A year ago I journeyed to Lukang with my good friend Fenny. This time it was a bit different. For one, it wasn't raining. Second, we knew where we were going. Third, there were ten of us.But like before, I fell in love with this quaint, historical town.If you remember from past posts (aka the last time i was in Taiwan), Lukang is the home to several Living Heritage Award members--that's like being a national treasure. The last time I visited Mr.Wu Duen-how, I bought 4 of his amazing lanterns. This time I watched as my friends bought the lanterns. This man is incredible. The started studying the craft of paper lantern making and painting at the age of 13. He has been on television countless times, his modest shop has been visited by three Presidents of Taiwan, and by numerous tourists--both local and foreign. Today, I'm guessing he's in his 90s. He looks old. His apprentice (thank goodness he has one) was personalizing my friends' lanterns, while he scuffled out to the front of the shop and sat in his easy chair. It was interesting to observe. He seemed so at peace with how his life has gone. No regrets.
From there Sarah, Lindsay, and I headed to one of the famous historical lanes where we were going to meet up with the rest of our group. We got a bit lost (basically we turned too soon), and I decided to ask a group of Asian college students for some help. It was really funny. A side note--I've noticed that many Asians outside of the classroom are very shy about using English even though almost all of them have studied it since first grade. I approached this group and asked if anyone knew English. They started laughing nervously until one of them admitted that she knew English. We showed her the map and her friends all jumped in wanting to help. Then the questions of where we were from and what we were doing in Taiwan began. I felt like by the time we separated from them we had made new friends.
This historical street is my favorite part of the city. It is untouched by urbanization, so it's the real deal. I loved the different doors and roof shapes. There were little kittens crawling all over the place (in a picturesque sort of way, not in a creepy, unclean sort of way). Families with little kids in strollers, and couples young and new paced up and down this street. I loved it. It was a bit of heaven.
{A really cool temple on the side of the road}
{A woman making a basket . I loved the door way}
{Joanne and Angus. Our Taiwanese friends}
{A cute kitty lurking about the streets}
{A cool motorcycle in an even cooler alleyway}
{Me at the half well}
{The gang taking it easy after drinking some star fruit juice. Notice Sarah and Lindsay's bags o' lanterns}
{The gang plus the rad roof tops}
{Yum. Ice cream}
{A gorgeous yellow door. I'm slightly obsessed with the color yellow as of late}If you come to Taiwan, you must, must, must visit Lukang. The charm is unparalleled.
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