Many years later, I was in Washington, D.C. anxiously awaiting an overseas assignment. The word of mouth came that it was Taipei, which I had never heard of. I anxiously pulled out a map and finally located it on Formosa, which I later learned meant beautiful island, so named by the Portuguese when they occupied it hundreds of years ago.

The trip started from San Francisco on Philippine Airlines. The airliner was a propeller driven DC-6, very slow by jet-age standards. Each leg lasted 12 or 13 hours. First stop was Hawaii, followed by Wake Island then Guam and finally landing in Manila. From Manila we boarded an old C-47 single engine puddle jumper that had to land for refueling on a dirt strip carved out of the jungle on the northernmost island of the Philippine Archipelago.

We finally hopped to Taipei, where I was met at the airport. I did not have to go through customs or immigration and my passport came back with a permanent entry chop. Then we left immediately for my lodging.

It was to be temporarily in a large old Japanese-style guesthouse with many rooms and a number of hot sulfur baths, the sulfur water constantly flowing in through bamboo pipes from natural sources farther up the hill in Peitou. About a dozen single American men, working for Western Enterprise Incorporated were staying there temporarily. Western Enterprises, as it was know in Taipei, was actually a CIA front.

An elderly Chinese man was in charge of our daily needs. We had our meals at a round table with a large lazy-susan in the center, Chinese style. I did not know how to use chopsticks but was determined to learn so I wouldn’t starve to death. I did not dare let go of the chopsticks throughout the meal and did manage to eat some of the delicious food. After several more attempts, I finally learned how to hold them after staining several of my new shirts.

I enjoyed the many strange sounds from the street, blind masseuses, vegetable vendors, knife and scissor sharpeners, noodle vendors, etc, each with his own distinct call or noise maker. Fascinating for a young, very naïve traveler like me.

Next day, my work began. Logistics, supply and local purchases at W.E.I. headquarters, which was in an old, rambling structure called the Taipei Guest House. My staff was housed in an oversize Quonset Building in the courtyard. For the first few months there were no air conditioning and I nearly fainted from the heat and humidity.

W. E. I. had its own club and mess hall. There was lots of drinking and gambling for big money each evening.

After two weeks, I finally moved to a house in the city with six other single men. We had a cook and our houseboy, Lawrence, took great care of us. We had good food and clean water. Our cook would try to make us steaks out of buffalo meat, so tough that it took hours to pound it to the point where it could be chewed. I much preferred the delicious Chinese meals he prepared. An old W.E.I. jeep took us to work in the morning, with little boys running beside us part way, pointing and shouting “Big nose foreign devils” in Chinese. I never forgot that phrase “Da Bi Tze, Yang Quei Tze”.

In the evenings we ended up drinking martinis, very strong indeed. (7 to1 kept in the freezer). I tried to be part of the group but after suffering some terrible hangovers, I decided it was not for me. There were very few places of entertainment other than bars full of bar girls or the Club. FOCC (Friends of China Club) was for all Americans living in Taipei, it served American style food, had slot machines and a band for entertainment and dancing- if one had a girl. (I didn’t.) I finally joined the “Grand Hotel,” the grandest hotel in Taipei, with great food, fancy Chinese décor and the most important thing for me, a pool. I went there quite often.

Some of the guys had girlfriends, and through the grapevine I heard of the beautiful Cho twins who spoke many languages. They were somewhat notorious, as it was whispered that they were spies working for the Nationalist Government. I was interested, but didn’t think I would have a chance to meet them.

Before I bought my car, it was very difficult getting around. I took pedicabs, but speaking no Chinese it was not an easy task. With some of the guys, we would go to Tamsui to visit the beach and made several adventures with a homemade Catamaran. One time we went far out into the Formosa Strait and the catamaran would not turn around. We were sure we would end up in RED CHINA and be either jailed or executed. Thank God we finally got it back to Tamsui Beach. After that fiasco, nobody would go out on the cat and it was left to rot.

