Taiwan

After China we had originally planned to stop in Japan, but because of the recent disasters, we had to change course and visited Taiwan instead.  Taiwan is an island south of Japan that has always had a strong Chinese and Japanese influence.  The Chinese claim Taiwan as part of China, but the Taiwanese want to be independent.  It is very controversial, and both sides feel very strongly about the issue.  When Chang Kai Check, a leader of China before Mao and the Communists took over, lost the civil war to Mao he fled to Taiwan, and brought many of China’s historical objects with him, and they are still in Taiwan today. 

Our boat docked in Keelung, a port city in the north of the island, but I spent most of my time in Taipei, the capital city, which is about an hour inland of Keelung.  The National Palace Museum is in Taipei, which is where all the historical artifacts that were taken out of China are on display.  It is a very important collection of Chinese art, and although the Chinese want it back very badly, the Taiwanese are very proud to have so many important Chinese objects.  I also visited the Chaing Kai Check memorial, and the president’s house, and other sites around Taipei.  At night we went to a night market and looked at all the stalls selling lots of food and souvenirs.

The next day my friends and I went up to Yeliou Geological Park, which is on the north coast of Taiwan.  It had lots of rocks that had weathered into strange shapes.  Some looked like mushrooms, and one was supposed to look like an Egyptian Pharaoh queen, called the Queen’s Head.  We went for a hike along the peninsula and looked at the sea and all the different rock formations.  It was a little bit hard to get around since we didn’t speak any Chinese, but we managed to get where we wanted to go by pointing at maps or gesturing.  It was tricky to work out getting around, but it was also kind or fun having to work around not speaking the same language.