I have just returned from Taipei, Taiwan. I had done some reading previously, and I figured I would probably like it. I had no idea that I would love it this much, though. I spent a week here, and on the first day alone, I fell in love with the city and the Taiwanese. Was this because I had spent a full year in China without seeing anything else? Perhaps, but after spending all that time here in China, I immediately noticed the numerous and stark differences between the two countries. The Taiwanese are very nice and rather relaxed in nature; they are more cultured, mannered, and considerate, and they actually abide by the rules of public etiquette.

I could go on and on about it (literally), but maybe it’s better to just read a previous blog post I made about the challenges of living in China and then remember that Taiwan is the opposite of each.

https://globejournal.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/challenges-of-daily-life-in-china-part-1/

https://globejournal.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/challenges-of-daily-life-in-china-part-2/

My experience here honestly made me not want to leave, especially not for China. It may sound like I’m throwing China under the bus here, but I have to be honest, I just liked Taiwan so much more. Anyway, I will proceed to the photos and videos.

I will start with the food. Taiwanese food is delicious! It still uses some oil, but certainly not the amount that you’ll find in Chinese food. On my first day in Taipei, I met a man named Josh (a local), and he took me out to try some local food. He then took me to the nearby night market (something Taiwan is full of and famous for) to sample other foods. At the market, there are also people selling clothing. I also indulged in some freshly squeezed orange and apple juice. What I liked about it here is that the vendors, although eager to sell their stuff, were not aggressive or pushy the way that the flea market vendors were in Shanghai. This made for a more pleasant and relaxing stroll.

On my first day, it was rather cloudy, so I decided to do some indoor exploring, so I headed over to the National Palace Museum. The architecture seemed to be in the same style as in China, though a bit cleaner-seeming. Right next door to it was the Zhishan Garden, which offers a lovely little walk in a serene setting (even though you can see a road right next to it). It even has a typical pond with fish and a running stream.

The next day, I decided I wanted to check out the botanical gardens. Here I noticed how numerous the palm trees were and how much more appropriate they seemed than in China (then again, Taiwan has a sub-tropical climate).

On Thursday, I decided that I should see a common tourist site as well as an area that is quite progressive in terms of being LGBT-friendly (this area is Ximen). Here there is a building known as the “Red House” that is well known for its red bricks and octagon shape. It was originally created as a market in 1908, when Japan occupied Taiwan, but after WWII, its meaning changed repeatedly. It became known as an opera house, then a book house, then a theater, then a cinema, and finally, in 2007, it was categorized as a historical site.

I went around to look for an ATM and along the way I came across a temple.

After previewing the area, I headed over to the famous Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, which commemorates the late president who fled from China in 1949 with the KMT (Kuomintang, or Chinese Nationalist Party).

Underneath, there is also a museum with several floors. I arrived a bit late, and I only had maybe 15 minutes to look around.

On my way back, I was quite hungry, so I decided to try a pizza chain called “Napoli.” Their menu seemed a bit odd, but their presentation was just so cute and nice, I had to document it.

On Friday, the weather seemed better, so I decided this would be a good day to split between going on the Maokong Gondola cable car and then to the Taipei Zoo. While inside the cable car, the wind was blowing, and the fresh air smelled sweet. It was so pleasant and reminded me of spring that I actually started getting spring fever.

At one of the stops, I decided to grab a snack. I chose a chicken item that may or may not have been wrapped in bean curd. I also saw some stinky tofu on a stick, and I thought that after being in China for a year, I still had not had stinky tofu. After I tried it, it just seemed to taste like it smelled. I don’t quite get the appeal of it, but I had so much good food in Taipei that I didn’t mind.

As I walked up the road, I saw signs indicating numerous tea houses along the way. I hadn’t planned on having tea, but I decided perhaps I should on such a nice day.

When I was finished refilling my tea cup for the fourth time, I decided to head to the zoo before it got too late. I got some photos, but as time went on, I realized I needed to hurry up before I missed the last zoo shuttle of the day.

On Saturday, I went to a theater where you can see traditional Peking Opera-style performances. These shows include a mix of singing, dancing, acting, and martial arts. The females in the show spoke and sang in very high-pitched voices that reminded me of a Disney character or something. I decided to go on Saturday night because that’s when they have two performances rather than one. It was an interesting look into a form of entertainment that dates far back (and is quite different than the opera performances that we in the West typically think of).

During intermission, the audience is encouraged to go into the lobby area to watch some traditional short performances, take pictures with the cast, and check out the merchandise.

I took several videos of the performances in the hallway. Here are the links to them on YouTube.

http://youtu.be/lIXexFhskbM

http://youtu.be/bD1aUOIUrRw

The second performance was titled “The Bottomless Pit” or something to that effect. The story line was a bit harder to follow, but the visuals and performances were still entertaining.

I managed to take another five videos (which you are not supposed to do, even though I was not the only one) before my camera battery died. They are definitely worth a visit.

http://youtu.be/EYWwYvXip7E

http://youtu.be/tyW7YBeIJ1U

http://youtu.be/FfKaAmRsV18

On Sunday, I met up with another local named Roy. We went to a place called “Elephant Mountain,” which allows climbers to see the cityscape, including the Taipei 101 Tower. Earlier, I thought of going up inside to the observatory deck around sunset, but Roy’s schedule meant that we needed to go earlier. While climbing up the many stone steps, it reminded me of the paths I hiked up and down while at Huangshan.

