Taiwan is a beautiful island country with Mandarin Chinese as its official language. Recently our student Rahul visited Taiwan, sharing his experience there !
I spent 4 days in Taiwan and traveled in Taipei, Pingxi and Jiufen but I took hundreds of memories back home.
.
.
In March first week, I was contemplating a short half-week trip within Asia itself before starting a month long business trip in Guangzhou and Beijing. When I realised Nancy 老师 is going to be in Taipei during that time, I made up my mind to travel to Taiwan and witness the warmth of Taiwanese culture.
I spent 4 days in Taiwan and traveled in Taipei, Pingxi and Jiufen but I took hundreds of memories back home.
Day 01, I received a warm welcome by Nancy 老师 and Claire 老师. They took me to Zhongshan to try some local dumplings and sweet dish, which was 很好吃. The walking tour by my teachers began along the beautiful streets of Taiwan, where I learnt some unique facts about Taipei. One of them was about the traffic light animation and whenever I see a traffic light now, I think about Taipei’s traffic signal! After visiting the CSK memorial, we went close to the Taipei 101 tower, right at sunset, and it was a superb view. We did use Subway often and it’s one of the cleanest subways I have traveled in my life. PS: Food & drinks are strictly banned inside the subway.
After that, I had a healthy dinner along with Taiwan’s special bubble tea, with no milk, no sugar.
.
To digest the meal, we bravely decided to hike up a mountain in Sinyi District. I was so surprised to see Nancy 老师 being more sporty than me. Although the hike was a bit sweaty, but the view of the city was totally worth it. Then it was time for our good-bye, and I was going to spend the next 3 days by myself.
.
.
Day 02, I traveled the city by myself and relaxed in Beitou district at a hot water spring resort. The thermal valley was so beautiful; it was soothing to feel the natural steam on your entire body while walking along. In the evening, I joined a free-tipping tour around the Lanshan temple area where I learnt about the modern history of Taipei and Taiwan. The tour ended near the night market in Wanhua district where I enjoyed lip smacking street food. I remember only eating street food the entire day.
.
.
Day 03, I had booked a guided tour for Pingxi and Jiufen. I spent the entire day traveling from Taipei to Yehliu Park to Pingxi to Jiufen. Yehliu park is absolutely stunning, thanks to nature’s kindness that the rocks look so picturesque. At Pingxi, I wrote my wishes on the lantern and fell like a true taiwanese while the whole Lantern flying activity. Hope my wishes come true! I also took a short trip out of the tour to check out the Shifen waterfalls in Pingxi. It was my first time seeing such gigantic waterfalls. Last but not the least, Jioufen was a beautiful hill station, with lots of street food options and beautiful teahouses. It took us an hour to reach back to Taipei where I had to meet my friend Jane, whom I had met 2 years back in the UK. We spent 3-4 hours together, eating Taiwanese hotpot and mango ice cream. We discussed lives and how she has suddenly become such a grown up woman. Talking about politics was the most fun part.
.
.
Day 04, I went to learn how to make pineapple pastry at Kuo Yuan Ye, one of the oldest bakeries in Taipei. The baking class was awesome and I discovered my baking abilities. After the class, I went to Chun Shui Tang, the first store of Bubble tea in the world and enjoyed the authentic bubble tea (plum favor), highly recommended! I couldn’t resist taking another dip in the hot water spring at Beitou. Last but not the least, I visited the world famous Shilin night market and just ate street food, all night long!
Next day, I flew to Guangzhou to start working but I was taking so many memories along with me. See you soon Taiwan, I am coming again for sure.
.
