Newcastle upon Tyne: a vibrant city in England

Newcastle: a city based on Oldcastle. 

The Barbican of the castle

The ‘turning bridge’ could be raised or lowered quickly to allow or prevent to the Castle gate 

I told a Taiwanese student at Durham University that I didn’t see many students in Durham's street when I visited the city centre at weekends. She mentioned that most of the students like to go to Newcastle for shopping.

This motivates me to go to Newcastle to find out more about what is ‘CPI’ of the city for a student. And before my one-day trip there, I also wonder ‘will it lead to any difference if a student studies in a country area and in a big city?’ A York graduated PhD student answered me, ‘definitely, the countryside is better as there is less temptation.’

However, when it comes to job opportunities after graduation or life functions, an urban district, a multiplicity, is surely more convenient to provide great amenities and living support, even cheaper and competitive prices for life necessities. 

This is what we call ‘price–performance ratio’ or ‘cost–performance ratio’ which is an index used to measure the money we pay for the performance/function/service that a product can offer. High CPI normally refers to something which is worth more than its cost or has good value for money.

Although the history of Newcastle can be dated back almost 2,000 years, Newcastle Upon Tyne (known as Newcastle), compared to Durham and York featured by its traditional-styled and non-industrial, is a ‘great’ city.

The black gatehouse, the medieval Castle defence

The city wall: West walls

St. Nicholas Cathedral: Old castle where the story begins

The Response 1914 which Britain entered the first World War

Durham Tower in West Walls

Newcastle University has a vibrant city-centre campus with only few-minute walking distances to access to everything that students need. 

Orientation week 

Campus garden

Campus

Not to mention there is a China town providing various Chinese cuisines and traditional medical treatments.

There is an increasing number of students coming from China to study in the UK since the past decade, for them, is Newcastle a high CPI city for living, studying and seeking for future job markets? Should a city’s life functions set as the assessment index of the university ranking? 

Strolling in Newcastle, '4 peaches for 1 pound' in the high street or even '5 peaches for 1 pound' in the traditional market; ironically, I found that the price of fruit in this big city is really cheaper than that in York (average 50P for each peach in York City centre). 

In other words, living in the romantic beauty of York could mean enjoy the historical remains with a luxury way.

Newcastle: 一個以Oldcastle為基地的城市。

我告訴Durham大學的一名臺灣學生，我周末去城裡時沒有看到很多學生在Durham。她提到可能大多數在校學生喜歡去Newcastle購物。

這促使我想去Newcastle尋找更多關於學生的'CP值'的資料。在我去那裡的一日遊之前，我也想知道“如果1個學生在鄉村地區和大城市學習，結果會不會有什麼不同？”一位York畢業的博士生回答說，“當然，鄉村較好，因為那裡沒那麼多誘惑。“

然而，當談到畢業後的就業機會或生活機能時，城市較便於提供良好的設施和生活支援，甚至提供更便宜的生活必需品。這就是我們所說的“性價比”或“性價比”，這是一個用來衡量產品以所支付的資金可以提供多少性能/功能/服務的指數。高CP值通常指的是價值高於其成本或物超所值。

雖然Newcastle的歷史可以追溯到近2000年，但Newcastle與Durham和York相比—其更像是傳統風格和非工業區--,是一個“偉大的”城市。Newcastle大學擁有充滿活力的市中心校園，步行幾分鐘便可到達學生所需的一切。

更不用說有一個中國城鎮提供各種中國美食和傳統醫療。 自過去十年以來，越來越多的學生來自中國留學英國，對於他們來說，Newcastle是一個生活，學習和尋找未來就業市場的高CPI城市嗎？城市的生活功能是否應該作為大學排名的評估指標？

  

漫步在Newcastle，大街上的“4個桃子1磅”，甚至傳統市場上的“5個桃子1磅”; 諷刺的是，我發現這個大城市的水果價格確實比York便宜（約克市中心每個桃子的平均價格為50P）。

換句話說，生活在約克的浪漫之美可能意味著以奢華的方式享受歷史遺跡。

2018 Manchester Passport To Taiwan Festival

The important role of migrant home association/community has been well documented in transnational theories. As Ports et al (1999, cited in Castles et al., 2013) think, transnational political and cultural communities are significant as their activities are ‘transnationalism from below’, which exchange ideas with their counterparts in the homeland and people in the host country.

Such ‘grass-root’ initiatives often require a regular and substantial commitment of time and money by participants’. Notably, many migrant home associations are non-profit and voluntary organizations, which are established on the sense of moral and obligatory responsibility of immigrants to provide services or maintain cultural heritage of their homelands. 

