Taiwan - First Stop Asia 2024

John was speaking at a conference in Hainan, an island in south China. We had not been to China since before Covid and since we were traveling so far we decided to stop in Taiwan on the way there.

It was our first time in Taiwan and we all really liked it. Taipei is a very modern city but with charming older parts that reminded me of a homey aspect of China I always enjoy. But what really surprised me were the intimations of Japan. I had forgotten that Japan had occupied Taiwan for 50 years. There were Japanese restaurants everywhere, and houses had Japanese-style plant placements outside their home. I often did a doubletake to remind myself where I was. And as the locals reminded us numerous times, Taiwan had never been part of China. Here's a history if anyone is interested.

These are some random images from Taipei. There were foot massage salons everywhere and I thought their signs were adorable. Unfortunately we never got a foot massage, though we walked for miles daily.

We took a cooking class which is a great way to get acclimated, get local information and have a delicious lunch. Our teacher is a French chef who gives French cooking classes to the locals, and Taiwanese cooking classes to tourists. He was an excellent teacher and a very nice person.

We joined a hike given by a local up a nearby mountain. The meeting spot was in a park where they were holding a martial arts class. As we approached the trailhead the terrain was thick and green.

Almost immediately it started to rain, but it was warm so we weren't going to let that stop us. It was a beautiful hike and luckily we are all in shape because there were at least 1000 steps until we reached the summit. We were rewarded with a stunning view of Taipei and Taipei 101, their tallest building which has won awards for its energy efficiency.

The hike ended at a brightly colored Daoist temple.

We spent another day going to a tea growing area outside of Taipei. It was interesting see the countryside and John is always interested in tea.

Walking around Taipei, I enjoyed what I can only call cuteness.

The family went on a quest for excellent cocktail bars and was not disappointed.

We enjoyed the street food markets, and went to a night market for dinner one night, which was amazing.

Streets in Taipei often specialized in specific goods; I liked the sign for the shoe street.

We had a great time in Taipei. There was so much to do, including a Japanese style onsen at a local hot spring. We would be happy to return.

There was a typhoon coming our way and luckily our flight to Hainan departed just in time. I'll write about our visit to Hainan and Hong Kong in a separate blog post.