We arrived in Taipei on February 4, 2002.  We took the bus to Taipei Station and took the taxi to Dynasty Hotel.  We were too tired to eat so we just went right to bed.  The next day we went and had breakfast then went to the train station to buy tickets to go to Kao Shiung.  We called my uncle to let him know that we got train tickets and what time we were going to arrive.  He told us it would  be better  if we took the airplane so we returned the train tickets.  We went back to the hotel and they called for us and reserved tickets.  We checked out of the hotel around noon.  Then we went to a restaurant that's really good for lunch.  There were a lot of people.  When we got to Kao Shiung we went and ate at a Japanese restaurant.  We had an order that comes with 13 different dishes.  It was too much.  We live at Andy's (cousin) house which was top 2 floors of a ten story building.  We rested for a few days.

    We went to the fish market and got some fishes.   There were a lot of fishes.  On New Year's Eve we went to a nice restaurant to have dinner.  They forgot to give us one of the dishes so they gave us a discount.  One of those days we were there, we went to the bus station to get tickets to go see Dad's friend.  Around New Year's holidays Kao Shiung have three days where a lot of little shops could sell stuff on the street.  They were pretty neat.  Lots of stuff to buy.  There were also food stands people can shop and eat at the same time.

    On February 14, 2002, my cousin from Six Turtle Village came and got Dad and I.  He and his wife have a cabin there.  They took us to Tea Farm and Tunzu Forest National Park.  The forest park had a lot of different trees.  The next day we had lunch at another cousin that lives around there restaurant.   We had a chance to eat bees there.  After lunch they took us back to Kao Shiung.

    On February 17, my uncle, Dad and I went to the Kao Shiung Harbor.  When we got there we didn't have a chance to go into the light house because they were closed.  We walked around.  Then we took the ferry back to the other side and took taxi back to Andy's.  The next day Kevin ( another cousin) took Dad and I to visit Grandpa/ma, Great Grandpa/ma, an uncle, and Kevin's Grandma's graves.  There were some animals hanging around there.

    A few days later we joined  a tour to see China.  The route we took was Hangzhou, Su Zhou, Wu Xi, Nan Jing, to Shanghai.  This route was the route some emperors of China took long time ago.  I took some pictures from the airplane and the new airport in Hong Kong.  It was a pretty nice airport.

China from February 22, 2002 to February 28, 2002

    On the airplane from Hong Kong to Hang Zhou I took some more pictures.   When we arrived in Hang Zhou the tour guide took us to Tiger Pawing  Spring.  It was pretty neat.  There were rock carvings  and  neat landscapes.  The next day they took us to West Lake.  The lake was really big and we got to tour it by boat.  After that we went to a Tea Farm that produces tea for emperors of China long time ago.  The tea is only produced there.  They put a special sticker on the can some that people know that's the real stuff.  After that we went to Ling Yin and Yue Fei Temples.  Yue Fei was some general that die tragically.

    The next day we went to Su Zhou.  They took us to West Pond and West Pond village.  We went to a button museum and had a boat ride on the river.  The streets in the village were really narrow.  Only one person can walk at a time.  After that we went to Han Shan Temple.  Dad rang to bell there three times.  They say if you ring it four times you become a monk.  After that we went to Tiger Hill.  There was a leaning pagoda there.  I think they said that it was burned five times.  There was a pond there that had a square rock that had a round rock below it and the square rock's supposed to sway when the wind blew.  When there was the Cultural Revolution thing in China, they took it a part.  When it was over they tried to find the round rock but couldn't so the square rock don't sway anymore.  The next day they took us to Lion's Grove.  There were a lot to different landscapes.  They call it Lion's Grove because some of the rock formations look like lions.  After that they took us to a silk factory.  They make and sell silk comforters and clothing there.  They gave us a fashion show.  They also told us how to tell whether the silk is real.  Silk is real if by burning it it smelled like burnt hair, the fire extinguish by itself, the smoke is black, and the burnt part of the silk when rubbed becomes powder.  After that  we traveled to Wuxi.  There we saw some gardens and Purple Sand Tea Pot Factory.  The pots float even if pushed down in water.

    Next day in Wu Xi, they took us to  Turtle Head Isle by Tai Lake.  Then we traveled to Yang Zhou to see Slender West Lake.  Then we traveled to Nan Jing.  When we got there, they took us to a restaurant for dinner.  At the restaurant there were entertainment for the customers while they ate.  Then we went to see the Lantern Festival.  Didn't see much of it because there were a lot of people there.  The tour guide thought it would be dangerous because some time ago there were some people who go killed by the crowd.

    Next day they took use to Dr Sun Yat Sen's Mausoleum.  Then to First Emperor of Ming Dynasty's Tomb.  There were a lot of plum flowers there.  There were also rock animals.  The rocks are really rare because no one knows where they came from.  When people touch the rock red lines like human vines would appear.  The government tried to stop people from stealing the rocks by putting a fence around them but then the red lines would disappear, so they had to remove the fence.  Then we went to some more gardens in Nan Jing.  After that we traveled four hours to Shanghai.  When we got there it was night time so they took us to see some night scenery.

    Next day we went to a street in Shanghai that had lots of little shops on it.  Then we went to Yu Yuan Garden and then a temple.  After that we went to the airport to go back to Kao Shiung.

Taiwan from February  28, 2002 to March 10, 2002

    We rested for a few days.  Taiwan also had a lantern festival.  It was pretty neat.  March 2 Andy took us to see lake that had a nine corner bridge and someone's tomb on a little island..  March 5 he took us to see a castle that was taken over by the Dutch a long time ago.   Then a temple.  Then we went to see Fort Taiwan  and went up the tower to see the scenery.  Across the street from the for was a museum with lots of different things in it.  After that we went to Fort An Ping where there were a lot of cannons there.

    On March 7, Christine (cousin) took Dad and I to Kenting National Park.    On the way we saw really nice ocean views.  We went to see a light house that was at the very tip of Taiwan.  Then we went to Forest Recreational Area and walked around in there.  There were a lot of different trees.  After that we went to a beach and watched the sunset.  It was really pretty.

    Andy took us to the tallest building in Taiwan  on night to the 75th floor to look at the night views of Kao Shiung.  The next day he took us to Lotus Lake where the Spring  and Autumn Pagodas were.   During the day I saw some weird cars that I don't usually see in the U.S.

    On March 10, Dad and I came back home.

The End