My trip to China (Part 3)

[Ben_M_K]

lol       Ive never been a McDonalds fan but im sure after eating plenty of taiwanese food it will be BIG welcome  What i have tried isnt bad but just full of spices we normaly wouldnt use and some full of vegitables...Im not a big fan of vegitables eather

Will probly know sometime in march or april as to if i will make it

Nice pics btw

Thanks!

Not a Mcdonalds fan here either but like you said, it was awsome to eat a burgur.

Also, we went to Pizza Hut which tasted very good and we saw a KFC so you probably will have a lot of options.

Also I wanted to ask, would you be going to a big city in Taiwan? If it's a smaller town, your chances of getting good American food will be more slim.

[Triple_7]

I would be staying with her family...They live on the outskirts of taipei and she says they spend most of their spare time in the city.  So shouldnt have to many problems finding something or...at least i hope  I will only be there for about 1 to 2 weeks...Think there is some kind of 2 week limit on visitors  

Another thing to ask.  What was customs like when you arrived.  Do they check your lugage or ask any questions  I know re-entering the US there is importing laws as to how much you can bring back.

[Hagar]

Excuse me butting in chaps. I've never been to China or Taiwan but I understood they're two completely different countries with different laws. As I understand it, Taiwan is far more Americanised than China. Unless Ben went to China via Taiwan I doubt he would know much about it.

[Triple_7]

Just curious...Ive never been out of the country other then canada.  Customs between china and taiwan might be different but re-entering the US should be the same  As for one being more american involved i would have no idea.  I have heard both ways

[Hagar]

[quote]Just curious...Ive never been out of the country other then canada.

[Ben_M_K]

No problem Triple_7,

I'm happy to tell you anthing you want to know. And Doug, Taiwan must be REALLY Americanized if it's more so than China. EVERYONE knows some kind of English there. In fact, it's manditory that all schools teach it. Learning English in China is as commen as learning math here in the states.

It's very funny, customs were NOTHING, well hardly. When we deboarded the plane in Shanghai, a guy took our temperature, and thats it. It was late at nite and supposedly nobaody was really there. The Shanghai airport was so dead, you could hear peoples footsteps echoing across the whole terminal. Very funny. Even coming back into America, customs were'nt to bad. Sure they were a pain, but did'nt take any more than a half an hour. I would'nt really worry to much.

A word of advice, if you have a chance to go to Taiwan, especialy if you have never been overseas, by all means go! You won't have many chances to do something like that, especialy staying at a friends house!!!

You will never forget it!

-Ben

[iwannaflySC]

Ben --- awesome pictures! You're quite good with a camera!

And I do think traveling directly between Taiwan and China might be a tad difficult.  I wonder if there are any direct flights? China claims Taiwan as a province, even though it's had an independent government since the Kuomintang fled there in 1949.  In fact, China has threatened to invade Taiwan if it does in fact declare independence.  The US doesn't recognize Taiwan as an independent country, I dont think -- to keep China happy.  Oops, sorry for the geopolitical excursion!  I don't really know very much about either Chinese of Taiwanese society -- apart from what I've gathered from a good friend who's from Taiwan.

Ben -- I'm a little surprised to hear that the McDonald's fare was the same! I've been to McD's in India, and the menu is almost completely different!  For one, there's no beef served ... .  The burgers are made out of lamb.  And there's all kinds of spicy condiments available ...

... and they took your temperature on arrival? Wow -- I've never encountered that anywhere!

Triple7 -- let me echo Ben -- if you can go to Taiwan, do it! I love traveling, especially overseas, and wouldn't pass up an opportunity!

[Ben_M_K]

Yeah they took our temperatur with a digital reader that took about 3 seconds each person. That still took a long time considering there were about 400 people on the A340-600 we were on.

Thanks for the complements on pics guys. I really did'nt do anything special to get such high quality, just snapped.lol It's only a 3.1 megapixel I believe.

[Triple_7]

Thanks for that info as well

Please tell me the temp was taken under the toung lol just joking

And to answer iwannaflySC's question.  As far as i know there is several direct flights between the mainland and Taiwan.  Flying for my VA i have taken a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Taipei.  And on checking what kind of flights i might be looking at if i go.  Most of them connect from somewhere in China.  There was only a couple that came from somewhere else

[Ben_M_K]

Can I ask what cities in China those connecting flights are?

Guangzhoul JUST opened a brand new airport and it's VERY nice. State of the art.

[iwannaflySC]

[quote]Thanks for that info as well

Please tell me the temp was taken under the toung lol just joking

And to answer iwannaflySC's question.

[Hagar]

Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997 when it was returned to the jurisdiction of China. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/19/newsid_2538000/2538857.stm

I believe it's still run much as before & very differently to the rest of China.

PS. Taiwan might not be as westernised as I thought.

[Triple_7]

hmmm. just checked flights again.  its has probly been 2 months sence i last checked.  seems there is no main flights i can find.  though this list is only part of them.  I do remember seeing at least a couple last time.  shanghai and hong kong.  Though now i notice any flights connecting through china are US based airlines.  go to cheaptickets.com and look up flights from FWA to Taipei.  rough dates would be leave july 25 and return august 5.  

[Ben_M_K]

Yes I see. Looks like there are some options where you could fly on a 777

[PSW]

Glad you liked you visit to China, I have never been to China before, although I am from Hong Kong. The McDonalds in Hong Kong tastes much better than the ones here in Canada, also in Hong Kong, you get more selections, such as McWings (Like hot Wings), for a much lower price.

However, I quit on McDonald's  ;D

Thanks
James