Jun 6 - Touch down at Taipei Taoyuan Airport (TPE) at about 10:00. Change money and get a two-day MRT (metro) card for T$ 520 each (T$30/US$1).
It is amazing how different it can feel to step off in a different country after a two-hour flight. Taiwan is just north of the Philippines, but the contrast is strong. A sense of calm pervades the people heading to the metro. Even though nearly all the signage is in Chinese, it is easy to figure out where to go and what to do. Swipe our cards into the metro station, and ride 40 minutes into downtown Taipei.
Everything is organized, and people follow the rules. For the escalators going up from the metro platform, people line up quietly in two rows. The right row are those planning to stand, and the left row are those who want to walk up the escalator.
We get the Green line from the main train station to the Nanjing Fuxing station. Our hotel is about a five-minute walk from there. Even the small streets, devoid of proper sidewalks, have a green stripe painted down one side that is reserved for pedestrian traffic.
We were supposed to have the complete day to see things here. Our hotel, occupying the 12th floor of a building, is not ready for us yet. We drop the bags in the lobby and head out, armed with the two-day metro cards.
First take a combination metro-bus to a forested valley north of town where the National Palace Museum is located. This museum is named for a similar structure in Beijing and houses a large number of artifacts brought from mainland China in the 1940’s.
It is interesting that nearly everything here is from the mainland. The sense of Taiwanese identity is fully enmeshed with the country that wants to assimilate it.
After the museum, walk around the park for a while and find a small eatery. Even hole-in-the-wall places cost over US$10 for all our lunches. Back on the bus to the metro, where we take a different exit to visit Longshan Temple.
This temple was constructed in 1738 for the recent settlers coming from the mainland, specifically Fukien Province. The temple was named after the hometown of the founders. It has survived many earthquakes, and also bombings during the Japanese occupation in WWII. The current layout dates from 1924. It is actually a temple dedicated not to one belief system but three: Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.
Perhaps it is the prayer session going on, but despite it being fairly crowded, there is a sense of tranquility here.
Head back to the hotel and buy some food supplies at Family Mart. Like 7-Eleven, there seems to be one at every corner.