30-Second Overview: In Taiwan, from precision medical instruments in hospitals to ATMs in banks, wherever there is machinery, you may see a pack of green Guai Guai. This unique culture began in the late 1990s; engineers believe the homophone of "Guai Guai" (meaning "well-behaved") can make equipment "behave" and run smoothly. Today, even the BBC has featured this Taiwanese phenomenon in a dedicated report.
Walking into any server room in Taiwan, you are likely to encounter an interesting sight: perched quietly atop expensive servers is a pack of "Guai Guai" snacks in green packaging. This is not an afternoon snack someone forgot to take away, but rather a long-standing "talisman" within Taiwan's tech industry.
An Urban Legend Originating from National Chiao Tung University
The origins of this peculiar custom can be traced back to National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) before 1998. According to the recollections of Director Lu from the Computing Center of Mingxin University of Science and Technology in 2011, he "has been placing green Guai Guai in the lab since my doctoral studies." By this estimation, the practice of "placing Guai Guai on machines" existed at NCTU prior to 1998.
However, the earliest public record appeared in 2003, when a supplement of the China Times published an article titled "Afraid of System Crashes? Here, Place a Pack of Guai Guai," describing how "in many server rooms of Taiwanese enterprises, a pack of Guai Guai is often placed on servers to reduce the probability of server failure."
The true catalyst that made this custom widely known was the story of a graduate student. According to Liao Yu-chi, General Manager of the Guai Guai Company, a graduate student was writing a thesis, but their computer crashed frequently. They thought the equipment might need some kind of "talisman," and the name "Guai Guability" (well-behaved) happened to meet their needs, while the green packaging symbolized the "green light" of a traffic signal. After placing the green Guai Guai, the computer indeed began operating normally, and the thesis was completed successfully.
The Strict Rules of Guai Guai
Taiwan's Guai Guai culture follows a set of unwritten rules:
It must be green packaging: Only the green Creamy Coconut flavor of Guai Guai is effective, because green represents the "green light" for machines operating normally. Yellow Five-Spice flavor or red Chocolate flavor are believed to produce the opposite effect.
It must never expire: Expired Guai Guai loses its protective power and must be replaced regularly.
Consumption is prohibited: These Guai Guai are sacred offerings; eating them will invite the punishment of machine failure.
The 2009 massive system crash at the Immigration Department of Taoyuan Airport serves as a classic case of violating the Guai Guai taboo. According to a social media post by a netizen known as "Sashimi," an outsourced technician in charge of repairs ate the Guai Guai in the server room during a handover; the next day, the computers crashed for 36 hours. While it may have been mere coincidence, the timing was so precise that one cannot help but believe in the "miracle of the Great Guai Guai Deity."
Spreading from Tech to All Industries
Guai Guai culture gradually spread from the tech industry to all corners of Taiwanese society. Before the 2004 presidential election, household registration offices placed Guai Guai in front of computers, fearing system crashes at a critical moment. In 2011, an ATM at a bank in Keelung frequently malfunctioned; maintenance personnel placed two packs of Guai Guai inside the machine (which were later removed after causing a stir when photographed and uploaded online).
In 2014, due to a major traffic accident occurring within its jurisdiction, the Huwei Police Station in Yunlin saw a proposal to place green Guai Guai to pray for safety; consequently, five packs of Guai Guai were placed in the station. However, it is said that one day, an officer ate one pack of Guai Guai, and a fatal car accident occurred the very next day.
Admiration from International Media
In 2021, the British BBC published a report on Taiwan's Guai Guai culture, titled "How Taiwanese people use green snacks as lucky charms." The report garnered international attention and led Taiwanese netizens to joke that "national secrets have been discovered" and "the secret to high yield rates has been exposed."
This phenomenon even extended to the aviation industry. Starlux Airlines Chairman Chang Kuo-wei placed a pack of green Guai Guai in a meeting room to pray for the smooth delivery of new aircraft, and the photo went viral online. Liao Yu-chi even personally brought Guai Guai to ask Chang Kuo-wei for an autograph, hoping that a "Guai Guai Livery Aircraft" might be launched in the future.
A Delicate Balance Between Science and Superstition
In this era of logic and data, why do even engineers believe in the divine power of Guai Guai? The answer may lie in the calculation of cost-effectiveness. Compared to the massive losses that "computer failure" could bring, the cost of buying a pack of Guai Guai for protection is negligible. As engineers often say: "Even if there is only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of it working, it is worth a try."
This mindset of "better to believe it exists than to assume it doesn't" has allowed Guai Guai to become the most influential "deity" in Taiwan's tech industry. As stated in the Encyclopedia of Taiwan Urban Legends: "As long as people cannot solve the problem of random computer failures, the Great Guai Guai Deity will continue to exist."
And since making computers fail-proof is nearly impossible, on this land of Taiwan where technology and faith intertwine, green Guai Guai will continue to guard those precision machines, witnessing the most interesting balance between rationality and superstition.
References
- A unique culture of technology and faith! When did the urban legend of placing green Guai Guai on machines begin?
- Placing a pack of "Green Guai Guai" on a machine can ensure smooth operation? Why is "Yellow Guai Guai" a bad idea?
- BBC reports on Taiwan's Guai Guai culture: Who invented placing green Guai Guai on machines?
- Guai Guai Culture - Wikipedia
- Taiwan's Guai Guai culture hits the BBC; netizens cry: The secret to high yield rates has been discovered!