Among my duties were two flights weekly to Okinawa for supplies. We would leave at 6 a.m. in an old WW11 C-46 unmarked cargo plane. It was always freezing cold in that non-pressurized cargo area and I would wrap up in blankets and sleep until we arrived. We would land in a remote area of Kadena Air Force base, and go in a truck to a warehouse in the southern part of the island. While they loaded the truck I would head for the small snack bar and blissfully consume a milkshake. Milkshakes could not be found anywhere in Formosa. The truck would then return to the plane and the cargo loaded for the return flight to Taipei. After 6 or 8 months I was forced to quit because of a serious sinus problem.

I also flew on supply trips to several offshore islands on another WW11 relic, this one an amphibious PBY. We would land on the sea near the islands and unload supplies into sampans. We then visited the inhabitants, who were armed by WEI for the purpose of interdicting Chinese Communists coastal shipping. We also installed powerful engines into junks for speed, and armed them with 57 mm bazookas. These people who had lived for centuries from fishing and piracy were not allowed to attack British-flag vessels.

Nevertheless, they did attack a British ship and high jacked its load of lumber. The pirates promptly constructed some new buildings on their little isle, which was nothing much more than a chunk of rock jutting out of the sea. The British tried to chase down the pirates but were not able to locate them. After all, they have lived off piracy for hundreds of years, and knew how to disappear quickly among the many tiny uninhabited islands without leaving a trace. We told the pirates if they attacked a British ship again, we would cut off their supplies.

I made a memorable trip to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, in a Chinese Nationalist LST to pick up an extra large cargo shipment for distribution to the islands. The LST (Landing Ship Tanks) was a large vessel with a huge hold capable of loading tanks, big trucks, heavy equipment, etc. These could then be landed off the front ramp directly onto a beach. Nobody on the ship spoke any English , and I was there to assure that the cargo went to the right destination. I had my own little cabin and ate with the captain and officers. I also had my own supply of canned fruits, etc, as I did not care for Chinese breakfast of rice cooked in a lot of water and some vegetables to wash it down.

Unloading the cargo was uneventful, but time-consuming at the small offshore islands of Paichuan and Matsu, where everything had to be offloaded into sampans because there were no beaches for such a large ship. Several days were needed at each place and I had to be in the cargo hold at all times to be sure the right crates and wooden boxes went to the right island. The captain was very nervous the whole time for fear we would be discovered and attacked by the Chinese Communists. Fortunately, nothing happened, and we all heaved a sigh of relief when we weighed anchor for the last time and sailed for Formosa.

About a year and a half later, I finally met one of the famous twins. Her name was Chi and she was seeing Jack, one of my colleagues, and also teaching him Mandarin Chinese. She was tiny and beautiful and spoke flawless English. I was very envious of him. When Jack’s tour was up, he asked me if I would be kind enough to give her rides to and from Spanish classes, as he did not want her riding pedicabs at night. Would I? You bet! Even better, I decided to take the classes, too. Our teacher was the son of the Spanish Ambassador.

In true Chinese fashion, Chi felt obligated to repay me in her own unique way. She asked me to be her escort to a very formal dinner party at the French Embassy where she was working. I enjoyed myself hugely , except for a remark made by the French Military Attaché after a few rounds of good French wine: “So you work for Western Enterprises! BURN BEFORE READING!” and laughed uproariously at what he considered a very clever joke. With the very delicious French meal, rounds and rounds of wine were served followed by brandy and other after dinner drinks. I was so drunk that when Chi and I left the party, I immediately drove my British Ford into an open gutter and had to take her home in a pedicab. What an idiot she must have thought I was!

To make up to Chi, I invited her out to the Friends of China Club to dinner and dance. Later, I drove slowly by the river to see the moon hanging over the Grand Hotel. I got stuck again, this time in soft ground! Humiliation again!. She must have liked me in spite of these stupidities, as we continued to date and slowly became more and more serious. I fell in love with this girl and when I had to return to America I asked her to marry me. I told her I would return home to see my family, manage some of my affairs and return for her. Chi did not believe a word of this, as she was naturally suspicious after all she had been through.

