Holidays away from home are never easy. Traditions are hard to keep up. Family and friends celebrate without you. Traditional dishes are nearly impossible to find or make. The whole atmosphere of the season never truly arrives. Halloween in Taiwan was bearable because we celebrated with the students, which involved dressing up and going Trick-or-Treating. Thanksgiving was dismal as I watched my entire family gather under one roof and celebrate via social media and spotty Facetime connection. I didn’t even get a bite of turkey (though I did pig out with my friends in a mini celebration of our own). When the Christmas season began on the first of November, I knew it was going to be rough. My work would play Christmas carols and I would tear up prepping a worksheet. But this blog is not here to lament the holiday season, because I was incredibly lucky: My family flew over to join me for Christmas.
They arrived in Taipei on Friday at 5am. However, I had to work all day down in Changhua. The entirety of Friday felt like time was moving in slow motion. Activities that normally ate up my morning were completed and barely an hour had passed. I was anxious all day, worrying that I’d miss one of the crucial transportation steps in getting to Taipei. I bolted out of work, grabbed a train home, grabbed my things, took another train to the HSR and then I was on my way. The 45min ride seemed to take hours. When I hopped off the train I got the text from my mom “we’re at gate B3. See you soon!”I could barely contain my excitement.
I elbowed my way through the mass of people, took an elevator down and there they were. My family. Seeing them was like coming up for air after having been under water for too long. Relief and instant comfort. Hugs were exchanged and we all hopped on the subway back to their Air BNB. We stayed up that night until 2am catching up, despite their jet lag and my full day of work. It was bliss.
Day 1: Taipei
We woke up early the next morning. Our first day in Taipei consisted of a bike tour around the western side of the city. The company Taipei Bike Tours was great, made even better by our awesome tour guide. We started with a traditional Taiwanese breakfast consisting of 油条 (fried dough sticks), 蛋饼 (my favorite egg pancake), 包子 (steamed buns), 饭团（rice ball with meat inside) and 豆浆 (warm soy milk). Everything was delicious, plus we got to explore a large morning market that offered fresh fruit and veggies along with other treats.
Then it was on to the government district where we saw the buildings for the five different branches of government, the presidential palace and the memorial to Sun Yat Sen (the father of democracy in China and subsequently Taiwan). With the elections coming in early January we were warned there might be protests, but the streets were quiet.
We stopped by the Chiang Kai Shek memorial and our tour guide did a great job explaining the complicated history of Shek’s role in the establishment of Taiwan, ultimately leaving us to decide on our own about how to judge him.
We cruised along the riverfront, outside of the seawalls, in one of the best green spaces in the city, before ending at a market known for its traditional Chinese herbs, teas and other snacks. It was a delightful tour. The weather held and we got some great information about Taipei and the history of the city.
After our tour we headed up to the National Palace Museum (entrance cost: 350NT, 12USD). It was a hike to get out there (the museum is far north of central Taipei), and to me it wasn’t super worth it. If I were more of a history buff, this museum would be a boon. All the treasures inside, which had been collected and curated by emperors for centuries, were taken from the Imperial Palace in China when the Nationalist Party fled to Taiwan. As such, there are some incredible historical artifacts that are stunning to behold. Despite the treasures, it wasn't my favorite part of the trip.
After the museum, we met up with an acquaintance from America who had recently moved back to Taiwan. He took us to dinner at a local restaurant where you catch your own crayfish and then have the resulting catch cooked for you. We spent a couple of hours sitting around a murky pool, chatting and every once in a while pulling in our dinner. At the end of the night, we had raked in 15 crayfish, three of which I contributed.
After feasting on our catch, we decided to hit a Night Market to give my parents an authentic Taiwan experience. While the ShiLin Night Market is one of the biggest and best night markets in Taipei, we opted for a quieter one closer to our friend's home. The RaoHe Night Market was great, and we wandered along grabbing various sweet treats, including shave ice, a peanut ice cream roll, and boba cakes. It was a delicious evening, and we headed back stuffed and ready for the next day.
Day 2: Jiufen
There are two things to know about Jiufen. First: it has an amazing Old Street packed with tea houses that “inspired“ Spirited Away. And second: it gets really busy. In order to beat out the crowds we grabbed one of the first buses, leaving Taipei at 7:30am. After an hour long bus ride up the side of a mountain, we hopped off and were greeted by stunning panoramic views of the coast of Taiwan. Lush rolling green mountains swirled into the sea in a tapestry-worthy view.
