As promised, I'm back and ready to talk about the best part of the trip: the food and culture. Taiwan only has 23 million people (that's 1 million less than Shanghai's official population), but what it lacks in people, it makes up for in flavor and culture. It preserves much of pre communist China and many … Continue reading Taiwanese Highlights →

Hello! I'm back from Taiwan. It was AMAZING!!!! My family, and 12 others, biked over 270km over the course of 5 days and passed some epic views. This post, I'll give a brief overview of what we did, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  (our route) We started in Yilan county, rode a … Continue reading Cycling in Taiwan →

There is no use downplaying the significance of rice to Chinese cuisine. As one anthropologist put it: “Rice is life”. Although a majority of Chinese people no longer depend on wet rice agriculture for subsistence, no Chinese meal is complete without a bowl, or three, of polished white rice. Let me make this clear: I … Continue reading Why I Hate White Rice →

Hi!!! The past week was China's National Holiday, so I've been chilling. Not at home, at my grandparents place. National Holiday is like China's July 4th. On October 1st 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China after defeating Chiang Kai Shek's nationalist government in one of the longest civil wars ever. Anyways, we … Continue reading National Holiday!! →

Hi!!! Last week was a pretty eventful one. We didn't go anywhere, but a website asked me to write for them. More importantly, SCHOOL STARTED. Yep, I'm officially a sophomore, ready to tackle AP world and Precalculus. What does that have to do with dumplings? During the school year, we have a custom of eating … Continue reading How to (properly) Boil Dumplings →

Almost done here- last post on Europe!!! In my previous posts about Munich and Vienna, I've avoided talking about the food. Of course, that doesn't mean we didn't have great food. With that said, Here's the scoop: Overview German/Austrian food is very hearty and slightly salty. It features........... potatoes and........... meat. Basically the food is … Continue reading Europe Pt. 3 FOOD!!!!! →

As promised, I'm back. Onto Munich: Day 1 We flew to Munich on the 4th day. It took 40 minutes. Although arriving to the airport 2 hrs early for a 40min flight wasn't much fun, the short flight meant we had pretty much the entire day. What did we do? We spent the afternoon in … Continue reading Europe pt. 2 Munich →

Hi!!!! Summer is pretty much (5days from) over so I'm back! For the most part, the summer has been pretty uneventful. However, last week, I went to Europe for the FIRST TIME!!!! We went to Munich and Vienna. We spent a total of  5 days there (3 for vienna and 2 for Munich) and had … Continue reading Europe Pt.1: Vienna →

Yesterday, I talked about LiJiang, but Lijiang was only half the trip. Today, we're going to Shangri-  La. Yay!!!! On the map, it looks pretty flat, but It is actually over 3,000 m above sea level. That is some pretty intense altitude It is honestly one of the most beautiful places EVER!!!! Shangri- La is … Continue reading China Alive pt 2. Shangri-La →