Field Trips!!

Tuesday we went to Taipei and toured the Taipei Rapid Transit Co. and the Traffic Control Center.  Between the two, they control the metro system, buses, trains, bike rentals, ferries, parking systems, everything having to do with transportation in Taipei.  It was really interesting how smooth everything runs, and how dedicated they are to lowering their carbon footprint.  On the videos we watched, they said about 45% of all citizens use public transportation to get around.  That's amazing!  I would totally take the bus to work but it would take about 90 minutes each way, and really not be any cheaper than paying for gas..so if you ask me that's not a great system.
Here's a more detailed account of this field trip if you're REALLY interested in public transportation.  http://bachungli.pbworks.com/Classwork#

We also visited some other places like Taipei's tallest (or maybe longest) bridge called the Valentine's Bridge.  The legend says that if you walk over it with your significant other, you will break up.  How romantic.  Here's my lovely artsy shot of the bridge. We went to a really large night market and also for a ferry ride.  My favorite part: seeing the Turkish Ice Cream man.  He was all big and sweaty and was singing and serving up ice cream from a long stick.  Then Danny, our Taiwan guide and amazing cat says, "Oh yes, that is Turkish ice cream man, he will do tricks for you". So sweet. 

Anywho, Today we visited Hsinshu Science park which is kinda like Silicon Valley in California.  It's like an all inclusive city where all the businesses are high tech companies.  This park alone developed over $27 billion on revenue last year, which was actually a 20% drop from the previous year due to the economy.  All the industries there fall into 6 categories:

• Integrated Circuits
• Computers and Peripherals
• Telecommunications
• Optoelectronic
• Precision Machinery
• Biotechnology

Some of the companies you might recognize are Acer, Logitech, and Dupont.  The reason the city of Hsinchu was chosen over other areas is because of the universities which also call the city home.  These universities filter graduates into the companies.  Most awesome thing developed there: the computer chip that was created for Furbies.