“I don’t like Chinese,” announced my 8-year-old. (Ironically, in Chinese. That softened the blow.
) I knew this day would come, when my American-born, half-Taiwanese children would reject the language and culture I’d worked so hard to teach them. Time to visit the motherland and win them back. How do you appeal to the hearts of 8- and 12-year-old boys? Unsanctioned time away from school, homework free.
Frittering away money at night market games. The cross-cultural allure of amusement parks. Over 16 fulfilling days, my boys and I explored Taipei, Hualien, Kaohsiung, Tainan and Chiayi, a full loop around the itty-bitty island nation where I was born.
Taiwan is about the size of Maryland, and you can drive from tip to tip in 5.5 hours. I wanted my kids to see it all .
.. while it’s still here.
The darkest part of my soul can’t help worrying about the unthinkable. Taiwan and China have been dancing around war since 1949. No one thought Russia would invade Ukraine for real either.
The difference is, unlike Ukraine, only . And Taiwan is surrounded by water. There’s no place to flee.
With Ukraine heavy on my mind, I took my kids to experience everything in their country of heritage. We spent most of our time in the capital city of Taipei, where I lived the first four years of my life. From the top of Taipei’s tallest skyscraper, you can see the metropolis hugging the folds of green mountains.
From street level, the city is a warren of alleys crammed with scooters and .
