Shaved Ice 剉冰

剉冰 - tsua-bing, is a shaved ice dessert very common in Taiwan street vendors. It is especially popular during the hot summer months and is super inexpensive. Depending on which vendor you buy from or which county you're in, the highest price you can pay is maybe 50 NT (though highly unlikely, it is more so around 40 NT, which is roughly equivalent to a little more than 1 dollar in the US) to 20 NT, barely a dollar.

剉冰 has a consistency similar to Italian ice, but sometimes less fine and a little more course. Though, of course, the flavors and toppings are very different. 

It can be served in a cup to eat on the go while shopping or it can be served in a large bowl to share with friends.The bowls I've seen used can be as big as the ones you get for noodle soup, filled with a huge mound of ice and countless toppings.

A variety a toppings can be sold and chosen. The most simple is just to put sugarcane juice to give a mild sweet flavoring or to put a darker colored syrup. Nowadays most people like to have a number of toppings used. You can get strawberries, mangoes, watermelon, red beans, mung beans, vermicelli, Chinese pudding/Bu Ding, grass jelly, tapioca balls (boba/bubbles), pineapple, taroroot, lotus seeds, all sorts! It is kind of like a buffet, you pick and choose your toppings and then pay for a set price.

There are some combinations that are already decided, such as "Eight Treasure Ice" 八寶冰 | bābǎobīng, the 8 ingredients used differs from vendor to vendor, but usually have: taro, azuki beans, mung beans, yams, sweetened peanuts, and grass jelly. 

Condensed milk and cane syrup is sometimes poured over the 剉冰 to add more sweetness. The condense milk can also make the ice thicker and have a richer taste like ice-cream.

My personal favorite combinations are either:

1. strawberries, sweetened condensed milk, mangoes, and azuki beans

or

2. sugarcane syrup, mung beans, taroroot, grass jelly, azuki beans, vermicelli

Number 1 is something I am more likely to get in a city setting. Number 2 is what my grandmother would always get us when the days were especially hot. She would drive out on her moped and get us 20 NT worth of a huge bag filled with ice and toppings, pouring it out into a bowl for us to devour when she got home. Most of the ice (except for a few chunks here and there) would already melt due the intensity of the heat but no one would complain because it would still be nice and cool to stave off the heat of the day. :)

剉冰 with sweetened condense milk, strawberries, cherries, and I'm going to say that the orange ball on top is either mango ice-cream or a scoop of mango

The red beans on the top/side are azuki beans, the light purple chunks on the bottom are taroroot, there's some mango chunks here and there, grass jelly on the left hiding under the green chunks (I don't know what they are), mung bean hiding in the back left, and mini boba's (tapioca balls) under some mango and taroroot chunks

This is a simple 剉冰 with just the syrup which is equally good :)

Dream Mall - Kaohsiung

The Dream Mall is literally out of this world just as its name suggests. It is kind of like the Taiwanese version of the King of Prussia Mall for those of you who have been there before.

Dream Mall is located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (southern part of Taiwan and the second largest city). It is the largest shopping mall in Taiwan and the largest in East Asia. It is built and operated by Tungcheng Development Corporation a subsidiary of Uni-President Enterprises Corporation. It opened on May 12, 2007, and contains restaurants, movie theater, gym, and entertainment including a rooftop amusement park, and of course, many, many, many stores to shop in. The rooftop amusement park at Dream Mall is home to the Kaohsiung Eye ferris wheel.

When I was in Kaohsiung, we took the underground railway to the closest stop near Dream Mall. From there, there are shuttle buses every 10 minutes to take you to the Dream Mall.

The place is ridiculously enormous with twelve floors. You could spend your whole day shopping at Dream Mall and still not finish. I think my cousins and I nearly got lost in the mall due to the immensity of it all!

Each floor has its own theme. The fifth floor is for things related to children's goods.  The sixth floor is for fitness and outdoor recreation. One of the lower floors is all brand name goods. And if memory serves me right, one of the floors is dedicated to young adults/teenagers. 

