Taiwan

I'm back after my week in Taiwan. It was a great break. I really liked the country and the people, and would highly recommend it.

The pic of the week shows Sun Moon lake at dawn. This was taken from the balcony of my hotel room. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Taiwan
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I didn't know that much about Taiwan before I went. I had taken a flight with China Airlines one time, and had been surprised that the airline flew to a all main countries in the world, with the exception of China!

So I looked up a little on the history. It's an island in the Pacific, is less than half the size of Ireland, but with a population of 23m. Originally settled by Pacific islanders, it has been part of China for most of its history, but with some settlement by the Portuguese and Dutch. In the early part of the 20th century it was controlled by the Japanese, but reverted to being a Chinese province at the end of WWII.

After the war, back on mainland China there was a civil war between the Communists, let by Mao Zedong (Mao Tse Tung), and the Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai Shek. Following the Communists' victory, Chiang Kai Shek and the Nationalist leadership fled to Taiwan. They regarded themselves as the legitimate government of the Republic of China. Mao led the People's Republic of China on the mainland (a little like the Republic of Ireland, and the People's Republic of Cork). In the Cold War world of the time, Taiwan as the Republic of China was recognised as the real China. It wasn't until the thawing of relations with Communist China in the early 70s that the PRC was recognised as the real China, and China's permanent seat on the UN Security Council was given to Beijing.

Taipei
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Taipei is the capital city. It's a large Asian city, with some older districts in the west, where I stayed. And a modern, high-rise area in the east. I went to the viewing observatory of the largest building, Taipei 101, and it was only when I was in it that I realised that it was the tallest building in the world.

The people are exceptionally friendly, most speak very good English (with the notable exception of taxi drivers!), and they go out of their way to help you in shops and on the metro. There's a lovely gay area which was quite near my hotel, with a big open-air courtyard with a large selection of bars and restaurants. It was very cool and relaxed.

Sun Moon Lake
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I had wanted to spend a little time in Taipei, but then to have a relaxing few days on the beach. When I looked at tourist brochures I changed my mind and went to Sun Moon Lake, the largest lake on the island (but not very big even by Irish standards). It's in the mountains in the centre of the country, and I arrived after a difficult trek around the Taipei working out how to get there.

Sun Moon Lake is beautiful, and my hotel was right on the water. It was peaceful and relaxed. There are a lot of hiking trails, and there's a lovely walkway (very like the boardwalk in Dublin) around a good portion of the lake, which was lit up in changing colours at night.

The main tourist activity is boat trips on the lake, but I was more interested in visiting the Buddhist temples and pagodas I could see on the other side of the lake, so for €1.70 I got a day ticket on the local bus and did a full tour. I loved it.

Sun Moon lake is where Chiang Kai Shek took his holidays, and there are memorials to him everywhere.

Back to Daejeon
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I arrived back to Korea on Saturday, and stayed for the night in Seoul, returning to Daejeon late on Sunday. I've had an easy week at work, just working 12 hours, with 8 of those being easy conversation classes. I have the same schedule this week.

It's been very rainy this week. July is traditionally rainy season, but it didn't really happen last year. I see what it's like this year, with the worst rain I've seen since I've been in Korea. Today there are torrential showers and thunderstorms.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm off to visit friends for dinner.

Until next week,

Annyeong-hi kaseyo

Éamon

Today's headline in Donga llbo: N. Korea suspected to have orchestrated cyber attacks against South