Around the World in 80 Days: Taipei

First impressions of this country have been great. The weather was perfect. We had here 20 degrees and the sun shined the whole day. Also people are really friendly and helpfully here. When we had problems with the orientation the most of them explained us in perfect “tai” English detailed, where we have to go.

On the way to the center I was first wondering about the bad conditions of the suburbs, but when we reached the city center it was like I conceived a Chinese city. Everywhere on the buildings big in different colors lighting advertisements and on the streets there are huge groups of mopeds which are waiting for the green signs.

After we put our bag packs in the hotel, we decided to walk first to one of the most popular places in the city: The Taipei 101. This is the highest office building of the world and the third tallest skyscraper. We went up to the observation floor on the 91 floor (380m) by a high speed escalator (60km/h) and enjoyed the view.

In the evening we walked to Shilin market, one of the popular night markets in Taipei. In this area we found a lot of small lanes with booths, which offered different kinds of dishes and exotic fruits. Accompanied was the whole evening by fireworks and explosions of bangers.

On the way back to the hotel, Julian and I decided to get somewhere a nightcap. Not far away from the hotel some Teens showed us a place where already a hand of people celebrated the last day of the Chinese new year. Through the night we got acquainted to the funny little multicultural group, which was consisting of the gay bar owner of midnight Lounge and his friends, a German art student, girls from Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand, a guy from South Korea and a jobless guy from England. And there we finished the day with an approach in Asian culture, languages and lifestyle.