December 2008 Trip: Day 7- Center for Traditional Arts → Taipei

On day 7, we visited the Center for Traditional Arts- the Center is only about 5-10 minutes ride from the downtown area, and personally I would recommend that you take the bus if you don’t have a car. We took a taxi as we had just missed the bus, but they charged a fixed rate, and based on the time it took to get there, it didn’t seem worth it. Although the bus takes longer to get there, if you are not in hurry, you can save some money and have more time to enjoy the scenery :).

The whole center is designed in a traditional Taiwanese style of architecture, and is built entirely of brick. There were a lot of exhibitions and performances at the Center, and there were many goods (mostly made by local artisans) for sale in each of the little artistic shops (selling everything from handmade soap to ceramics). In the glassmaking shop, I bought a few little souvenirs for friends back in Vancouver. I should mention that a few little kids on a fieldtrip ran up to me and practiced saying hello in English, too!

For lunch, Jason and I headed to the food court. Jason and I thought the food there was great; there were many different local food options, and for a reasonable price, we had more than we could eat (and knowing us, that’s saying something!). All the food was delicious, but I particularly liked the deep fried lean meat, a specialty of the area.

All in all, if you go to Luodong, the Center for Traditional Arts is definitely somewhere you should visit!

In the evening, we headed back to our hotel to get our bags before taking the bus to our final destination, Taipei. Interestingly, I found out that the hotel manager could speak Mandarin and French. French is my second language, so he and I were able to have a conversation in our non-native language. It was so exciting!