Glimpses of Taiwan: Endless variety, conveniently-sized

One of the things I enjoy about living in Taiwan is the diversity of geography and experiences contained in a small area. Subtropical jungle is only miles away from the seaside, and modern cities are a convenient bus ride away from serene mountain slopes or volcanic hot springs. A couple hours' car ride can pass through multiple linguistic and cultural zones. It is very much like living in a respectably-sized country, only compacted so that the empty lands in between destinations are reduced to tens of minutes instead of hours. All that, and there are still nigh impassable mountain ranges with beautiful isolated valleys and rare species of endemic birds and insects.

I often recall a particularly enjoyable day I spent with expat friends celebrating someone's birthday.
After spending a few hours on the golden sands of Fulong beach, popular with foreigners, a few of us headed down the Taiwan's east coast for a few train stops.

Little seaside train stations provoke a feeling I haven't seen a word for: instant nostalgia for something I've never actually experienced in the past. I'm sure someone could come up with a good term.. instalgia? prestalgia? fauxstalgia? (It doesn't feel fake, though.)

(These pics are borrowed from the internet, as I sadly did not have my camera that day)

Arriving at Daxi station, after a short walk we found a stretch of beach across from Turtle Island (which really is shaped something like a turtle), grey sand laid out in the crescent of Honeymoon Bay, a spot popular with Taiwan's small but dedicated surfing community. Swimming out into the shallow water, comfortably cool and very clear since the black sand didn't cloud the surf, one could float on one's back and look at the steep green mountains that rose dramatically up from only dozens of yards inland, their tops obscured in mist.

Once our little beach-side party was over, including a mini-bonfire using driftwood we collected from a giant, abandoned concrete sea-defense bunker into which frequent typhoons had blown all manner of debris, our company parted ways, one friend and I taking a train and a bus through Jiaoxi and eventually back to Taipei.

Bird's eye view from the Taipei 101 building

View from the street...

Taipei itself is a fascinating city, even taken apart from Taiwan (and many southern Taiwanese people would encourage you to do so). While not on par with a Tokyo or London, it is a significant global city, with a unique blend of traditional "Chinese-ness" never damaged by the cultural revolution, and advanced 21st century infrastructure and hi-tech industry. (This combination was impressed upon me very visually once, as I watched a well-dressed businessman momentarily putting away his smartphone to bow with joss (incense) sticks before an old Buddhist shrine)

One could spend a great deal of time talking about Taipei, and we will talk more about its avenues and alleys in future posts.
But Taiwan is much more than Taipei...

Kenting Nationa Park - Mandatory vacation destination for Taiwanese

Hualien - Nestled in the mountains on the East Coast

Keelung Night Market... go here for seafood!

Rice fields outside of Taichung, near TEAM's gospel camp facility

Nantou, near Xitou Forest Park, in the middle of Taiwan's mountain ranges

On a boat in Kaohsiung harbor, looking back at the 85 (floor) Sky Tower

These are just a few random places and experiences... in the future we'll get to explore many of these areas in more depth. I'm excited to get back to Taiwan soon, and to let you all have a window into my world there.
Until then I'll continue to post theological musings, updates on my progress to Taiwan, and maybe tackle a controversial topic or two...