Chinese New Year occurs in the early months of our calendar year, typically January or February and this year falls on January 23rd. This is the first of 15 days of celebration and the start of the Year of the Dragon.
Chinese New Year (also called the Lunar New Year) ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Taiwan
10 places to celebrate Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year occurs in the early months of our calendar year, typically January or February and this year falls on January 23rd. This is the first of 15 days of celebration and the start of the Year of the Dragon.
Chinese New Year (also called the Lunar New Year) ...10 unusual foods from around the world
Who doesn't love trying new and exotic foods when traveling? Maybe some spicy curries in India, a selection of savory tapas in Spain, or some authentic...Pig's Blood Cake? Check out this list of 10 unusual foods from around the world and see if your perspective on trying ...Photo of the day - Picnic in Taiwan
In the mood for a picnic in Taiwan? Flickr user Pamcy.com sure is. She snapped this image of a small picnic in the north of Taiwan late last month. The views are striking even with the lingering haze across the horizon. The grass looks comfortable, too. Is it time for a ...Photo of the day - street art in Taiwan
There's a lot happening in this photo: some street art, an intriguing flavor of popsicle, cool sneakers, flammable substances near a lit cigarette, the Asian art of effortless squatting. Overall it's a very interesting street scene, captured by Flickr user marisoleta in ...Food blogger jailed over scathing 'salty noodle' review
A food blogger in Taiwan has been jailed after writing a critical restaurant review. The blogger, surnamed Liu, will be in the slammer for 30 days after writing that a restaurant's beef noodles were too salty, among other things.
But that's not all: Liu will also be on ...Where Would You Travel for a Meal?
Just what motivates us to travel? What exactly inspires us to get on a plane and, thousands of miles later, blurry eyed and sleep deprived, to step into a place that was hitherto unknown to us? I'd be willing to guess that for an increasingly large amount of leisure ...The world's ten creepiest abandoned cities
Some cities die. The people leave, the streets go quiet, and the isolation takes on the macabre shape of a forlorn ghost-town - crumbling with haunting neglect and urban decay. From Taiwan to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, these abandoned cities lurk ...San Jose to add "Silicon Valley" to airport name, maybe
That would make it "Norman Y Mineta San Jose/Silicon Valley International Airport" a runway length name but just what city leaders think it needs.
"People want to go to Silicon Valley," San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said. "But they don't really know where it is."
Actually, ...Taiwan: Taipei's traditional Chinese Lantern Festival
In Taiwan, the annual traditional Chinese Lantern Festival kicked off in Taipei this past Friday to great fanfare. Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou launched this year's festival, which features over three dozen enormous lanterns.
This year's theme lantern is called ...Gastro-diplomacy and the politics of food
Food has been a trending topic in travel circles for some time now. But though a good meal can tell a traveler much about the local culture, it's not often that food is thought of as a force for political change at home. Yet, in a recent article for the Jakarta Globe, writer ...China Airlines fined for price fixing
China Airlines is the latest carrier to get fined for price-fixing air cargo rates. The Taiwan-based airline plead guilty and now faces a $40 million fine. Northwest Airlines has also plead guilty.
A total of 18 airlines have been snared by the Department of Justice in an ...Ten wild cab rides that you'll never forget
Everyone has their own way of immersing in a culture. Some jump in knees-deep into the food scene, massacring the local food blogs and munching their ways through every gastic adventure that they can find. Others enjoy the philosophical and soft-edged days of lounging in ...Tourists routinely assault Taiwanese zombies
What would you do if you were face-to-face with the undead? Well, if you're smart, you won't show any fear. That's what several visitors to a Taiwanese theme park have been doing recently. Actors dressed as various creatures have been knocked around by tourists who are ...Can you go home again? A question for the long term traveler
There's the adage "you can't go home again" that does bear merit, particularly if one has been gone from home for years. Perhaps you traveled back to your hometown for Thanksgiving and have a mental checklist for just how much the town has changed.
Certainly you noticed ...Gadlinks for Wednesday 10.21.09
Hump day is upon us, and for today I have some pretty fresh, eco-friendly/Asia-themed travel reads for you. Snuggle up with your laptop and enjoy!
We'll start our tour in the Far East, where my friend Mary Jo offers up 22 things to do in Taiwan. [via Blisstree Travel]
...Gadlinks for Monday 6.29.09
Welcome to another glorious week of Gadlinks! It looks like the web is full of travel news and stories, so we're not short of interesting links. Here are a few to keep your juices flowing:
Matador and the Dir Journal explore abandoned cities in the world and discover ...For summer, a banquet of exotic fresh fruits: Bring travel back home
So you're at home this summer. Your vacation budget is bust. Sure, there are backyard barbeques with friends and family stretching out into summer, but that tropical vacation feels long gone.
Or perhaps, you have never been on a tropical vacation. Perhaps a tropical fruit ...Winning an island: Even a 4-year-old can do it
Imagine this. Instead of the grand prize being a trip to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, the winner of a national lottery gets an entire island. That's what happened to one four-year-old boy. This small boy landed a small island in small country--Taiwan.
The island in ...Chaos as immigration computers crash at Taiwan airport
A computer crash at Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport caused a major headache on Monday. The computer system used by the National Immigration Agency (NIA) failed, forcing immigration agents to get back to basics, taking down people's information by hand. Needless to ...Direct flights between China and Taiwan resume
The miles between Taiwan and mainland China are not many. But, in history the distance across the Taiwan Strait has been huge.
When I lived in Taiwan in the late 1990s, travel to cities in mainland China from Taiwan meant heading to another country or through Hong Kong ...
