Taipei, Taiwan | Part 1 of 2
Back to the motherland with my mother. It has been five years since my last visit to Taiwan. It felt like I was overdue for a return, so Lunar New Year was the perfect time to join my mom on her annual trip to Taipei. In the span of two weeks, we trekked all over the city with a few mini day trips to nearby towns. We visited new and old places, we spent time with relatives, and of course, we ate a ton of tasty things.
Here we are, with our giant black purses.
Scenes in Tianmu, near grandma’s house.
Family, including seven of the eight sisters of my mom’s family (no brothers). And a handful of uncles and cousins.
My watercolor journaling.
At night, meeting up with Kevin and Ellie, who were also in town from California.
We visited the Tonghua Street Night Market, where Ellie tried basically every game available to her.
One of my favorite things about Taiwan: all the tropical fruits you just can’t get in America. Here are some very ripe Buddha’s head fruit, also known as cherimoya or custard apples, and jujubes.
There are two kinds of Buddha’s head fruit: the more traditional version on the left, and a newer variety on the right, which tastes like a sweeter pineapple with less tang.
A trip to Taipei Botanical Garden. My mom studied horticulture and landscape architecture in Taiwan, so these used to be her stomping grounds.
A whole street selling various birds. Kind of sad, really.
Bopiliao Old Street, a charming historic-section-turned-tourist-attraction.
Longshan Temple, packed with people.
Bangka Qingshan Temple
Very delicious random street food.
Dihua Street, which is filled with interesting shops, from modern boutiques to traditional dried goods vendors.
Confucius Temple.
Dalongdong Baoan Temple.
And Hsing Tian Kong (saw so many temples that day).
Meeting with the aunts (plus two cousins and my cousin’s kid) for lunch.
Getting to make our own paper at the Suho Paper Museum.
Huashan 1914 Creative Park, which is filled with creative boutiques, artisan wares, workshops, activities, and more. Taipei has several of these creative parks and a bustling arts scene.
Of course: beef noodle soup! I think I tried three or four different bowls on this trip.
Dinner with family again! This time at a great vegetarian restaurant, where my uncle knew the owner.
The finale featured a flaming pineapple… which was revealed to have faux chicken inside!
Continuing the pineapple theme but minus the flames, we trekked over to Sunny Hills for a free pineapple cake and tea tasting. I later picked up six boxes to take home.
More garden time! Though this place is apparently not the beautiful and serene garden that my mom remembers from years ago. It’s the former Shilin residence of Chiang Kai Shek. And now filled with tons of tourists! Perhaps extra amounts of people due to the holiday.
And finally, for this Part 1 post, a little touristing in front of the Grand Hotel.
Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.
Part 1: Taipei, Taiwan | Part 1 of 2
Part 2: Taipei, Taiwan | Part 2 of 2