The food court was especially large with a variety of foods to chose from. When I went, I didn't buy too many things because this particular mall is an upscale, first-class type of mall. Majority of the stores were high-end stores like Gucci, Prada, Guess, and a lot of other brand names I have never heard of. Many stores were European fashion stores. So to actually go to shop there is very expensive, but it is fun to see and experience. 

That isn't to say, however, that there are not any stores where middle class patrons cannot shop at, you just have to go/find to the right section of the mall (though even then, I still didn't buy anything >.<).

There are many unique stores and restaurants inside the mall that I would recommend seeing. I know there was this one store that was dimly lit and had rows of shoe racks that lit up in white. And get this, the racks would move left and right! It was very cool! 

Dou Hua | 豆花

Dòu Huā (豆花), dou fu hua (豆腐花), tofu pudding, or soybean pudding  is a Chinese dessert made with very soft tofu. There are many variants depending on the country, because everyone makes it differently. But for me, my personal favorite is the Taiwanese version. In Taiwan, dou hua is served with sweet toppings like cooked peanuts, adzuki beans, tapioca, mung beans, and flavored with sweet ginger syrup or almond syrup. During the summer, douhua is served cold; in the winter, it is served warm. I personally like my dou hua simple, with cooked peanuts in it and flavored with almond syrup and a tint of sweet ginger.
I have also even seen dou hua with soy bean milk as the base.

It's a nice, light dessert to have in the summer when the weather is hot and you want to have something cool, yet light. It also isn't too sweet to ruin your appetite either. Dou hua is usually sold by side street vendors. It is served in a simple cup (like the kind you get from frozen yogurt stores). Dou hua is one of my many well-loved foods I enjoy while over in Taiwan :). But if you're also ever in the Flushing Queens New York area or in any China towns, I'm sure some variant of dou hua would be available for you to try too!

Bubble Tea | 珍珠奶茶

Bubble tea, bubble milk tea, pearl milk tea, boba milk tea, or just boba, is a popular drink in today's Taiwanese culture. It is drink invented in tea shops in Taichung, Taiwan, during the 1980s. As you can probably guess, bubble tea is a tea based drink and is usually mixed with fruit or milk. It comes in hot and cold versions and almost always has marble sized, chewy, black tapioca balls. They're called "pearls" (珍珠 zhēnzhū) or "boba" (波霸, bōbà) hence where the other names come from. The bubbles or pearls don't really have a taste, it is added more so for a texture of chewy-ness sensation. Though sometimes some shops do soak the pearls in honey or sugar water. 

Evolution of Bubble Tea:
Since bubble tea's popularity, many new inventions and variations have come into being, along with a huge expanse of flavors.

Bubble tea has two types: fruit-flavored teas and milk teas.Some shops do offer hybrid "fruit milk teas" too. Most milk teas include powdered dairy or non-dairy creamers, but some nicer shops use fresh milk. The nicer shops also use 100% fruit instead of the powder.

The oldest known bubble tea consisted of a mixture of hot Taiwanese black tea, small tapioca balls, condensed milk, and syrup or honey. Sometimes they use just use sweetened condense milk to replace the last two ingredients in one go.The regular bubble tea has a coffee color.

The tea base is now often replaced. First was bubble green tea, which uses jasmine green tea (茉香綠茶) instead of black tea. Big tapioca balls were used and replaced the small ones. Then more fruit flavors were added until, in some drinks, fruit flavor replaced the tea.  Flavors may be added in the form of powder, fruit juice, pulp, or syrup to black or green tea, which is then shaken in a cocktail shaker or mixed with ice in a blender. Cooked tapioca balls and other mix-ins (such as honey, syrup, and sugar) are added at the end.

Now there are fruity, flowery, or tea flavors available. Common flavors include mango, lychee, strawberry, taro root  rose, and lavender.

