Tag: Flowers

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‘No Mud, No Lotus’

Catherine Lee

‘No Mud, No Lotus’, so goes the famous title of the famous book by famous Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, explained as, ‘The secret to happiness is to acknowledge and transform suffering, not to run away from it.’ It’s Lotus Flowering Season in Taiwan and for people who like to take photos of the beautiful lotus flowers, the fact that they grow in muddy waterlogged fields is, well, let’s face it, a great inconvenience! Fortunately today I found one flower just out, and although its roots were in the mud, it was growing right by the side of the path. Ah … Continue reading ‘No Mud, No Lotus’

Taiwan11 Comments

合歡西北峰 Hehuanshan North (3,422m) and West (3,145m) Peaks ~ must see, must do!

Catherine Lee

AND we lived to tell the tale ~ and all still smiling, just! Can’t believe I’ve never been to Hehuanshan ever before, because it’s just, oh so famous! It’s Taiwan’s highest road, linking west and east coasts, and gets heavy snow in winter ~ so it’s become a major tourist destination especially for families wanting to show their children some real snow.  And in summer the place is full of flowers, and it’s lovely and cool.  End result is horrendous traffic jams all day every day.  But it’s so beautiful that who can deny people a chance to come and see … Continue reading 合歡西北峰 Hehuanshan North (3,422m) and West (3,145m) Peaks ~ must see, must do!

Taiwan Episcopal Church2 Comments

Congratulations to Michael, Hany, the Lee family and all at St. Peter’s Church, Chiayi!

Catherine Lee

A very special day yesterday at the beautiful St. Peter’s Church for the wedding of a very lovely couple, Michael and Hany Lee! The newly-restored church looked stunning, and of course it was a real church family event ~ St. Peter’s excels at being a really close church family!  Michael’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lee are devoted members of St. Peter’s, his father is on the church committee, and his mother is chair of St. Peter’s ECW (Episcopal Church Women).  So together with Rev. Simon Tsou and all their friends in the church, they planned and organized all the wedding themselves, … Continue reading Congratulations to Michael, Hany, the Lee family and all at St. Peter’s Church, Chiayi!

Taiwan8 Comments

Alishan 阿里山 2016

Catherine Lee

Alishan has two 7- Eleven Stores, and claims they are the second highest in Taiwan ~ and Taiwan’s #1 highest post office too. Another must see! And Taiwan’s #1 highest elementary school.  Wow, that’s quite something!  2,195 metres above sea-level, that’s over 7,000 feet. Imagine that eh? But of course, none of these reasons are really why Alishan is so popular.  It’s very well up on the list of THE places to visit in Taiwan. Tourists from all over Asia and especially Mainland China, zillions of people have it on their list.  Alishan is famous, very famous. We’re talking about an area of … Continue reading Alishan 阿里山 2016

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Jian-guo Flower Market 建國花市, Taipei ~ THE place to go all this week!

Catherine Lee

Yes, it’s open all day every day all this week ~ the week leading up to Chinese New Year ~ and you just MUST go! The Jian-guo Flower Market happens in the car park under the Jian-guo Overpass, not far from the Da-an Park in Taipei – normally it’s a car park during the week, and a flower market at the weekends (at the far end it stretches into the Jade Market), but this week, it’s open all day every day until 10pm.  Yesterday afternoon it was totally totally completely packed out full of people buying flowers of every kind … Continue reading Jian-guo Flower Market 建國花市, Taipei ~ THE place to go all this week!