We packed quite a bit into today. We started with two hours of early morning T’ai Chi practice at a park near the hotel next to a truly fascinating tree, then a great buffet breakfast at the hotel.

We were in the mood for a little more Buddha so we took a taxi to a temple and got quite a bit more Buddha. Apparently sometimes you can go inside and look out of the golden Buddha, but sometimes the door is open and other times it is closed.

We successfully flagged down another taxi and made our way to the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and wandered around for several hours, soaking in the culture. My artistic sensibilities leave something to be desired, but I was genuinely taken with a number of the exhibits, especially the ink drawings. The combination of specificity and mystery that appeared again and again was mesmerizing to me.

We walked back to the Evergreen Hotel through a large park in the middle of Taichung. It was getting windy from the impending two typhoons that were threatening to make life interesting.

Joe and Beth had arrived at the hotel from Taipei and the gang was finally all here. We had a really fun dinner at the hotel restaurant. Joe, Megan, John and Beth took in a little Taichung nite life while the rest of us having barely made it thru dinner without nodding off went to bed.