Tonight, the bowling alley is especially crowded because it is hosting its weekly competition. Widespread under-the-table gambling promises high-stakes prize money for the top winners, and a crowd has gathered to cheer their friends and family members. On a good night, winners take home as much as NT$30,000 (US$1,200). With so much money floating about, the atmosphere is a bit more tense than usual. But because most players are friends, the night will culminate with the champion treating the losers to a midnight meal, often a multi-course seafood dinner.
At other bowling alleys, the competitions are held at midnight and attract a different crowd of competitors. While Tunghsing’s competitions attract nine-to-five workers who bowl as a hobby, the late-night matches draw more serious players, some of whom make their living on these competitions.
At the three hundred bowling alleys around the island, an estimated one million games are played daily. The number of bowling alleys has increased tenfold since 1989, reflecting new interest in the sport caused by growing consumer spending power and Taiwan’s recent rise to fame in international bowling circles.
The bowling craze would have been unimaginable a generation ago. In the 1950s there were only two bowling alleys, both housed in exclusive officers’ clubs for the U.S. military. At that time, the only local residents who bowled were a handful of well-connected friends of American officers.
The situation changed little even after two public facilities opened in 1960. These were so expensive that only a small circle of monied families tried the sport. Bowling alleys were elite social centers (somewhat like the island’s exorbitantly priced golf courses are today) and bowlers dressed up—women in chipaos and men in suits. Young girls competed for the job of scorekeeper, not because of the pay, which was low, but because it was an opportunity to hobnob with the rich and famous. (Manual scorekeeping was replaced by computers in 1988 because of rising labor costs and complaints that the girls were letting friends play for free.)
But as families acquired more disposable income during the 1970s and 1980s, more bowling alleys sprung up and the sport became accessible to the growing middle class. By the late 1980s, entrepreneurs were opening up recreation complexes that included other leisure activities such as video games, karaoke, pool, table tennis, darts, and snack bars. Many of these centers are open round-the-clock. “Now is a time that encourages consuming rather than saving,” says Eric Cheng (鄭士誠), general manager of Chungshan Bowling Alley in Panchiao, just west of Taipei. “We have to be able to provide diverse services.”
Bowling attracts people of all walks of life and all ages, although most players are in their twenties and thirties. Bowling leagues are highly popular among colleagues or regulars at the neighborhood alley. Those serious about the sport are easy to spot by their brand-name balls and their bowling bags, special shoes, wristbands, and powders for keeping their hands dry. Such specialty items are now available at the growing number of bowling equipment stores.
Between matches, fans can keep up with the sport by reading the monthly Chinese Bowlers Journal, a localized edition of the U.S. parent publication. Founded in November 1994, the magazine covers the sport with stories on the local, mainland, and international bowling scene. The publication has more than seven hundred subscribers, and sells another ten thousand copies at newsstands and bowling alleys.
—by Virginia Sheng