The weather in Taipei right now is really pleasant. There is about a three week window of nice weather during the fall, between the hot, sticky summer and the bone-chillingly cold winter, and I am enjoying it fully. Today B and I went for another long hike through the local wilderness, but we didn't see any macaques. I told my Chinese teacher that I had seen a macaque, and she said, "Oh, in Kaohsiung (second biggest city in Taiwan) they have a monkey farm where you can feed them."
A typical Chinese reaction. When most Chinese or Taiwanese see an unspoiled landscape, they think, "That would be a great place to build something." The concept of seeing a wild monkey as preferable to seeing a tame, caged one is not comprehensible. I suppose this is why the Chinese are not known for their environmentally friendly policies.
It is very convenient to hike here, because the nature reserve is very close to our house. Actually, our deck looks directly onto it. We are very lucky in this, because most of Taipei is quite ugly. Taipei wasn't a big city until after the KMT were driven here by Mao and his communists (in the 1950s), so almost all the buildings are relatively new and were built in a hurry on the cheap, and thus extremely hideous. The temples are mostly new, too, but they spent more energy and money on them, so they look a lot better. All the temples in Taiwan obviously have no funding problems; people are quite devout here.
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