As usual, while getting ready to write this year-end review, I took some time to go back and read over some of the previous ‘Year in Review’ posts. I hadn’t realized it, but this will be the fifth time posting one of these.
Time sure does fly.
When I started this site in 2014, I had never expected that I’d end up spending a countless amount of hours sitting in coffee shops all over Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu writing blogs.
The thing is though, when I look back, I wouldn’t consider it time wasted.
Sure, you could say that instead of spending all that time sitting around doing research, translating and writing, I could have been out taking more photos - but all those hours I’ve spent have also helped me learn so much more about Taiwan.
And hey, I guess if I didn’t make the effort, I wouldn’t have been named one of ‘2019’s Hottest Influencers in Taiwan’, although to tell the truth, I’m not really sure how that happened.
If I’m an influence, its probably a bad one.
So, 2019 - What can I say? It didn’t absolutely suck.
In terms of world events, things got a bit crazy, but as the year comes to a close it seems like we might be starting to rebound from some of the stupidity left over from the past few years.
By the time you read this, Greta Thunberg has already been named Time’s “Person of the Year”, Trump is already on his way to being impeached and Sanna Marin has become the Prime Minister of Finland and consequently the world’s youngest head of state, leading a coalition of parties all run by women.
All the crazy people on the internet are having aneurisms. It’s great.
In terms of my own country, we had an election and (if you’re asking me) the right guy won - despite a bunch of moronic scandals and controversies. Justin Trudeau, who just might be the least terrible option we have was elected Prime Minister for a second term.
Sure, we could do better than him, but we almost could have done a lot worse with the other guy.
And hey, the other guy ended up getting the boot. (Canadian humour)
Here in Taiwan, the nation is starting to count down the days until an election that will take place in early January. President Tsai Ying-wen (蔡英文) is hoping for a second term while the goofy mayor of Kaohsiung, Han Kuo-Yu (韓國瑜) is running against her. Polling so far looks like President Tsai is sailing toward an easy win against the gaffe-prone Han, but polls are known to be wrong and who knows what will happen, so we’ll just have to wait until Election Day to know for sure.
In more important news, the long-thought extinct Formosan Spotted Leopard (台灣雲豹) made a few surprise appearances this year, giving hope that the species may be on the rebound. The government started the process of banning plastic bags and straws, which should be completely eliminated soon and after a long battle, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage!
Scientists also made a bunch of cool discoveries, people did lots of cool, positive things and despite all the depressing stuff you see in the news, not everything sucks.
When I looked back at my ‘Year in Review’ posts for 2017 and 2018, it seemed like we were all collectively waiting for those years to end so we could have a fresh start - It doesn’t seem like anyone really feels like that about 2019 though, which probably means that it wasn’t a total disaster.
Personally though, when I read my 2018 post, I thought, “Holy hell, that was a pretty great year” - I travelled to England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, France and Iceland.
This year? I’ve been too busy and the only vacation I had was a trip to Okinawa.
So what have I been so busy doing?
Well, this year has been the busiest year I’ve had as a so-called ‘working’ photographer.
I spent the first half of the year constantly on the road taking photos for various publications, which left me with little time for my own personal stuff. Once the summer hit, things eased up a bit for a short time and I was able to get out to do my own stuff.
That didn’t last very long though as photo requests kept coming in and I was back on the road.
When I look through my photo catalogue for this year, I’d estimate that around 85% of the photos I took were for commercial work. This isn’t all that bad though as commercial work pays the bills and in some cases affords me opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Speaking of which, the highlight of my year (which I’ll talk about in more detail later) was when I was contracted to take photos of the ‘Mass Same-Sex Wedding Ceremony’ that was held in front of Taiwan’s Presidential Office. The historic event wasn’t open to the public and tickets were hard to get, so if I didn’t have a media pass, I wouldn’t have been able to attend.
As we move into a new decade, 2020 looks like it is going to be another busy year for me in terms of travel.
I’ll be starting the year with a few weeks in Vietnam and Thailand, which will then be followed by Japan a few months later and then either Nepal and/or Canada.
I’m also hoping to spend more time traveling through southern and eastern Taiwan.
In terms of personal projects, I’m still considering a few options, but as usual you can expect that I’ll be posting a bunch of blogs about temples, mountains, abandoned places and historic buildings and tourist sites around Taiwan as well as continuing to write travel posts from other countries.
