I'd felt some genuine anxiety about going to Taipei for a number of weeks. Part of it had to do with wanting it to go well, since my last year in mainland China had been such an exercise in frustration in so many ways. I'd sworn off the idea of going to Taiwan while living in Shandong province because my main objective each holiday period was to get away from 'the china' as much as possible. Was I wrong to discount erstwhile Formosa?
The trip to Taiwan was, in a word, great. The entire nation, seemingly, is made up of the better-heeled parents of the students from CZSS; quiet, respectable folk with modern sensibilities. It was palpably obvious when mainlanders were nearby (on subways, at attractions...) due to the sheer volume of obnoxious sound they tend to emit en masse. At least they were helped to be quiet by the attendants at the Palace museum, pictured above, who walked around with signs in a number of languages reminding people to be respectfully quiet in the museum. The museum itself was top-notch, containing thousands of pieces prudently stored away during turmoil in the mainland. Apparently they can only ever exhibit 1% of the pieces they have in total.
There were innumerable interesting pieces, but this screen from the jade exhibition hall is something I found immediately arresting. More details in woodwork and the carving of the jade emerge the more one looks at it; it seems like approximately the least affordable dressing-screen in the world.
People wax poetic about the night markets and the variety of delicious foods you can get at them. This photo, from NingXia market, looks at the food corridor from behind one side of it. I like it because it shows the vendors relaxing between tides of customers sweeping through. I would have been in better stead at the market if I could read Chinese, but I had good food nonetheless.
One of the things I was excited for was seeing a bit of the landscape of Taiwan, and the closest place to do that is in YangMingShan national park. This is how green the place is as you climb through the forest; consistent rainfall is clearly a feature.
As you get nearer to the top of QiXing mountain, the main volcano of the park, the trees drop off due to the prevailing winds and the landscape becomes dominated by long grass and a tenacious bamboo-ish cane plant. The wind was consistent all day, which was nice because the heat was significantly more than that offered by Seoul these days (though it is warming up here).
The next day we followed a subway line to the end and then boarded a scenic gondola (part of the transit system...pretty neat) to visit a more agricultural area called MaoKong which is famous for tea cultivation. As the pretty amazing gondola ride continued up and down hillsides and over ravines, you'd see little pockets of water amongst the jungly terrain. I imagine it'd be exceeding nice to jump in there after you hiked up the ravine to get to it.
This is the view back towards Taipei from MaoKong, chosen to highlight the plants. Curiously absent from the photo are butterflies, which live in the area innumerably.
This is the main attraction - TieGuanYin oolong tea. White butterflies flit amongst the rows as they slowly cook in the low altitude mountainous region. Apparently the drainage offered by the soil is in a perfect harmony to the frequent rainfall, leading to flavourful tea which we enjoyed in (allegedly) the oldest teahouse in the area.
Less traditional and old-fashioned was the area we stayed in Taipei - XiMenDing. It was a largely pedestrian zone clearly influenced by Japan and mainland shopping culture, with all manner of luxurious shops to buy whatever you might want. The sum total of my shopping was food, a pair of shorts, and treats for my workmates - most of my time was simply walking about enjoying different street scenes in the evenings.
The last picture I'm putting up here shows the food stall scene in XiMen, which was significantly more spacious than NingXia but no less crowded. The bubble teas and pork-intestine noodles were tasty, the temperatures warm, and the people quite helpful in a non-hassling kind of way. I'd probably choose a different neighbourhood if I returned, just to be in a bit of a quieter/darker place, but not for lack of enjoyment of XiMen.
I wish I had gone to Taiwan earlier than I did, honestly. It shows how things could be if the thugs weren't ruining things in the mainland - everything about it felt Chinese but in a positive way, where people like the place they live and want things to remain nice. If you want to experience Chinese culture/cities, but don't want to experience large difficulties at every turn, I can heartily recommend Taipei/Taiwan. I might even go back again before I leave Asia - who knows?