Chi and her twin sister Lu were sent to a French School in Beijing, China, at age five to learn French and British English. They lived in the lap of luxury, servants, chefs, nannies and a chauffeur driven car. But at age thirteen, the Communists took over Beijing, and their father, worried about their safety, sent them away with one suitcase each to an aunt in the south. He promised to bring them back home when things quieted down, which never happened. Their parents went into hiding never to be found again. The twins ended up in Formosa with their older married sister. Without parents or money they had mostly to fend for themselves. I think what gave them the strength to keep going was their belief in the “Yin Yang” philosophy, which is opposites and balance, and never to “lose face.” The Chinese call it “Diu Lien,” which is instilled in every Chinese child from the moment they are old enough to understand. Three years later, Chi found a fabulous job with the French Embassy and Lu became an airline stewardess that took her all over the Far East.

Several months after I returned to Washington, I received a letter from Chi, saying she had been offered a job in the Chinese Embassy in Athens, Greece. She was going to travel with a diplomatic passport and live in the Embassy. She accepted immediately. She was thrilled to have such a glamorous job, and at last to travel the world in style!

We continued to write to each other, and with each letter I asked when I could visit her. She loved her position in the Embassy and was hoping to get transferred to Paris in a couple of years. She loved France and had always wanted to live there. She used to tell me she would be happy in a little cottage in Provence, near the Mediterranean Sea eating Camembert and Brie cheese with a warm baguette, washing it down with a good glass of French wine. She kept putting me off. I finally saved up enough money and told her I was coming. I was going to Greece to marry her, or if rejected, go back to the States and get on with my life. To my surprise, she accepted my proposal and we were married in the Chinese Embassy in Athens. The Chinese Ambassador was our best man. She told me we could always visit Paris together sometime in the future.

When I accepted a job with the United States State Department, Chi became an American citizen, and we were sent overseas. We raised two wonderful children, and now have two granddaughters. We lived in thirteen countries on five continents and enjoyed knowing the people and learning their languages and cultures. It was a good life, with one frightening exception when I was kidnapped in Guatemala. Chi negotiated with the Marxist guerrillas and with the help of the American Embassy and the United Nations, and I was finally released after nine weeks. To compensate for our suffering we were sent to Bridgetown, Barbados, where we lived for four glorious years.

We are now retired in Tucson, Arizona, enjoying the companionship of our family nearby, with good friends, warm sunshine, glorious sunsets, and the chance to frequently hear and speak Spanish.

The Chinese only arrived in large numbers after 1600, when the Dutch East India Company established trading posts and forts on the island. After they defeated the Dutch in 1662, they gained control over the island and stayed until the end of the 19th century when the Japanese took over. They also left their mark on the island, remaining in control until after World War 2, when they were succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang.

How can I begin to write about my trip to Taiwan except to use the Portuguese word “Saudade”? “Saudade” is a word that envelopes so many emotions: nostalgia, longing, yearning, love, friendship, desire, etc. No other language has a word like it. Taiwan was once called “Formosa”, another Portuguese word which means “beautiful.”

I was last in Taiwan when my husband, Richard, served in Vietnam between 1968-1970. Our family was not allowed to go to Vietnam, so I went to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, with my two young children. We were 180 wives with no husbands.

Since then Taiwan has changed so much that I did not know the place, but all for the better. It is a wealthy and vibrant island with hard working, polite people. They especially stress the importance of a good education for its youth.

I wanted to see my older sister, Amy, because her third son Michael had written to tell me she had been ill. It had been many years since I last saw her, as well as her three sons and their families. I did not want to linger over my decision for fear I might change my mind. I booked my ticket and left four days later. None of my family members could go with me, so I was quite nervous about flying half-way around the world alone. I had never gone anywhere without Dick, even on short trips. I closed my mind and refused to think negative thoughts, especially about the typhoon that was pounding the southern part of the island causing devastation and death.

I finally arrived in Taipei on China Air Lines around 9 PM. I was on the road for over twenty hours and was so tired that I did not even remember when my nephew Michael picked up my luggage, or the drive to my sister’s apartment.

Amy had surgery last year. She was fine, although she still had some breathing problems and coughed constantly. It was wonderful to see her again, and we made up for lost time. It was especially exciting to be speaking Chinese. Amy had thought of everything to make me comfortable. She even gave me a cell phone to make overseas calls and pocket money to spend. She also had a full-time maid and a chauffeur.