As always, I enjoy hearing from people, so if you have any suggestions on how I can improve this site, questions, or places that you’d like to see me write about, feel free to get in touch with me by email or through social media.
2019 Favorite Blog Posts
This year I was busy as usual with a bunch of personal projects that included climbing a bunch of mountains, exploring temples and historic or abandoned buildings. So, I guess you could say that not much changed from years past, but I spent quite a bit of time updating, rewriting and adding new photos to old articles.
I also spent quite a bit of time writing about my two European adventures as well as my trip to Okinawa.
Below I’m going to highlight some of the work I did this year and as usual I’m going to take a look at my Website Analytics and identify the blogs that were the most popular with visitors.
1. Taipei Hikes
One of my projects this year was to write hiking guides to all of the mountains in Taipei that are considered hot-spots for taking photos of the cityscape. Although I had already published guides to some of the mountains that I featured in the guide, I went through all the individual articles, updated them and in some cases completely re-wrote them.
This also meant that I spent quite a bit of time hiking to get better photos.
Although I had a lot of fun hiking, I did end up having to carry a lot of equipment with me, so it was a project that took a lot of effort!
Below is a list of all the articles that I published, updated and re-wrote this year:
Jiantan Mountain (劍潭山), Tiger Mountain (虎山), Bishan Temple (碧山巖), Fuzhou Mountain (福州山), Elephant Mountain (象山), Thumb Mountain to 9-5 Peak (拇指山 - 九五峰), Four Beasts Hiking Trail (四獸山步道), Taipei Cityscapes Guide
2. Asia’s First Mass Same-Sex Wedding
When Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage, the nation cemented itself (once again) as a beacon for human rights and democracy in Asia. The same-sex marriage issue is something that I’ve strongly supported for years, so when I received an email asking whether I was interested in covering the mass marriage event taking place in front of the Presidential Building in Taipei, I jumped at the chance to take part.
Having a media pass meant that I could freely walk around the coveted event, taking part in the festivities and sharing in the happiness of people who could finally exercise their right to marriage.
The marriage ceremony, which was set up in a traditional Taiwanese banquet-style was carefully planned to not only allow couples and their families to enjoy the experience of having a wedding, but also to allow the local and international media a chance to show how great Taiwan really is and that love is love.
Needless to say, attending this event was one of the highlights of my year.
3. Iceland Blogs
As I mentioned above, when I looked back at my ‘2018 in Review’ post, a lot of the photos that I chose were from the two trips I took to Europe that year. The thing is though, I didn’t actually get around to posting much on my blog about those trips until this year.
My Iceland blog posts ended up attracting quite a bit of traffic as some of the locations I posted about don’t really have that much information online - despite Icelands popularity as a tourist destination.
I’ve since completed the list of blog posts about the country, but I plan on adding another sometime in the new year which I’m thinking is going to act as an overall guide to travelling in Iceland with some of my personal thoughts (and criticisms).
Below is a complete list of the Iceland blogs I posted this year:
Hallgrímskirkja Church, Goðafoss, Dettifoss, Hengifoss, Skaftafell National Park, Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Reynisfjara (Black Sand Beach), Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, Crater Kerið, Faxi Waterfall, Gullfoss, The Geysir Geothermal Area, Öxarárfoss Waterfall, Iceland’s Golden Circle
4. Lukang Longshan Temple (鹿港龍山寺)
I guess you can file this one under my personal favourite blog post of the year.
The Lukang Longshan Temple just so happens to be the oldest of all the ‘Longshan Temples’ in Taiwan and is an architectural masterpiece. The temple, which is situated in the historic village of Lukang (鹿港) on the Western Coast of Changhua County is old - and unlike most temples that claim to be “old”, this one is actually old.
I spent a considerable amount of time researching and writing this article and learned quite a bit in the process.
If you haven’t already realized this, I’m a bit of a nerd, so when I write a blog that allows me to learn new things, I’m going to be pretty happy and I was quite happy writing this one.
Link: Lukang Longshan Temple (鹿港龍山寺)
Related: Changhua Confucius Temple, Changhua Sea-Shell Temple
5. Shuri Castle (首里城)
When I visited Okinawa in May, I planned an action-packed schedule of places to visit, things to see and most importantly places to eat. When visiting the islands, it goes without saying that one of the places you absolutely have to visit is Shujiro Castle, the former home of the Ryukyuan royal family and the capital of the kingdom.