We quickly found our way to A-Mei Teahouse, the most famous teahouse in Jiufen. Our early arrival was largely due in part to the fact that this teahouse is packed after 10am. Because we arrived just after opening, the place was nearly deserted. We were able to sit out on the balcony overlooking the stunning view of the coast while we sipped tea and ate little snacks. Watching my family learn about the traditional tea ceremony and enjoying the beauty of Taiwan was amazing. I never wanted to leave.
After we had drunk tea for nearly an hour and a half we were all buzzing with caffeine and looking forward to the next part of our trip to Jiufen: a hike up Teapot Mountain. Before we left the city, we sped through the stalls and shops of Old Street (the passing hours had brought more people, which spooked my dad and we spent very little time exploring). I did manage to get a bowl of 汤圆 (sweet soup with taro balls) for us to share, before we were on a bus heading further up the mountain to the Gold Museum. While we made a quick pit stop for lunch, we were not there for the museum. You have to walk through the museum to reach the trailhead of the hike.
While we had arrived in Jiufen to clear skies and stunning views, by the time we left A-Mei Teahouse, clouds had swallowed the mountain. We started the hike with the hopes that it would burn off by the time we reached the top.
Teapot Mountain hike is less than a mile total to a cluster of boulders at the top of a mountain. Except for the last couple meters of scramble, and climbing up, over and into the narrow opening in the boulders, the trail is fairly easy. I can only imagine what the views must be like on a clear day. Unfortunately, my family will never know. The clouds, instead of clearing, packed in even further. Rain started to mist from the sky, collecting in a blanket of drops on our clothes and eyelashes. By the time we reached the bottom, we were soaked through. Despite the inclement weather, it was still a fun experience.
My one note would be: If you are doing Jiufen as a day trip, beware of the bus ride home. The stop will be packed with people and it could be a very long wait before you can catch a bus. We were lucky that the Teapot Mountain stop is one before Jiufen city, and so we were able to secure a seat.
Thoroughly exhausted from our travels, we order Din Tai Feng soup dumplings to-go, gathered around our dinner table and had a wonderful chill evening at home. We popped out to see Taipei 101 very briefly, and then turned in early.
Day 3: Taipei to Changhua
As I had to work Monday, I left Taipei very early in the morning. My parents rented a car and headed down later in the day. We were able to meet after work, as they all packed into my apartment and onto my bed until late in the night. It was dog piles for days, and it was wonderful.
Day 4: Changhua (Christmas Eve)
I start work late on Tuesdays, so I showed my parents around my home city. We hit up the Big Buddha, the old Confucius Temple, my favorite tea house, as well as some of my favorite food pit stops. It was fun to give them a chance to check out my neighborhood, and find all the little spots that I now call home.
Day 5: Sun Moon Lake (Christmas Day)
Christmas began under the watchful gaze of a pop-up Christmas Tree card (that we didn't find out until later played "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree") sent from my Oma. Piled around it on my folding table, was an array of brightly wrapped gifts that my parents had lugged all the way to Taiwan. Before we dove into the celebrations, we stopped by a local breakfast place down the street and loaded up on 蛋饼，包子， 葱油饼，and 奶茶 (egg pancakes, steamed stuffed buns, scallion pancakes and milk tea).
When we returned, we spent the morning exchanging gifts. My mother even brought over stockings, which she had stuffed slyly as we headed out the door to breakfast. The normalcy of the moment (despite it being 75 degrees outside and in my tiny apartment) was probably the first I've felt since being in Taiwan. However, too long could not be spent on opening presents because we had places to be. More specifically, we had to get to Sun Moon Lake. Around 10:45 we hopped in the car and headed out.
There will never come a time when I'm not impressed by the beauty of Sun Moon Lake, but that day, it really pulled out all the stops. A bright, clear day, with a warm breeze that rustled through the trees along the bike path as we cruised around the lake. My previous trip to Sun Moon Lake, we rented electric bikes and it was glorious, so we'd decided to do the same this time around (although we did run into some technical difficulties this time). We cruised around the lake, up to the Wen Wu Temple and then back around to explore a little more. (If you'd like more information on the area, please check out my previous post here.)