Some cafes use plastic dome-shaped lids (like the type you get with icees or slushies), but most in Taiwan that I've seen use a machine to seal the top of the cup with plastic cellophane (pretty much just a plastic covering). This lets the workers shake up the tea and makes it spill-free. To drink, you just need to stab your super sized straw (for the tapioca) through the plastic and voila, it is ready to drink. 

Typical bubble tea shop

Today, you can find shops entirely devoted to bubble tea all over Taiwan, but also in Flushing Queens New York and Chinatowns in all cities.

Original Milk Tea

Note: For children and the elderly it is best to be careful when drinking the tapioca balls, there have been instances where they have become a choking hazard. So it is best to drink bubble tea slowly and with care :)

Shilin Night Market

士林夜市 | Shìlín Yèshì

Shilin Night Market is a night market in the Shilin District of Taipei, Taiwan, and is one of the largest and most famous night market in the city.

Night markets are unique to Taiwan. They are markets set up in an open lot at night with food vendors, retail salespeople, CD sellers, animal sellers, game stalls, etc. There are rows upon rows of these types of stalls lined up trying to make a profit. In a sense, it is almost like a local fair, except held every night. If you have ever been to the Pittsburgh Strip District on Saturdays or to the Boston Quincy Market then you would have an idea of what night markets are like (except of course they're held during the nighttime and not daytime :) ). Most night markets in Taiwan open around 4 pm though most people don't go until at least 6pm. As students begin returning home from school, crowds reach their peak between 8 and 11 pm. Businesses continue running past midnight and close around 1 or 2 am.

Shilin Night Market is also one of those "you haven't been to Taipei if you haven't been to the Shilin Night Market" kind of places. The night market is composed of two sections. The first section contains food vendors and small eateries which is housed under the old Shilin Market building. The other section circles around the building as businesses and shops selling retail items and street food.

The food court section holds 539 stalls, and the second floor serves as a parking lot for 400 cars (though most people arrive via train/bus/walking).

In addition to the food court, side streets and alleys are lined with stores and side stalls. Though now police try to get these side stalls out of the area because they are "squatters" who are illegally there without a permit. It also is supposedly a crowding hazard.

Like Xi Men Ding, Shilin Night Market is an exciting and fun place to go. It doesn't have a very metropolitan-feel like Xi Men Ding, but if you love to eat or love to shop or both! go to Shilin Night Market. You can shop and eat here the whole night and still have missed out on foods and stores! Every night there's always something new or different to explore and see. My personal recommendation to eat at Shilin is the fried chicken steak (you can't miss this, there's ALWAYS a huge line for this heavenly seasoned chicken. The vendor is right in front of the food court and is arguably the most famous food found at Shilin). Oyster omelet is another fan favorite and if you can find them, the crepes with a Taiwanese twist! PS the fried chicken steak is huge and bigger than my hand (I have rather small hands though >.<).

This is the oyster omelet. It doesn't really look like the one I remember eating, but it is pretty much the same. It isn't an aesthetically appealing food, but the savory taste will make you want to have seconds. :)

This is the fried chicken steak stall

This is the huge fried chicken steak! 

Food stalls

The street of shops, and if you can see in the middle, a clothes "squatter" with signs advertising their merchandise price.

More food stalls

Xi Men Ding | 西門町

Found in west Taipei, Xi Men Ding is a popular hotspot for both tourists and locals. The pedestrian streets were the first of its kind and are between Cheng Du Road and Wu Chang Street, the main streets. However, the true specialties and experience of Xi Men Ding lies in its alleyways. It is here you'll find the true side of Taiwan's youth culture, the places they hang out, the stores in which they work and shop in. They say that you haven’t been to Taipei if you haven’t been to Xi Men Ding (one of the many places you have to go to while in Taipei to count as having visited and being in Taipei…)

Xi Men Ding is close to Taipei Main Station, which is great for transportation to get here. You can take the buses, train, or THSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail) to the Taipei Main Station and then take a short MRT ride or a 10 minute walk to the Xi Men Ding area.

