We traveled yesterday to Hualien, a seaside vacation town popular in Taiwan as a weekend trip. Before departure, we had lunch outside the Taipei bus station at a small restaurant specializing in dumplings. We had delicious pan-fried vegetable dumplings, steamed veggie dumplings, savory corn chowder, and hot and sour mushroom soup - all for 148 NTD ($5 USD). After checking in to our hostel in Hualien, we took a nap, then walked half an hour to the Dongdamen Night Market for New Year's festivities. We enjoyed some fried chicken and beer, as well as a Chinese-language pop concert. Based on the crowds, it seemed that the entire town was celebrating with us! Some local officials joined the musicians on stage for the countdown to midnight. The crowd swelled and completely filled the concert venue and night market ahead of an excellent fireworks display. Here is the big moment:
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MaokongOn Friday morning, we took a gondola to Maokong, a charming mountain area on the outskirts of Taipei famous for its tea. The gondola had a glass bottom, and we took in the spectacular views of the mountains and the city below during the half hour ascent. In Maokong, we visited the Taipei Tea Promotion Center, where we learned about the processes for harvesting, drying, baking, and rolling tea leaves. Taiwan is particularly known for its oolong and bao zhong teas, which we sampled at the center. We then hiked along Pothole Trail and up to Zhinan Temple, a Buddhist site overlooking the city. Zhinan has rich red and gold colors, and is adorned with ornate, gilded statues. BeitouWe were in the mood for something more relaxing after a long morning of hiking, so we decided to go to the hot springs at Beitou, located at the opposite end of Taipei. After spending nearly an hour standing on a packed subway car, we arrived. Since it was late, many of the hot springs were closed. We found the first one we could get into, and lined up to enter. Millenium Hot Springs had some very particular rules; Robert was forced to buy an extremely tight swimsuit because they do not allow anything loose-fitting or swim trunks with pockets. While most of the men were in Speedo shorts, women wore modest one-pieces. The hot springs have several pools, with the water running from the top one down to the next. The highest pool was unbearably hot—just putting our feet in was painful. The hordes of elderly Taiwanese men who went straight into the water did not seem to mind. We spent a few minutes in the second pool, which was still quite hot, and then soaked in a very cold one. It was an interesting cultural experience—everyone else there seemed to be local and over the age of 70, but between the extremity of the temperatures and the dirtiness of the water, it was far from relaxing. Taipei 101After showering at the hot springs, we took the metro to Taipei 101, Taiwan’s World Trade Center. At 101 stories tall, Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world when it was completed in 2004, and it is now the world’s ninth tallest. Its $80 million elevators whisk visitors from the 5th floor to the 89th floor observatory in 37 seconds. We walked around the mall on the first several floors, mostly dedicated to high end retail (Cartier, Dior, Harry Winston etc.) The architecture was beautiful, but the shopping was not exactly in our price range, so we didn’t stay long. We went to Raohe Night Market for a delicious, late night dinner. JiufenJiufen is a former gold mining town nestled in the mountains on the northern Taiwanese coast. Its quaint, lantern-lined teahouses and narrow shopping streets recall its heyday as an economic and cultural center. The stunning scenery and historical charm have brought tourists that spare Jiufen the decline of similar communities upon ore depletion and the collapse of the mining industry. It took us far longer than expected to get there because the bus service was infrequent and inadequate for the masses of people making the trip on New Year’s weekend. Unfortunately, it rained for much of our time there, but we enjoyed strolling through the bustling streets trying samples of teas and snacks from the local vendors. We ate at a quiet, traditional teahouse before returning to Taipei via bus and train. ZhongshanWe walked around the Zhongshan neighborhood, and ate at Fu Da San Dong (King of Steamed Dumplings). They were sold out of their signature steamed dumplings, so I had egg and seaweed soup, while Robert ordered freshly made noodles with mushrooms, some unidentified meat, and