Taiwan

So I've decided that I really like Taiwan. Out of China and Taiwan, Taiwan comes out on top in every way. The people are very laid-back and very friendly to boot. The country is also simply beautiful. My 6 days in Taiwan only scratched the surface of what was on offer - many people wearing staying for about 1 month to truly explore the country - but at least it leaves plenty unseen for another trip some other time.

I started my Trip in Taipei, after flying there from Haikou.

Wednesday - Day 9 (11/02/2015)

My first stop on the tourist trail was to the Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall. Chiang kai-shek is a very important political and historical figure in the modern history of Taiwan ( i'm not going to say anymore because my history and politics are definitely not accurate/correct). The entire hall is quite striking from the outside with it's blue roof and the hall itself contains a huge bronze statue of the man himself, who is flanked by an honour guard comprised of various Chinese military personnel (who in my opinion have quite an entertaining marching style). I met a Taiwanese American family on the plane to Taipei and after asking them what they thought I should do in Taipei the honour guard in the memorial hall was excited suggested by the youngest son but was quickly shot down by the older son who thought I would be very disappointed because we have 'the real thing' in the UK - I feel like I have to agree on that one.

Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall

Honour Guard

After a trip to Longshan temple, which is very colourful indeed, I headed to the National Palace Museum. Reportedly, this museum has more mainland Chinese treasures within it's wall than the whole of mainland China, as all the treasures from the Forbidden City in Beijing were raided and taken back to Taipei (again I'm sketchy on the history here!). There was a huge selection on display from, jade and ivory carvings, to European snuff box collections, ancient Chinese artifacts and artwork and what seemed like the most popular item of all...a piece of jade carved into the shape of a Chinese cabbage. I've never seen so much excitement and awe over a carved vegetable, but I have seen plenty of imitations of it, so it must be very well known in China.

Part of Longshan temple

After my cultural afternoon, I headed to the Shilin street market, which is the largest street market on Taipei, if not Asia!?! (again don't quote me, I clearly need to swot up on my Taiwanese facts!) I definitely only saw a tiny part of this market, but it wasn't what I was expecting, I was slightly underwhelmed by the atmosphere in the area I was in, it was busy but nobody seemed to be having that much fun trying out new foods, maybe other parts of the market were better. After polishing off a chicken skewer and oven roasted bun filled with minced pork and molten gravy (I had the burns to prove it!) I headed back to the hostel for the night.

Thursday - Day 10 (12/02/2015)

On my second day in Taipei I paid a visit to the memorial hall of Dr Sun Yat-san, a man who has monuments in his honour throughout China (again sketchy on the history). I then headed to the National Museum of Taipei which, although comparatively small to the Palace museum, had some beautiful exhibitions on tradition textiles and glass bead work of Taiwanese tribes - more up my alley than jade cabbages.

Dr Sun Yat-san memorial hall

After spending some time relaxing in the sunshine and soaking up the atmosphere of Taipei in the gallery gardens, as well as eating a milky way (I'd forgotten they existed over the last few months) and listening to a busker playing some jazz I paid a visit to the 228 museum, at the edge of the park. After heading back to the hostel a group of us headed to the Raohe Street Food Market. This market had a much more exciting atmosphere than the previous one I'd been to, this potentially had something to do with the brightly coloured temple at the top of the street creating carnival-esk vibes. There was a huge variety of food available with BBQ squid on a stick being in plentiful supply. I also discovered that chocolate and cheese seem an integral part of the diet in Taiwan, two things that are very hard to get in Mainland China (I feel cheated).

The temple at the entrance to the street market

Friday - Day 11 (13/02/2015)

Friday saw my departure to the much raved about east coast of my new favorite island, my train journey to the coastal city of Hualien was definitively scenic with tantalising glimpses of the blue pacific ocean amoungst the lush green scenery. Hualien itself is, fairly low of tourist attractions but it didn't stop me wondering around and taking lots of pictures. Hualien has also claimed the title of the first place I've seen a firework display whilst I've been on this continent.

A lovely temple I found

The Pacific Ocean!

Fireworks!

Saturday - Day 12 (14/02/2015)

Taroko National Park was the true reason I headed to Hualien, it lies to the north of the city (another well suggested destination by my friendly plane family). Taroko gorge is famous for the striking river gorge which carves its way through the mountains before heading straight out to the Pacific Ocean. The river was more like a heavy trickle when I was there, it must be breathtaking during the rainy season. I headed straight to the top of park to the waterfalls, which after some of the other waterfalls I've seen at home, I wouldn't hurry to class as a waterfall but the caves made up for this slight disappointment. There's something quite nice about being given a hand-me down poncho (i feel like a bonafide Chinese tourist now) and a warning that I might want to take off my shows from a fellow tourist before entering a cave with water streaming through the rocks to form a river beneath you - it builds a certain sense of camaraderie with your fellow tourists (and someone to wave wildly at when you pass them later in the park). After firstly somehow landing in the little cave river and then accidentally terrifying some girls in the pitch black cave - I was just trying to be nice and get out of the way on the narrow path by standing against the wall out of the way. Its a bit of an ego kick when someone screams when they come face to face with you, whilst having their hand on your chest...

The underwhelming waterfall

The cave

After making a swift exit from the cave, I explored some more of the surrounding area before taking bus back down through the park and back to Hualien. Despite only seeing a tiny park of the park the bus trip back is nice because it winds its way back down the road alongside the dramatic gorge and it's surrounding tourist spots, so its definitely the most picturesque bus trip I've ever been on!

The gorge

Sunday - Day 13 (15/02/2015)

My original plan was to spend two days at Taroko but I was told it was forecast to rain (turns out this was a lie) so instead I headed back to Taipei in the morning instead of in the evening. At least this meant I got to spend some more time in Taipei.

When I got back to the city, I headed north to an area of the city called Beitou. This part of the city is famous for its hot springs and the accompanying baths, there is even a hot spring museum which I visited just to tick it off the list (not that it was a bad experience).

The hot spring museum - definitely not traditional Taiwanese architecture

After this I headed up hill to the hot spring itself – the sulphur smell definitely detracts slightly from the magic of the natural wonder. I was going to go to the public hot spring baths but when I was there it was OAP hour and I wasn’t allowed in…

The hot spring

Monday - Day 14 (16/02/2015)

My last day in Taipei was spent in the west of the city exploring some of the day markets and the varied produce on offer. As it was a Monday, many museums etc were closed (this is how it works in Taipei) so my idea to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art was scuppered so instead I spent a lovely few hours relaxing in the sunshine in the park, and eating one last Milky Way, before heading back to the airport destined for what feels like an endlessly cloudy Foshan. 

Some of the many things on offer at the market...

How I feel about Taiwan

G x