I was fortunate to visit the castle early in the morning which meant that I was able to take photos without a bunch of tourists getting in the way - which ended up turning out quite well.
When I came back to Taiwan, I started writing up travel blogs about the various places I visited in Okinawa and when they were done, I scheduled them to be published. The sad thing is though, on the week I had scheduled my Shuri Castle article to be published, the historic castle burnt to the ground, in what would become one of the worst disasters to happen in Okinawa since the end of the war.
I contemplated just scrapping the article, but after talking with friends, I decided to just update the article with information about the fire and post the photos of what the castle looked like before this unfortunate disaster took place.
I hope that the castle can be rebuilt in a timely fashion as it is an important part of Ryukyuan culture and identity.
Link: Shuri Castle (首里城)
Related: Futenma Temple (普天間山神宮寺), Futenma Shinto Shrine (普天滿宮), Naha Confucius Temple (那霸至聖廟), Okinawa’s Kouri Island (古宇利島)
Your Favourite Blogs of the Year
In previous years when writing these review blogs, I took a look at my Google Analytics and it seemed like the same few articles were hogging all the attention. This year there was a bit of a shift in the most highly-visited articles, but the list wasn’t actually very surprising - which tells me I need to go back and make an effort to update them with more relevant information.
The five blogs listed below were enjoyed by a total of 213,593 unique visitors this year.
And in total, traffic here has increased by about 25.8% from last year, which is always good news.
My Favourite Photos of 2019
Whenever I look through my catalogue of photos to choose my ‘favourite’ photos of the year for these yearly review blogs, it’s always a painstaking process. It isn’t easy for me to choose the photos I like the most and to tell them truth, I’m probably not the best judge as I’m quite critical of all my work.
I’m thinking that in the future, I’m going to make a list of about fifty photos and let friends go through them and choose the ones they like the best, which should save me a bit of time!
Although some of my selections you may find strange, I think these photos pretty much tell the story of my year, so I hope you like them.
1. Zhulinshan Guanyin Temple (竹林山觀音寺)
If there is one thing that Taiwan’s places of worship are great at, its showing off, and there is probably no temple that shows off better than the Zhulinshan Guanyin Temple (竹林山觀音寺) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District.
The massive temple was completely reconstructed (at great expense) and reopened to the ‘oohs and ahhs’ of the general public in 2012.
In the years since, the temple has been recognized as one of the ‘Top 100 Places of Worship’ in Taiwan and has become a popular place of worship and for taking photos.
Most of the time when I take photos of a temple, I walk in with a simple set up with my camera in hand and with a few extra lenses in my bag. That just wasn’t possible with this temple though - I brought pretty much everything with me - two cameras, several lenses, flash, tripod, etc.
It should be easy to see why I’d make such an effort - This temple is probably one of the prettiest that you’ll ever visit.
2. Qixing Mountain (七星山)
After spending quite a bit of time hiking Taipei’s mountains this year, I figured it was about time to write about Taipei’s highest peak - Qixing Mountain (七星山). Fortunately I timed my visit just right so that I could enjoy the mountain at its best - during the Silver Grass season.
The area that we know today as “Yangmingshan” (陽明山) was once known as “Grass Mountain” (草山) thanks to the beautiful Silver Grass that grows in abundance on the mountain in Autumn, so when the grass (which is actually a weed) is blooming, people make a point to head to the national park to get photos - with the trail to Qixing Mountain being one of the prettiest places to get them.
My hiking guide for the mountain is likely to be published sometime in January, but the photos I ended up with were quite nice and I was really happy with them.
3. Yunsen Waterfall (雲森瀑布)
I’ve made it a yearly tradition over the past couple of years to visit Yunsen Waterfall at least once a year.
The waterfall is one of the prettiest in Northern Taiwan and has become quite popular recently on social media, but to tell the truth, since I came back from Iceland, I haven’t had as much motivation to visit waterfalls.
That being said, when Autumn rolled around and the maple leaves started changing colours, I figured that meant that it would be a great time to visit the waterfall to get some new photos. The waterfall, if you weren’t aware has some maple trees that branch over and obscure part of the waterfall, making for some pretty photos.
