Taipei, Taiwan

Did you know that Taiwan’s official name is “Republic of China”?
Well I didn't know that, only learned it when searching for some extra info to help me write my blog post! Yes, so useful blogging can be, right?

Taiwan Jiufen Fushan Temple

While Taiwan is the mother of high tech, Taipei has no direct subway connection between the airport and the city so we just took a taxi - and what a taxi was that! The  guy was driving really fast, overtaking and passing every other vehicle  on the way, suddenly switching the lanes…so you get it, we reached our hotel in Taipei Xinyi District in no time.

Taipei Xinyi Shopping District

After this high speed start we took it easy; we walk around for shopping and enjoy some delicious street-food on Linjiang Street (Tonghua) Night Market - conveniently located near Taipei 101 where also our hotel was.
Nothing about Taipei 101 on this post, I guess I saw way too many high towers in this part of the world; but we did stroll there for dinner couple of times, it was near by and it has a great food court.

Taipei 101

Using the reception desk services we booked a day trip to the Northeast Coast - stopping points Nanya and Jiufen; so taking the coastal highway we get to admire the dramatical Pacific coast line and the unusual rock formation of Nanya.

Coastal Highway and Mount Jilong (588 meters), the dividing line between two taiwanese districts: Jiufen and Jinguashi

And then we left the coast behind and following a steep, curving and narrow road, we get to this charming, heavily touristic, small mountain town called Jiufen - also spelled Jioufen or Chiufen: narrow streets winding up and down, aligned with shops selling food and souvenirs, tea houses and retro-cafes.

Jiufen Taiwan

And of course packed with tourists like us! With a mix of old japanese style and splendid chinese pagodas the place might feel a bit overwhelming but is definitely charming.

Chiufen (Jiufen Old Street): squeezing through the crowd

One sunny afternoon we took the gondola to visit Maokong- the biggest tea growing area of Taipei in the past, now more popular for its cable car (yes, gondola) and the views of the night scenery of Taipei City.

cable car to Maokong - and Taipei 101 far away in the view

And this was the best of my time in Taipei and this is where Taiwan touch my heart: sunny day, quiet tea-moments, an atmosphere that offsets all the stress and hassle and worries. Zen!

Just another interesting thing I red about Taiwan:
China still regards Taiwan as a rebel region that must be reunited with the mainland. Therefore China insists that nations cannot have official relations with both China and Taiwan - and because of this, Taiwan suffers from what they call ‘a diplomatic isolation’ - having formal diplomatic relations with only two dozen countries situated mainly in the Pacific, Latin American and Africa.