It is often very crowded so it is best to get used to crowds, and be able to navigate yourself at the same time without getting pushed or shoved around like me.  Being a hot spot in Taipei, a lot of Taiwanese celebrities can also be found around here and hold concerts/events at the Ximending Walking Street. 

Xi Men Ding is one of the most popular places for the youth culture of Taiwan to gather. This eight-branched intersection dates back to the Japanese occupation. It is home to the famous Red House Theater and Mazu Temple.

Mazu Temple

The Red House Theater 西門紅樓 was built in 1908. It used to be a public market until 1949 and was then converted into a theater. In the 1930s, the area became a center of Taiwan's film industry. Most cinemas in Taipei were founded there and now today there are over 20 cinemas that remain in the area, so you can catch a movie if you want while in Xi Men Ding).

Red House Theater

Because the area is populated by young people and it is an urban setting, eccentric stores, restaurants and people can be found here as well. The open-minded mentality at Xi Men Ding also attracts many same-sex couples to the area to hang out with one another without getting dirty looks.

Xi Men Ding is now a place bursting with shops selling fashion of all sorts of culture, fast food, shoes, sunglasses, scarves, Sanrio, Sony, and Western foods. It is commonly referred to as the "Harajuku of Taipei." It is here where you can get all the hottest new clothes and fashion trends, be it by observing the shoppers or shopping at the stores! They sell a wide range of clothing from Korean to Japanese to local Taiwan fashion.

I personally love shopping in here because the atmosphere is lively and exciting, very metropolitan city-like without cars everywhere like in other cities. It reminds me a lot of NYC's Time Square and 5th Avenue except with much more hub bub and things to do. There are lots to do and lots to eat! If you're a young person, I would definitely recommend going to Xi Men Ding. There are movies, fashion, KTV (karaoke), hairdressers, eccentric restaurants galore so that you'll never be bored in Xi Men Ding! You'll find lots of movie theaters on the Cinema street and street performers. Overall, it is a great place to people watch, catch a movie, meet young people, and just hang out.

Lion Dance

舞獅: The lion dance is a tradition art performed with drums, gongs, and cymbals. The lions express joy and happiness. Both lions and dragons are figures in New Year parades and other celebrations throughout the year. There are now many lion dance competitions featuring troupes from various Asian countries. 

Believe it or not, the lion dance is often mistakenly referred to as a dragon dance. An easy way to tell the difference is that the lion is performed by only two people, while a dragon requires many people and often times has a leader who wields a "dragon ball" to entice the dragon to follow them in unique patterns. A lion dance has the performers' faces covered, since they "become" the lion. In a dragon dance, the performers are seen since the dragon is held up by poles. Incidentally, the lion dance almost always is performed in pairs or even numbers, sometimes as "families" with two adult lions and two young ones. 

The lion dance isn't really a lion though, it is more akin to a dog, Fu Dog. The behavior of the lion is playful and requires physical finesse because basic lion dance movements are based on Chinese martial arts: WuShu. There also has to be complete coordination between the two performers, especially when on the high pedestals for competitions or for more circus like tricks such as balancing on a ball.

There are two types of lions: the northern lion and the southern lion. The southern lion is more common than the northern one, it is especially used in competitions.  

Northern Lion

The Northern lion was used as entertainment for the imperial court. It is usually red, orange, and yellow. It has a very furry mane, and a golden head (my take as it to why it is furrier than its southern counterpart, is that because it is colder up north). The northern dance is acrobatic and is mainly performed as entertainment. It has strong ties to wushu (Chinese martial arts). They usually debut in acrobatic shows where the performers balance on balls or perform high end tricks on balancing boards. The northern lion is typically more realistic to a playful animal than the southern lion. Young lions are performed by one person and adult lions are performed by two. Performers wear furry trousers to match the drape of the lion. The northern lion makes use of prancing legs and shaking like a dog.

