Welcome to my Taiwan Inspired Totoro and Spirited Away Artwork blog! We traveled all over Taiwan in October visiting Tainan, Taichung, Sun Moon Lake, Taipei, Jiu Fen (九份) and Hualien. My favorite place on our Taiwan trip was visiting Jiu Fen, which transported us to a Spirited Away film with narrow alleyways all lit up with romantic red lanterns and it's known for it's great street food and snacks. Taiwan seems to have the largest collection of Studio Ghibli merchandise outside of Japan; I was able to find Totoro and Spirited Away character magnets, keychains, plushes, and purses everywhere in the Hinoki Village and mall in Taichung, Taipei, and Jiu Fen. You can see the remnants of Japanese influence all over Taiwan from the buildings in Jiu Fen, Hinoki Village in Taichung, Studio Ghibli stores, roads, bridges and dams built in Taroko Gorge by the Japanese who occupied the island for 100 years from 1895-1945 and brought infrastructure improvements to the island. We enjoyed seeing the lively crowds and eating at the delicious food stands at the Shilin Nightmarket (士林夜市) in Taipei. I loved seeing the beautiful delicately hand carved jade cabbage and all the Chinese jade carvings and porcelain cups at the National Palace Museum. We hiked about 3 miles in the beautiful Taroko Gorge, which has the bluest water and striated pattern rocks. We were able to see the eastern beaches in Hualien driving through green tropical mountains with blue ocean views. We took a boat ride to Sun Moon Lake and a gondola to the aboriginal village on a clear day and learned about the natives way of life and culture. We also visited the beautiful Lavender Cottage in Taichung where we tried delicious lavender milk tea and ice cream. We enjoyed going to cool trendy places in Taichung with lots of plants and local artisans called 酉5PM.TWCAUDEX and Shenji. Taiwan has been a beautiful country with kind people who always lent a helping hand or chatted with us along our trip. I highly recommend visiting this beautiful country full of natural tropical landscapes, delicious food, and rich culture and especially if you are a Studio Ghibli fan.
圓山大飯店 theTaipei Grand Hotel our favorite part of our trip in Taiwan where lots of world presidents and ambassadors come. We noticed dragon motifs everywhere. Dragons in Chinese culture symbolizes power, good luck and strength. They represent power and authority, particularly control over typhoons, water, rainfall and floods. Emperors were assumed to have descended from the dragons. That is why, out of the twelve zodiac signs, the Dragon is the most popular one.
The Yehliu Geopark is so beautiful with 6 million years of rock formation crashing waves reminding me of the Ponyo movie. We also got to see the majestic Shifen waterfall and launched our lantern of blessings in Shifen too. We also saw the Gaomei Wetland in Taichung on a cloudy day, there are crabs, fishes and windmills there and has a beautiful sunset if you are lucky to catch it.
I highly recommend going to Shifen Old Street to launch your own lantern. We got one about 6ft and drew blessings and cartoons on all 4 sides and the workers there will help you launch it on the train tracks. Near this area is the Shifen Waterfall, a majestic waterfall with a temple with elephant statues nearby. They even serve street market food there. You have to walk about 2 miles and cross 2 bridges to get there. We then went to Keelung nighmarket to eat their famous crab soup and luo mi fan rice.
I really enjoyed seeing the Dihua Street in Taipei. It's the oldest street in Taipei built in 1850 and was once a trading port. You can still see the old building facades. Young Taiwanese vendors sell everything from squid, milk tea, snacks, handmade ceramic goods, Chinese brushes, etc... You can even rent a 1920's style qipao and cheongsam to wear and take professional photos.
圓山大飯店 theTaipei Grand Hotel our favorite part of our trip in Taiwan where lots of world presidents and ambassadors come. We noticed dragon motifs everywhere. Dragons in Chinese culture symbolizes power, good luck and strength. They represent power and authority, particularly control over typhoons, water, rainfall and floods. Emperors were assumed to have descended from the dragons. That is why, out of the twelve zodiac signs, the Dragon is the most popular one.
The Yehliu Geopark is so beautiful with 6 million years of rock formation crashing waves reminding me of the Ponyo movie. We also got to see the majestic Shifen waterfall and launched our lantern of blessings in Shifen too. We also saw the Gaomei Wetland in Taichung on a cloudy day, there are crabs, fishes and windmills there and has a beautiful sunset if you are lucky to catch it.
I highly recommend going to Shifen Old Street to launch your own lantern. We got one about 6ft and drew blessings and cartoons on all 4 sides and the workers there will help you launch it on the train tracks. Near this area is the Shifen Waterfall, a majestic waterfall with a temple with elephant statues nearby. They even serve street market food there. You have to walk about 2 miles and cross 2 bridges to get there. We then went to Keelung nighmarket to eat their famous crab soup and luo mi fan rice.
I really enjoyed seeing the Dihua Street in Taipei. It's the oldest street in Taipei built in 1850 and was once a trading port. You can still see the old building facades. Young Taiwanese vendors sell everything from squid, milk tea, snacks, handmade ceramic goods, Chinese brushes, etc... You can even rent a 1920's style qipao and cheongsam to wear and take professional photos.