This morning our friends Linda and Les picked us up with our bikes and we drove about an hour southeast out of the city to a ferry where we met up with four other friends who came down on their scooters. We hopped onto the ferry (passengers, scooters and bikes, no cars) in Donggang and spent about 20 minutes zipping out to Liuqiu Island.

It was a sea of humanity in both Donggang and the ferry terminal on the island. But like most touristy places, once you get out of the town the crowds just disappear. It was incredibly beautiful and peaceful. We biked around the perimeter of the island, about 12 km, had lunch on the beach, ate mango ice when we got back to town and made plans to come back and spend a weekend here.

(Here's a little lesson in pinyin, the way Chinese characters are written in Arabic letters: there is no consistency. On this map Liuqiu is called Xiao (meaning "little") Liu Qiu . On other maps it's Liuchiu. It's best to learn to recognize the way something sounds and look for the best approximation in pinyin. This is especially true when it comes to street signs. The pinyin spelling of a street name can change from one intersection to the next and then change back again.)

 This is the little town on the island where the ferry lands. I'm sure the town has a name but I have no idea what it is.

 We never saw any crabs. 

 After we climbed the hills on the bikes we were rewarded with a fabulous view of the ocean. That's Lee and Les.

To me this sculpture looked like a cross between a moose antler and a fire breathing dragon. West meets East.

This was our spot for lunch. The beach was mostly made up of little pieces of coral.

The rock formations on the island are really interesting and the water had that wonderfully tropical aqua blue color in the shallows. It was gorgeous.

Often times when I'm traveling somewhere I'll be reminded of someplace I've been before. Like today, the rolling hills of the island reminded me of Nantucket and further on the coastline reminded me of a part of Tobago. Then I'd come around the corner and there was a distinctly Taiwanese temple or I'd get a whiff of some cooking spice or incense and suddenly I'm right back in Taiwan. And right now there's no place I'd rather be.