It's how they roll

International Flora Expo

International Flora Expo was held in Taipei this year.  The event lasted about 6 months with acres of outdoor gardens, indoor displays and cultural performances. 

 

Street Celebration

I was in Pingtung in southern Taiwan where my dad's family is from.  My aunts and uncles still live there.  It's a bit more countryside than then big cities.  Taiwanese, rather than Mandarin is spoken here much more than in Taipei.  So I'm trying to pick up some more Taiwanese when I can.  Anyway there was a celebration for the birthday of the child deity in Taoism/Chinese Folk Religion.

I also happened upon a random parade, too.  People were setting off fireworks in the middle of the street.  See the boxes and boxes of fireworks! They really know how to have a celebration.

Maokong Tea Gardens

My old college friend Justin has been coming to Taiwan for business trips for the past few years.  We got the chance to take the Maokong gondola into the mountains for tea, right outside of Taipei (reachable by the metro).

We're about to take the gondola.  The route is about 2.5 miles into the mountains.

Tea Garden

There are lots of tea houses in the area - here are tea leaves being dried.

There's an art to brewing and serving tea.  Glad Justin knew what to do.

The tea was cute and delicious!

Taipei 101
Taipei 101 had the title of tallest building in the world from 2004 - 2010.  Here it is from the Sun Yet-Sun Memorial (Founding Father of Republican China.  It was constructed to represent simultaneously segments in bamboo, a stack of ancient Chinese money boxes, and pagoda.  Also, the number 8 is very lucky in Chinese culture-the building is made up of 8 segments, 8 floors each.

101 is lit in a different color each day of week for a few hours.  I guess it was a Sunday when I took this picture.

HotPot

All you can eat hot pot.  All kinds of veggies, mushrooms, tofu, mochi, noodles and if you are into seafood and meat - all you can eat, too.  Spicy soup and not spicy soup - half and half. 

Juice/tea box cheers :).  My new favorite teas - Barley tea and winter melon tea...though these are not made with tea haha.   

National Taiwan History Museum

frogs!

Taroko National Park

 Approximately 2/3 of the Taiwan is mountainous so most people live in the north, where Taipei is located, and along the west coast.  The island has a very high population density.  Excluding the mountainous regions in Taiwan, imagine about 23,000,000 people living in an area the size of Connecticut!  But that means lots of great mountain parks to visit!  One well known park is Taroko National Park in the north east, famous for it's marble gorges.

I got the chance to take a 3 day visit to Taroko with my college friend Andrew.  Took a nice train ride from Taipei and hired a car to explore the main attractions the 1st day.  This is a good way to get around if you do not have a car yourself - you get the chance to take your time and stroll around.  There are buses but they come very rarely.  To hike anywhere in the park, you pretty much need to apply for a permit - otherwise the open access places are for relaxing walks.  This is a good way to preserve the park since thousands of people visit every day!  The 2nd day tried walking along the main road to find a nice trail but the park is huge and a bit nerve wracking as huge tour buses pass by (see below).  Hitchhiked and got a ride from a friendly park ranger heading home (with his kid in the car too).  He was playing the Great Compassion Mantra - A Buddhist mantra in the car.  Thank you!  In my experience people in Taiwan are usually really friendly and will offer lots of help - they'll treat you like the way you would treat a neighbor!

Native Taiwanese of the Truku Tribe are from Taroko and some still live there.  Aboriginal Taiwanese have a similar history to Native Americans.  Today they are a marginalized group and only ~2% of the population are considered Aboriginal Taiwanese.  However, most Han Taiwanese people have some aboriginal blood in their family heritage.

From the visitor's center

Shakadang River Rocks

Gorgeous Boulders

Yes the water is really that color!  And the marble is really that swirly.

Me and Andrew...the water isn't that color, not so green...

That's better. Ahhhh

Playing in the river

View from Shakadang River

 

Eternal Spring Shrine 長春祠 - built in honor of the 200 lives lost during construction of the Central Cross Island Freeway 橫貫公路. 

So much depth to the mountains in Taiwan, just keep one right after another.

Traditional hat - lightweight, breathable, blocks sun...just gets blown away when a weak gust a wind comes along.

See below

This is a poem about the view.  Accurate translation :)

Marine tropical climate - so green and lush!

Falling rocks are dangerous - hard hats are offered.  Swallow's Grotto.

Lots of swallows nest in the crevices of the Taroko gorge.

Liwu River, Taroko Gorge

So beautiful.

Ak They're coming!!...the hotel attendant said that ~100 tour buses come to Taroko every day - crazy!  ~4,000 tour bus tourists every day!  Most tourists are from Mainland China.  Also Japan, Thailand, and Taiwanese.

Amazing Truku man singing traditional songs and playing the drum

Truku grandma.  I bought so many things from her.  I said I like the blanket that she was currently weaving the best.  She said that she'd finish it in 30 minutes.  Exactly 30 mins later, she finished tying the last knot!  She'd been working on it for 3 days.  The Truku women are known for their cloth-weaving skills.  She made all those clothes you see by hand!!  

And I bought a lot from this grandma too- she learned how to weave when she was 5 years old.  She says this skill hasn't been preserved in the younger generations.  She was so sweet, she gave me a discount on the purse I bought so I bought more with the money I saved...then she gave me a bracelet as a present- how sweet! What a nice way to end the trip :)