Southern Lion

The Southern lion originated in Guangdong and is more symbolic. It plays an important role in scaring away evil spirits or for performances for various events such as opening ceremonies, weddings, festivals, temples, competitions, etc. The southern lion has many colors and a distinctive head with large eyes, and a horn at center of the head. It is said that the appearance of the southern lion is based on the New Year Monster "Nian." The southern lion’s head is shaped more like a dragon’s but without two horns or a long snout. The southern lion makes dramatic head thrusts to the sound of drums and gongs. Supposedly the movement basis for the southern came out of observing actual lions. So it is most likely to see pantomimes of scracthing, shaking, licking fur, and chasing/nuzzling the other lion. 

Fun fact: A new lion should not be used in a lion dance until it goes through the eye opening/dotting awakening ceremony.

Here's a video of what you would most likely see at a lion dance competition:

Here's a video I particularly like because there's so many lions performing together (which is unusual since typically there are only 1 to 4 lions that perform together). There are also some really impressive tricks involved as well.

New Year Cuisines

  During Chinese New Year, there are many customs and traditions that are followed. But aside from traditions, there are foods that are eaten especially for the New Year.

The first of which is "Nian Gao" or 年糕.
There are two types of nian gao, one is savory and eaten as an entree, the other is sweet and more as a dessert. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao because "nian gao" is a homonym for "higher year." The Chinese word 粘 (nián) is "sticky", and sounds like 年 which is "year", and the word 糕 (gāo), meaning "cake" is identical in sound to 高, meaning "high or tall". Therefore nian gao symbolizes raising oneself taller in each coming year (年年高升 niánnián gāoshēng).  Nian gao also symbolizes a rich, sweet life and the round shape signifies family reunion.

Nian gao is made of sweet glutinous rice and is sticky like marshmallows, but much more firm.The taste is subtle and sometimes is made with rice wine. There are also other variations of nian gao with a flaky crust baked on the outside with the same sticky texture on the inside.The savory nian gao can usually be found in your typical Chinese restaurant with varying shapes served. It is stir-fried with vegetable and maybe some meat, very chewy.

Savory Nian Gao

Store bought Nian Gao

Flaky Crust Nian Gao

Dumplings/Pot-stickers 水餃 or 餃子are also eaten because of the shape of dumplings are similar to gold ingots, meaning wealth. Ingots are the Chinese equivalent to gold bars.
Dumplings are a flour based skin with meat and/or vegetables inside.There are variations where kimchi (fermented spicy cabbage from Korea) is put inside, or even corn with meat. They can be prepared in a variety of ways. You can steam cook, boil, or pan fry them. They are usually eaten dipped in soy sauce. There is even a type of dumplings with "soup" inside.Dumplings can also be folded in a variety of ways as well.

Gold Ingots

Dumplings

 A whole fish魚, head and tail attached, is also served at a typical Chinese New Year Dinner. The Chinese word for fish, yu, sounds like the word for abundance, and it is believed that eating fish will help your wishes come true in the year to come. It is also important to leave some fish left and not finish it because that way you will have excess wealth for the coming year. The head and tail attached represents the beginning and end of the year.



Oranges, tangerines, and pomelos are used as an offering to the gods and are also eaten because the words for sound like wealth, riches, and "to have" (seeing a pattern?).

Tang Yuan, literally "soup sphere" is eaten on the last day of Chinese New Year called "Yuan Xiao Jie" or the Lantern Festival.  It is made from glutinous rice flour. It is cooked and served in boiling water. Tang Yuan can be small or large, and filled or unfilled and are usually white in color but for customer appeal sometimes are colored to other colors. My personal favorite is when they are filled with sweet peanut filling or sesame filling. It is sticky and sweet. The spherical shape represents togetherness of the family as well and is meant to be eaten with family like all the foods.

