Chinese tourists plan to revisit Taiwan

Tag : Chinese Cabbage


Arranged by their tour guides, they went to the night markets atvarious places, including the Shilin night market and a famoustemple in Keelung City for the snacks.

The oyster-and-egg omelets, Taiwanese meat balls and stinky tofuwere among their top favorites, the tourists said.

Those spending the night at the palace-style Grand Hotel enjoyedthe breakfast that was patterned after the dishes favored by thelate Madame Chiang Kai-shek.

The staff at the hotel learned the recipes and preparations fromolder chefs who used to work at the residence of the former firstlady, who passed away at the age of 105 just a few years ago.

The National Palace Museum in Taiwan is no comparison with thenational museum in Beijing, but it collects the most preciousartifacts moved to Taipei by the followers of President ChiangKai-shek after the eight-year war with invading Japanese troops andthen against Chinese Communists in the ensuing civil war.

The top favorites among the "musts" to see for thevisitors were the white-green jade carving in the form of a vividcabbage with an insect.

Cashing in on the extreme popularity if the item, the museum hadlocal artisans produce the miniature replicas that are used aspendants for necklaces or handsets.

Many Chinese tourists purchased a dozen each, saying they plan togive them to friends and family back home.

The bronze tripod and a plate with inscriptions of classic Chinesecharacters dating back around 3,000 were also among the mostpopular objects.

They were not able to see these items in mainland China, althoughmany of the items were mentioned in their Chinese civilizationtextbooks.

In the downtown area, many bowed before the statue of Sun Yat-senat the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall honoring the founder of the rulingKuomintang and the Republic of China (ROC).

In addition to visiting and posing with the Taipei 101 Tower, thevisitors insisted their guides take them for a tour of the TaipeiCity Hall to take a peek at Mayor Hau Lung-bin's office.

They were impressed by the low service counters manned by thepublic servants and their enthusiastic attitude to help people.

Due to the tight schedule that took many of them down to centraland southern Taiwan in the evening, most said they have to returnto Taipei soon in the future so that they can have adequate timefor in-depth tours.

Some said they need to come back because they had no time topurchase the books on classic Chinese literature and history booksprinted using traditional Chinese characters, which are now hard tofind on the mainland.