The Grand Hotel (圓山大飯店)

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The Grand Hotel (圓山大飯店) is one of Taipei‘s most beautiful examples of traditional architecture and it has been the iconic image that represented the city long before the phallic-looking Taipei 101 showed up to steal a bit of its thunder. 

The hotel has been in operation since 1952 and has been greeting visitors to Taipei for decades. It sits on prime real estate on top of Yuanshan Mountain (圓山) which is close to the elevated expressway and everyone who visits the city will see it standing high above the mountain making it one of their first impressions of how amazing Taipei city is! 

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When the Chinese Nationalists escaped to Taiwan in 1949, it was noted that Taipei didn’t have any five-star hotels to entertain the foreign leaders and ambassadors who would often visit Taiwan. It was important for the government to quickly build a place suitable for world leaders because at that period in history, the KMT government in Taiwan represented "China" on the world stage and was an important ally in the war against communism in Asia. 

Chiang Kai Shek thus decided to construct not only the tallest building in Taiwan (at the time) but the largest traditional Chinese building in the world which he believed would help to introduce Chinese culture to the west (as well as pushing traditional Chinese culture in Taiwan)  

When the hotel was completed Chiang decided that he would make the Presidential Suite one of his many residences and offices - Today that presidential suite goes for about $5000US a night and offers amazing panoramic views of the city for anyone willing to shell out the cash.  

The hotel has hosted several American Presidents as well as European and Asian leaders and recently deceased Singaporean dictator Lee Kwan Yew (李光耀) stayed over fourteen times. 

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Truthfully, I've never stepped foot inside the hotel - I hear the restaurant inside is also quite beautiful and the chefs working there are quite well-known - they even serve a hamburger that is supposed to be one of the best in the country.

For me, I like to look at the hotel from the outside, even though the scenery on the inside is supposed to be pretty awesome - I'm just not interested in seeing decorations that are a montage to the different Chinese dynasties.

I'd much prefer a more Taiwan-themed Grand Hotel featuring murals of the history of the island. 

These days the Grand Hotel is packed with the richest of tourists visiting from China and even if they're not staying at the hotel, It has become one of the must-visit places on the itinerary of any travel guide showing them around town. 

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If you've got some free time after visiting the Confucius Temple, Bao-An Temple and the Lin-An Tai mansion, you can stop over at the Grand Hotel for some pictures before heading to the Shilin Night Market afterwards.

Visiting the hotel doesn't require a lot of time and it is just a short walk from the Jiantan MRT station (劍潭捷運站) Its great for some travel shots and a good memory of your trip to Taiwan. 

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Fulong Sand Sculpture Art Festival

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I decided to push this post ahead of the others I have waiting to be published as this weekend will be a big one at Fulong Beach on the North East Coast of Taiwan with summer in full swing as well as having both the Fulong Sand Sculpture Art Festival (福隆國際沙雕藝術季) and Fulong Full On (福隆海灘派對) happening at the same time. 

With it being a July weekend and having two summer festivals happening simultaneously at the beach you can imagine there will be large crowds of people. If you are making plans to get yourself to Fulong for the festivities make sure you get on the train or the bus early so that you're sure to get yourself there. 

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The 2015 Fulong Sand Sculpture Art Festival (福隆國際沙雕藝術季) has been on since May 12th and will finish up on July 12th. The event is held annually at Fulong Beach and features beautifully designed sand sculptures artists created by artists from around the world.

The theme for the Sand Sculpture festival this year is "Toy Nations" and 27 artists from 13 countries were invited to take part in the event designing sand sculptures from their childhood memories. 

Considering most of the artists are likely my age they have designed sculptures with Lego characters, remote control cars, teddy bears, robots, toy soldiers and the Monopoly board game as well as some traditional Taiwanese sculptures.  

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The sculptures are large, beautifully designed and quite impressive to someone like myself who has no idea about the art form. I've seen ice sculptures in Carnaval de Québec and at the Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival (哈爾濱國際雪節) which are also quite impressive, but it seems to me that it'd be a bit more annoying to design a sculpture with sand than it would be with a block of ice. 

The best thing about the Sand Sculpture Festival is that when you are done checking out the sculptures you can enjoy the beautiful beach. Fulong is probably the best beach in Northern Taiwan and it is easily accessible by train as the Fulong Train Station (福隆車站) is across the street from the beach parking lot. 

Sand Sculpture Art Festival Website

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Fulong Full On (福隆海灘派對) is an all day event taking place on Saturday July 4th starting at 12:00pm. The event is being organized by Taipei Trends and will feature water balloon tosses, relay races and sand sculpture competitions, etc. with food, drinks, live music and DJs. 