Sam thai tsu is a subcultural dance performance combing a traditional Taiwan folk dance with modern pop music.

In Britain, Taiwanese home associations include economic, cultural, religious, gender (female) and political organizations. mong these groups, Manchester Taiwanese Association is newly established in 2016 as a cultural-type community. Its several annual events are hosted by a group of Taiwanese migrants living and working in Great Manchester City.

As the first and the largest Taiwanese festival in the UK, ‘Passport To Taiwan Festival’ is one of the iconic events that organized by Manchester Taiwanese Association. The origin of the idea is borrowed from 'Passport to Taiwan Festival, the celebration of Taiwanese American Heritage Week', which has been held in the US for 16 years long(this year was held on 27 May).

A British band: 'Transition' immigrate to Taiwan now act in this festival

As Hammond (2013, p. 1001) argues, migrants' transnational engagements with the homeland not only benefit cultural diffusion of the country of origin but also support migrants’ integration into the local society, such as community establishment. 

Taiwanese traditional farmer bag

In this sense, although the Taiwanese in the UK is seen as the minority community compared to other migrant groups, Manchester Taiwanese Association functions as a cultural carrier to offer Taiwanese students or sojourners a sense of belonging to their homelands; on the other hand, in such a way, Taiwanese work together to share Taiwanese food, music, traditional arts and crafts with British locals.

Add caption

For the past two years, ‘Passport To Taiwan Festival’ has attracted up to one thousand people coming to Manchester City Centre to enjoy the Taiwanese party. The 2018 Passport To Taiwan Festival was held on 8-9 Sep at Albert Square in the centre of Manchester, and I was there to serve as a volunteer to become a part of the community and to make real connections with Taiwanese in the UK. 

Taiwan's diverse folk culture has enriched by Taiwanese aborigines, Chinese and Hakka peoples, and the growing number of new immigrants. I herein share these photos and videos with you.

Live Show

Electric-Techno Neon Gods

Goddess of Jiu-Tian  A British rock band pulling up its roots and relocating to Taiwan 

Hakka culture in Taiwan

A British band 'Transition' from Taiwan (they immigrated to Taiwan to develop their music career several years ago)

References

Castles, S., Haas, H., & Miller, M. (2013) The age of migration: International population movements in the modern world. (Fifth ed.) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hammond, L. (2013) ‘Somali Transnational Activism and Integration in the UK: Mutually Supporting Strategies’. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, pp. 1001-1017.

移民協會/社區的重要作用在移民研究的跨國理論中已有很多的闡述。波特斯等人（1999年，Castles等人2013年引述）認為跨國政治和文化協會/社區具有重要意義，因為他們的活動是“由下而上發動的跨國交流”，使移民和他們的母國和接收國的人們進行一種理念傳達。

這種“基層”發起的活動往往需要參與者定期和大量地投入時間和金錢，許多移民協會都是非營利性和志工型組織,這種活動建立在移民對母國的一種自發性的道德情感.

在英國，有不同的台灣協會，包括經濟，文化，宗教，性別（女性）和政治組織，曼徹斯特台灣協會是2016年新成立的文化型社群, 它的幾個年度活動由一群在曼城生活和工作的台灣移民主辦。

英國第一個也是最大的台灣節日，“曼城台灣日”是曼徹斯特台灣協會舉辦的標誌性活動之一。 這個想法的起源是從同一個名稱“台灣美國傳統週的台灣日慶祝活動”中借用，該活動已在美國舉辦了16年(今年5月27日舉行）。

正如Hammond（2013，p.1001）所觀察到的那樣，與祖國的跨國連結不僅有利於祖國的文化傳播，而且還有利於移民融入當地社會，例如社區的建立。雖然與其他移民群體相比，英國的台灣人是少數民族，但移民協會是文化載體，他們所主辦的活動為台灣學生或旅居僑胞提供了歸屬感。另一方面,以此方式,，台灣人一起合力共事與當地人分享台灣的美食，音樂，傳統工藝品.

過去2年“曼城台灣日”每次都吸引了多達一千人前往曼徹斯特市中心享受這個台灣派對。 2018年台灣文化節慶於9月8日至9日在曼徹斯特艾伯特廣場舉行(市府廣場前)，我在那裡擔任志工，成為社區的一員，並與英國在地的台灣人建立真正的聯繫。

台灣原住民,漢人和客家人以及越來越多的新移民,豐富了台灣多彩多姿的民俗文化。我在這裡和你分享這些有趣的活動照片。