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A TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Tainan City, Taiwan by TravelPod blogger Karriesue titled “Tainan to Taipei” Karriesue’s travel blog entry: “This morning Chad spent a few hours at the university, meeting with our host Chung-Hsien and Chad’s thesis advisor Bei-Lok, who is here visiting for a week. So, I took the opportunity to head over to the jade market to do some shopping. Jade is plentiful and popular here, as it’s said to bring good luck. The market was filled with table and table of merchants selling jade jewelry and vases as well as carvings, paintings and other types of arts and crafts. It was a bit overwhelming at first (there was so much!) but I managed, of course. I also managed to haggle over the prices of the pieces I liked, despite knowing all of about three words in Mandarin. It’s good to know that the art of making a deal transcends language barriers! I met up with Chad around noon and then Bei-Lok treated us to lunch. I had a delicious whole fish steamed in soy sauce and ginger and topped with scallions. The ingredient list for most Taiwanese recipes doesn’t seem very long and the dishes are simple and rustic, yet absolutely delicious in a way that is very new to me (even though we eat “Asian” food regularly at home). After lunch we went to the Confucius Temple, the first one established in Taiwan. Again, the temple itself as well as the soothing grounds, are beautiful. The temple has a long history of renovation and restoration. But …
