MRT in Kaohsiung

We finally have MRT in Kaohsiung, HOORAY!! Though it is not as convenient as MRT in Taipei since we only have one route now, I am still quite happy about that.

Several stations were designed as art works. This is one of them named 'Central Park'. Later on I will take photos of other characteristic stations.

Er Mei Lake

A beautiful lake on Shi Tou Hill, Miau Li County.

Milky Way Canyon

Milky Way Canyon, a new scenery site in MiouLi, a city in the north.

Mountains

I like the scene here.

Out the Window

My favorite photo in Teng-Chi, a beautiful forest in southern Taiwan.

Plum Blossoms

As what I mentioned in the previous article, I couldn't see lots of plum blossoms in January this year. However, I still tried to take some pictures.... :p In Taiwan, you can stay in the midland or the north to watch these beautiful flowers. The most popular place to watch plum blossoms is 風櫃斗 (Fong Guei Dou) in Nan-tou County. There is even a competition of plum blossoms every year.

Cherry Blossoms

On Mt. A-li, you will see lots of beautiful cherry blossoms during March. However, due to global warming, I saw them in January this year. And I was planning to take pictures of plum blossoms (again, they were all beginning to bear and there were no more flowers)

Fu Chi Shu

Fu Chi means a couple in Mandarin Chinese, and Shu means tree. These two trees are very old and survived in a wildfire several years ago. It is not that correct to say they survived because they are actually dead. However, they remain standing there firmly.

They are on Mt. A-li, a beautiful sceneric spot in Chia-yi.

Tips for Trip in Taiwan

( A very old banyan in National Cheng Kung University)

1. Weather: due to located tropical and sub-tropical area, weather in Taiwan is usually humid and hot. If you want to get used to the weather as soon as possible, it is better visiting from October to May. But if you want to experience really tropical atmosphere, enjoy the summertime!! A warm leather jacket is more than enough even in winter.


2. Food: it’s one of the distinguishing characteristics about Taiwan. Of course we have bunch of terrific restaurants here. But try as much Taiwanese snack as you can. I am sure you will have fun. I will introduce the most popular dishes in the near future.


3. Most hotels in Taiwan won’t disappoint you. Besides hotels, there are also lots of special B&Bs (Bed and Breakfast). Some of them combine with nature, folk custom, or exoticism, not being literally bed and breakfast only. Moreover, some owners of B&Bs would share almost everything about this area including history, must-visit spot, etc. As for this part, I won’t recommend any for you unless I did stay there and like it, but I will introduce some popular ones in the near future.


4. Drivers in Taiwan don’t really get used to stop and let pedestrians pass first. Be careful when you cross the street and watch some turning-right cars. However, these people could be fined since this year.


5. Don’t freak out if you find someone staring at you. People in Taiwan are curious about anything uncommon. Ex, foreigners. If someone does that, he/she never meant offense. Getting along with people here more and more, you will see how friendly Taiwanese are.


6. There are convenience stores EVERYWHERE. Yes, no matter where you are. 7-11, the biggest chains of convenience stores, and many other ones, are open 24 hours everyday. Don’t worry if you forget to pack something.

Some more details about THSR

In the article Transportation, Mr. Bloom left his comment as words below:

Two questions: why do the orange tickets for the bullet train NOT state anywhere on the ticket that the ticket was issued by the High Speed Rail of Taiwan, or even the words Taiwan? Nothing on the ticket lets the traveller from overseas know that he or she is in Taiwan or on the High Speed Rail, not in Chinese or English. The ticket people forgot to put the logo of the HSR on the ticket. why?AND 2. WHY DO the stations for both Chiayi and Taian has the exact same architecture design, inside and out? Aren't Tainan and CHiayi two different counties? Why the same design used twice, 99 % the same? To save money? It looks like deja vu all over again!

Here is my answer:

hi dan,about these two questions, I don't have the answers yet. Maybe you've already known?

And later, Mr. Bloom sent me the letter from THSR (Taiwan high speed rail) . Because I didn't know this, and I didn't write something about this, for those friends who are interested in knowing THSR more, please take a look at this.

The letter shows below:

Dear Mr. Bloom,

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail Taiwan High Speed RailCorporation regarding our operation. Due to the large number of emailsreceived and very limited staff, we apologize for any delay in reply.In order to understand the reasoning behind utilizing the same designconcept for both the THSR Chiayi and Tainan Stations, let us delveinto the geographical placement of the Stations. As you may know,Greater Chiayi and Greater Tainan are both situated on the ChiananPlain; therefore, the areas possess many customs in common. Thesimilarities in customs brought forth the basis of parallelarchitecture. Although uniform in exterior structure, each stationmaintains its own uniqueness through color themes and decorationsinside the Stations. The interior of both Stations illustrate thedifference, with THSR Tainan Station placing emphasis on Tainan'shistorical background and THSR Chiayi Station highlighting itsagricultural industry.

On THSR tickets, one is able to find sufficient traininformation for riding the train. Therefore it is not imperative toprint "Taiwan High Speed Rail" on the tickets. However, yoursuggestion is highly appreciated and we will pass it to relateddepartment, where adjustments may be made in the future.

Thank you again for your generous support and care. Should you haveany questions, please feel free to contact us at any time for anyissues of our products or services. Your continuous suggestions andcomments will be very helpful and valuable to us.

Sincerely,

Taiwan High Speed Rail

Customer Service Center>

Transportation

(Botanical Garden)

Some tips for you when you are traveling in Taiwan.



