Respect to Taipei
Dear Taipei and all the people that live in Taiwan, we wanted to express how happy we were that everyone in Taipei was so friendly and helpful to us when we visited recently.
Even though we are seniors and cannot speak Chinese, we had no problems getting around the city and doing things.
We are a Canadian couple that came to Taipei to visit our son last month.
First of all, we would like to say how impressed we were with the cleanness of Taipei.
We wanted to experience the real Taipei so we took buses and the MRT. Both were super clean and friendly.
What surprised us the most was how fast, efficient and affordable transportation was. We were also happy with how easy the MRT was to use, because we cannot speak or read Chinese.
The different colored MRT lines makes it very simple to follow and to understand where you are going.
In regards to the people of Taipei, we really have to congratulate and thank you so much.
Any time we needed any assistance (or looked like we did) there was always at least one person that quickly stepped forward to offer to help or to find someone that could speak English to help us.
We were surprised that every time we went on either the bus or the MRT we were offered seats to sit down. As we are both older, it was very much appreciated.
While we were in Taipei, we went to the National Palace Museum and were very impressed with the different exhibits we saw.
We also went on the Maokong Gondola near Taipei Zoo.
We bought our tickets from a machine and went to the top of the gondola. When we were getting ready to return, a young attendant stopped us and told us that we had purchased the wrong tickets. He took our tickets to the cashier and had them reissued as senior citizens’ tickets and then gave us the difference in money.
This was an amazing experience, as we never asked or complained about the tickets we had wrongly purchased.
The attendant was there to help and even though he could not speak much English, we understood that he was trying to assist us.
This just shows how thoughtful and caring Taiwanese are. They are always willing to help travelers, even though the tourists may not always know the proper way.
There is no way we would have received this level of courteousness in North America.
Another thing to mention is how wonderful it was that so many things are in at least two languages.
As we cannot speak Chinese, it was a little intimidating at first, but not once while we were out seeing the sights did we feel like we were in trouble or danger. There was always English for us to read to help us understand.
We would like to congratulate the people of Taipei on how wonderfully they treated us during this trip.
We will be sure to tell everyone in Canada how wonderful Taiwan is to visit and how friendly the people in Taiwan are.
The motto “Taiwan, touch your heart” is right on.
Taiwan and the people there truly did touch our hearts!
Brenda and Bruce Rand
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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