Above is a pretty common sight in Taipei. People will block off part of the street and build a covered structure over the street. This is to have a big party of sorts. You can see the tables and the chairs (stools) in the photo, as well as some women washing a lot of dishes.
The party is usually a funeral, with family and friends coming to have a large meal together. Rarely it can be the reception dinner for a wedding. For today's case I believe it's for birthday of the god to which the temple in the middle of this street is dedicated to.
It is pretty inconveniencing for not just traffic but it causes noise pollution as well. Firecrackers of course, but funerals are particularly bad as there is a lady who is paid just to get on the microphone and cry loudly.
I used to think that these events are rather amazing, that people come together and tolerate a big inconvenience so that their neighbors can have a party. However the longer I'm here, I've started to feel that perhaps this practice is one thing that makes Taiwanese selfish, in that they care so much about themselves and their family, but anybody else is not to be considered at all. So I'm thinking with this tradition of it being ok to just put up a huge tent in the street that holds up traffic and not care about others, just reinforces with all the people who are inconvenienced "well they can do whatever they want, so then i can do whatever i want to."
Which seems like a shame. I'm assuming that when these customs were first started, they were something the brought the whole neighborhood together, but now that we live in such a big city where nobody knows the person next door to you, these traditions have come help people say the words i hate "well if they can do that, then i can do this." Too many people nowadays are looking at the result of traditional custom rather than the intent, and it's really hurting the country.