Train: This transportation system is almost perfect now in Taiwan. You can travel around Taiwan by it. If you stay in the west Taiwan, you can even take high speed rail.

MRT: So far, Taipei city is the only one with MRT. In Taipei city, you can almost go everywhere you want. As for Kaohsiung, the second biggest city, it’ll have it by 2008.

Bus: Again, when you travel in Taipei city, it’s very convenient going somewhere by bus or MRT. You will have to wait for less than 5 minutes. Taichung city is also great at this if you want to go by bus. However, if you are in Kaohsiung, I will suggest you not to take bus. The system in Kaohsiung is a bit terrible. Sometimes you have to even wait for 30 minutes at the stop!!

Motorcycle: It’s the best way to travel in Taiwan. You can stop everywhere you want. And you don’t have to wait for bus or train. All you need is a international driving license. Then rent one!!

Cab: There is still no law about cab driver’s certification. Everyone in Taiwan can apply for a cab driving license, so the quality is not always good. Some drivers will drive as if they are acing in “TAXI”. Be aware of this. Also, the charge system is different in every city. In big cities, you don’t have to worry about this cause they charge according to the exact distance. In some other small town, you might have to bargain with the driver. Talk to the driver before you get in.

Brief Introduction to Traveling in Taiwan

(photo comes from my trip to Taiwanese protophyte park.)

One of the best characters of Taiwanese is hospitality.

Don't worry if you can't even pronounce or understand a single word in Chinese. People here welcome every different people and culture.

As your will see when you come to Taiwan. There is a Japanese cuisine restaurant right next to an Italian cuisine one. There are even different restaurants with different flavor and style on the same road within just 500 meters!! You will never have to worry if you don't like some kind of local Taiwanese food here. No matter what nationality you are of, I believe you will feel at home.

Taiwan is also known as its delicious snacks. Coffin (yes, its name is exactly coffin), Flat noodles, Rice noodles, Oyster omelet, Taiwanese Meatballs, Angelica duck, etc. Night markets are another must-visiting place. The most lively one would even open until midnight. It would be a very fun adventure there.

How about different scenery? In the southern Taiwan, there is typical subtropical weather. Beach with soft water, colorful fish while going snorkeling, good place for surfing, and one of the best coral reefs around the world!!

Do you enjoy mountain climbing? Taiwan is an island with numerous mountains. The highest altitude is 3,952 meters (also the highest in East Asia). If you wanna try something tough, check Jade Mountain, the highest and most difficult one in Taiwan.

Besides this, another way to stay close with the nature is to visit east Taiwan. Watching wild whales and dolphins is one of the most popular activities over there. Visiting Taroko national park is a terrific way to experience the awesome view.

If you are a city animal, it's your best choice visiting Taipei. Taipei 101, bookstore with about 6 acres opening all the time and Tamshui River with romantic sunset. Sounds great!!

When it comes to culture and spirit, have a look at the national Palace Museum, one of the best ones around the world. Religious festivals are amazing as well such as Ba-Jia-Jiang and Taiwanese psychics since religion plays a very important role in Taiwan.

This article is just a brief introduction to traveling in Taiwan. Stay close, and I am going to give your more details about anything you would be interested in.

PS. The dimensions of Taiwan is 36,000 myriares.

Internationalization

This photo comes from my trip to Xi Tou, a very beautiful place renowned for bamboos.

This is the time of global village. Most people is supposed to communicate in English (or at least very easy English) since internationalization is an issue talked almost everywhere.

Suppose you have authority to decide the policy in a country. Here comes the situation of this country. It consists of 4 main races. You ought to and you promised to try your best preserving languages and culture of every race still existing in this country. On the other hand, you know it is also important to animate the population of English speaking, especially when English is not the official language here.

What will you do?

This is the dilemma now in Taiwan. This nation consists of Han, Hakka, and aborigines (more than 9 different groups). The Han speak mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese. The Hakka speak Hakka. And each group of aborigines has its own language.

You will see different native language course in different areas. Children in elementary school do not really learn all of these native languages just mentioned but focus on their own native one.

Also, students in Taiwan have to take English course at least for 10 years in school. However, people here seem to be too shy so speak English.

One of the most potential industries in Taiwan is tourism. The question is: are we ready for this? Could we speak English proficiently since everyone has learned it for more than 10 year? Could we show something special about this place since we all learn the culture and language which make this unique place Taiwan?

The government focuses too much on the relationship between mainland china. Politicians like to talk about “de-Chinalize”. However, what we talk about means what we care about. Taiwan is literally different from China when no one really talks about it but just takes it as natural.

As most of the visitors here speak English, I truly hope that we people in Taiwan improve in every aspect and make this nation a wonderful place to visit.

Of course guys don't worry to find no one speaks English here. There are still lots of people whose English are terrific and excellent. When you visit, you surely have fun and have no trouble communicating here!!

Taiwan (Advertisement)

This beautiful island is home to 23 million people. This is the land we love so much.

Taroko

Discovery introduced a pretty place last night: Taroko National Park.

Besides the amazing view, you would also have the chance seeing whales and dolphins around the east coast. The possibility of seeing at least one species each time would be as high as 95%.

So this is the 1st article about Taiwan, the place I love and cherish so much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taroko (@ wikipedia)

http://www.taroko.gov.tw/TarokoPortalEng/0_0_0/default.aspx (official website)