Asian Adventure - Part 6 - Taiwan

As soon as I landed in Taiwan I felt welcome, people were happy to help, and they even smiled! What a relief after Guangzhou. I took a bus to meet my friend Wen in Taichung and was greeted by her complete with scooter. She handed me my helmet and much to my surprise said it would be fine with my huge backpack. I trusted her and didn't fancy walking so I hopped of the back for my first scooter ride.

We were home in minutes and I was asleep not long after, we had an early start!
In the morning it was back on the scooter:

...through the 'pedestrianised' market full of scooters, to the bus station. After some traditional Taiwanese breakfast including a kind of omelette and a peanut rice-milk shake we hopped on a bus to Tainan and met Wen's brother, who we collected the family car from. With our new transport we went in to Old Tainan city for lunch and I tried Winter melon lemon tea. There were lots of little shops and we visited a very colourful temple...

...saw traditional carvings...

...and visited the old fortress surrounded by Bayan trees:

The tree roots grow down from the branches and create huge trunks in layers of roots.

Afterwards we drove to another city to see the show Dancing Diva. Wen's friends were in the show so we had great seats and the performance was amazing even though I couldn't understand the dialog. It was about a dancer who needs a dancing partner.In the end she finds a dancing partner but he has an artificial leg. The guy was incredible and his balance was amazing, he even did lift with the girl!

Next morning we went for brunch at Wen's boyfriends cafe/restaurant; Shark bites toast (http://www.facebook.com/pages/%E9%AF%8A%E9%AD%9A%E5%92%AC%E5%90%90%E5%8F%B8-Shark-Bites-Toast/307634055939276). The food was great and the Papaya milk was delicious. Unexpectedly I also ended up being interviewed by Taiwanese TV who were doing a spot about the restaurant chain.

Then we spent the afternoon in an old market town and looked at one of the oldest temples:

and one of the newer ones...

and for tea we went to a traditional restaurant with Wen's mum Michelle...

It was an old street...

...complete with shops and cinema that had had a roof built over the top and turned in to one big restaurant:

The next day we set off on our trip to Sun Moon Lake...

...and the Aboriginal Village...

...where, once the mist cleared, we got to see traditional buildings,

 crafts,

and dancing:

After our drive home we went out for tea with Wen's Mum at the restaurant she worked at and had delicious hot pot.
In the morning Wen took me back to the train station so that I could go to explore the capital; Taipei.
I arrived and took the metro to meet my new couchsurfing host Cynthia and her flatmates.
They were so helpful and helped me work out where I wanted to go over the next few days and then Cynthia and Michelle took me to the Mongkok gondola:

to have a wonderful meal and see the views from the top:

before we headed back down the mountain for some amazing Bubble Tea!

The next day was beautiful so I set off on the bus for a day trip to the old streets of Shifen and the waterfall:

Shifen is known for the traditional lanterns. People chose a colour of lantern that reflects their wishes and they write their hopes and dreams on the lantern before letting it off in to the sky:

The old streets of Shifen are connected to the other local villages by train. The streets are so small that the train is almost touching the buildings when it passes through:

After my trip around the old traditional countryside I took the train back to the city to explore some temples...

before meeting up with Cynthia and Michelle to visit the night market where I tried shark:

then we went to Taipei 101:

before treating ourselves to a foot massage. In Taiwan they believe that the best people to give massages are the blind. They believe that because they cannot see they feel for the muscles that most need treatment. At first I felt kind of bad because they were blind but then I realised really its no different because they chose that career and its probably better than a lot of other jobs!

On my final day in Taipei I took another bus trip to the coast to visit Jinshan and explore the market and sights there:

Next, I went to Tamsui to explore yet more markets and the Dutch fort that had been built along the coast:

My last stop of the day was Xinbeitou with its natural hot springs:

It was lovely after a days walking to sit at the river and put my feet in warm running water!

My time in Taiwan was brilliant and the country was so beautiful. After the streets of China where most people seem grumpy and unhappy, Taiwan was such a nice contrast where people actually smiledand enjoyed life!

