I’ve been back from vacation for almost a week, and my sleep schedule still isn’t quite right. Here are my closing thoughts, impressions, and statistics:
- Would I go back? I’ve gotten this question a lot, and although I enjoyed the trip, the answer is no. It’s a long flight, vacation time is scarce, and there are many parts of East Asia that I want to visit first (Thailand, China, Japan, to name a few). Hong Kong and Macau’s are good places to begin a trip into China, so I could see spending a little time there again (especially if I need a new wardrobe).
- Demographics: I was surprised how few non-Asians I saw on my trip, especially in Taiwan. Taipei is a large business center, butI probably saw fewer than ten non-Asians during my day there. Apparently, white people are rare enough that teenagers on the subway asked me to pose for pictures with them. Mainland Chinese tourists thoroughly dominate Macau and, to a lesser extent, Hong Kong.
- Culture / Society: I’m still amazed how western everything was, once again, especially in Taiwan. Highways in Taiwan are indistinguishable from those in America; except for the occasional temple or market, the cities are incredibly similar as well. I don’t know if this is a case of mimicry or convergent evolution, but I suspect the former in the suburbs and latter in the cities.
- Language: I’m glad I speak English, because it was the only second language I encountered (and even then, the coverage was extremely low considering how western everything was). Also, the language was completely opaque to me; the experience has inspired me to learn Mandarin.
- Statistics / Trivia:
- Distance Traveled: Over 14,500 miles (23,200 km)
- Best Food: Unknown chinese restaurant in Taipei (Runner-up: Portuguese food at Fernando’s in Macau)
- Strangest thing eaten: Fried Boar’s Skin (Runner-up: Minced Pidgeon Soup)
- Photos Taken: 704 (1.15 GB)
- Words Learned: Under 10 (Mandarin or Cantonese), had a tough time with this
- Characters Learned: ~30, not particularly useful though
- Favorite Place: Taroko (Runner-up: Hong Kong)
- Border Crossings: 8. Although they’re all part of the same country, Macau, Hong Kong, and China each have distinct borders and immigration. Supposedly, this will end by 2050, when the transitional period expires.