Taiwan Photos

Here are a whole bunch of pictures from Taiwan! I finally got them off the old computer... I miss it there - the mild weather, the lush green plantlife, and the tropical fruit!



This is a street vender at the Dihua Market. This market was open at night during the Chinese New Year festivities. Venders sell traditional herbs, teas and foods.



This is the tiny City God Temple along the Dihua Market Street. This temple is known for being the busiest. People come here to pray to the City God for protection and good luck.



The Dihua Market street has some of the oldest preserved architecture in Taipei. I felt like I was in a Kung Fu movie when I was walking down this street! It's narrow, so it's hard to get a good photo of the buildings...



This is another streetmarket near the first place we lived in Taipei.



We ventured out of the city to a nearby national park. We had to walk through this tunnel to get to the information center.



We saw this sign which says "Owl Crossing." Guess they walk across the road?



This is another image from the national park.



And another!



Sticker pictures are very popular in Asia, and I noticed this very busy shop near one of the street markets.



Will this man resist the urge to join everyone else?



Doesn't look like it!



Scooters are the most common form of transportation in Taipei. It was common to see families like this one. I would often see my students climbing onto scooters with their parents after class.



Damon discovered this antiques market. We had a great time looking at everything.



Apparently this is a rare Tibetan statue, somehow it made its way all the way to Taipei.



We often saw clothing and housewares printed with english that didn't make any sense! Apparently english sells!



I was surprised to see this unfortunate selection of a stereotypical "Indian" image, printed all over this chain of restaurants stuff. And the kids learned "I" is for Indian in class... And we think it's bad in the states...



Lanterns were everywhere for the new year, but this block was particularly done up!



This symbol of Buddhism was very helpful for us. Being a vegetarian is nothing out of the ordinary in Taipei. Many Buddhists choose to be vegetarians. We ate at this completely vegetarian restaurant several times.



One of the alleys downtown.



This gate is in the middle of one of Taipei's many parks.



This area is called Ximending. It is an extremely busy area in downtown Taipei. It reminded me of scenes of Shibuya, Tokyo in "Lost in Translation." Now having been to Shibuya, I can say, it truly is very similar!



Images like this on doors or gates are very common in Taipei. They are meant to guard against, and scare away, bad spirits.



These women were enjoying a little chat at the Botanical Gardens. They were just too cute!



Here they are again!



Meanwhile, these kids were racing around the circular stairs!



This is a purple water lily that was just starting to open at the Botanical Gardens.



More lily pads.



There are many temples we enjoyed exploring all over Taipei.



These people were praying at the table of offerings (mostly food) left for ancestors and dieties.