Trip to Taiwan

A few weeks ago we got to take a short trip to Taiwan. Nick had a few meetings, and I had to leave China for a few days for my visa. The timing of this trip couldn't have been better since Barry and Gail were still there visiting Zack and Amy we got to spend a little more time with them.

We had so much fun. Nick loves Taiwan, but this was my first trip. The weather was definitely warmer than we are used to in Beijing, but I enjoyed it. Taiwan is different from China, but it is hard to describe why. It is definitely not as crowded, at least not during the day. The market on the weekend got a little crazy, but I'm used to that. Another difference was the families. In China they only have one child, and that child is usually a spoiled monster. In Taiwan I saw a lot of bigger families. Many people had 2 or 3 children, and these kids didn't seem quite as self-involved as kids in China. Probably because they had brothers or sisters to keep them normal. Other things that made it different are just small things that I noticed, for instance Taiwan is cleaner for the most part and the internet seemed so fast after being in China!

Before anyone thinks I'm complaining about Beijing by comparing it... Our trip was great, Taiwan was nice and I would love to go back and see more of it someday, but I was also happy to come home to Beijing. There were a lot of things that I had to get used to here, but there are also lots of things I love. Now that we are settled into our apartment here, hopefully we'll have more chances to travel and see this part of the world.

Our first night. We ate at a great little restaurant that looked over the water then took some pictures on the bridge.

The Taipei temple. We didn't get there in time to go in, but we took some pretty pictures outside.

We haven't had this since Dalian. I was so excited. Mango Ice is the perfect way to cool off on a hot night.

Chang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. Apparently this guy was pretty important in Taiwan's history. Nick had to take a picture with his statue for a friend at work.

Nick and Chang Kai-Shek

Stopping to cool off in the shade and feed the fish. Some of them were pretty big and Nick wanted to feed them out of his hand. What you can't see in the picture is how fast he jumped out of the way when they snapped at the cracker.

The Taipei 101. It was the world's tallest building till 2004. It also had the world's fastest elevator. The top speed was 1010 meters/minute. We got to the 89th floor (where the observation deck is) in about 3o seconds.

Us on top of the 101.

The night market. It was a different than any night market I've been to in China. They had lots of carnival games (like throwing darts at balloons) and lots of good food.

Thanks Zack and Amy for having us!