The purpose of the party is to promote beach culture, get people outdoors and to network with each other in order to bring together the community of expats in Taiwan as well as our Taiwanese friends. 

For more information about the event check out the event page linked below or read the article from the Taipei Times which describes it in greater detail. 

Fulong Full On Event Page

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If you are looking for something to do this weekend, why not take a trip to Fulong and enjoy the beach and the two events that are taking place? I won't be there personally as my skin is about as red as a cooked lobster from hanging out at the beach all day earlier this week. I hope if you go though that you have a lot of fun and meet some new friends! 

For more info about how to get to Fulong and what buses and trains are available check the Fulong Full On event page on Facebook where they have done an excellent job preparing information about getting yourself to the beach. 

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Dragon Boat Races (龍舟競賽)

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Dragon Boat Festival (端午節) is a traditional holiday on the Chinese calendar with an over two thousand year history. There are various origin stories that dispute how the festival began, but one thing that all the stories agree on is that they all involve aspects of virtue, honour, loyalty and love for your family and friends. (Click the link for a better description of the various origins) 

The festival is celebrated as a statutory holiday here in Taiwan as well as in Hong Kong, Macau and (more recently) China while the traditional aspects of the festival are also quite popular in countries where there are large Chinese-speaking communities   

The Hong Kong Tourism Bureau reinvigorated the modern races in the 1970s and since then they have become somewhat of a world-wide phenomenon transcending racial and cultural barriers!

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The team captain shouting orders. 

In Taiwan, the holiday is named "Duanwu Festival" (端午節) in Mandarin rather than "Dragon Boat Festival" (龍船節) as it is more commonly known in English. This can lead to a bit of confusion about the name of the holiday as the Mandarin and English names refer to different things. Never fear though, they are the same thing and while our Taiwanese friends will always call it "Dragon Boat Festival" in English. 

To explain a bit though, "Duanwu Festival" (端午節) refers to the lunar calendar and the time of the year when the holiday takes place - Which means that the holiday falls on a different day every year.  

Duanwu (端午) refers to the time of the year when the sun is the strongest, the days are longer and summer is in full swing.

In Ancient China, they believed that the sun, much like the dragon were representative of a man and that the summer solstice was the time of the year when a man would experience the peak of his sexual prowess - so the holiday falls on an important time of the year when dudes are more prone to be doing their thing. 

These days we have viagra, so its not much of a big deal to be at your sexual peak year round! 

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An all female team grabbing the flag. 

Some foreigners may get confused that the Dragon Boat races are actually only a small part of the actual holiday while other traditions tend to be more important. 

In Taiwan, the most popular activity during the holiday is probably the preparation and consumption of "zongzi" (粽子) - sticky rice and other ingredients wrapped in lotus leaf. Families will get together and prepare the treats and eat them together and also share them with friends and neighbours. 

Another popular (yet somewhat strange) activity is balancing an egg on a flat surface at a specific time of the day. If you check Facebook or Instagram on Dragon Boat festival you are likely to find quite a few people posting shots of eggs standing up with some exuberant thumbs up and happy faces! 

Most people use the holiday as a chance to get away and travel to other places around the country with their family. Traffic is always a bit crazy during the holiday and if you plan on going anywhere during the days off, it would be a good idea to book tickets or hotels early as space runs out pretty quickly. 

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A triumphant return to the dock

Different counties throughout the country will sponsor Dragon Boat Races and the races attract thousands of people who crowd around to see their friends and family taking part. Local governments will also allow vendors set up offering food to visitors before ending the festival with fireworks display after the championship race. 

I've been to the races in a few places around Taiwan over the years, but my favourite race is here in Taoyuan at the Longtan Lake (龍潭大池) The lake here covers a large area and offers better facilities and more space for visitors as well as better traffic control! 

The size of the boats vary but it seems like a 14-man team is the standard in Taiwan with twelve paddlers, a steerer and a drummer (although boats in other places could have anywhere from 22 to 50 people) who practice weeks and even months in advance of the holiday to put on a good show for the spectators. 

The races here in Taoyuan take place over a period of two days with a champion being crowned on the final day before the fireworks and the closing of the festival. 

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A winning boat watching their competition finish the race. 

North Americans likely view Dragon Boat races as an event that happens in summer where groups will get sponsors to take part in the race with all the money going to a specific charity. The races here take on a different role as they are a cultural even and is an important way of keeping traditional culture alive - especially for younger people who tend not to care as much about its preservation. 

Whether you're in the audience or a lucky member of a boat crew, the dragon boat races are always a great cultural event to take part in here in Taiwan and if you have the time to check out the races be sure not to miss them! 

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