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# Shopping on Peace Memorial Day
- URL: https://www.taiwanquest.com/shopping-on-peace-memorial-day/
- Published: 2023-02-28T07:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-02-27T11:08:35.000Z
- Description: February 28 (‘228’) commemorates the massacre of up to 30,000 Taiwanese civilians and a four-decade period of ‘White Terror’…
- Author: Zhen-Kang

[White Terror](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White%5FTerror%5F%28Taiwan%29) is a horrific part of Taiwan’s recent history, which makes its present-day status as the freest democracy in Asia, outright remarkable.

White Terror ended during my lifetime, in 1987\. (Taiwan’s first presidential election wasn’t until 1996.) As I enjoy daily life in one of the world’s safest, most peaceful societies, it’s hard to believe the people around me lived through it.

Over the past few days, I asked friends how they feel about Peace Memorial Day. A common theme is that Taiwanese have short memories, perhaps intentionally.

I was also told it’s often a day for shopping.

Coincidentally, I needed to visit my local Show Ba (小北百貨) 24-hour hardware store. A basic shopping trip that gave me an immense sense of achievement—because I had my first slightly-complex, multi-sentence interaction, in Chinese, with a stranger.

I was second in line at checkout, but the customer in front of me was taking time-consuming health precautions, unwrapping each item to spray it with sanitizer before placing it in their repeatedly-sanitized bag, then repeatedly sanitizing their hands. (I wondered if they might have COVID-19.)

The store clerk said to me, in English, “sorry about the wait”.

The rest of the conversation happened exclusively in Chinese—translated to English below:

**ZK:** No problem!

**Clerk:** *(Surprised)* You speak Chinese?

**ZK:** Only a little bit.

**Clerk:** That’s great!

*When it was my turn to be served…*

**ZK:** I want to buy one bag.

**Clerk:** Do you want one large bag for the tissues and one small bag for the rest, or only one small bag?

**ZK:** Only one small bag.

**Clerk:** OK!

**ZK:** Thank you. What’s the total cost?

**Clerk:** $688 \[NZ$35\].

**ZK:** *(Handing over a $1,000 note)*Thank you.

**Clerk:** Thank you. Here’s $312 change.

**ZK:** Thank you. Good-bye!

**Clerk:** Thank you! Good-bye!

![Five boxes of tissues, a power adapter, USB cable, and packet of Ariel 4D laundry detergent laid flat on a mattress.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/02/products-from-showba.jpg)

Told you it was basic. I purchased tissues (which **always* come in vacuum-packed sets of five boxes), a Micro-USB cable and adapter, and some detergent.

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