Chinese new year is kind of a big deal in Taiwan. Everyone basically takes the week off, Taipei becomes super-boring, and mass migrations southward commence! I myself joined in and headed down to Fangliao (枋寮) in PingDong County (屏東縣). When I was studying Korean at Yonsei University in Seoul, I became good friends with a classmate from Taiwan. She invited me to her house to celebrate the new year and so I got to experience a really local, authentic Chinese new year in the countryside! It was filled with relatives, hot pot, whiskey, and lian wu (my favorite Taiwanese fruit ^^).

Here’s a cute pic of me with Abby’s father’s side of the family, eating a hot pot meal replete with vegetables that Abby’s parents cultivated ^^

And here’s a shot of me with Abby~ don’t we look like sisters??

I’ll tell you though, I can’t get enough of the fruit lian wu. I’m so lucky that Abby’s parents farm it. Apparently, Ping Dong has some of the best Lian Wu in Taiwan and if Abby’s parents’ crop is anything to go by, I’d say that’s true. They were so sweet and delicious!!