June 30th

Today we had only one lecture in the morning which was about the Taiwanese Snacks. It was a pity that we didn't see snack pictures or how to cook them. But we did have a comparison between Taiwanese cuisines and western cuisines and argued about whether we go outside or stay at home to eat among Taiwan and western countries.

In the afternoon we went to the Palace Museum. The guide spoke English incredibly well that I even could not figure out if I was in the Chinese-speaking country or in the English-speaking country. We had a browse of many fantastic artistic work and we were all amazed at how the ancient artists could make such delicate art and works.

At night, we had our dinner in Shilin Night Market which had a lot of tourists. I ate steak, Fried Tofu, Fried Shrimp, ice and local seafood with another three NTU girls. We all enjoyed our meals although it was noisy and crowded there.

June 29th

This morning we had lectures first in the morning, which were about experiments and Tom's wildlife biologist life. I really enjoyed Tom's lecture. He told the stories he experienced in exploring nature and wildlife up to the mountain and down to the earth. The stories were extremely exciting that we were all immersed in them. And I hope one day I can do some of them by myself. But I know that's difficult to fulfill.

In the afternoon we went to Yingge Ceramics Museum. We saw lots of ceramics made in diverse dynasties. Some of the patterns on the ceramics were very adorable and the souvenirs there were beautiful but expensive though. We also painted a ceramic by ourselves.

At night, we went to Fuyang Park to have a frog observation. It was my second time to observe frogs at night. Last time it was in Wulai and I only saw few. But this time in the guide of Teacher Lee, we saw 9 species of frogs and we even saw 3 super stars in Fuyang Park, one of which was Taipei tree frog that was not common in summer. And we also saw a snake and a firefly. The whole tour was exciting and full of screams and wows. The experience was really impressive and unforgettable.

June 28th

Today was sunny day and the sun shined brightly. We went to Jinshan first to do the blue dye. Everyone did it for the first time and we all thought it was hard work as the teacher showed us the steps to fold the cloth back and forth and use the stick to fix and shade. The dye was made from a special plant there named Malan. And after we folded the cloth we put it into the first dye for 5 minutes and took it out for oxidization so that the color would turn blue and then dyed it again for another 5 minutes. The last step was hanging the cloth on the line. To our surprise, we all created very beautiful patterns.

Then we headed to the Dharma Drum Mountain which owns the Buddha Palace built by Master Shengyan. The atmosphere was very quiet and peaceful there. All living thing exist harmoniously together. We climbed up the stairs slowly as the guider told us to feel the footsteps by our heart. And that concentrated our minds from the hot day. At noon, we had a hearty vegetarian meal and then worshiped the Buddha.

In the afternoon, we went to the Juming Museum to appreciate the artistic work, especially statues made by Juming. The statues there were big and quite special since Juming made them very quickly and the men's facial expression were all different. The park was really big that we walked for a whole afternoon.

June 27th

Today we headed to the Yangmingshan National Park located in Taipei city and we had a field tour on plants and insects there. We recognized many species of plants and insects with the help of the teachers, such as Begonia formosana Masams, cicadas, damselflies and so on. We climbed a lot and it was really exhausting.

After a short lunch of breads and cakes, we had a visit to he Siaoyukeng which possesses a unique volcano scenery. The guider Mrs Chi presented a very detailed introduction about how the volcano forms and the history of Penglai Rice and Bamboo Lake. Mrs Chis was really good at guiding and we all gained a lot.

The final stop we came to the Beitou Hot Spring Museum which was the first hot spring hotel providing bathing by Japanese. And the view in the Terrestrial Heat Valley was amazing with the fog floating on the surface of the lake, looking like a fairyland.

Though today I was very tired, the trip was wonderful and meaningful.

June 26th

Today we went to the NTU Zoology Museum first which belongs to the School of Life Science. Although I had classes in that building last year, I'd never been to the museum and I was fascinated with all kinds of specimens there. My school also has a zoology museum but it's amazing that NTU has such a large number of various kinds of specimens preserved well. After that we had a visit to NTU Insectarium which is located outside the campus. The insect specimens there amazed me a lot by the number of individuals and the diversity. We saw many insect specimens that the professor mentioned before and they were very beautiful.

Then we listened to lectures about Geography, Flora and Marine Biodiversity of Taiwan respectively. I learnt more about these respects and I was interested in the Marine biodiversity in Taiwan most that I can't wait to have a look at the mangrove forest, coral reefs and other marine creatures.

The First Two Days In BACT

It was my second time that I came to Taiwan and I was really eager to come here again since I left last time. And it was interesting that I had my birthday for the second time in Taiwan and I just found that Corinne and I share the same birthday with through Stephanie's blog! Oh I wish we could celebrate our birthday together!

Although I'm so familiar with NTU, it is my first time to participate such a special camp here with people from all over the world and speaking English every day. The weather now in Taipei is really humid and hot that I sweat profusely. Yesterday we had an self introduction and a small city tour to the museum. Everyone was very friendly and we got to know each other very fast.

Today we went to the school musuem of history and then went to play the Scavenger Hunt-getting games. We ran through the campus and played games by team. It was quite hot but we did have fun and knew each other better. In the afternoon we began our class. The professor's speech was very impressive and everyone was positive in answering and asking questions. The video shown was fantastic and I think I learnt a lot about Taiwan's biodiversity this afternoon.

I look forward to the coming visit to the museum and exploration in Yangmingshan