The first thing that struck we when I boarded the plane to Taiwan is that the plane is quiet, the passengers board in an orderly manner and it’s just more civilised in every way. Very different from boarding a Chinese flight 😎.

I’m enroute as I write, on board WiFi is a wonderful thing and it’s free. I’m leaving the Great Firewall behind and I’m going to be able to access the free world when I land in Taiwan. Yesterday in my English lesson we learned the word island and so I asked the class could the name any Chinese islands and they all shouted Taiwan, followed by some laughter. What ever did they mean?

It’s only two hours from Shanghai but apparently it’s different in many ways just as it is in Hong Kong. So I’m looking forward to getting on the ground and exploring Taipei. I won’t be going too far on this trip but if I like it then I’ll have a longer stay in July. I’m only here for the weekend but I think it’s still enough time to get a feel for the place.