It’s an interesting story, oftentimes bloody, as to how China’s greatest art treasures ended up in Taipei. The first chapter is simple....

We’re back in Taipei, long enough to visit the National Palace Museum. Before moving on, Pa and I want to see its vast collection of...

People come to Yingge for the pottery and the ceramics. Known in Taiwan as a center for both, kilns have fired here for more than a...

We arrived in Yingge five hours and twenty minutes after departing Tainan. Unbeknownst to us, the young man who helped us at the 7-11 had...

We’ve stopped in Tainan. No particular reason except that it’s Taiwan’s oldest city and on the way to Yingge. Tainan was originally a...

Lao-tzu, “the Old Master” probably wasn’t the first Taoist. And like Homer, probably never existed. But the earliest Taoist thoughts to...

At 90 degrees the streets of Taitung were too hot to explore, even by bike, so we headed out of town to ride the Forest Park Trail. For a...

The Tiin Tinn Inn (remember Rin Tin Tin?) is in the heart of Taitung, the little city people come to because of the slow pace. It has...

Pa and I both had an itch to hop on a train, to ride the rails to an unknown destination. Having only experienced Taipei, we didn’t know...

In preparing for Taipei (Pa was of little help) I read an article about Maokong, a quiet community not far from the city. For more than...

After a day of rain, we were ready for a night out. Jaden, the young man at the front desk, suggested we visit Liberty Square. “There’s...

Some say man is a myth maker; that what separates us from other primates are the stories we tell to make sense of things. I don’t know...

When Walt was away, I made an executive decision. Rather than Vietnam next, and temperatures near 100, I’d travel to Hong Kong and...

Pa and I spoke at breakfast. I sensed something was bothering him and so asked how he was feeling. “I’m fine, but thank you Fred for...

Standing before it, I wondered what the Buddha would think, this oversized, exaggerated likeness that likely bears little resemblance....

It can be a good thing to start the day with a plan, have it vanquished by poor timing, and have to start over. My landlady for the week...

I fly home in 60 days, my ticket from Tokyo recently purchased. The days will pass quickly and already I feel the faint pangs of loss....

Easter in Hong Kong. An oxymoron if there ever was one. The “special administrative region of China,” with nearly 8 million residents,...

I didn’t grow up going to museums, certainly not art museums. I think my first visit was an 8th grade field trip to the Iowa Historical...

I don’t recall when it first occurred to me. Or when I became certain there was no other way out. But for a long time I’ve been...