Taiwan Part 2

The second half of my trip to Taiwan started with a long bus ride up the mountains to a village called Jionfen. It had to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and I really hope to go back there someday. It was a great place to appreciate Taiwan's hundreds of mountains and beautiful scenery.

While we were there, we were able to participate in Jionfen's popular tradition of releasing flying lanterns into the sky. We all wrote our wishes down and sent it off together.

We spent the last day exploring Taipei. Here are some more of my favorite pictures!

One of my favorite meals in Taipei was the beef noodle soup on the last night. Yum!

Taipei 101 at night

Motorcycles everywhere!

We drove though a colorful religious procession on the way to one of our destinations.

The last place we visited was a garden built at the mansion of an important family in Taipei

Taiwan Part 1

Over Easter I was able to travel to Taiwan with a group of exchange students and local students from Lingan. We packed a lot into four days, so I'll have to split it up into two posts :)

We started with a volunteer teaching session at an elementary school in Taipei, which the student organizers of the trip set up. Before we came we divided into groups and each spent some time planning out a fun, informal English lesson to share with the students. The school was very kind to let up spend a couple of hours getting to know the students, telling them about our home countries, and giving them some English practice. It was a lot of fun!

Next we headed to the Taipei Discovery Center and learned some of the history and culture of the city. I was especially interested in the environmental movements that had taken place there and the innovative recycling and energy saving programs that had been implemented. Turns out Taipei is a pretty green place as cities go!

We ended the day with dinner at one of big night markets in the city. I tried a lot of new food and found out why these markets are so famous in Taipei! All of the food was delicious, including the fried squid:

 The next day we went to Taipei 101, the fifth tallest building in the world. It was a little bit foggy, but it was still a great view from the overlook on the 89th floor.

We also visited some important cultural sites, including the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, built to commemorate Taiwan's former president, and the Taipei Martyrs Shrine.

We ended the day watching the sunset at bridge in Taipei that is a popular spot for couples, especially for marriage proposals :)