Day 28

Today we had our last road trip to the ceramic town of Yingge, which is a half hour drive from Taipei. Our visit started with a tour of the Yingge Ceramic Museum, where we learned about the long history of ceramics in the region. Hands-on demonstrations were included.

After a tasty lunch of sushi at Grandma Sushi, we went to the famous pottery center of Yingge and shopped at the numerous pottery stores. The stores contained lovely pottery crafted in the region. After spending four weeks in Taiwan, everyone was eager to have souvenirs, particularly tea implements and other items that will help us remember the wonderful meals and tea sessions we enjoyed during our stay.

After afternoon tea, we traveled to Sanshia for more shopping in the lovely Old Street area. Although it was raining, as it has been for 4 out of 5 of the past days, the team enjoyed browsing though the many stores that included numerous Taiwanese crafts. (Did we mention that this is the rainy season in Taiwan?) We ended our visit to Sanshia by visiting the Tsushih Temple. The temple is famous for its carved stone columns. Some of the main columns took craftsmen 80 years to complete. It is a truly magnificent sight.