RICHARD FOSTER is not your typical salesman.
The 30-something from Northern Ireland runs Taiwan Ecotours and Barking Deer Adventures, an outdoor adventure firm in Taiwan and has been to Shenzhen several times on fact-finding and nature book research sojourns over the past decade.
He hopes to drum up business for his thriving outdoor adventure enterprise and source for books on birding, butterfly and yes, even dragonfly tours which he markets from his official website.
He doesn’t believe in the hard sell, preferring instead to let photos and testimonials prompt people to sign up for his guided hikes. But he does have some interesting takes on the sometimes striking differences between Shenzhen, Taiwan, and his original hometown of Enniskillen.
He also makes occassional sojourns to Shenzhen to visit former clients and research hiking and ecotour opportunities in Southern China, including birding -- a chore which is at first incongruous with his rugged outward appearance.
NextInsight: First of all, what first brought you to this part of the world?
Mr. Foster: I first came to Taiwan in 1992, back when South Korea still had diplomatic relations with the island and Apartheid was still in place in South Africa. By the way, South Africa was also a diplomatic 'friend’ of Taipei at the time, maintaining official diplomatic ties. But that all seems like eons ago
To get away from the often repetitive and sometimes mind-numbing monotony of English teaching, I would from very early on set aside weekends for motorcycle journeys into Taiwan’s absolutely beautiful and unappreciated countryside.
By that I mean the rugged peaks that make up the spine of the island. I still remember back in the day writing postcards – yes, postcards – to send back home describing some of my adventures climbing around Yu Shan (Jade Mountain), Ali Shan and the many treacherous trails spurring off of the South Cross-Island Highway.
Little did I know that these beautiful pristine Alpine vistas would later on become the source of my livelihood.
By bringing groups to the mountains and tea farms, will it not compete with the quiet remote nature of Taiwan's countryside?
Mr. Foster: The mountains of Taiwan are big enough for everyone, I believe. I know that sounds hard to believe, but some of my best memories have been losing myself in the high peaks -- not quite literally, luckily, but spiritually.
Because contrary to what outsiders think of Taiwan with big crowded cities and wafer fab plants galore, there is an undiscovered wilderness out there that allows the more adventurous among us to truly find solitude, at least until life and responsibilities back in the city beckon.
In fact, I believe Taiwan is one of the most crowded “countries” in the world, which makes the idea of a rugged hinterland all the more unbelievable. But it’s there, and I would be more than happy to show you and anyone else around... but for a price, of course!
Your business seems to be doing very well. What factors can slow down operations or cause headaches for you?
Mr. Foster: Sometimes I have to turn away clients because I suspect they have exaggerated their abilities, or they want to go to an area closed for the winter, or because of typhoon alerts, earthquake and flood damage or whatever.
So I am never averse to advising clients of options more suitable to their interests and abilities.
Changing my client base whenever possible works because I give them 100% -- choosing to cater to the best, most avid and experienced groups makes it all worthwhile.
Each trip is a unique event, because each trip is tailored to the individual’s desires -- whether that be easy hiking, birds, butterflies, or just touring beautiful places.
An option many people take advantage of is letting us arrange all the necessary permits and logistics and then letting them do the actual trip themselves -- without all the hassle.
So how would you take advantage of your Shenzhen visits to maximize business opportunities?
Mr. Foster: As you know, Taiwan has been increasingly opening to PRC tourists, and best of all, there are direct flights. So my dream is to get a small number of them and more of the expat community away from the shopping centers and touristy temples of the big cities like Taipei, Tainan – where I live – and Kaohsiung and get them interested in hiking, whitewater rafting, birding and butterlying... if such a word exists.
If I can generate interest in this group, the sky’s the limit.
Because we all know that PRC tourists are eager to see something more -- including experiencing pristine nature.
So Shenzhen, while not as big a market as say Shanghai or Beijing, does have the benefit of being less than an hour flight from Kaohsiung, which is just a 20-minute bullet train ride from my Tainan home.
So how could I possibly ignore the PRC? They are bombarded with advertisements of Taiwan’s fabled fresh fruit farms and high concentration of temples unblemished by the angry Red Guard of the Cultural Revolution.
While these are worthy destinations for PRC tourists and I am not trying to pull people away from Tainan’s Confucius Temple or Pingtung County’s mango groves, I am instead proposing that these same PRC tourists ask themselves: “What’s beyond the teeming, steaming cities?”
I believe I have several good answers for them.
You live in Tainan, which is famous for its cuisine and temples, among other things. How does it compare to Shenzhen?
Mr. Foster: Wow, Shenzhen... it makes Tainan look like a sleepy fishing village, but that's how they referred to Shenzhen a few decades ago.
Of course there are so many things to do and see in Shenzhen, and buy too of course.
For a taste of what's really available in Taiwan, I have to suggest having a read of one of the excellent books available at the BooksfromTaiwan.com website.
So yes, Shenzhen is a madhouse of growth and activity. But in a way, it’s the perfect potential market from which to find hiking clients.
There’s a lot of money here so what better a sales pitch than to say to a rich overworked professional tired of the rat race, the crowds and the lack of blue skies: “How would you like to head across the Strait to Taiwan and look over the Pacific from the highest peak in East Asia?”
I think a lot of people would nod in agreement at that, don’t you?
For more on Taiwan's natural beauty, visit Mr. Foster's blog here
See previous Shenzhen story: Model migrant, 21, turning heads in Shenzhen
