GONDOLAS AND TEA PLANTATIONS !

On our last full day in Taipei, Steve and I decided to take the MRT to the Taipei Zoo station and then walk over to catch the Maokong Gondola which would take us to the mountain where all of the tea plantations were.  It was a beautiful sunny day in Taipei, so of course the locals were bundled up in their parkas and hats, while Steve and I had on T-shirts.  I really could have been comfortable in shorts, but I didn't know what the weather would be like on the mountain, so I wore jeans.  Here is a picture of what the MRT train looks like and in the distance you can see Taipei 101 peeking over the hillside.  I swear you can see that building from anywhere in the city!

 

So this is what one of the gondolas looks like.  We sat in one with a young Taiwanese couple.  It only cost 50 Taiwanese dollars which is only about $1.50 and it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get to the top of the mountain.  It's a quiet, lovely ride - but if you don't like heights - I wouldn't recommend it!  I really liked it though.

 

The gondolas began operation in 2007 and have been a popular tourist attraction ever since.  They say that the gondolas have eased up on all of the traffic that used to choke up the narrow mountain roads on weekends as tourists would try to visit the tea plantations. 

Here are some scenic views from our gondola:

And another view of Taipei 101:

 

 This picture shows that there are actually 3 stops along the line.  You could get off at the southern part of the zoo, then the 2nd stop is at a temple which had some pretty walking trails.  If I lived there I would definitely stop and take in those trails, but we were limited on time and energy.  Then the last stop was the top of the mountain where the tea plantations were.

It may be a little difficult to see but this sign says "MaoKong".  There are statues of cats and cat paws all over the place.  So the question is - why?  Here is the answer:  Maokong literally translates in Chinese as "no cat".  One joke for the name of the mountain is that it's called that because there are no cats in the area - I didn't see any.  In fact, its name comes from the Taiwanese "niaokang"

which refers to the topography of surrounding mountains, which are scoured and pitted by the runoff from springs.  "Niaokang" is a reference to this pitted surface, but it is also a homophone for "cat scratched," which was rendered as "maokong" in Mandarin.  (I got all of this from the gondola literature!)

 These are some examples of tea fields.  You can actually walk through the fields.  The people don't mind at all.

 

 This old man came up to Steve and asked in broken English if Steve was an American.  Steve said yes.  The old man was so happy that he had guessed right.  The younger man said that his father really likes Americans.  Steve told him that we were happy to be here.  The old man was really happy to hear that. 

Here is a man working in his tea fields.  These people were not young - I was amazed at how flexible and strong these Taiwanese people are!

 An example of a wonderful tile I found on what I believe to be an ancestor grave in the middle of the tea field.  I didn't know if I should walk through it - out of respect - but later I saw other people trampsing through.  I'm still glad that I didn't.

 

 

The restaurant where we had lunch:

 We had rice with tea leaves in it, green tea, iced tea with fruit in it (it was wonderful but it was a fight to just drink the tea - there was so much fruit in it!) plus we had quiche.  Yum! 

 

 

Gosh, we had a good day hiking around this mountain!  If you get the chance to come to Taipei, hop on the gondola and ride up to Maokong mountain.  You won't regret it!

 

Sawadii Kha!

 

Linda



TAIPEI Continued . . .

The street scene below shows one of Taipei's iconic structures - Taipei 101.  It held the distinction of being the world's tallest building for about 4 years until a building was built in Dubai.  You can see this building from just about anywhere in the city.  Even later when we took a gondola ride into the mountains away from the city, this building still looked massive!

Here it is up close and personal.  Wow, it is really impressive!  Steve and I went in to buy our tickets to go up to the observation floor which is only on the 91st floor, not even on the top - 101st floor! 

To get to the upper floors you have to ride the elevator which happens to have the Guinnes World Record for the fastest passenger elevator in the world.  It took us only 30 seconds to travel 89 stories!  My ears popped 3 times on the way up!  Standing in line to get to the elevator took one hour!  I wish they could have sped that up.

 

Once we got to the top and looked out, we noticed an amazing view!  Wow!  We didn't know what we were looking at, but it sure looked nice.

 

They gave everyone a listening device in the language that you needed so that as you went around the building it described how the building was built and the history of the area.  Very nicely done.

After touring Taipei 101, we decided to take a cab over to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial.  Along the way I saw this entrance to the MRT station (mass transit).  It was decorated very sweetly. 

This is the National Theater Concert Hall.  What a gorgeous building.  The colors were so bright and beautiful!

Beautiful isn't it?!!

Yes, Steve thought you would believe he caught this fish (I told him you wouldn't, but you know fishermen and their lies!)

This is the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial.  It just happened to be under renovation while we were there.  I was so hoping to see the changing of the guards.  They do this on the hour.  We walked around the right side and into a museum that holds a lot things from Chiang Kai-shek's life. 

Here is Chiang Kai-shek at his wedding.

Steve looking at one of two Cadillacs that drove Chiang Kai-shek around.  This one had bullet proof glass in it.  He only rode in this one 1 time! 

Steve looking at a mock-up of Chiang Kai-shek's office.  I really enjoyed this museum.  They had many pictures of world leaders shaking hands with Chiang Kai-shek including Ronald Reagan when he was just the Governor of California.

Tomorrow's blog will be about our last and best day in Taipei! 
    Sawadii Kha!                Linda

TAIPEI, TAIWAN

After our dinner with Jimmy Liu and his Formica people, we were driven to Taipei.  They took us to the Capital Hotel.  It was decorated in kind of a 17th Century design.  I asked Steve why we were here instead of an Asian or even a modern hotel, he said it was close to the Formica offices.  Not that that even mattered since Steve wasn't even going in to the offices while in Taipei.  But the hotel was nice.

 

On our first morning in Taipei, we decided to check out the flower festival in a park on the outskirts of the city.  The plum trees were in blossom, the people were all bundled up (it was a brrrr 70 degrees!), Steve and I were loving the sun and the scenery!

Don't we make a handsome couple?  I'm amazed that I got him to take a couple of days off to tour around the city with no work to do!!!

 

 He is always trying to get into a picture!   Photo hog!!!

 

 Here Steve is trying to blend in with the locals.  I think I can tell who's from out of town, can't you?

 

I thought this lady was so beautiful and so Taiwanese looking.  Very pretty with the blossoms behind her!

 

 

Steve wanted me to take a picture of this girl's shorts, not for the reason you might think, but as an example of how the girls are dressing all over Taipei.  Most of the young girls had short shorts with tights.  This one just happened to have funny pockets hanging out too!

 

 

I found this girl and her family writing words with flower petals on a hillside.  I asked them if I could take the girl's picture with her creation.  If you look closely you can see she wrote "I 'love' you"!  I told her that she would be famous in America!

 

 

Steve is standing in front of the flower clock.  It played some music on the hour.  Many people were posing in front of it. 

 

 

I liked the way they decorated these telephone booths!

 

 This man was playing his heart out for a few coins at the flower festival.

 

Here I am getting an ice cream cone.  I got chocolate chip, Steve got chocolate (mine was better!)

 They even had corn dogs for sale - though it was a little early for lunch so we didn't get one, but they looked good!

 

 My day ended on a perfect note - because while we were waiting for a bus, I spotted this cat who belonged to a photographer that was photographing a newly married couple.  I had to get this picture - he is adorable!!!

 

 And here is the couple having their picture taken in the park.  It was truly a beautiful, happy day.  Wish you could have been there with us!

 

Sawadii Kha

Linda