You wouldn’t believe how happy I was when I heard the captain of the plane announce that it was 60°F outside. It was 4:45 AM on March 9, 2025 when the plane landed in Taoyuan International Airport. It was March 7, when I departed from my home in Salt Lake City where it was dusted with a thin coat of snow that morning.

After getting through all the standard procedures, we headed for the bus terminal for a ride into the city to drop off our luggage. It was almost an hour later when we got off the bus.

When my mom visited Taipei for the first time last summer, she returned home and told me that the city was reminiscent of our hometown-Zhongshan. What I saw that morning when we got off the bus was not reminiscent of my hometown.

I whipped out my phone and began searching for walking directions to the hotel in Google Maps but my mom had another idea. She seemed to know the way. It she knew the way, then why was she asking me?

A few minutes later, when we turned onto the street of the hotel, the scenery changed. It was then I saw it and knew what she meant. The way the streets looked reminded me of a version of my hometown that would forever live in my head because my hometown no longer looked like this, not since the early 2000’s.

It was only half past seven when we dropped our luggage at the hotel and since it was Sunday, a lot of shops won’t open until under later in the day. As we walked down the street, I wondered, is it always this quiet? I come from a place where the majority of people go to church on Sundays and family dinner afterwards. The streets are almost ghostly quiet on Sundays. So I wondered whether the same happens in Taiwan as well.

We proceeded to find a spot for breakfast and after several blocks, we found a cafe. I ordered the house special and a ham sandwich. After we fueled up, we went for a walk toward the President’s Palace.

Unfortunately, the palace was not opened to the public that day, so we snapped a few pictures and kept going.

We headed toward Liberty Square, where the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall is located. Along the way, we came across this park where flowers were in bloom. My garden at home is just now waking up and here, flowers are already blooming. I felt so happy seeing these flowers.

These are carnations, by the way. How did I know? I grew these lovely flower about 4 years ago before it died on me. That was before I felt head-over-heel for gardening.

At the memorial, I let my mom explain the history away while I took in the architecture. This reminded me of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. because inside of this Memorial sits a statue of Chiang Kai-shek.

Unlike my past trips, I didn’t do any research for this trip as I have done for past trips. So I didn’t have any knowledge of the places we’re going. I don’t know any of the must-visit places for tourists in Taiwan. I was suprised by this place because it gave me a nugget of knowledge about this country’s history.