After our very successful Jinshui camp trail hike I convinced fellow hiker Joel to climb the mighty Beidawu (North Dawu) mountain that looks over the Pingtung plains and Kaohsiung city.
Time exposure looking west to the setting New Year moon. The twin urban glows of Pingtung and Kaohsiung shine up through the sea of clouds.
Burning money in Taiwan is serious business, especially at this time of year during ghost month. And with a full moon on the 16th of August everyone is out burning their ghost money making sure their ancestors and deities are all cashed up for another year.
Every time we visit my wife’s family village we always stop by a number of Aunt’s and Uncle’s to say hello. There are about 20 such households so we never visit them all each time. But there is one house I really enjoy visiting each trip we make. This couple live in a traditional Taiwanese house that was build nearly 60 years ago and though a more recent wing has been added, Uncle and Aunt still prefer to live in the old centre of the house. The main room contains the shrine, tea brewing set, family wedding portraits and the ubiquitous TV.
Over the Chinese New Year we went to a big family picnic in countryside Tainan. A lot of the food was cooked in a traditional earth oven.
Because it was Chinese New Year, because we have children and because we were visiting family in Tainan we went along to the Candy Factory/YoYo TV/New Year exhibition in Tainan county.
Because it was Chinese New Year, so did a lot of other families. In fact, it seemed like all the families in Taiwan were there!