Asian Adventure - Part 5 - Guangzhou, China

I immediately knew I was back in China! People stared at me with my curly blonde hair and blue eyes, never mind the fact I was probably a foot taller than most people. The annoying thing was that they didn't care about being rude and staring. I had noticed it in Hong Kong and Macau too. In Japan and South Korea, if people stared they were discreet about it and I didn't notice, people were polite there, but here no one cared about anyone else and manners didn't exist. Even the staff weren't very helpful when I was looking for the bus station. At a major border crossing you might think they would have experienced foreigners before!
Eventually, after wandering around with my backpack on for ages, and being stared at by everyone, especially one guy who refused to stop staring at me and whom I eventually lost my temper with and said 'What you looking at?!' to, I managed to buy a bus ticket to go to meet my friend in Humen. The traffic was awful and the trip took an extra two hours more than it should have but I made it to my host Rosie's house and settled in for the night.
In the morning we went to Guangzhou city to the hostel I would stay at that evening; Sunshine Home, and dropped my bag off. Luckily it looked very nice, the staff were very welcoming and spoke extremely good English. Probably because they weren't originally from China!

Next we took a bus out of the city to see some scenery and go walking:

It was so wonderful to get out of the city and see some of the China underneath all the chaos. See set off up the 9999 steps to the top...

It started with a walk past a lake, then we started following the river up...

...and up...

...the view was pretty impressive. We made our way back down in time for the bus and headed back to Guangzhou city for some well earned dinner and a walk up Beijing Road. At the hostel I met two English guys and spoke to them about their travels. It was great to hear where they'd been and give them some tips for Japan.

In the morning I took a strole around Lai Wan Park, next to my hostel. There were so many people out doing their morning exercises; Tai Chi, Kung Foo, Badminton, and many others using fans, bat and ball and weights with feathers attached.

Then it was time to meet my friend Niya, who I had met while travelling on the Trans-Siberian railway and would be staying with.
Her apartment was on the outskirts of the city and the area had been built in a very European style. It had a great view and was really spacious; to me it felt like luxury!
First on our list the next day was Breakfast Tea; a traditional Cantonese meal. It should be treated as brunch as it is quite a long affair. We went at around 11 am and the restaurant was packed. Niya ordered the food and the plates started to arrive. I lost count of how many plates there were but it was far from breakfast food. We had something between a meringue and a doughnut, pork and vegetables, dim sum, dumplings, coconut milk pudding, sweet pork in pastry and all sorts of other delights. There was no kind of order to it, the food came when it was ready and you ate sweet and savoury food. I enjoyed it though!
After we took a trip to one of the temples:

...and walked off some of our breakfast tea around the courtyard:

...before heading to Up Down Nine Street; a long street full of shops. Strangely they all seem to sell the same things. After walking around it was time to 'treat' ourselves to a massage. However, Chinese massages are not for the faint-hearted and and you should not expect to feel relaxed during the massage. For a whole our two girls dug out the knots in our muscles and left us feeling bruised and in pain, but much less stiff and tense.
That night, turning over in bed was not an easy task and I wasn't sure I would be able to put my backpack on in two days when I would leave.
The next morning we went to Yiexiu Park to see the five goat statue:

Apparently five celestial beings brought five goats carrying rice to the people of Guangzhou so they would never suffer famine, and now they are worshiped here.

We also took a trip to the tomb of emperor Nanyue before visiting another temple with a pagoda; traditional to the south of China:

Soon it was time to leave but I felt ready to go. The streets were crowded, there were plenty of beggars with various deformities, people openly spat in the street, bikes piled high with rubbish shared the roads with buses, cars and scooters, every taxi ride felt like it might be my last, people on bikes and scooters didn't care if they went the wrong way down the road....and people were still staring at me! It was great to see my friend but Taiwan was definitely calling.

Asian Adventure - Part 4 - Macau

From Hong Kong I went to another of China's special administrative regions; Macau - the Vegas of Asia.
I met up with my local host Vanessa then we set off on our one day tour of Macau, first stop; the main square:

...which looked surprisingly European, the Portuguese had clearly left their mark, not only with the streets and buildings but also with their religion:

However, this entrance way is all that is left of one of the colleges that once stood here, there are still plenty of churches around though.
Next we went to try some 'local food'; egg tart, which turned out to be egg custard at an area called Coloane where we could look over the water to China:

Getting around by foot is always a bit slow so we decided to hire a bike...

