My next trip - Taiwan - Part I

It is time to pack my bag and travel. Time to leave and discover something new. Well, not that new actually because I am going to Taiwan. I have been there during my Asia trip but at that time bad luck was chasing us and made it rain all the time. I hope that this time it will be better, I am sure that it will be an incredible trip.

Taiwan’s capital city is Taipei and has approximately 2.6 million inhabitants, roughly 10% of Taiwan’s total population. Under the colonization, the island used to be called Formosa, which means beautiful.

Some 30,000 years ago the first people discovered this beautiful place for the first time; at least it is the oldest proof of human settlement in this region. Taiwan has always been a place of highest strategic interest. In 1544 Taiwan was named Ilha Formosa by Portuguese settlers, taken over by the Dutch in 1624. They established trade hubs on the island with the main hub being Tayoan. Just two years after, Spain conquered northern Taiwan and stayed there till 1642. Today you still can see some of the old Western buildings set up by the colonization north of Taipei. The Japanese tried to conquer the island since 1592. After the First Sino-Japanese War Taiwan was handed over to Japan. Only in 1945, after the Second World War, was Taiwan freed from the Japanese rule.

Taiwan’s history is far from being boring. Even after its liberation from Japanese rule it enters again into new turbulences, with Chiang Kai-shek retreating during the Chinese Civil War from Nanjing To Taipei.

Political liberalization started in 1984 with the arrival of Chiang Ching-kuo. The rapid development could no longer be stopped. Today, Taiwan has a GDP of USD18,600 per capita with an expected growth rate of 5.5% in 2010.