Upon arrival though, I was disappointed to discover that the maples had yet to change colours, what I did find however were quite a few Instagram ladies posing for photos - some of them in bikinis (a bit strange) - so I just took some photos of them and some of them turned out nice.
4. Silver Grass (芒草)
This year, I learned a good lesson - Never trust anything you see on Instagram!
Despite the fact that I’m well aware that the annual Silver Grass season is between the months of November and December, I started seeing photos appearing on Instagram in October.
I thought it was a little weird, but the photos were quite nice, so I figured that it was possible that the season started a bit earlier this year, so I planned a trip to the mountains to go check them out.
Upon arrival I quickly realized that people on Instagram are full of shit and that the Silver Grass was still needed several weeks before it would ready for photos. I did end up enjoying a nice hike, so not all was lost - and I did end up heading to the mountains a few weeks later to take this photo.
Lesson learned.
5. Flame Mountain (火炎山)
Flame Mountain (火炎山) became of the most popular hikes in Taiwan over the past year or two with flocks of Instagrammers heading there to take their sexy Instagram selfies. The mountain, which has been nicknamed “Taiwan’s Grand Canyon” (台灣大峽谷) is quite picturesque and is a great place for taking photos.
The reason for the sudden popularity of the mountain is because it was off-limits for a few decades due to the fact that it became a protected nature reserve for several species of migrating birds. Now that it has re-opened, it has become one of the most popular weekend hikes and is now home to another rare species, the ‘Instragramus Celebritius’.
Link: Flame Mountain (火炎山)
5. Chi Chia-Wei (祁家威)
One of my personal highlights of my year as a photographer was being contracted to cover the Mass Same-Sex Wedding Ceremony in front of Taiwan’s Presidential Palace the day after same-sex marriage was legalized in Taiwan. Marriage equality has been an issue that I’ve cared about for quite a long time, going back to my high-school years in Canada when we too were fighting for legalization at home.
While covering the event I was busy running around getting photos of all the couples that were getting married and some of the smaller events happening inside. When Mr. Chi made his appearance though, I tried to get as close as possible and used the few moments I was allowed to take a couple of portraits of him.
If you’re not aware, Mr Chi is a legend in Taiwan who has spent the majority of his life fighting for same-sex marriage and educating people about LGBTQ issues. He was one of the first people to come out in public and over the years has worked tirelessly to not only help change peoples perspectives on the issue, but lobby the government to enact change.
Link: Asia's First Mass Same-Sex Wedding (凱道同婚宴)
6. Taipei Popcorn
If you’ve read my blog closely this year, you probably know that I’ve developed somewhat of a ‘dislike’ for Instagram and the wannabe celebrities on it - especially all the “Internet Beauties” (網美) in Taiwan.
The thing is though, I like Instagram as a platform and there are quite a few people on there who are doing really cool things. One of those people is Taipei Popcorn, a New Zealand born expat living in Taiwan - who just so happens to be one of the coolest queens around.
I’ve followed Popcorn for quite a while and always enjoy the different styles of portraits and all the different costumes she wears, which are always so much different than the standard model poses you see all over the internet.
I was really happy to finally meet up in person at the Mass Same-Sex Marriage Ceremony that took place right after Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage.
Popcorn was on stage that night performing with several other queens and put on a really good show. Even though I was there covering the event for a magazine, I took a bit of time to watch the performance and took some shots that I would later pass on to all the talented queens.
I like this shot not just because of the pose, but the colourful background obscured by smoke.
Taipei Sunset
Could you call yourself a photographer and not take a photo of the Taipei cityscape at sunset at least once a year? I’m not sure.
I spent quite a bit of time this year hiking through the various trails around the city that allow for beautiful views of the cityscape for my Taipei Cityscape Guide - Each time I made a point to stick around at least until sunset to see if I was going to be lucky to catch a good one and on a few occasions I did!
It is easy to see why taking photos of the cityscape is so popular - even though there are already thousands of photos like this, its always nice to have a stocked library in case someone comes wanting to buy one of these iconic photos.
As always, I hope that despite all the weird and wonderful things that happened this year that you had a great one and I sincerely hope that this new decade is going to be a better one for all of us!
Happy New Year everyone! 新年快樂！
Josh.
