Teaching in China for Two Years (now Three Years...ok Four Years) : Surprise Trip to Taipei

I received news on day that the following Monday to Wednesday there would be no Senior 2 students at our school. I only teach Senior 2s, so that means I had a five day weekend! I decided to travel the few hours to Taipei, Taiwan since I haven't visited there yet.
I left early Saturday morning and didn't return to Nanjing until late Tuesday night.

Middle Bunk!

On the Saturday I didn't do much except go out for a quick tour around one of Taipei's many night markets with one of the other hostel guests, Mia.

A little busy.

Batman Minion!

I got fried rice for dinner but couldn't finish it. This is the bag the waitress put my leftovers in. That's never happened even in China.

The next day, Sunday I had signed up for a 2.5 hour free walking tour around a part of Taipei. I didn't have to meet them until 2 so I thought I'd go explore the shopping area around me. This is what I found.

Small Temple near the hostel.

Beautiful statues in the temple.

So I get to the main street by my hostel and I see all these Asian people (I don't know where they were from exactly) with their big fancy cameras out and taking pictures so I thought I'd turn around and see what they were taking a picture maybe it was something really cool.

I turn around and see this. A store front with a giant image of two models on the front.

I was sure I had been looking in the wrong direction so I went around behind the camera people and tried to match my camera angle up to theirs. Nope this was still what I saw. On the far left there is an old building but it was too far away and they weren't facing the right way. By the way the man on the far right has a tripod and the lady with the hat in front is standing on a stool. I asked my tour guides later and they had no idea why so many people were taking pictures of this billboard (he figured they were from Mainland China).

I reached the starting point for the walking tour a little early and then waited for the tour to start. Our first stop was the 228 Peace Park.

228 Incident of 1947 Memorial in Taipei. The three cubes represent the three groups of people in Taiwan - Aboriginals, Chinese Immigrant, and Taiwanese. It is to commemorate the massacre that started on Feb 28 1947. It started with police officers trying to confiscate illegal cigarettes from a widow, when she put up a fight she was attacked, causing other locals to join in the argument. At the end of the massacre it is estimated that up to 30,000 people were killed.

The Taiwanese Presidential Palace. The white markings on the road are indicators for when the parade army is standing in formation.

Something I wouldn't see in China. These men are protesting against the government, demanding the President change his ways or step down.

The Red House, an old time theater, market, general town center.

Our next stop, a area maintained to keep the old buildings looking they way they were.

Our last stop on the walking tour was Longshan Temple.

After we ended the tour I went to a street market just down the way that is famous for offering snake soup, where you first get to watch a snake show and then eat your dinner. I didn't eat any.
I went back to the hostel and didn't do much more that night other than getting a quick dinner or pork on rice.

On Monday I now knew that going out before 11 was pointless to see anything but I thought I'd try to go see a reclaimed Tobacco Factory that had been turned into a art district. Before meeting up with two of the guys from my Sunday tour for some Taiwanese lunch.

You can't tell from this shot but I found out later Taipei 101 is right behind this newly built structure in the background.

As you can tell from these pics the place was empty, nothing was open not even the exhibits but it was pretty.
I met up with the guys from the tour and had some really delicious dumplings and other goodies.
Afterwards we went to the memorial for the guy who had left China when he didn't agree with Mao's decision to bring communism to China.

After this Taipei 101!

The Anti-Earthquake Machine

I didn't do much more during my trip, other than getting dessert at a toilet restaurant similar to one I went to with Maggie in Shanghai during Year One.
The departure area of the airport was the next cool part, making the airport now one of my favourites, with the exception of Toronto's arrival hall of course.