Taiwan was the only country in Asia that I had visited before. The R.O.C. (Republic of China) / Taiwan is a relatively small island nation that was founded by the exiled Chinese government when the communist revolution under Mao occurred in China. Since then the Taiwanese and mainland Chinese relations have been very tense. Over time Taiwan has become a very important semiconductor and technology hub in the global economy and the country is quite well off. Not many people go to Taiwan for tourism, most westerners will be there for work instead. The climate is almost tropical and many days are humid and hot but occasionally the temperature would drop to the point that a jacket is a good idea.
- Unlike most countries I visited in Asia few people speak English in Taiwan. The official language is Mandarin Chinese (as in China) but there is also a native Taiwanese language is widely spoken
- Taiwan has some great food at good prices and downtown Taipei is a very clean and orderly place with some impressive infrastructure such as the Taipei 101 building.
- There are some great hot springs and spas close to Taipei
Selected Photos
Taipei Downtown. Driving in Taipei is something that takes some getting used to and always makes me a bit nervous.
Untold numbers of scooters will zip around cars and cars tend to drive quite fast without necessarily staying within marked lanes.
View of Taipei from the 90th floor on the observation deck of the Taipei 101.
The pressurized lift to the 90th floor is one of the fastest in the world at over 10 meters per second, yet it is remarkably smooth.
be forewarned your ears will pop when arriving on the 90th floor.
Me and Hanying went to a park close to Taipei.
Were we found this little waterfall.
I had the opportunity to eat at many traditional Taiwanese locations, here we went to an old Dutch administrative building that had been converted into a restaurant
Fantastic Chinese food.
Dinner in the Taipei 101 Commercial center with the Liang family ...
This is the large commercial area close to Taipei 101 at night.
There are some pretty unique statues along the walkway...