The hottest Binlangshisu

January 30, 2011. Written in Taipei, Taiwan.

The hottest Binlangshisu


While walking the streets at night in Taiwan, I noticed that wherever you go you see there is this strange neon-light that kind of looks like a half ferris wheel on every corner of the streets.

I was wondering what this was supposed to mean, and asked one of my Taiwanese friends. She told me that at places with these lights, a thing called "Binlang" is sold.  Binlang is the nut of a certain palm species. These nuts contain arecoline, which has a similar effect on people as nicotine.

 I tried some, but it really wasn't my thing.


In Japan Binlang is considered a soft-drug and is strictly forbidden, but in Taiwan it is very popular, especially among the working classes for as far as I know. It is really incredible how many of these stores you see in each street.

You chew the nuts and spit out the red fluid that comes out of it which can cause long cancer. It can be very dangerous to swallow it. You can often see people spitting out red fluid (allthough it is forbidden to spit it on the street, and most people obey this rule). If you don't know about it you will think that people are spitting out blood. Spitting out red fluid does of course not look too elegant, which is why almost all chewers appear to be men.

To get as much customers as possible, many Binlang stores hire so called Binlangshisu, which are sexy girls that sell the nuts wearing almost nothing. Truck drivers will stop at their favorite Binlangshisu store to get their extra energy.

There are some streets full with Binlangshisu, and it is funny to see how each one wears just a little less to get that extra customer.

Who is the hottest Binranshisu you ask? Enjoy this picture!