A City Is NOT A Beach!!!

I recently heard (from my mom) that Taipei's governor is thinking about making an artificial beach right in the middle of the city. In front of Taipei 101. With cars and motorcycles whizzing by. Sounds fun, doesn't it? (That was sarcasm.) The beach doesn't have any water by it, which makes it seem a bit like a giant sandbox. Imagine it from the shopper's point of view. You go into a huge mall that's super tall. You spend hours in it having fun and eating. Soon, you get tired out and decide to go home. That's when you walk out the front entrance and see a bunch of people lying there sunbathing! Also, Taiwan has lots of typhoons and hurricanes, always appearing without a warning. Innocent people having fun in the sun will suddenly get drenched in rain! The air is full of pollution. Maybe the sunbathers will get covered with a few layers of dust! Fortunately, the governor claims that the beach can easily be removed if nobody likes it. Looks like it won't be there for long!

Means of Transportation

In Taipei, there are many people who don't own a car since it's hard to find parking spaces in the crammed streets. So when they need to go somewhere far away, they ride in comfortable trains, buses, or taxis. The trains in Taipei are unique. Some of the cars don't even have seats, because the people who ride bicycles need somewhere to put them. They simply have railings on the sides of the trains to hold on to. You can lean against the railings, put bags and other bothersome accessories on them. This provides a lot of space in the center of each car. The buses are not as comfortable, but they have mini TV's suspended in midair by a strong metal pole and air conditioning. A lot of bus drivers are very aggressive and impatient. One time, I had barely stepped off the bus when it suddenly zoomed off at top speed. The next time, a motorcycle raced by and nearly ran me over! So, obviously, buses are not my favorite way to get around. Another means of transportation is riding a taxi. Despite the fact that taxis are complete ripoffs, I prefer the comfy seats to the stone hard ones of the trains and buses!

Cherng Piin Bookstore

The Cherng Piin bookstore is, in my opinion, the best bookstore in the world. It has about five floors completely filled with books! There's fairy tales, adventure stories, mysterys, school books, you name it! My favorite section is foreign language, since that's where they sell the English books. All the others are in Chinese. But that's a dream come true for a Chinese-reading bookworm! There are also a few floors of clothing stores, one floor of toy stores, and two floors of souveneirs and gifts! When you've finished your shopping, there is a cafe in the first floor where you can settle down to eat, or just sit there and read your new books!

Global Chilling

It is so hot in Taiwan that, to wear long sleeves and pants would mean suffocating to death. Quite literally. So it was in Taiwan where I invented the strange concept of global chilling. Only a place as hot as this would stimulate such an idea. What you do when you are global chilling is throw ice cubes at people to cool them down, or lie on a bed all day so you won't create any heat. Complete rubbish, I know. But if you think about it, it does make sense in a way!

Motorcycles Everywhere!

As the title implies, there are motorcycles everywhere! Since Taiwan is so small, most of the cities are crammed with buildings. The streets are always jammed up, and motorcycles can easily weave around cars and big clumsy trucks. But mostly, everyone walks everywhere. If you need to go to the grocery store, you walk there. If you want to meet your friend at your favorite restaurant, you walk there. Everything is close and convenient. No wonder you never see any fat people in Taiwan. No matter what they eat, they're sure to walk it off later!

Taipei 101

I recently visited Taiwan, and there is a huge shopping mall called Taipei 101. Guess why it's named that? Because it has one hundred and one floors! That's right. Otherwise known as the world's tallest building. But what's really surprising about it is that the stores inside are mostly designer brands instead of regular Chinese clothing stores. There's Louis Vuitton, Coach, Ralph Lauren, Armani, and etc. So the problem is, the people who go there usually don't buy anything, because the products are more expensive in Taiwan than in America.

FOOD FOOD FOOD!

If you love to eat, Taipei is the place for you. There are stands by the road that sell lots of delicious food (mostly snacks), such as fresh, exotic fruit, jelly in sweet syrup, little fried cakes (they resemble pancakes except they're smaller, crispier and fluffier), and stuff like that. My favorite one is sugar canes, which is just like sucking on a sugar cube. Actually, people make sugar with sugar canes. Taiwanese people are especially good at cooking; you'll never want to stop eating!