Arriving in Taiwan - From Calgary to Taipei

Taiwan, Here We Come!

En Route 

February 8th, 2011 - Arthur and I leave Calgary at 9am to begin our semester abroad. Anticipation, nervousness, sadness, and excitement are just a few of the numerous emotions felt while kissing my family goodbye and boarding the plane. 

Vancouver Airport

Getting to Taiwan was an adventure on its own. Flying from Calgary to Vancouver, and Vancouver to Beijing took a total of 13 hours in the air. The best part of the flight was flying over the Rockies with a magnificent birds eye view of the mountains from BC all the way up to Alaska. The flights were relatively painless, thanks to free drinks on international flights :) and countless movies. 

Beautiful Rockies

Arriving in Beijing was incredible. The airport was absolutely stunning and buzzing with thousands of people. With most signs in English and helpful staff, it was easy to get to our hotel. The city was cold, busy, and ugly. We woke up in the morning to snow, which was the first snowfall of the season. This lead to our flight to be delayed for 3 hours (2 hours spent in the airport, and 1 hour sitting on the ground in the plane). Not the most pleasant experience.  


On February 10th (2 days of traveling) we arrived in Taipei. Weather was warm, but rainy. Our hotel - fantastic! Finally, a plush looking bed to sleep in. After 13 hours of sleeping, we woke up the next morning, ready to see what Taipei had to offer. 

Longshan Temple Entrance

In the morning we took the train to Longshan temple. We were fortunate enough to have been there on one of the days that there was a kind of religious ceremony taking place. On the 1st and 15th of every month (of the lunar calendar), people go to these temples to thank the gods for all their blessings, and also to ask for either good health, speedy recovery of the ill, or anything else their family may be in need of. There are also vendors who are selling food that you buy to donate to those who are sick. We were lucky to have encountered a woman who spoke english who was able to explain the whole process. We bought some in-scents and went to each one of the gods at the temple, bowed twice in front of them, expressed gratitude for something, and asked for something in return. This experience was breath-taking. 

Inside Temple

After this we took the train, which was very easy to navigate and cost about $1 to get anywhere in the city, to a very busy shopping district. Here, there were hundreds of small shops and restaurants. The streets were crowded with people everywhere you turned offered a new areas to explore. A few familiar names were found here, like Roots, KFC (3 stories high) and TGI Fridays. As the afternoon approached, the streets got increasingly more crowded, and we decided to move on to something new.

Taipei 101

View of Taipei from above

We then went to Taipei 101, which is the tallest building in the world at 1667 feet! The first 5 floors were occupied by a beautiful upscale mall, with shops such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, and Dior. The only thing I bought was tea, lol. We were able to take a high speed elevator (one of the fastest in the world going 1010 m/min) up to the 89th floor. From here we had a 360 degree view of the spectacular city of Taipei. 

Taipei 101 at Night

After this we went to the lantern festival. A large area downtown becomes filled with lights, lanterns, colourful floats, and entertainment. As the new year brought in the year of the rabbit, the theme of this festival was rabbits. We were blessed to have encountered 2 special events in one day. 

Lantern Festival

Tomorrow, it's off to the Taipei Zoo :)


xo
Chantal