The great city of Taipei

After staying about 4 days with my Aunt in Tainan, we took the high speed train to Taipei in the north of Taiwan to visit my Dad's side of the family.  While I love alllll of Taiwan, it's interesting seeing the differences between Tainan and Taipei.  Tainan is a smaller version of Taiwan with less people and a little bit less to do.  The food in both is just as delicious however ;)

So what did we end up doing in our first day of being in Taipei?  Night markets of course! One of my mom's old high school friends took us to Shilin night market which is one of the most popular ones in Taiwan.  It was definitely a lot bigger than the one in Tainan.  With a lot more variety of clothes and different food choices.  One thing that's great about going to these things with other people is that you can order a whole bunch of food and just try a bit so you don't get too stuffed.  So I sampled alot of different things :)  There were soooo many cute things that I wanted to buy.  However, my Kristin and I already have 5 suitcases to bring back (we love to shop! :P) and they are pretttyy much stuffed.  So I resisted buying a lot while I was in Taiwan.  What made it a bit easier is that things are actually a good amount more expensive than things in Beijing.  Still.... it was hard saying no to lots of things.

Entrance to the night market

The ubiquitous stinky tofu

Really yummy crispy bun thing

Kristin and I tried our hand at fishing for shrimps

FRUIT <3

Of course, I got to see alot of my Dad's side of the family.  They always look forward to when any of us come back and they took us all around Taipei and fed us nonstop.  It was great being able to see all of them :)  My cousin brought Kristin and I up to the top of Taipei 101 at night to see the night view.  After an hour wait to get to the top, all I can say is... GORGEOUS.  Especially with all the lights and seeing all the different buildings.  It is definitely worth the wait.

101 at night

101 during the day

Taking the fastest elevator in the world to the top of 101

One thing different about Kristin and I's trip to Taiwan this time is that we were on our own.  Usually when we go back to Taiwan, it's with family so we're always with them.  This time, Kristin and I were able to wander around on our own and it was a different experience just wandering the streets of Taipei and going into little shops and whatnot.  Taipei is the perfect city to wander around, especially all the little side streets filled with street food and interesting shops.

Palm trees in Taiwan?

Kristin and I were sad that we only had such a short time in Taiwan and had to come back to Beijing, but we were really happy that we had such a great time regardless.  Only a couple more days left in Beijing now!  Just bringing her around to a couple places she hasn't been like 798 art district and the Great Wall!!  I can't believe it's ending already....