cucumbers. We also shared a dumpling soup in spicy beef broth. We are getting ready to go to Hualien, a mountainside scenic region on Taiwan’s east coast. Email subscribers: to see all photos and videos, click the title of the post above in each email. Your browser will better display media. National Palace MuseumAfter a successful 8-hour sleep on a 13 hour time difference, we rode the 304 bus from Ximen Station to the National Palace Museum, which houses nearly 700,000 ancient Chinese artifacts and artworks. The most impressive room featured Ming painted ceramics with brilliant pastel colors and finely detailed scenes of imperial life. We saw a mind-bogglingly detailed concentric sphere made of ivory with 21 layers. Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐For dinner, we visited the original location of Din Tai Fung, world famous for their xiao long bao - soup dumplings. The meal exceeded expectations: we ordered 15 pork xiao long bao, pickled spicy cucumber, 2 mushroom bao buns, sauteed garlic cabbage, shrimp fried rice, and 2 bottles of Taiwan beer, a light 4.5% brew that pairs perfectly with a heavy meal. Alexa explains in the video below how to eat the xiao long bao without making a mess. Fu Hang Dou Jiang 阜杭豆漿 After waking up early due to jet lag, we walked 20 minutes to a popular breakfast spot for dan bing, clay pot baked sesame bread filled with fried eggs and green onions. They are also known for their bowls of hot soy milk, a thick, tofu-like soup. National Taiwan University HospitalAfter breakfast, we went to the National Taiwan University Hospital where Robert had signed us up to get a vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis, an animal-borne disease in rural Southeast Asia. I was eager to get this dreaded part of the trip over with, but it ended up taking two hours. Despite having an appointment, we had to wait in room after room waiting for our number to flash on the screen—first to meet with the doctor, then to pay for the vaccine, to pick up the vial from the pharmacy, and finally for the nurse to give us the shot. The hospital was crowded and bureaucratic, but it was interesting to get a glimpse into how healthcare works in Taiwan. Long Shan TempleNext, we visited Long Shan Temple, a Buddhist site in a largely secular country. The temple was built in 1738 by Chinese settlers, and was crowded with people placing gifts (plates of food, cans of soda, small amulets etc.) on large tables. For lunch, we stopped in a Mandarin-only noodle shop, where we had chewy noodles with sesame oil, soy sauce, and chili with broth on the side. We went on a free city walking tour in the afternoon, where we learned a bit more about Taiwan’s history and government. Shilin Night MarketAn overwhelming hodgepodge of hot food carts, clothing shops, and amusements amidst massive crowds, the Shilin Night Market is one of the biggest and most famous of its kind. Here are some highlights: After a long day in which we flew over Canada, Alaska, Siberia, and Japan, we finally landed in Taipei. The airport MRT train whisked us to Taipei Main Station, about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. We opted to go straight for sensory overload at one of Taiwan’s favorite pastimes: the night market. Ningxia Night Market has a dizzying array of fresh-cooked food, drinks, and novelties (like fishing your own shrimp out of a kiddie pool for dinner). Our first stop was a scallion pancake stand - made to order for 40NTD ($1.33 USD). The 15-minute line raised our expectations, and the food did not disappoint. We then wanted something a little more substantial, so we paid 110NTD ($3.60) for a bowl of earthy mushroom spout soup and 10 steamed pork dumplings. Everything was brought right from the cart to our table. The food was delicious and perfectly seasoned.
After two full days of bubble wrapping, cleaning, and packing, we are finally moved out of our apartment on 38th and Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. It has been a hectic few weeks as Alexa studied for her last final exams and I wrapped up my first full-time job. We will miss Philadelphia, and are looking forward to our next chapter. Happy holidays to our vast legion of readers!
We depart New York-JFK at 12:45pm on December 25 aboard EVA Air flight 29 to Taipei, Taiwan. The flight, operated on a Boeing 777, is scheduled for 16 hours 10 minutes - a long time in an 18-inch wide seat! EVA is a highly rated Taiwanese airline with an exclusively international route network.
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