Our last night in Taiwan was spent in the northern city of Taoyuan 桃園 as we had a morning flight the following day out of the airport and a lot of luggage to take with us. Taoyuan, especially along Zhongzheng Road leading away from the train station, is far from my favorite area in Taiwan. Basically, it's like a compressed version of Taichung's 台中 own seedy downtown district, only with more people and traffic. The area around the NOVA computer arcade is especially sleazy due to the presence of several questionable nightlife establishments. Still, for people with a short layover at the airport who don't have the time to go all the way into the capital, the city can provide a sampler of the smells, sounds and tastes of this island.
This temple sits at the end of Zhongzheng Road.
Our last meal, fittingly eaten at a street stall.
Silent night.
Having lived in Taoyuan City for a year (2007), I would have to say that it is all that and more. The summer heat combines with the dirt and humidity to make it an unpleasant city to walk in.
ReplyDeleteEveryone here in Washington is talking about how unpleasant this city will be when summer comes. It'll be interesting to compare the heat and humidity here with the conditions I lived through in Japan and Taiwan.
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