Tang Yuan with sesame

Colored Tang Yuan

There are countless of foods that are eaten during Chinese New Year, varying twice as much from region to region. The ones I have listed here are the most common and the ones I am most familiar with. Everyday of Chinese New Year is a feast, a mix of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. That's why we eat and celebrate so much with so many different foods and traditions!

Year of the Snake

 蛇(snake) 2013 is the year of the snake. Sometimes the snake is referred to as "the little dragon" because it comes after the year of the dragon and both are reptiles.Snake years are sixth in the Chinese animal zodiac cycle, and recurs every twelfth year. Chinese New Year does not fall on a specific date, so you can't rely on the year you were born alone to determine your zodiac animal. You should check a calendar which asks for the month and date as well for a more accurate determination of what zodiac animal you are. These two sites I found were pretty accurate with my sign: Zodiac and Chinese Astrology Calculator

Years of the snake are: 1905,1917,1929,1941,1953,1965,1977,1989,2001, 2013

To give an example as to why it is important to check the date of when each year begins is my own animal zodiac. For instance, I am a dog though my year, 1995, indicates a boar in.  The reason why I am a dog though is because my birthday was within the 15 days of Chinese New Year. I am technically half dog half boar because I was right on that transition day. 

Though not entirely accurate, here are some things about a typical "snake" person. According to ancient wisdom, a snake in the household is a good because it means the family will not starve. Some people interpret this as the snake will give up things to feed his/her family or that the snake is good with money to be able to buy food. Snakes are seen as wise, intelligent, good business people, and good with money. 

• logical and rational
• quiet
• complex 
• sometimes egoistic and greedy

They are well known for their intuitive nature, adding mysteriousness to the character of a snake person. There are all different types of snakes varying in color and pattern. This variety tends to lead snake people to love to appreciate beauty and have exceptional tastes.

This year the element of the snake is water. Water snakes are influential and insightful. They are very good in an organizational setting and can manage others well. They are motivated for success and want to be rewarded for their efforts. They are affectionate with their family and friends, but private and come off as cold towards fellow workers in a professional setting.

Overall Summary of the Snake for 2013
The snake can read complicated situations with a clear mind. Business will be good, but important documents will require lots of attention to detail. This year will be advantageous to do important work with detail. Look for new ways to do things with the clever mind of the snake. A new ambition to achieve greatness will inspire you to be all you can be, and provide you with the motivation to achieve goals.
 
But for the year 2013, the snake needs to watch for over-commitments. Snakes tend to be greedy people, but somewhat vain and spend more money than they have. This can cause tension in the a relationship. Create a safe working environment for this year. In order to utilize the snake's analytic abilities, it needs to feel safe and protected before securing its goals. The path to the goals of a snake are slow, but will most likely be achieved and accomplished.

Random Details about the Snake

• Best compatibility: Ox and Rooster.
• Okay compatibility: Rat, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep.
• Incompatible: Tiger and Pig.
• Lucky colors: Yellow, Red
• Lucky directions: Southwest, Northeast
• Lucky numbers: 2, 4, 7, and 9.
• Monday is the lucky day of the week for Snakes.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is coming up soon for the year of the snake. Traditionally, the holiday is celebrated for 15 days, but now it is usually only celebrated on the first day, which is on February 10^th this year. Every year the date for the New Year changes according to the solar calendar (the standard) because Chinese holidays are based on the lunar calendar, one that has fewer months. In many Asiatic countries, Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays. There are countless customs and traditions that go along with Chinese New Year; however, I will only talk about the ones most familiar to my family and me. Every story is somewhat different, but this is my version of how the holiday got started.

Legend has it that the holiday started long ago because of a horrible monster called, "Nian." Nian has been described as many different creatures, sometimes as a dragon, a unicorn, or just a beast. All say that Nian was a ferocious and very ugly creature though. On the first 15th of the lunar year, the monster would come down from the mountain to wreck havoc and eat people from the villages. Everyone was terrified of the monster and didn't know what to do, until an old wise man came to the village one day nearing the time of Nian's return.

