Taiwan Vacation part 1 (It is pretty long)

Okay so if you don't already know I went to Taiwan for vacation. I was there for 6 days and 6 nights. I had a wonderful time and I am so glad I got a chance to go. I've always wanted to go to Taiwan and I am happy I got the chance to go. I only spent 2 nights in Taipei and the rest of the time I spent traveling around the island. I went on a tour group and it was so nice. I met a lot of cool people and got to see many things. I was very scared to go alone, but I am so glad I did! It was amazing. So first off I am going to give the description the tour agency gives along and then I will tell you about my time there and pictures. Now I took about a thousand pictures so I won't be posting them all. In case anyone is interested I went through Edison Travel http://www.edison.com.tw/dailytours.aspx and did the 5 day tour around the island.

Night 1
So I arrived to Taiwan around 4:30 in the afternoon on Sunday. Therefore by the time I got to my hotel in Taipei it was around 6pm. So I decided to do a little exploring and go to Taipei 101. This is the second tallest building in the world currently and it is a engineering marvel because it is 200 meters from a fault line and Taipei suffers from Typhoons. So this building has to be able to be flexible during an earthquake and stiff during typhoons. So this building is attached to the ground with thick columns and has a huge wind damper to counter act the wind. The wind damper is also on display so you can see it. They also have I believe the fastest elevator in the world. So here is what I saw on my way to Taipei 101 and everything from Taipei 101. To get there I took the MRT (train/subway system). It was pretty simple to figure out especially after going to Japan last year.

I went to the Taipei city hall stop

The map I used to get to Taipei 101

a huge angry bird with Taipei 101 in the background

street art

Taiwan is known from their coral and jade.

view from the top on the 89th floor

more street art

This is inside the station and people lined up nicely. I was amazed.

my token for the train

one of my favorite Taiwanese singers. The girl in the red. Her name is Ella from S.H.E

Haha Korean TV

The jade necklace I bought

A better picture of Ella

Day 1 Night 2

Sun Moon Lake

The Sun Moon Lake, located in the middle of Taiwan, with an elevation of 748 meters above sea level, is the only natural big lake in Taiwan. The southern part of Lalu Island is shaped like a new moon, and the northern part is shaped like a sun; hence the name Sun Moon Lake. The most famous sights around Sun Moon

Lake are the Itashao, Lalu Island, the Xuanzang Temple, the Ci-en Pagoda, and the Wenwu Temple and so on. The natural forests bordering these roads are good places for bird watching. There are a lot of birds

that live on the mid-elevation, such as the Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Grap-throated Minivet, Formosan Yuhina, Gray Tree Pie, Bamboo Partridge, Chinese Bulbul, Muller's Barbet, and the Black Bulbul.Colonies of Black crowned Night herons and Egretta garzettas , and birds such as the common kingfisher and the Green-winged Teal can be seen at the Dazhuhu water reservation, situated around the water gate. Besides these birds, fish, insects and wild vegetables are flourishing in the region as well. These are all natural resources of the

Sun Moon Lake region. 

Tehua Village and Wenwu Temple

The Shao Clan is the earliest clan that lived in the Sun Moon Lake region. The Harvest

Festival, Sowing Festival and their special hand craft fair every year, as well as their

articles have helped to preserve the particular culture of the Sun Moon Lake region.

Wenwu Temple is located at the shoulder of mountain where is on the north of Sun Moon Lake. It was built in 1938. People worried the water of Sun Moon Lake might cover Longfeng Temple and Ihuatang of Shuishotsun, they built Wenwu Temple. The Wenwu Temple is 2 (Longfeng Temple and Ihuatang) in 1.

It was rebuilt in 1969. Its gate is face to the north. People pray the Civil Saint of Confucius, the Military Saint of Guangong, and the Established God of two temples at the Wenwu Temple. The temple is popular among

students.

