Additional reporting and translation by Jackie Chen
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