Taiwanese Goal #2 Completed: Storyland – And Other Adventures

If you recall (that is, if you’ve been keeping up), I wrote back in this entry that I would like to visit Storyland, a recreation of Taipei from about fifty years ago. It seemed like an excellent opportunity to see what Taipei was like before the Western influence and the rise of technology.

What a disappointment. As it turns out, it is a bit of a tourist trap. And when I say a bit, I mean a lot. It cost Dave and I $400 NTD ($13.43 CAD) to take a gander through this quasi-theme park-like tour underneath the K-Mall. I have to say, it was quite a waste. We spent probably 15 minutes there at best, and 5 of those minutes were spent trying to get out. There were only about 5 or 6 other people in the whole thing with us, which should speak volumes about its popularity.

I’ll try and give credit where credit is due: there were a couple cool, old cars and scooters parked everywhere, which were nice to look at. Also, a few rooms had been set up to look like old shops with antique children shoes and other trinkets; one had been set up to look like a dentist’s shop. I took a photo of it and posted it on facebook with a note to my mom, telling her that dental care in Taiwan was very cheap and state-of-the-art:

Open wide...

So while Storyland was a bust, we’ve done plenty of other fun things while we’ve been here.

Most notably, we visited the Lungshan Temple, which dates back to 1738. It was absolutely stunning. We arrived at just the right time, when hundreds of people gathered to provide offerings to their ancestors. Everyone had a different number of incense in their hands – some three, some just one, some five – which I wonder if it holds any significance. They would bow with it, holding to their foreheads briefly, and continue in prayer while monks chanted hypnotically from inside the temple. Dave and I were too sheepish to take too many photos since everyone seemed in a very thoughtful mood. We watched for a long time.

You can even see how much incense was being burned.

There are more photos to be seen, which I’ve posted on facebook. Most of you are my facebook friends, but if not, you can see what few I have here. We’ve just been too busy looking at things to bother taking photos. But hopefully we’ll remedy that soon!

Until next time!