Having seen most of the northern part of the lake, we decided to trade in the bikes for our car and head toward the towering pagoda on the skyline of the opposite side of the lake. It was a twenty minute drive through winding uphill roads, so if you're looking to bike there, it's definitely not for the faint of heart. After one final hairpin turn, we pulled into the parking lot and began the quick walk up to the Ci'En Pagaoda. All the signs said the area closed at 4:30, and we were fast approaching 4:00, so I was nervous we wouldn't get much time at the top.
This actually worked in our favor however, because when we got to the top, the area was deserted. The pagoda, built in 1971 by Chiang Kai-Shek to honor his mother, offers a 360 degree view of Sun Moon Lake and the surrounding mountains. We climbed the nine flights of stairs, bringing us to an even 1,000m above sea level. The view at the top nearly took our breath away.
As the late afternoon light slanted across the lake and rolling mountains, the pale yellow walls of the pagoda gleamed like a wheat field. We circled the top of the pagoda, just the four us, marveling at the view and snapping hundreds of photos in the golden light. It was quite possibly one of the most beautiful settings I've seen in my time in Taiwan. The vastness of it all was like being on top of the world.
When a tour group arrived and the pagoda became overrun with other tourists, we hung around for a bit longer before prying ourselves away. We had dinner plans to make.
Christmas dinner for the Elliott family this year took place at my favorite restaurant, with my friends Miranda and Emily. The restaurant is owned by a very nice couple that always treats Miranda, Emily and I to free tidbits, and offers some of the healthiest food options I've found in Taiwan. They were overjoyed to have us for dinner! We did a Christmas gift exchange, chowed down on 刈包 （gua bao, or a Chinese hamburger) and other fresh veggies. When we left, the family had bought us all little cakes for Christmas. All in all, it was a wonderful day.
Day 6: Lugang
Thursdays are my long days at work so we didn't have much time for adventuring. We went into Lugang early and met with Ricky, an LA friend from work, and she showed us around Lugang Old Street, took us to get traditional breakfast, swung by a temple, provided us with our life blood: bubble tea, took us to a famous 包子 place, and finally left us at the Lukang Folk Arts Museum. The Museums was perhaps one of the coolest that I've visited in Taiwan. It had a bunch of artifacts from the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, with detailed explanations of the history in both English and Chinese. The whole museum had a very peaceful and serene atmosphere, and it was pleasant to walk through the history of the area.
My family was also able to visit my first class at work for a couple of minutes. I had been teaching a lesson on family, so it was perfect to have them come in. The kids were confused and excited but overall, everyone had a good time. And it was nice to give my family a brief glimpse of my daily life.
Day 7: Changhua to GaoXiong
Friday was a rest day. We had all been running around and doing so much for the past couple days that we decided to take it easy. On Friday morning we decided to treat ourslves to massages. For breakfast we swung by my normal local market and ate our treats in the courtyard of a temple before heading over to get family massages.
The massage was great. It started off with a foot soak, before we were led into the massage rooms, changed into matching pajamas and got an hour long massage for 800 NT ($26 USD). It was so relaxing that the thought of going to work made me want to cry. But go to work I did, and that evening my family picked me up and we drove through the evening to GaoXiong.
Day 8: GaoXiong.
For our first day in GaoXiong, we booked a tour that was basically a driver who would take us wherever we wanted to go. The first place on the docket was 佛光山 (FoGuangShan), the site of one of four Buddha tooth relics in the world, and the world's largest seated Buddha.
The museum was really cool. We arrived early, so the long walkway lined with pagodas, leading up to the stupa and seated Buddha, was still rather empty. Each of the eight pagodas lining the the walkway has a different museum in the bottom level. We stopped by one, learned a little bit more about the creation of the Buddha museum, and then decided to move on. Inside the stupa, we visited the Jade Buddha Shrine. This is the area that encloses the actual tooth relic, and has a large jade buddha, along with two massive wall reliefs carved out of jade. I am not a religious person, but to sit in that room, one could definitely feel the auspiciousness, reverence and power of Buddhism.
We wandered through more of the museum learning about the life of Buddha, before making our way up to the giant Buddha. He sat on his lotus blossom, larger than life, the sheen of gold vibrant against the grey sky. We wandered through the four pagoda's on the corners of the stupa, visiting different Buddha's and paying our respects. For the last five months, I have lived in a city watched over by its own giant Buddha, and yet walking under their watchful gaze never fails to leave me in awe.
