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Taiwan Travel Blogs

1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan. Taiwan reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1946 constitution drawn up for all of China. Over the next five decades, the ruling authorities gradually democratized and incorporated the native population within the governing structure. In 2000, Taiwan underwent its first peaceful transfer of power from the Nationalist to the Democratic Progressive Party. Throughout this period, the island prospered and became one of East Asia's economic "Tigers." The dominant political issues continue to be the relationship between Taiwan and China - specifically the question of eventual unification - as well as domestic political and economic reform. To be updated

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By Sorry but we are not at home
November 22nd 2009

Kinmen Asia » Taiwan

Kinmen Island
On the left is still China, while the island with a shape of a dogbone is Kinmen - Taiwan. The distance is ~1 hour by boat.

Kinmen - Taiwan During our dinner discussions with Hiroshi he mentioned to us an interesting thing. Apparently there is a tiny island East of China which belongs to Taiwan. You can reach Kinmen Island by boat in 1 hour from Xiamen city.... yes, Chris got very excited of having a chance to collect an additional country stamp in his passport... and it did not take for him much time to convince me that a break in Taiwan would do good to us, so next day after our rise on the nice pig and duck wake-up call melodies we headed to east [View Full Entry]

By Forts
November 22nd 2009

New Place (photos) Asia » Taiwan » Taipei

Do we or don't we? Despite the initial good feelings about Wei-Wei's place we are far more cautious about signing a contract than we were with Martin's which came about through a combination of us running out of time and good old fashioned laziness. There are things we need to check like water pressure, bus times and journey lengths, and we are going to try and haggle a bit. All in all we end up visiting three times before finally signing on the dotted line. Wei-Wei refuses to budge on the rent but does agree to us only putting down [View Full Entry]

By Lorita
November 12th 2009

Job a’hoi and Kenting or Bust Asia » Taiwan » Kenting

Jialeshui beach

Upon entering my fourth week here I was getting a bit frustrated. Of the 10+ places I had handed out my resume to and of the 10+ jobs I had applied to online the only prospect was a school far away in Kaohsiung stating that it would not pay me my training until the end of my contract. Thus, I was frustrated, homesick, and tired. It was hard enough to order some vegetables without squid in them due to the language barrier let alone find a job. While trying my best not to give up I biked to a printing place [View Full Entry]

By Forts
November 1st 2009

Apartment hunting (again) Asia » Taiwan » Taipei

Since we took the decision to move, the apartment has really become a place neither of us enjoy spending a lot of time in. I email Martin and tell him we're not going to stay. He phones up in a panic and starts offering discounts but it's too late for that. Since we moved in, the entire street has turned into one noisy construction site, rudely interrupting our lives for 13 hours each and every day. They are extending the MRT westwards, under the river, to Sanchong. Added to that is the refurbishment taking place next door and if that wasn't [View Full Entry]

By Lorita
October 26th 2009

My Third Week - Taiwanese children sure know how to play the recorder Asia » Taiwan » Pingtung

John and I at his school event.

The following Monday I started biking around handing out my resume to potential employers. I got a nice surprise when a school called me for a job interview in Kaohsiung. Alas Tuesday was spent traveling there, doing a little shopping and trying to find where the school was. John and I discovered a nice little Mexican place near the MRT called Paco’s Tacos. While I was not sick of the Taiwanese food yet John definitely was. The interview went well and I found the place alright except I swear that night I would have lost my head if it wasn’t attached [View Full Entry]

By Lorita
October 18th 2009

My second week - Scooter failure in the mountains and some Taiwanese temples Asia » Taiwan » Pingtung

A giant mud slide from Sandimen

My second week in Taiwan I did more exploring on John’s bicycle around Pingtung and even biked to the train station and got on the train to Kaohsiung. I passed out my resume to some places, drank bubble tea, and shopped shopped shopped. Here $50 got me a new pair of sandals (not flip flops), three tops, two dresses, a sweater, and a pair of shorts….cheap! John’s scooter was acting up so he took it into the shop to get it fixed. The guy was so nice that he lent John another scooter while his was in the shop. I also [View Full Entry]

By Pas
October 18th 2009

TAIWAN - Zuoying - Taichung - Taipei Asia » Taiwan

Buddhist temple along the lake...
Zuoying

Taichung 2009 [View Full Entry]

By Forts
October 18th 2009

Yehliu Geological Park Asia » Taiwan » Taipei

2 month update It's been two months since I arrived in Taiwan and I have to say I'm satisfied with the way things are going. I've got a good job lined up even if I haven't started it yet and we've found a new, much cheaper apartment that we're going to move to in the middle of next month. More on this another time. My visa issues appear to be resolved and I'm just waiting now to pick up my ARC. Frustrating though it is being skint, I really shouldn't complain. This Sunday we're at a bit of a loss. We're [View Full Entry]

By Lorita
October 14th 2009

My first week , nothing like staying up all night to watch a boat burn to cure jet lag Asia » Taiwan » Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung

Upon arriving to Kaohsiung I was quite tired and yet very excited to see John. I was, however, disappointed to find that my luggage had not arrived with me and the one dress that I choose to wear to see him was all I could wear for…indefinitely? Who knows. It worked out though because John’s principal, who was there to pick me up gave him the day off to take me shopping. When we pulled up to our apartment I couldn’t believe we lived there. The outside looked like a 4 star beach hotel equipped with a fountain, pool, flowers and [View Full Entry]

The outside of our apartment in Pingtung

The view of Downtown Kaohsiung from the British Consulate

By laikl
October 9th 2009

An Insignificant Double-Ten Asia » Taiwan » Taipei

Photo 2
Eslite, Taipei

　　退房後寄存了行李，前往忠孝復興SOGO，途中亂打亂撞走進一家漢堡包店。我們說要「走醬走酸瓜」，店員聽得目瞪口呆。　　SOGO只賣我們不會買的東西，所以還是早點 [View Full Entry]

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