5th day: Interesting workshops and guided tours in Taichung area

My host just told me that today we are going to meet her friend in Taichung’s area who also hosts an international guest from Korea of SayTaiwan program however this day turned out quite differently how I expected before. So we went by a bus and train from Changhua to Taichung’s area where we met my host’s friend and her guest and then we went to another place of Taichung’s district. I didn’t know what will happen and I became more and more surprised that a lot of people gathered close to us and at the end I understood that these people are other international guests with their host families.

So then came a group leader and she invited us to come in Taichung’s local bakery where was even an owner of this bakery to introduce with the bakery’s production and local baking traditions. We gained a little insight what are the Taiwanese local sweets and then we went to another part of Taichung’s district where we had the food making workshop in the restaurant. The staff was very welcoming and we learned how to make sushi with the ingredients which are mostly popular in Taiwan so that I learned that sushi is a national food not only in Japan but in several Asian countries and only the ingredients used in the sushi differ. When we finished making the sushi then we moved to another room of this restaurant where we learned how to make the sweets but I still don’t know exactly what is a name of the sweets.

After this food making workshop we had a lunch there and after that we moved to Fengyan lacquer art museum where we got acquainted with this type of art and we made a little art by ourselves using these technique. After the art workshop the tour ended and I’m so much appreciating that the host families were volunteering to show their local culture to us.

At the end I was very tired but we anyway went to Taichung’s biggest night market. And I didn’t regret that we went to this market because it was so entertaining. I was amazed by the bright colors, the huge crowds of the people, sales assistants and products. We both with a Korean girl MinJung Park admitted that we felt so alive and full of energy while we were walking trought the market. After night market we went back to Changhua and I was so exhausted but I knew that I had a day which was full of great impressions.