Taiwan is different

Taiwan is a strange and wonderful place for me. I have moved to Taiwan from the United States in July of 2009, and find the experience to be great. I hope to post a picture and a few comments, as often as I can, in order to remember this period of time for me.

Here is a warning sign posted in the old historic street in Jioufen. It says "slippery when wet." I thought it was a unique sign, as I have never seen anything like this before -- I'm used to the slippery when wet road signs in the US. It also looks like the sign is written in Japanese and Korean as well. This was the first time in my travels through Taiwan that I've encountered groups of tourists from other countries, and the first time I've seen signage in another language besides Chinese and English.

Jioufen is in Taipei County, close enough for a day trip from Taipei, but the traffic is pretty heavy on the weekends, so unless one leaves pretty early in the morning, an overnight stay would make for a more relaxing trip. We stayed in some rooms above a restaurant right in the middle of the historic district in Jioufen -- such rooms are called 民宿 in Taiwan. We had 2 double size beds and a bathroom -- and not much else, for $2600NTD -- I saw other places advertised for $1200NTD/night. Our room was not what you'd call spacious, but it was comfortable, and was in a great location for browsing the old street (老街). Jioufen is also located near the Gold Ecological Park, which we visited the same weekend. I feel like there is still more to see in the area, so I'd like to go back again if we have time in the future -- if we've run out of other places to explore, that is...