...it wasn't exactly ideal for hills though!
We took a trip to the beach:

...where there a permanent barbecues, and tables for enjoying some good food by the sea.
Next stop was the Taipa area where the casinos start appearing:

In the evening we enjoyed traditional hot pot where you cook the food yourself:

Then we went to a roof top bar to enjoy the view:

In the morning I took a strole around the Macau area and wondered around a local park:

Macau was so different to Hong Kong even though it was so close. It felt like it had more tradition and history, it didn't seem so crowded, but it did seem like a gamblers paradise and I think a day and a half was enough time to explore the country.

Next stop 'The Border'...

I entered the huge building from the Macau side. It was full of people waiting for their passports to be checked and among all the faces in there I didn't see a single Caucasian person! It didn't take long to pass through the two sets of border control and I was in to China!

Asian Adventure - Part 3 - Hong Kong

From South Korea to Hong Kong and a chance to visit a friend I hadn't seen for five years since we worked at YMCA Lakeside Day Camps. I was so excited to see Kiki and see just how much of a shock it must of been for her when she moved from her lifestyle in Hong Kong to the crazy world of Day Camps in rural UK.
She greeted me at the bus stop and took me home to introduce me to her family.

In the morning the first thing on my 'to do' list was to apply for my Chinese visa. I knew there would be a huge queue so i went early and still found myself at number 116 in the queue. After the application was complete it was time for a bit of sightseeing. I set off to walk to The Peak:

It was really humid and all the different plants made it feel almost tropical. The temperature made it feel hard work but the view wasn't too bad:

After walking back into the city I had a look around but I couldn't believe how there could be so much diversity in one small space. The were brand new buildings with very wealthy business men and new technology boxed in right next to old and broken buildings where people were living in almost poverty but know one seemed to notice. It felt like chaos with everything that was going on.

I escaped to a temple where I found one of the few traditional aspects of Hong Kong:

Later I got to meet up with Kiki after her day at work. Kiki and her friends introduced me to some traditional Cantonese food then to me on the ferry...

...to see the Hong Kong harbour at night...

...and see where they hold the film festival:

We enjoyed some drinks by the water's edge before heading home.

The next day Kiki took me for some traditional breakfast: Congee (rice porridge) with a fried dough stick. To be honest it didn't taste of much and I just wanted to add sugar or honey to the Congee so that it tasted of something, but it wasn't bad tasting I guess. I made my way back to the Chinese visa centre with my fingers crossed hoping that my visa had been granted. Luckily it was! Yay!
With a whole lot of weight off my shoulders I went to visit Lantau Island and the largest outdoor bronze sitting Buddah!

It was pretty big when you got to the top:

Afterwards I took a walk along the Wisdom Path:

I didn't feel any wiser after but you never know....

My next stop on the island was Tai O fishing village. It was a bit of a shock going from a developed tourist  area to twenty minutes down the road where people had nothing. The houses were like tin sheds on stilts in the water but amazingly every house kept its only little make-shift shrine.

Then I went back to the mainland to see Mong Kok with Kiki and her friend. We went to the Ladies market:

...had dinner in one of the 'best' local restaurants:

...and took a walk down Temple Street with all it's fortune tellers:

Once I had spent a couple of days in Hong Kong I knew I definitely wasn't in Japan anymore. It was busy, crowded, people were definitely not polite and the restaurant staff had never heard of customer service. It was a real Chinese experience. The best restaurants, are not the cleanest or the ones with the friendliest staff, they are the ones people have gone to for years, that serve traditional Cantonese food and that people queue up outside for. You sit at any table you are shown to that has enough seats for your group - you share your table with whoever you get put next to - you clean your chop sticks and crockery in Chinese tea before using it and you do as your told by the staff!!!! Its best not to think about the kitchen hygiene or the hygiene of the other customers for that matter, but just trust that your friend knows best and enjoy the food they order.