The old wise man was questioned as to why he was not fearful of the monster's return. The old man said he knew Nian's weakness and told the villagers that the monster hated loud noises and the color red. The villagers were instructed to beat drums and gongs, set off fireworks, and wear red clothing.

The day Nian came down to eat the villagers, they set off fireworks and made as much noise as possible to scare off the monster. When he tried to eat people, he saw the color red and could not eat them. He was chased out of the village and the villagers were saved. To celebrate the survival of the village, everyone wore their newest and best clothes to remember the moment. Now every year around the New Year time, the villagers would do the same thing to keep Nian away from the village. 

The word "nian" also means "year." A common greeting around new year is, "Xin Nian Kuai Le" which means Happy New Year or literally "let the new year be joyful."

Customs: It is tradition for parents/married couples to give red envelopes ("hong bao") to children. Inside these red envelopes is money. The red, like many of the various decorations used during the New Year, signifies good luck and wards off bad spirits. Some more silly children (perhaps rude in some cases) like to say teasingly, "Gong Xi Fa Cai, Hong Bao Na Lai." Which means, "Happy new year, give me money." The reason why they say this is because it rhymes. When receiving red envelopes it is very important to thank the giver and to avoid opening the envelopes in front of them. There are also customs where you aren't supposed to open them at all and keep it under your pillow for one night then open it for good luck.


Fu Sign: No it is not "f...u" it is the character for, "Luck." The sign is intentionally posted outside one's door upside down. This is something my family still does.

Lion dance: The lion dance is a type of ritual/performance of 2 “lions” though more akin to dogs. The lion is controlled by 2 people. One person plays the head and the other, the tail. The lion dance is performed with a loud drum, gongs, and cymbals and is believed to ward off evil spirits. The lion dance is also a symbolic ritual to invite in the New Year. Many people hire/request lion dancers to come and perform for festivities in the street, temples, or events.

While fireworks and firecrackers are very popular, some countries have banned them due to fire hazards and public safety. I know in Taiwan, that in urban settings they’re banned but in rural settings they’re still permitted. 

This is just to give background on the origins or Chinese New Year and some typical traditions. There are a ton more traditions, especially concerning New Year foods! More to come on Chinese New Year Cuisine.

Introduction

As the title suggests, this blog will be all about Taiwan. Now whether or not you believe Taiwan is a country or province, there are sights and tastes unique to this small island off the coast of Eastern China. The island is one unknown to the average person, yet coveted by many. It is a mix of modern New York type cities like the capital, Taipei and countryside farms such as in Chiayi. Taiwan has been influenced by many different countries and cultures such as: China, Portugal, Japan, and last but not least, its own native aboriginal tribes. These various influences create an interesting blend of culture that is found in Taiwan.

Map of Taiwan

With its booming economy and fusion of tradition and modernization, this island is definitely one to be explored for your next vacation trip. Why am I so adamant towards this tiny island? Well, since my mother is Taiwanese (a person from Taiwan), almost every summer since I was young I have visited Taiwan and am absolutely enamored with the place. Although my main purpose is to visit family, I have had to opportunity to explore the country's elements. The affordable living costs, conveniences, cuisine, scenery, shopping, everything about it is wonderful. Well, except for the mosquitoes and the 90 plus degree weather in the summer...... And perhaps the occasional typhoon/rainy season..... But those are but minor nuances to the island's "plus's."

In this blog, I will post pictures of various sights and foods, perhaps a video or two (if I can find some). I will talk about major sights to see, local specialties, hidden gems, and my opinions and experiences with these things. From time to time I will also add in some festival events that occur throughout the year. I might even add in some of the country's customs and do's and don'ts. Popular new trends and music are something I can include as well. Just about anything and everything Taiwan related I might post! (Except for politically related information, for obvious reasons.)