This legal stimulant is basically Taiwan's version of chewing tobacco, but it's something you really have to try once to understand. Betel Nut (the English name) or 'Binlang' (Bing-long), is a type of fan palm tree which is native to Taiwan, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. In fact, this is such an important cash crop in the region that many farmers subsist on it alone and it is Taiwan's second largest agricultural crop. This coconut-like tree produces a seed that when chewed creates a chewing tobacco-like buzz.

It is usually sold with a slit down the middle, mixed with lime (not the fruit but a caltrate that is scrapped from seashells and the like...) and wrapped in a leaf. The first time you try it may make it your last as it is a very strong, uncomfortably hot feeling (DON'T SWALLOW THE JUICE! Spit it out...). Long-term use can lead to oral cancer and can stain the teeth a nasty dark, reddish-brown color (as well as the fingernails...)

What separates Taiwan from other nearby countries who also grow Betel Nut, is their unique marketing technique: the ubiquitous Betel Nut Girl. The traditional name in Chinese is: binlang xishi.

Dressed at times in little more than a string bikini, young Taiwanese women sit alongside freeways and roadsides in a clear glass booth (often covered by flashing neon lights), hawking small packages of Betel Nut to passerbys & truck drivers. A lot like a roadside strip show, this technique is familiar to all who travel Taiwan and should not be missed on a trip to Taiwan if for nothing more than the originality and sheer spectacle.

Not surprisingly, many politicians have recently decided to crack down on the trend. In addition to deriding users for constantly spitting the reddish liquid on city streets and insisting that the roadside girls (who regularly put up with drunken customers and economic circumstances out of their control) are bad for the country's image, they and other 'reformers' have undertaken a variety of tactics to deal with the explosion of Betel Nut Girls island-wide.  However, after harrassing and arresting girls for indecent exposure or even prostitution, the lawmakers have had their hands tied by the powerful farm lobby of betel nut growers (& chewers...) who have thus far made sure that no lawmaker outlaw the practice entirely.

More Betel nut Girl photos...
(click)

Betel Nut Carton sample

Betel Nut Beauty in her glass booth

Roadside booth

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southeast/10/08/offbeat.taiwan.betel/

http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/tau/culture/

local_stuff/betelnut_beauty/betelnut.html

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04/14/1050282907.htm

http://www.etaiwannews.com/Taiwan/2003/04/15/

1050368037.htm

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/

2003/04/15/202134

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/

2003/08/25/2003065140

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/archives/

2002/03/08/0000126820

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2003/08/17/2003064150

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http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Gulf/1507/letter/one.html

http://www.destroy-all-monsters.com/betelmania.shtml

http://www.epistola.com/sfowler/scholar/scholar-betel.html