Just down the road from St. John’s University, in the northern part of Tamsui Town, there’s a new light rail, called the Danhai Light Rail Transit. It opened last December, kind of circuiting around Tamsui – it’s not very fast, … Continue reading Battle of Tamsui @1884 Commemorated on the Danhai Light Rail
Today is September 21, known in Taiwan simply by its date in numbers as ‘921’. Every year, on this day, we remember once again the huge 7.3 earthquake that hit Taiwan on September 21, 1999 at 1:47 am, exactly twenty years ago today. So immense was the tragedy that the event is forever engrained in the country’s consciousness, and remembered simply as ‘921’. The facts speak for themselves, 2,415 deaths, 29 missing, 11,305 seriously injured, 51,711 buildings completely destroyed, 53,768 buildings severely damaged, widespread power and water outages, NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) worth of damage to infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, … Continue reading Remembering Taiwan’s 921 Earthquake 20 years on
It’s high summer in Taiwan, exhaustively hot and humid, and the best outdoor place to escape the heat is up in the mountains, where there’s a breeze and some shade. So, up to Yang-ming-shan National Park 陽明山 (the mountains above Taipei) we all go ~ there’s a range of 10 mountains up there to choose from, and endless trails and places to walk, meet, chill, relax and enjoy the breeze. And today on Mian-tian-shan 面天山 (Mt Mian-tian: 977 m) there was a s.n.a.k.e.😨 🐍🐍 😨 Snakes are common in Taiwan, but they usually move very fast, and, well, nobody hangs … Continue reading Chilling up on Yang-Ming-Shan 陽明山: 🐍 Taiwan Habu / Brown Spotted Pit Viper / 龜殼花蛇!🐍 Or is it?
Yes, this has just got to be one of Taipei’s biggest and best-kept secrets so far. ‘Biggest’ because it’s massive – nearly 17 hectares, and set right in the middle of prime real estate in the downtown Xinyi District of … Continue reading Taipei Railway Workshop 臺北機廠: One of Taiwan’s Best-Kept Secrets!
“Banksy: The Authentic Rebel” Exhibition has opened in a Taipei Shopping Mall, and it’s great! Free entry. On until March 24. There’s 25 art pieces on display, and it’s all arranged by Phillips the auction people – apparently the first … Continue reading The Very First Banksy Exhibition opens in Taipei!
So many many people, all there to enjoy the Lantern Festival, and, ah yes, it was great! The end of Chinese New Year celebrations is marked by the Lantern Festival, and in Taiwan, each local government organizes an event that … Continue reading 人山人海 ‘People Mountain, People Sea’ and fun at the Taiwan Lantern Festival 台灣燈會 @ Pingtung 屏東 Dapeng Bay大鵬灣 !
Gotta go when you gotta go ~ and so goodbye Taiwan until next year! So much going on and so little time ~ so a small selection of other people’s photos of the last few weeks. Teaching, preaching, eating, drinking, sightseeing and more… And, my friends from Taichung who came for the weekend ~ we went on the Pingxi Line and to Shifen Waterfall. Ah, selfie heaven! This is the alternative Pingxi Line set of photos – the ones I took – ah, gotta love ’em all! It’s time to go when it’s time to go ~ and all UK … Continue reading Goodbye Taiwan!
Chiang Kai-Shek (CKS), ‘leader of the Republic of China between 1928 and 1975, first in mainland China until 1949 and then in exile in Taiwan’, arrived in Taiwan in 1949 with his wife, Soong Mei-Ling. A year later, they moved into their new home, the Shilin Official Residence 士林官邸 and stayed there until Chiang Kai-Shek’s death in 1975. Visitors were many and famous, including then US Vice-President Nixon in 1953, and President Eisenhower in 1960. This is the building today…. During the Japanese Colonial Era (1895-1945), the building was the location of the Shilin Horticultural Experimental Station, and surrounded, of course, … Continue reading Chiang Kai-Shek Official Residence 士林官邸 & Martyrs Shrine 忠烈祠 @ Shilin, Taipei
Yes, said a fond farewell to Sanzhi 三芝 this week – the town / district where I’ve been living for the past 3 years ~ and of course said a sad (!) farewell to all the termites who had seriously taken over my house – and my life! This photo below shows where I was living in Sanzhi – in this vast housing estate of flats / apartments ~ and it was great! I was on the ground floor facing into the central area of the estate. Lovely neighbours ~ and very safe, central and convenient for buses and shopping. … Continue reading Farewell Sanzhi & Hello Taipei!
Catherine Lee 