Left Taiwanting More

All this time I thought I was living in China....when it turns out the REAL China was just an hour flight across the Pacific. Laura and I came to this important realization even before seeing the Taiwan ROC (Republic of China) signage at immigration...we realized something was pleasantly abnormal when we starting exiting the aircraft in a proper queue (gasp) then looked up to find ourselves surrounded by smiling [and tall!] Asian people. It was right then that we knew a fantastic weekend lie ahead of us.

Despite it's history, language, and culture, Taiwan couldn't feel any more different from China and Hong Kong. No crazy PRC Chinese space age buildings and levitating bullet trains, but instead low-rise buildings and evidence of civilization before 1999 (non-existent in the mainland) - such a welcome sight of normalcy! But what really set Taiwan apart were the people - people who had remarkable public transportation etiquette, people who went out of there way to accommodate our every need even when they didn't understand our sub-par Mandarin, and people who seemed genuinely excited that we were visiting their country (astutely noted by a man on the street that yelled out to us "I hope you have a wonderful day in Taiwan today and every day!")

Laura and I filled our weekend itinerary with all of the Taipei highlights - Taipei 101 (the 4th tallest building in the world), the trendy Ximen neighborhood, Beitou for a [failed] attempt to test out the famed Taiwanese hot springs, The Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, and the famous Shilin night market.

Paying tribute to Chiang Kai Shek

Taipei 101

HK and China take note - it IS possible to stand in a line before boarding the metro!

Gastronomic adventures at the Shilin Night Market

If these sausages weren't large enough, the special that night was a sausage in a sausage

Eating straight off the table and still parasite-free!

I loved this country. Loved the people, loved the pace of the city, loved the food, loved the sound of their Mandarin dialect, and left Taipei [Tai]wanting much much more - when can I go back?