Formosa Tours

The past few days I was kept busy. For the first time friends visited me in Taiwan. Before their arrival I was really getting excited. There's so much I want to show, so much I feel should be seen! I started planning the four-day stay well in advance...mountains, seas, cities and countrysides. Never until last week did I have the chance to 'show off' my homeland to others...
My friends being from Singapore, I was at first worried that they would find this less organised and sometimes outright chaotic island a terrible contrast to their city-state.

But I guess the sights and sounds of Formosa needed no explaining. Busy nightmarkets, bustling temples, colourful shopping districts filled our days and nights in Taipei. This metropolis of 3 million is often known as the 'New York' of the Chinese world, and not without reason. It is here that culture and the arts, as well as traditions and modern capitalism are allowed to bloom without restrictions. Compared to neighbouring countries the political and press liberties people here enjoy are unrivaled. At the cross-roads of the east and west is this small island jewel.

Street vendors hawk all sorts of goods and foods you can imagine, at prices you can bargain. The people are warm, and helpful, as our many encounters with shopkeepers and taxi drivers revealed. My friends were thoroughly interested in little shop-lets selling cartoon figurines and other delicate goods from overseas. Shops grow on the streets of Taipei like wild grass. Prices are cheap, clothes stylish and of good quality. Taiwan's reputation as a haven for food and drink is also no exaggeration, as we learned. The weather was welcoming, but swelteringly unbearable. The many fruit-ice shops, which sell 'cotton ice' topped with fresh fruits and sweets, as well as the many tea shops cooled us down in times of need.

We only went into the countryside for one day, and that was travelling to Hualien　花蓮 in the east. The express train took us along the Pacific coast. The train snaked through tunnels and embankments. On one side, majestic mountains towered into the misty heavens like totem statues, evoking feelings of awe and admiration. On the other side, the crystal blue Pacific Ocean mirrored the sun, as white waves crashed against the rocky shores. Now and then, lonely islands could be seen floating on the large expense of blue.

Our main destination was Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園, famous for its spectacular mountains and marble canyons. The collision of the Eurasian and Philipine plates millions of years ago resulted in the creation of grand canyons on the eastern side of Taiwan. After millenia of erosion by wind and creeks, marble rocks were cut through, forming a river that winds through the mountains. Along the cliff face, a cross-country highway meanders, linking the eastern and western seaboards, passing through the most unspoiled and well-proteted natural flora and fauna on the island. No wonder the Taroko aborigines (after whom the park is named) have for millenia worshipped the nature...

Numerous times while travelling with my friends, I heard them praise about how beautiful, how wonderful this country is. I listened to their praises, and silently felt so proud. They were touched by the warmth of the local people, by the natural landscapes, by the diversity of foods and goods at cheap prices, as well as the convenience of travel. At one point they asked if Taiwan receives many tourists every year. I disappointedly told them that the total number of tourists is under three million.

It is a pity that Taiwan, a small island with so much to offer, see and share, receives so little tourists. In Hong Kong or Singapore, places with limited touristic sights and very expensive travel, the number of tourists is many times more than the number of inhabitants in those countries! Even though Hong Kong and Singapore are expensive and small places, they are known throughout the world as 'Asia's city' or 'unique', and have reputations for being a 'paradise for shoppers'. Many people I have met say that such reputations are misleading.

Taiwan's diverse landscapes of mountains and seas, blend of cultural heritages, rich history, as well as the mix between ancient and modern lifestyles should make it a favourite for travellers.
Somehow, maybe to do with the political and physical isolation it suffers, it is a forgotten island...