Welcoming the Chinese New Year

It's been a while since I have had a chance to post something, but that doesn't mean we haven't been doing anything...We have had quite a few days off since the MLK holiday, including a week for Chinese New Year.  On MLK day (a US holiday) the kids had school so Hsiu-ling and I went up to the mountains for a couple hours at a hot spring.

  For Chinese New Year week we naturally went to Chiayi to be with Hsiu-ling's family.  Like last year, we got up at 3AM on Chinese New Year's Eve (Feb 9) to beat the crush of travelers returning home for the holiday...think 95 between DC and New York  the day before Thanksgiving...The roads were still very busy at that hour but we were able to get where we were going in 3 hours as usual.  Chinese New Year's eve we ate a massive meal with all the family and nieces and nephews

Thee next day we went out for dinner to celebrate Hsiu-ling's Dad's 85th birthday....  I asked him what his earliest memory was...He said fishing with his older brother on the bank of a river in Mianyang County Guangdong Province, China...then the Republic of China.  His birthday is on the first day of the Chinese New Year, so every year its on a different day of the Gregorian calendar.

  During our week in Chiayi we took the kids to the "Grand Canyon" (Da Xiagu)...Arizona need not worry in terms of grandness, but it sure was beautiful.   

A fairly  Grand Canyon

A rock scramble more than a hike

Short legs....needs assistance

Tea bushes among the betel nut palms

   Other than that we didn't do much except visit friends, watch TV, and go to the movies...and of course EAT.  We (Hsiu-ling and I)  also got a great treat when we came back to Taipei...an extra day off for President's Day.  We were going to go for another soak , but decided to try and burn off some Chinese New Year calories with a hike in Yangmingshan National park on the outskirts of Taipei.  Anyone who has been here knows the mountains here are VERY vertical, with dense foliage all around.  Fortunately we got another beautiful day

A fumerole at the Big Oil Pit

YangMingShan National Park

Trust me it's REALLY steep

A field of Calla Lilies

 and thus completely spent we are now  ready to begin the year of the snake.

A Visit Means a Chance to See Your Backyard

We had my nephew Zachary Towner in town for three weeks over Christmas and New Years, and as is often the case the arrival of visitors gives one the chance to visit the spots you pass on the way to work every day.  Zach will probably remember most the variety of foods he ate or fighting his way through the famous Shihlin night market to get some fried squid, or um .... staying up til 0 dark thirty playing video games with his pals across the planet.  It really goes to show how small the world is.

But we also saw some fun stuff   like the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial on a glorious winter day.

National Music Hall

Or temples in the old village of Lukang

Or a hike to waterfall in the mountains near Hsiu-ling's hometown, Chiayi

  Or stumbling on temple guardians on the way to/from a temple

   or a visit to the mystical " fire water" cave

Natural Gas

The Wizard's blast

The Halo

So lots of fun can be had just around the corner...