Holy Monk Shrine

Monk Xuanzang was the Holy Monk in the Tang dynasty. During the China-Japan War, Japanese took the Monk Xuanzang's remains away from Nanchin to the Tsen Temple of Saidama Ken in Japan. In 1955, the Monk Xuanzang's remains were returned back to the Xuanguang Temple. In 1965, the Monk Xuanzang's remains were moved to the Xuanzang Temple after the temple rebuilding. There is a bell in front of the main gate of the Xuanzang Temple. The bell is called "wake up bell." If you prefer quiet atmosphere, those temples are the best places for you. 

Ci-en Pagoda

Ci-en Pagoda is located on Sha Ba Lan Mountain near Sun Moon Lake. It was built by Chiang Kai-Shek in memory of his mother in 1971. The construction was very difficult because the materials had to be shipped over the lake and moved up the mountain. The Ci-en Pagoda is 46 meters in height and has become the famous landmark of Sun Moon Lake. Surrounding the tower are beautiful plants and trees and there are stone tables and chairs for visitors to take a rest. The Ci-en Pagoda overlooks Lalu Island and Sun Moon Lake.Ci-en Pagoda is an octagonal building; the 3 stories at the base are painted in white, while the 9 stories of the main body are painted in golden red. Tourists can appreciate the magnificent scenery of Sun Moon Lake from the Ci-en Pagoda. The tourists track as long as 700 meters lead to the Ci-en Pagoda. Alongside the track are

beautiful trees and flowers, which make the track easy and comfortable to walk along

So on day 1 I go picked up from my hotel and we went to the middle of Taiwan. This is where Sun Moon lake is located. We went to the Wenwu temple, the pagoda, Tehua village and the Holy Monk Shrine. They were all very interesting a very pretty. We ate lunch in Tahua village. I ate a huge dumpling with mushrooms, cabbage and meat and it only cost a dollar US. It was very good. I also did a little shopping and got some scarfs for my mom and I. The temple was very pretty and interesting to look at. The Holy Monk Shrine and the pagoda were damaged by the typhoon 3 months ago so they were being fixed. After traveling all day we went to our hotel which was a 5 star hotel. They had a hot springs which also ran the hot spring water to your bathtub in your room. It was awesome! So enjoy the photos.

leaving Taipei

Wenwu temple

My lunch

Sun Moon Lake from the village

The pagoda

Holy Monk Shrine

My hotel room

The view of Sun Moon lake from my room

 Day 2 night 3

Fo Gunag Mountain Monastery

At the north-east of Dashu Township in Kaohsiung county on the left bank of the Gaoping (Kaoping) river, a famous tourist destination is located. Here you will find the Buddhist center of South Taiwan, established my Master Hsing Yun and his disciples. The architecture of the temples is very characteristic, and at the southeastern side of Fo Gunag Mountain (Gunag Shan) Monastery the most prominent landmark of the region is found: a huge golden statue of Buddha Amitaabha which measures some 120 meters. The main square is surrounded by 480 standing Buddha's, while water and mountains form the magnificent scenery. The main structures consist of four temples, namely the Daxiongbao, the Dabei , the Dazhi and the Dashu shrines. The Daxiongbao shrine covers a large area and is the most imposing of all four shrines. The main god of worship

here is Sakyamuni, while statues of Amitaabha is placed on the left and right sides. More than 10,000 Guanyin statues surround the temple. Buddha statues and lanterns of light rest in the 14,800 holes in the walls of the four shrines. The site counts more than a thousand Buddha statues, large and small.