Roy then received a call saying that he needed to be at work by 4 p.m.Apparently he had gotten his days off mixed up, so we had to leave earlier than expected. Later that evening, I met up with Josh for dinner. I suggested a place called the “Wu Hua Ma” dumpling house. He said he was familiar with this chain, so we decided to go. We were both hungry (especially me after climbing up and down all those stone steps earlier). You may feast your eyes on our feast.

Later that evening, he took me to one of the many hot springs around the city. Earlier in the week, I went to another popular hot spring in Xinbeitou, which are a traditional Japanese style of hot springs (with very hot water, I found out). There I found that I could not be in the water for more than 10 minutes because it was so hot (and it was also making me even more sleepy, and when I tried to stand up to get out, I felt dizzy).

This time, the hot springs we went to weren’t quite as hot, but they were still sufficiently hot. This place had the regular hot pool, another room with warm water with two shower spouts, and a small cold water tub. Oh, I forgot to mention that this particular hot springs pool area was also a nude all-male area that apparently both straight and gay people frequent. I was the only Caucasian, so naturally, I stuck out like a sore thumb. This is not a place where one can feel too shy or self-conscious, especially since there are body types of all kinds here. It was actually rather exciting and liberating. Josh kept wanting to go into the steam room, but the first three times we tried, there were just too many people in there. By the fourth attempt, we went in and had a bit more room. The air inside was quite thick and hot, which made it difficult to breathe, so I couldn’t stay in for more than a few minutes. At one point, he insisted that we try going from the main hot water pool into the cold water tub and see if we could stay in for 10 full seconds. I begrudgingly accepted this challenge, and it wasn’t long before I jokingly (ok, half jokingly) said that I hated him and asked why he was making us do this. We hurried back into the regular pool, and soon the refreshing burn of the water made everything better.

We chatted for a while before heading out to meet some of his friends at a gay bar back in the Red House area of Ximen. While we chatted and gossiped, I mentioned that I had been in China for a year and that I was in town vacationing. I mentioned that I had wanted to visit Taiwan for a while and how much I loved it here (and how different it was from China). I asked his friends if they had been to China. One said yes, and the other said no. The one who said yes shared my feelings about Chinese not having “manners.” He also mentioned how the Taiwanese don’t typically seem to like Chinese tourists and how the Chinese businessmen they dealt with seemed rude. I remember while I was waiting at the airport in Hangzhou that I could tell who the Taiwanese were vs. the Chinese. The Taiwanese people I saw seemed quiet and laid back, while the Chinese folks were talking very loudly. I’ll touch on more of the differences later.

On Monday, my last full day in town, I wanted to go to the 101 Tower, but since it was cloudy out, I figured I wasn’t going to get decent photos. Oh well, I can always come back and do the things I didn’t do this time around. I also tried to find a restaurant that I had seen on TV called “Modern Toilet,” where the restaurant theme was about toilets and toilet décor. I had trouble finding it, and I decided not to waste anymore time and instead headed back into the subway and went to another place I had seen it previously with Roy. It was called…wait for it, “Chocoholic!”. How perfect of a place is this for me? I’ll let the images do the talking.

Later that evening, I met up with Josh again for one last dinner. I mentioned “Modern Toilet” to him, and he said he had been before, and I convinced him that we should go. Again, there isn’t much that can be explained with visuals.

So there you have it, folks. My experience in Taipei was even better than I had imagined, and I’m so grateful that I decided to go for it and indulge in my curiosity. I think Taiwan is a very underrated place, and I found it to be quite an easy place to navigate over all (minus some of the streets that aren’t clearly marked). Taiwan seems to be a country that is fully developed, politically stable (albeit with the occasional political protest against government corruption), cultured, and open to foreigners. The Taiwanese are very friendly and helpful, and the ones that aren’t as outgoing simply leave you alone rather than stare at you and make you feel like an outsider. The air is much better there (although if you are away from the city area, you can see some haze, which is partially due to the number of motorbikes, but it’s nothing at all like the haze you see in many Chinese cities). It’s also quite cheap (including many of the tourist attractions), and I never felt overwhelmed. I love that they have a sense of humor, and in terms of the rest of Asia, they are some of the most socially progressive people (though of course there are some things that could still be tweaked), especially concerning LGBT people. I love how respectful and considerate they are too. In the subway, they have posters and announcements telling people to not talk too loudly and to please consider the comfort of other passengers. I even saw a woman on her phone, covering her mouth, while on a call. You certainly do not see any of this behavior in China.

I could go on and on and on, but I’ll just end with how much I loved being there and that I hope to go back soon. Honestly, I was starting to tear up a bit once I got back to where I was staying when I realized it would all be ending soon and that I would be leaving to go back to a place where so many of the positive aspects that I’ve mentioned are not readily seen. It’s going to be quite a challenge now that I know exactly what I was missing, but I will try to move forward and think about how much I’ll enjoy my next trip here. I recommend you all do the same; I’ll think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.