Taiwan

Way back when I started this country project, we were only supposed to be doing UN recognized countries, and there were 193 of them. Well, then I did Vatican City (which is not UN recognized), but I had 193 count. I couldn't figure out what I was missing. 

Then I got to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and I couldn't find the info sheet for it. Turns out, that was because I never made one. I had found rightful country 193, what should have been instead of Vatican City. But, now I had a dilemma, should i just keep my number at 193? Should I go to 194? Or, should I add in the other two 'unofficially official' countries? The boys decided since there was only 2, we should just up our number to 196. 

And so, we did a double country day with our two not-officially-recognized-as-countries-countries.  Those two are Kosovo (up next), and Taiwan. 

Kosovo has a better chance of being UN recognized though, because people don't seem to mind pissing off Serbia, as much as they mind pissing off economic powerhouse China.  

It's a complicated political situation. So, I'm going to go ahead and link to an article here to help you out, if you're interested.  It's a whole thing though, and no industry seems immune to getting caught up in the mess- even tag labels! 

Maybe we need to go back to 2008, when China sent Taiwan two pandas, whose names translated into 'reunion' to promote a more prosperous relationship between the two. (And a baby was born in 2013- the whole family is celebrities in the Taipei zoo!) 

One-fourth of what is known as the Asian-Tigers, it's no wonder China wants to lay it's claim to Taiwan, which can also be refferred  to as the Republic of China or (RoC). 

In case you don't know and you need need google: Four Asian Dragons or Four Little Dragons, are the economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, which underwent rapid industrialization and maintained exceptionally high growth rates (in excess of 7 percent a year) between the early 1960s (mid-1950s for Hong Kong) and 1990s.

Taiwan is an island,about 14,000 square miles, and is separated from China by the Taiwan Strait. The Portuguese christened it 'Ilha Formose', or the Beautiful Isle. 

Taipei is the futuristic capital of Taiwan, full of the hustle and bustle of a big city. It's known for it's open-air night-markets, some permanent structures, some popping up in the streets after the sun goes down, lit by carnival type lights and turning a normal street by day into a busy market by night. You might find some persimmons, because the September night air is great for drying them, or Taiwan's inventions of bubble tea or instant noodles. 

You'll also find some impressive buildings in Taipei, including the Tuntex Sky Tower, shaped like a 1,140 foot tall rocket ready to take off into the sky. 

But, really, the most well-known of the skyscrapers is our landmark, the bamboo shaped Tapei 101 Tower. When it opened in 2004, it was classified as the tallest building in the world (it remained the tallest until Burj Khalifa in Dubai opened in 2010).  It also once had the record for the fastest elevator in the world. 

The building houses tons of stores, restaurants, clubs, and an observation deck. It's also the scene for it's new years fireworks. 

Speaking of New Years, the Pungxi Sky Lantern Festival is held every year, and along with celebrations and carnivals, more than 200,000 'fire balloons' are let go into the sky. (Think of Tangled!) 

If you want to visit more cities in Taiwan than just Taipei, you can hop on Taiwan's high speed rail. The trains go from Taipei in the north down the length of the country to southern city of Kaohsiung. It tops out at 186 miles per hour and it takes about 90 minutes to travel the length of the country. Connecting over 90 percent of Taiwan's population, it's said to be one of the fastest trains in the world. 

Away from the big cities (and the large population over 23 million), you'll find giant Buddhas, hot springs, green mountains and valleys, and tribal villages. 

The boys made their postcards. 

Calib's featured the train and pandas. 

Peyton made the Taipei 101 Tower. 

And Hayden's featured the lanterns, and the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas that can be found on Lotus Lake. 

Now for Taiwan, we could have had bubble tea and instant noodles. I mean, those are a hit with the teenage members of this family. 

But, instead we just did a quick snack and made Taiwanese Shaved Ice with Fruits. 

This little snack earned five spoons up. 

It wasn't as good as shave ice from Hawaii, but out of the blender, it was decent. The simple syrup was really simple, and I probably could have gone with a bit more over the top. But all in all, with the mix of fruit and toppings, it was light and yummy and the fruit made you feel like you weren't eating anything too bad for you. 

We'd make this one again, for sure. 

We made a large dot for Taiwan to the east of China, in a similar but slightly different color, to note how the two countries are intertwined. 

That's 180 down, 16 to go! 

Next Up: The other unofficial/official country of Kosovo