Alishan, ah Alishan! Famous for its sunrises, tea, cherry blossom, ‘sacred’ trees, sea of clouds and its mountain railway. The place everyone goes once in their lifetime. Visitors from all over the world, and especially from the Chinese-speaking world are … Continue reading Alishan 阿里山 Sunrise and Cherry Blossom ~ Happy Easter 2018!
It’s Holy Week and the sun is shining all week in Taipei, yippee! Today is Maundy Thursday, and appropriate for Maundy Thursday is a visit to Zhongshan Presbyterian Church (中山基督長老教會) in central Taipei (62, Linsen N. Rd 林森北路62號), where the small stained glass window above the altar is of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, while his disciples are fast asleep nearby. The window at the back of the church is of Jesus the Good Shepherd… This morning, very early, I cycled past this church on my way into Taipei. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the traffic … Continue reading Zhongshan Presbyterian Church, Taipei 中山基督長老教會
Cherry Blossoms (sakura 櫻花 ying-hua) are out big-time. Spring is finally here! Currently flowering all over everywhere, but possibly the most famous place and most accessible for Taipei people is at Tianyuan Temple, just outside Tamsui. Just happens to be not far from here, and there are huge traffic jams – ah, yes, we all love to see cherry blossom! Tianyuan Temple Cherry Blossom is all Yoshino Cherry (吉野櫻) and, hey, they are looking spectacular. You must go – and soon! Tianyuan Temple is a Taoist Temple worshiping the Jade Emperor (Yu Huang Dadi 玉皇大帝), and the main attraction is … Continue reading THE place to see Cherry Blossoms 櫻花 @ Tianyuan Temple 天元宮, Tamsui, Taiwan!
Yes, it’s peak time for the Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Season here in northern Taiwan, and Sanzhi is THE place to come! It’s warm and sunny too – so get here quick! Lots of people are here every day walking along the mountain roads or along the San-Sheng Trail 三生步道 by the river to enjoy all the variations of pink blooms on offer, and not just cherry blossom but also tons of flowering azaleas. The local government has planted 15,000 cherry blossom trees in recent years, and they are all in flower now. In fact, the dark pink cherry blossom are nearly over, … Continue reading Now’s the Time! Cherry Blossom Season in Full Swing @ Sanzhi 三芝!
It’s Saturday, and the sun is out! Blue sky at last, yippee! Out too is the cherry blossom. Everywhere. All over Sanzhi. All over Taiwan. Looking beautiful, all in pink! Happy weekend everyone! Continue reading Good Morning Sunshine!
A major extravaganza is on down in Taiwan’s south central city of Chiayi. If you get a chance, GO! Every year, a different city or county is chosen to host Taiwan’s main lantern festival, and every year, thousands and thousands flock there from all over the country to attend. Including me. I love to go! This year it is the turn of Chiayi. And what an extravaganza it is! Last year, the Year of the Rooster, the main lantern festival was held in Yunlin. The year before, the Year of the Monkey, it was held in Taoyuan. Both of those … Continue reading Happy Year of the Dog ~ Taiwan’s Lantern Festival 2018 @ Chiayi!
This place is really quite something! And it’s quite something because this kind of scenery, called ‘badlands’, by definition shouldn’t really be here at all! All the other badlands in the world occur in places where it’s dry. Really dry. So dry in fact that little or no vegetation can grow anyway. Thus, ‘bad land’. Usually found in arid or semi-arid climates, like the Badlands National Park in South Dakota, USA. Taiwan is the only example in the whole world of badlands in a tropical climate. And tropical climates are anything but dry. So we have the curious phenomenon of … Continue reading Taiwan’s Badlands @ Tianliao Moon World 田寮月世界, Kaohsiung
Every city needs some colour, especially if the city concerned is famous for being a city nobody wants to visit. Or live in. Or work in. Kaohsiung is exactly that city. It may be the southern capital of Taiwan and a … Continue reading Transformation by Colour @ Kaohsiung 高雄 Street Art ~ and more!
Ah yes, and as with every Chinese New Year, food featured highly! Food, food and more delicious food. YUMMY! For most people, the New Year celebrations revolve around family reunions, gatherings with old friends, temple visits to pray for blessings for the new year, preparing food offerings and worship at the family ancestor shrine, and of course the enjoyment of meals and delicacies of every kind. Many people also take the chance to travel, but just as many people say they can’t face the traffic jams and prefer to stay home. Meanwhile those in the tourism and transport business work … Continue reading Chinese New Year 2018!
Catherine Lee 