The Former British Consulate Residence

The consulate was built in 1865 with more than a hundred years of history. It is now the most antique western building preserved in Taiwan, which is listed as the second-class historic spot. It was the western building designed by a British engineer and built by Chinese craftsmen, and it is the most meaningful ancient building of Chinese modern history with graceful and elegant proportion. Semicircle arches are rhythmically arranged

in order with considerably rhyming. At the corner, the circle arch is smaller and the wall pillar is bigger, which has reinforced function in dynamics. It is the Baroque typed building of the Renaissance era. It emphasizes on the stylish regular pattern and its hollow pattern railings were built with excellent bricks. Harmonious sense of beauty is shown at every turn. Among the existing western style buildings in Taiwan, it provides an excellent example of technique and style and that possesses the value of historical architecture study and conservation value. The building brick and mortar used all continue using the traditional method of Fukien and Taiwan. Some parts are even filled with clay and soil, while wooden truss is built with complete western style. It is the building that has double function, administrative and residential function, and its style also lies in between them. It is the portrayal illustration of modern Chinese and Western cultural communication, and also the first formal consulate built by foreigners in Taiwan. The occurrence of consulate opened up the development of western architecture for Taiwan in the future.

Love River

Almost all big cities have a beautiful river passed by, this is specially true in Kaohsiung. Love River lies across Kaohsiung for times of sunrises and sunsets. Love River, known as Dagou River in Ching Dynasty, was renamed by Japanese as Takao River. The river was also called Kaohsiung Canal. A fter restoration of Taiwan, the riverbanks were beautified with greenery works and developed to be park areas, decorated with pillars chained with iron rope. The area becomes a romantic place for lovers to date with each other, therefore, the river was reputed as Love River.

Leo Ho Night Market

You will not be considered to visit Kaohsiung if you miss out Liuhe Night Market. As early as in 1950, more and more stalls came to stationed in Dagangpu of Xinxing District in Kaohsiung, finally forming the well-known "Dagangpu Night Market". The night market is developed into large-scale, known as Liuhe Night Market. The Night Market is not far away if you walk from Kaohsiung Railway Station along the Zhongshan Road straightforward, which takes only ten minutes more, and then turn right to Liuhe Road. In daytime, the market is a straight road, and turns into prosperous market area in nighttime. There are 138 stalls in Liuhe Night Market, most of them serve snacks and provide entertainment and games for recreation, the garments/apparels and groceries are rarely seen in the market. In particular, the dozens of steak houses boom around the market offering beef steak at reasonable price or family-size package meal. No matter what you like to have, a variety of delicious food, specialties, cold drinks, ices and seafood here are offered for your choice. Just remind you, don't miss the opportunity to taste the papaya milk and steamed salty shrimps in Kaohsiung. 

This day was really nice. We saw a lot of cool things in this city. I saw an etude house which is a make up company from Korea. I heard a lot of Kpop too which kind of made me laugh. The scenery and hikes were nice, but the night market was the best part. At the night market I hung out with a Chinese American family and I got to eat a lot of things I had always seen in dramas that I wanted to try. I ate stinky tofu, mango shaved ice, chicken butt, oyster omelet and bubble tea! The family was very nice and the mom Annie and I talked about Korean pop music and dramas since she loves them like I do. So it was fun. Their son Ryan loves music and languages so him and I talked a lot about that. He was very mature for his age in some ways lol and still very much a 17 year old when he questioned everything. haha He was very polite though so his mom did something right! haha He wants to go to school for music, but his parents have different expectations for him. He also spoke really good Spanish. I was very impressed. His mom talked to me a lot about him as a child and how he drives her crazy because he will just disappear. Poor Annie, I am sure it can be hard just being with her son and husband all the time. It makes me think of my poor dad who is stuck with all girls. A funny side note is that everyday of the tour Ryan and Rodger (his dad) were dressed alike and it wasn't on purpose.  So here are some photos of that day.

At Love River

Dragon head with a fish body. There is also one in China

leaving Sun Moon Lake

Everyone on the tour

100 year old train

yummy local ice cream

Buddist Monk from Austria

My hotel room

The view from my room

oyster omlete

mango ice

bubble tea

okay I will stop here for now. I have been doing this for the past 3 hours and I am super tired. I will write part 2 either tomorrow or Tuesday. Enjoy this update for now and I will update again soon! Have a great week! Besos!