Well, FINALLY we have made it to Rome. Our flight time to get here was a mammoth 40 hours which included an 18 hour stop over in Taipei. We flew China Airlines and I know that there are a few others that are thinking of flying with them to Europe so I thought that I would share with you our experience. I must admit I was a bit reticent about flying with them, a little unsure about their planes. I didn’t want to fly with an airline that required their passengers to pedal. The plane we flew on was a brand new Airbus A350-900, very nice. Big screens to watch movies and they had quite a collection, international power points to charge your devices and you know that your devices need to be charged up to 100% at all times when you are on holidays. The airline staff were very friendly and professional too.
Taipei
First stop was Taipei in Taiwan, we arrived at about 5:45am and had a stop here for nearly 18 hours. We weren’t too keen to spend 18 hours at the airport so we pre booked a free half day tour. Did you say FREE…… I’m in! If you are going to take advantage of this you have to remember that you will need to clear customs if you are leaving the airport. So when you exit the plane you take a right turn to the customs area rather than the left turn for transit passengers. Don’t forget to fill in an arrival card. You don’t need to worry about your checked luggage as these are handled by the airline staff and will be waiting for you in Rome. Getting through customs was a breeze no problems there, practically walked straight through.
Once you have cleared customs you go to the Tourist Service Center located in the Arrival Lobby and if you have pre booked your names should be on the list, they will tell you what time to meet for the tour.
Our bus picked us up at 8:10am and would be bringing us back at 12:30pm. What did we think of the tour? It was OK, not great just OK, better than spending the time at the airport anyway. The first stop was the Qingshui Zushi Temple Ornate Daoist temple; founded in 1769; dedicated to a Song Dynasty General deified as the “Divine Ancestor.” Much of the artwork in the present structure was created by a team of the world’s best master artisans beginning in the late 1940s.
Next stop Sanxia Old Street Beautiful old street; renovated red-brick merchant houses and residences dating from the late Qing Dynasty/early Japanese colonial era; houses feature ornate facades with late Qing, Japanese, and Baroque elements.
The above is from the advertising brochure, judge for yourself below.
Yingge Ceramics Old Street Yingge is the “Pottery Capital of Taiwan,” producing high-quality ceramics since the early 1800s, with over 800 resident artists; cobblestoned Old Street with over 100 attractive outlets selling everything from inexpensive cups to costly handcrafted statues.
There wasn’t much here other than the pottery shops which were many and varied. Couldn’t find a decent coffee shop though.
When we got back from the tour we still had over 11 hours to kill so we ended up booking a hotel room close to the airport at the City Suites – Taoyuan Gateway hotel. Here we could have a shower change our clothes have a nap and generally freshen up before continuing our journey.
Next stop Roma.
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