| Taiwan is located in the East China Sea, about 100 miles from the mainland
coast of China. It sits right on the Tropic of Cancer. People always ask about the Dec2004 tsunami, but Taiwain is "around the bend" from the South East Asia peninsula, so it was unaffected. Since it sits on the Ring of Fire, there are frequent earthquakes, but this also provides nicer things like many hot springs and interesting geology. |
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| We live in Taipei, at the north end of the country. I like this satellite image, because it shows really well how the city is surrounded by mountains. This tends to trap moisture, which leads to the generally dreary weather in Taipei. As a result, the winter is not very warm, even though the latitude is equivalent to the Caribbean. |  |
| One of the things I really love about Taiwan is the variety of fresh fruit,
especially ones that we don't have in the US. I suppose this is nothing
special if you live in Florida, but it is to me! It has become something through which Jenny's father and I really connect- he now always makes special shopping trips before we see each other. The green lumpy fruit in the middle are custard apples, which I "accidentally" told him was my favorite- I now receive a steady diet of them :-) Another favorite are these wax apples, which are a winter fruit- kind of like a cross between apples and watermelon. Juicy, sweet, and crunchy. |
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| The sub-tropical location also means that this is a great place for flowers and gardens. Taiwan is one of the world's largest exporters of orchids, and they are very inexpensive here- only $3-5 per plant, for common varieties. This shows the huge weekend flower market, held under one of the raised highways. |  |
| Taipei has done a surprisingly good job of preserving green space. There
are little parks all around the city; the river is lined with with ball
fields and lots of recreation space; and some of the major boulevards are
divided by a canopy of trees and landscaping. It really helps to make Taipei
much more livable, because the city otherwise is pretty ugly. This small park is right outside our apartment and is used by people all day long- starting with a loud group doing their morning exercises just after sunrise! They sometimes make me reluctantly "enjoy" the early morning hours. |
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| Another great thing about Taipei is that you will never go hungry! Food is very central to the culture, so there are always food and snacks within reach. And if you don't want to cook, there's an endless supply of small restaurant stalls. Staying open late is the norm, so you can pretty much eat all day long, at very reasonable prices.... that is, if you can read the menu :-) |  |