A Reading of "Tom Sawyer" by our children

The director of the Institute of the Americas, Dr. Lucia Chen, organized a series of events, at the Tamkang University Library, in honor of Mark Twain. Cristina read from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" with assistance by Antonio and Leah. Many thanks to Elena for these pictures.

Billiards

We discovered a pool hall/bowling alley near the university. Antonio is a fanatic.

Sanxia

Sanxia is located near Yingge, a short bus or train trip outside Taipei. Sanxia has an amazing temple with intricate detailing. The temple's existing detailing is the result of the efforts of one man to preserve and renovate the structure. Sanxia also has an old street, built during the Japanese era.

A trip to Yingge

Yingge is famous for its ceramics industry and ceramics museum. On old Yingge St there are many shops selling ceramic tea place settings. The museum has working kilns in the ceramics park.

A trip to a rock beach and sports rec center

Go figure. The kids' favorite part of the trip to Taroko Gorge was playing at a sports/rec center in Hualien. We also enjoyed the rock beach at Hualien.

More pictures of Taroko Gorge

A Trip to Taroko Gorge

Taroko Gorge is one of the top tourist destinations in Taiwan. Over 200 workers died building the highway through the gorge. Rock slides occur frequently. A truly awesome natural area.

A trip to Pinglin

Pinglin is a wonderful town about 1/2 hour from Taipei. A shuttle bus runs to and from the Xindian MRT every half hour. Pinglin is all about tea and includes a tea museum, terraced tea fields and many tea shops. I ate a lunch of meatball-tea leaf soup, tea noodles, and of course, tea. Note the tea pots along river's fence, and the tea pot street lamps.

Maokong on the Gondola

Maokong is a hillside neighborhood of Taipei with numerous tea houses. There is a gondola from the Taipei Zoo that was damaged during the last major typhoon but has reopened.

Pictures of Our Accommodations