Category: Taiwan

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Four Four South Village 四四南村, Taipei

Catherine Lee

There’s no escaping Taipei 101 ~ it towers over everything in the Xinyi District of Taipei ~ including the old military dependents’ village of Sisinan 四四南村 (Four Four South Village), which is high on the list for tourists, who love taking photos of Taipei 101 and in front of the coloured doors. The buildings have a lot of character…. But it’s really hard to get all of Taipei 101 and the old buildings in the photo – diagonal is the best! Ah yes, blue sky, warm temperatures, what a great autumn so far ~ and Taipei’s looking great! Continue reading Four Four South Village 四四南村, Taipei

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Street Art @ Ximending 西門町, Taipei

Catherine Lee

Ximending has long been THE trendiest area of Taipei for night life and street fashion ~ and of course Street Art.  I was there yesterday checking it out…. Just outside the main shopping area, down the back alleys of Kunming Street ~ and the walls are covered in graffiti of every kind.  Sometimes it’s just a section of the wall…. And sometimes the whole length of the wall…. It’s constantly changing, there’s new stuff appearing all the time, so what was there last year may have long gone by the time you get to go there again. Actually, I’m very … Continue reading Street Art @ Ximending 西門町, Taipei

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Taiwan’s North Coast Kite Festival 2017 @ Baishawan Beach 白沙灣, Shimen District ~ YES!

Catherine Lee

Privileged to live so close to one of northern Taiwan’s best beaches, and today is THE day!  Every year we have a kite festival on Baishawan Beach 白沙灣 in Shimen District 石門, with thousands of people, hundreds of kites, lots of sun and hopefully lots of wind.  This is the scene this afternoon, with the lighthouse on Taiwan’s northern tip in the far distance… Last year’s blog post about the kite festival 2016 is here.  This year’s kite festival is a bit different.  Although it’s being held all this weekend, in fact yesterday was a working day for most people … Continue reading Taiwan’s North Coast Kite Festival 2017 @ Baishawan Beach 白沙灣, Shimen District ~ YES!

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Ju Ming Sculpture Park and Museum 朱銘美術館, Jinshan, Taipei

Catherine Lee

A sunny Saturday afternoon in September and what better place to go than Ju Ming Sculpture Park, officially known as Ju Ming Museum and only 20 km from here round the northern coast, with stunning views over the sea and mountains.   This was the main entrance today… My first visit there was in November 2016 (see my blog post here) ~ and I was very impressed.  It houses all the incredible art work of Ju Ming 朱銘, the world famous Taiwanese sculptor, born in Miaoli, Taiwan in 1938. The park is big – and on a sunny day, it’s a bit … Continue reading Ju Ming Sculpture Park and Museum 朱銘美術館, Jinshan, Taipei

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Rainbow Grandpa and his Beautiful Rainbow Village 彩虹眷村!

Catherine Lee

Rainbow Village 彩虹眷村 on the outskirts of Taichung is such an amazing place – it’s easily the most attractive set of buildings in the whole of Taichung ~ YES! It’s the last remaining few houses of a Veterans Village, built for the old soldiers and their families who came to Taiwan after 1949. Most the houses are already gone, demolished and the land redeveloped, but old Mr. Huang (Huang Yong-Fu 黃永阜), known as ‘Rainbow Grandpa’ (彩虹爺爺), was not letting that happen to his village. Now aged 95, he decided to start painting the remaining houses a few years ago, and … Continue reading Rainbow Grandpa and his Beautiful Rainbow Village 彩虹眷村!

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On Top of the World! Yushan / Jade Mountain 玉山 ~ Taiwan’s Highest Mountain 3,952 m 12,966 ft!

Catherine Lee

Occasionally, just very occasionally, so many good things happen all at once to make an event so amazing and unexpectedly awesome, that even the hardest of sceptics are won over.  Such was our ascent of Taiwan’s highest mountain, Yushan / … Continue reading On Top of the World! Yushan / Jade Mountain 玉山 ~ Taiwan’s Highest Mountain 3,952 m 12,966 ft!

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Taipei Transforms Subway Cars to Mimic Sporting Venues for Upcoming Summer Universiade | Colossal

Catherine Lee

To spark interest for the upcoming 2017 Summer Universiade, the city of Taipei has employed a fantastic marketing strategy that sees the city’s subway cars turned into realistic backdrops of several popular sporting venues. The floors of each car have been replaced by laminate overlays of track lane, grass turf, basketball courts, and baseball fields—though by far the most popular car is the swimming pool. The Universiade begins August 19th and involves 22 different sports across 70 venues. …. Source: Taipei Transforms Subway Cars to Mimic Sporting Venues for Upcoming Summer Universiade | Colossal Update on July 24, 2017:  I … Continue reading Taipei Transforms Subway Cars to Mimic Sporting Venues for Upcoming Summer Universiade | Colossal

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Taipei’s Elephant Mountain 象山 and Four Beasts Mountain 四獸山 and 9-5 Peak 九五峯!

Catherine Lee

It’s hot and humid and the middle of summer, and yet, Elephant Mountain in Taipei is packed out with people.  Not in the early morning so much, but mid-morning onwards, at the hottest time of day, hundreds and hundreds of everybody are going up! Last time I was there was Chinese New Year 2016 and haven’t been there since, oh no! So now I’m back, but early in the morning.  7:30 am.  Today.  Ready for the off.  Would be earlier, but that’s the earliest I can get there from the far end of Taiwan.  And boy, it is steep.  And … Continue reading Taipei’s Elephant Mountain 象山 and Four Beasts Mountain 四獸山 and 9-5 Peak 九五峯!

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The Cattle of YangMingShan 陽明山, Taipei

Catherine Lee

Yes, at last, I’ve found them!  The cattle of YangMingShan are smelt long before they are seen ~ the smell of ‘cow’ is everywhere in Qingtiangang especially on the grasslands, and there’s cowpats and muddy trails and hoof-prints all over.  But often the cattle themselves are nowhere to be found.  I’ve been up there twice recently and not a cow in sight.  But yesterday, there they all were, taking it easy – with the egrets perched on their backs, chewing the cud, yes! YangMingShan is the mountain range on the northern side of Taipei City, highest point 1,120m above sea … Continue reading The Cattle of YangMingShan 陽明山, Taipei