End of a Great Vacation

Time goes very fast when you are having a great time. The first vacation to Taiwan for Janice and Pan-pan was also my returning home trip after seven years. I left Taiwan in 1962, alone and in a rush. We came back together leisurely, as a family of three, in 1969.  We were at home there for nearly three months. Not only did everyone get very close to Janice and Pan-pan, they all liked this foreigner with her baby. She was very at ease with every member of the family, and everyone felt very comfortable in her presence. We stayed at the family home when we were in Taipei, unlike some children of our parents’ friends, who had to move to a hotel as they could not adjust to Taiwan’s heat.

We visited every where in Taiwan, from north to the southern tip, from Sun Moon Lake to Ali Mountain. We went to three weddings, one Chinese style, and two mixed modern style. We were on trains, on boats, certainly on Pedi cabs and taxis. We visited many temples, churches, and friends’ homes. We went to a lot of restaurants, large and small, fancy as well as simple ones, including both wedding banquets and family dumpling parties. We enjoyed them all. Indeed, Janice had a great deal of exposure to life in Taiwan at the time.

Finally, before we came back to the USA, Mother must take more pictures with Pan-pan in the front yard, and Janice had to have her hair washed again at her favorite place, and had to have it done up one more time the fancy way! (This had become a weekly enjoyment!) In the picture below she is wearing a qi-pao (旗袍) which Mother had made for her.

Nearby Scenic Spots!

Of course we visited nearby scenic spots a few times during the summer, whenever we had a break in our schedule for lunches and dinners.

We went to Shih-men Dam, Yang-ming Mountain, Tzenan Temple, and Jingshan Beach.

Everyone wanted to hold Pan-pan

Pan-pan, the long-expected one, was very popular!Everyone, both relatives and friends, wanted to hold her. She was certainly the center of attention. And everyone wanted to take a picture with her. I have selected a few pictures below, just to show you her popularity. These pictures were taken at different places and on different occasions.

Playing Mahjong

Mahjong has been played in China for generations, with many variations. Taiwan is quite hot in the summer time. It was no exception when we visited there in 1969. But there were many mahjong games organized at different homes for Janice to play. It was curious, at the beginning, to watch a “foreigner” play mahjong! Later, quite a number of friends and relatives would want to show Janice that they could beat her. But Janice held her ground pretty well and  kept them challenged!

A Trip with my Mother

This was a very unusual trip, as my mother did not like to travel anywhere. In 1969, my mother decided to take a trip to the east part of Taiwan with her foreign daughter-in-law. She had never visited there before as it had only recently been opened as a tourist place in Taiwan. So we flew to Hualien, traveled on part of the Cross island Highway, and then took a boat back to Keelung. When we were in Hualien, we visited the famous Tielu temple, some beautiful water falls, and a new bridge called the Loving Mother’s Bridge. And we also visited an Aborigines tribe, watched their native dances and even put on some of their costumes to take pictures. It was indeed a very great trip for Janice as well my mother.

Kending National Park

Our next destination was to go to the southern tip of Taiwan to visit the tropical botanical garden, Kending Park. While it has some beautiful scenery, it was extremely hot and ants were crawling everywhere, on the ground, on the trees, and even in our bedroom. Janice was not in the mood to stay any  longer than necessary. You know who won that war! We came back pretty quickly! But I will show you some pictures we took during the stay anyway.

Another Wedding!

As we continued south in Taiwan, we went to Kaohsiung. This is the place we lived when we first escaped from the communists on the Mainland. We first went to Zho-en,  where I went to primary school in late 1948. The place had changed quite a bit from what I remembered.

We came at the right time to attend the wedding of my cousin, Chen Gia-trou, who was a nurse and who was marring a Gynecologist she had met in school. We had a great Chinese  wedding ceremony. Janice was even asked to speak a few words at the ceremony in Chinese!

Experimental Forests

The College of Agricultural at National Taiwan University maintained an  Experimental Forest in Chitoa, Zhushan near Taichang. It is a very nice piece of property inherited from the Japanese Imperial College. This was our first stop during our trip south. It contains, besides student meeting rooms, dormitory spaces with dinning rooms facilities. It even has some cabins for University VIP visitors. It has some gardens and fields of young trees. It also has a university pond, with a decorative bridge. Overall it is a very attractive place!

Furthermore, it is very close to Taiwan’s tallest mountain, Ali Shan, and it’s famous old tree, God’s Wood. Kai and one of my cousins who was working at the forest were with us when we traveled nearby to visit these famous areas.Finally we visited another Taiwan tourist spot - Sun-Moon Lake, which is located high in the mountains, a very popular place for honeymooners!