Central street sign in Hong Kong

Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake

This is not actually taken in a real temple, but part of the exhibition at “Taiwan’s Storyland”, which features a meticulously-recreated old Taiwan neighbourhood throughout the 50s to 70s. What’s interesting is that besides the reconstructed antique architecture of police stations, movie theatres, grocery stores and classrooms etc, they have various interactive activities as well. So in the “temple” here, you can take part in the Chinese prayer ritual. What’s cool is that at the end of it, you get a divination lot that tells your fortune. Just for fun, of course.

Taiwan’s night markets are famous for the assortment of delicious food and bargain shopping. And the one featured here, Shilin Night Market, is arguably the most famous. It was around midnight, on a weekday to boot, when we went, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from the volume of human traffic. Not many cities offer a more interesting night life than Taipei, in fact I would say that the city only truly comes alive in the night.

Conquering the Shilin Night Market has become a running joke among my friends, because we could never finish walking its many streets and alleys, there are just too many shops and always too little time. I’ve been to Taipei twice and visited Shilin at least two or three times each trip, and I can’t say I’ve fully conquered it. And it’s not only the tourists who are fascinated, I know a Taiwanese student who can’t help but walk through Shilin everytime she passes by on her way back home nearby, even if she has nothing to buy. She just likes to soak in the bustling atmosphere.

As you leisurely walk up to the top of Jioufen, you will find many tea houses and cafes. Most of them offer a splendid bird-eye’s view of the mountain town. This is a particularly oriental tea house, but there are cafes offering coffee as well. I really like the iced fruit tea here, it’s very refreshing. We spent more time here than we’d like to admit, despite a packed itinerary, relaxing and enjoying the lazy afternoon.

Saw this cute Japanese kid on his way to school, I think, near our hostel. Tried to take a candid frontal shot of him but failed. I think he became suspicious of the two onesan who kept following him. Lol. Settled for this shot of his back against the street and filed it under Tokyo street view. How random is that.

Jioufen’s appeal grew in part of Hou Hsiao-hsien‘s 1998 movie, A City of Sadness, the first film to touch on the 228 Incident, a taboo subject in Taiwan. The movie was a big hit in the theatres and revived interest in the old town.