After the Buddha museum, we walked about ten minutes to the nearby monastery. The lunch bell's call was just being sounded. The cry floated across the courtyard and over the shaved heads of the monks who assembled for lunch. While the Buddha museum had at times felt like it was pandering to tourists, this place felt like the heart of the worship.
We wandered through the halls until we found the Main Shrine. This is probably top of my list in favorite shrines/temples that I have visited. We took off our shoes and entered the shrine to stand before three massive buddha statues. Gone were the usual ornate carvings, columns and decorations. It was just the three massive buddhas: Sakyamuni Buddha in the center, Bhaisajaguru Buddha (Medicine Buddha) on the left, and Amitabha Buddha (Buddha of Infinite Light) on the right. The towering walls are carved with smaller buddhas, lit occasionally with glowing candle lights. It was stunning to behold.
After we left and began the walk to see the Great Buddha, my dad posed an interesting question: if you were a Buddha, what would you be the Buddha of? For me, I would want to be the Buddha of Creativity. What about you?
The Great Buddha offered....you guessed it another jaw-droppingly large buddha. This one was surrounded by 480 smaller buddhas as well, all a bright gold color. At this point, we were all starting to get a little Buddha-ed out. While I wish we could have had more time to explore the monastery, it was time to get going. We grabbed lunch at a local village that had been turned into a bit of a tourist trap, but the food was good. Then it was off to Lotus Lake, to see the Dragon Tiger Pagodas.
The Dragon Tiger Pagodas sit on the southern section of the lake and were built in 1976. Entering through the dragon's mouth and exiting through the tiger's symbolizes turning bad luck into good fortune. The pathway leading to the pagodas is also distinct for it's zig zag pattern. I've heard that this is because it was believed that bad spirits could only walk in straight lines, but further research didn't reveal an actual answer.
By the time we arrived, it was late in the day, and the area was crowded. We slipped into the dragon's mouth in-between people posing in the entrance. We climbed the seven levels of the dragon pagoda first, then did the same in the tiger pagoda. The view out over the lake was pretty, but the peace and tranquility from the morning were nowhere to be found.
That concluded the "tour" with our driver. She dropped us at the ferry to go over to Cijin Island. We weren't sure what to expect, but the ferry ride was only 30NT ($1USD) and ten minutes in total. The ferry dropped us off at a very busy, night market-y street. We walked through all the hawking vendors (I grabbed myself a baked sweet potato) and walked to the beach. There was a bird show going on, and parrots and macaws were wheeling above the crowd's heads, cawing and swooping before alighting back in their trainers hands at the sound of a whistle.
We walked further down the boulevard, looking out over the Taiwan Straight. It was packed with large ships. In the haze of the evening I counted more than 30 from my viewpoint. At this time, all of us were getting a bit tired of traveling. My dad and brother sat for a bit as my mom and I wandered further down the beach. The sky was grey, and while it wasn't cold, the air carried a gritty melancholic bite. I knew my family was going to leave soon, and I didn't want them to go. Every moment brought us closer to the moment when they would leave, and I would be left behind in Taiwan.
The line for the ferry back to the city was long, so while my brother and I waited in line, my parents grabbed more bubble tea and some sweet snacks. The rest of the evening was a blur. We ferried back, taxied back to the hotel, scrounged for some dinner after relaxing in bed for too long (everything in Taiwan closes at 8 or 9:00pm), visited Gao Xiong Po Po Shaved Ice (which came highly reviewed, but for me was a bit of a let down. I've had better shaved ice), before calling it a night as it started to rain.
Day 9: Headed home
Our last morning in Taiwan together, we grabbed pastries from a nearby bakery, breakfast from a cute little diner and some bubble tea. We all piled back into the car and drove back to my home in Changhua. We hung out in my apartment before grabbing our last dinner at Yolo Moment (a very nice and out of my budget restaurant in Changhua). My family hung around for as long as possible, all of us snuggling on the bed and chatting, but then it was time for them to head out. The second the door closed behind them, I was crying.
It was really really hard to watch my family leave, but in the days after they left, I constantly reminded myself of what an amazing time we had together. I was incredibly lucky to even have the chance to see them at all, and I feel like we squeezed as much joy out of our time together as we could.
For me, the hardest part of working abroad has been going without the close relationships and support systems that I am so used to having. Leaving my family, friends and boyfriend behind has been a struggle that has not been easy to overcome. I am slowly making more friends in Taiwan, and making a life for myself over here, and I am so grateful that I got to share even a slice of it with my family.
