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Goodbye Shanghai, Hello Taipei

written by John Chow on June 3, 2008

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We are jetting off again! This time, we’re flying across the strait to Taipei for the 2008 Computex trade show. Actually, we can’t really fly from Shanghai to Taipei. The Taiwan government doesn’t allow direct flights between the two cities. We have to fly to Hong Kong first and then fly to Taipei. If Taiwan allowed direct flights, the journey would take only two hours. However, since they don’t, it takes half a day.

Second Biggest IT Show In The World

Computex is the second biggest IT show in the world. It’s also the most fun of all the shows I attend. It’s unlike any show in North America. The culture is different, the language is different and even the parties are different. Because of incredible growth, Computex is spreaded across two convention centers this year. It will be interesting to see the mad traffic jams this will create. There will be shuttle buses to take attendees from one convention center to the other. Because Taipei is a WiMax enabled city, the buses will have laptops in them so we can experience the city wide WiFi.

Stephen Fung and Michael Kwan are already in Taipei. Ed Lau will be joining us later tonight at the Gigabyte party. Computex officially opens tomorrow. Expect to see a lot of fun posts this week.

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John, when you said the world's tallest hotel was the one in Shanghai and the world's tallest building is in Taipei, are you just kidding? :P I'm pretty sure they're only the tallest in Asia and I heard that the world's tallest buildings are all going to be in Dubai..

-Mike

It's not the world's tallest until it opens. Under construction doesn't count for a world record.

Sounds like you had a great time. :smile:

Laptops inside of busses? Holy crap, that's awesome...

Ahh - WiMax enabled city - what a bliss...

That's cool now you are going to take us to Taiwan!! :grin:

Those are some tight alleys... I'd hate to have my car parked there.

why Taiwan government doesn’t allow direct flights between the cities? does someone know?

It's political. China claims to own Taiwan and Taiwan claims they rule China. China has said that if Taiwan declares full Independence, they will invade the island. An invasion would come across the strait so Taiwan made that a no fly zone. If they see planes flying across the strait, it means China is going to attack.

Stuck in the middle of this is the US (of course). They have trade relations both China and Taiwan and are required by law to define Taiwan if China tries to take Taiwan by force.

It's one big huge mess. I may do a post about it one day.

Yeah i've read about this, the comunist's took over China somewhere in the 20th century and I think that USA supports Taiwan because Chain is commuist whereas china is communist. Hey john, you got any comment over China being a communist?

Cool video

www.proof-of-payment.com

Too bad a two hour flight has to stretch into half a day trip. At least you're having fun. I'll be looking forward to the videos.
~Terry

I've been wanting travel to different parts of Asia. So far I've only been to Korea and the Philippines.

wow ... Your video make me dizzy ...

However, I think I saw my parents house in your video. I have lived in Taipei for 30+ years. There is not even one car without a scratch on their bumper.

If you get chance, be sure to visit the Toung-Hua night market. There are a lot of delicious foods. By the way, Taiwan has the best fruits in the world. Be sure to get some.

Looking forward to the posts about parties and food, may some info on cool gadgets would be great to. LOL!

Looks like fun. I don't envy your weather there right now but I know the show is going to be a blast.

Nice to see the freedom that your blogging venture provides for. Great to see you traveling John.

Another very cool video post. :cool:

I'm working on editing the first video post for my blog. It's about my first geocaching adventure!

I love Taipei. It remains one of my favorite destinations in Asia.

http://ww2db.com/other.php?other_id=19

Great food and a convenient subway system that's very friendly to westerners. Those are two big pluses.

We haven't even been on the subway yet since taxis are so cheap.

Why don't they allow direct flights? Never heard of something like that before. Have fun!

hun thanx for the hint John m sure the coming gona be techful week

lots of gadgets and technical reviews :razz:

Welcome to Taipei, man! You should drop me an email... How many days will you be here? I know you're pretty busy, but it would be cool to meet up... Perhaps we can do the nightmarkets! That's always worth a few good camera shots! If you're here on Saturday...

Kenneth

Hey, that's pretty cool! I get my link on your blog on the day you arrive in Taiwan! Karma! Let's hope the hosting doesn't die like the last time!

Kenneth

talking about SPAM... three comments in a row in the article :!: :?: :!:

Looks like he is on fly to Commentry :)

Interesting info :)

Geez, these spam comments annoy, don't they!

Looks like combination of that two (spam & comments) :)

Have a good time there john :grin: and I hope for great blog posts,
and that thing with (not)direct fly is stupid. Like they could not arrange that and make a compromise.

Taiwan and China aren't on the best of terms.

You people are rich, getting tickets to visit places almost everyday, what a life!