The next night a French banquet was given in my honor so that I could meet the family and Amy’s close friends. I had forgotten about all the protocol – the exchanging of gifts and the toasting that was exchanged back and forth before the meal was served. The liquors of choice were mostly “Johnny Walker Blue” and “Chivas Royal Salute.” I sipped on my half glass of white wine while I noticed with admiration and total awe the amount of liquor being consumed. It brought back memories of when I was a child in Beijing, and the many banquets my parents hosted with their Mahjong games. My mother was considered the perfect hostess and could drink to and toast each guest throughout the long meal – but I never remember seeing her drunk. My sister certainly was as perfect a hostess as my mother.

While I was there, my oldest nephew Ricky, along with his wife and family, were vacationing in Massachusetts. Their three daughters have all graduated from the best schools in the United States and Europe. They were returning the day after I left Taiwan, so I was sorry to miss them. Amy took me to see their home located in Yangmingshan, a very exclusive area of Taipei. The houses and land there were amazing. The kitchens were equipped for either western or Chinese cuisines.

I took a tour of the manicured grounds and petted the three horses in their stables. Their youngest daughter currently lives in Amsterdam and competes in horse shows in Europe. I was very impressed with everything.

My second nephew, Andy, is the CEO of several companies. He and his wife, Bonnie, have two children. Tiffany, who is 22, has a perfect figure, creamy white skin, and is very beautiful. I thought of Scarlett Johansson when I met her. She was leaving in two days to go to Hongkong and Shanghai to look for a job. She took me to the night market – a very popular tourist attraction. The market sold everything from shoes to trinkets and served every kind of food one could desire. Their son, Ian, is twelve. He told me he has too much homework, but it’s necessary because the education system is very competitive. Andy takes time on weekends to play tennis and be with his family, because during the week many of his evenings are spent hosting overseas business guests. The whole family has luncheon and dinner together every Sunday.

Bonnie, my niece, and I had a delightful day together. She is very pretty and full of life. She speaks perfect English, and worked as an airline hostess for China Air Lines for seven years. She took me to a famous Chinese restaurant for lunch, where I ordered many dishes that I remembered from my childhood: drunken chicken, red-braised pork with skin that melts in your mouth, little steamed buns filled with pockets of succulent meat and juice, and specialty dishes from many different provinces. These are called “Shia Fan” dishes, which means dishes that make the rice go down; they were so delicious, so well seasoned, so amazing that I wanted to remember the flavors forever. For desert, I ordered rice flour balls stuffed with black sesame paste.

She then took me to a massage parlor where I had an hour-long massage. I was totally satisfied with my day, but Bonnie had one more surprise for me. She was taking me to her favorite hair dresser to get my hair done. Before the girl washed my hair, I had another 15 or 20 minute massage of my head and shoulders. Bonnie was finally satisfied and I was ready to go home and take a long nap before the big dinner that night.

Michael, the youngest son, is an attorney-at-law for Baker and McKenzie. He is not married and lives close to Amy, so he came over every morning to have breakfast with us. What a charmer! I felt fortunate to see him so often. He is a gourmand and usually ordered the dishes and wines for the banquets and luncheons.

Michael and his friend, Gogi, who is a very well known fashion designer in Taipei, picked me up one Saturday morning and took me to the flower and jade market. I have never imagined so many variety of flowers, especially orchids. Then we went to the jade market, where I admired the great variety of jade, rings, pendants, and statues. These two markets are several blocks long and are only open on Saturdays and Sundays – during the week they are transformed into parking lots.

We also visited “Taipei 101,” the tallest building in the world. Visitors can watch the multimedia show before riding the world’s fastest elevator to the 89th floor. The elevator has a high pressurized speed of over a thousand meters per minute. The observatory is equipped with high power binoculars, drink bars, image services, and prerecorded multimedia guides in eight languages. Visitors can observe the detailed structure and the heaviest wind damper which weighs 660 metric tons. Looking out the window one can see all of Taipei and its famous landscape. To reach the 91st floor one must take the steps from the 89th floor. You will feel the strong winds and see up close the spire to the building’s 508 meters high sphere. You can watch a theater film that shows the building’s construction and last New Year’s celebration with a fireworks display which eminated from all parts of the towering structure.

I also took a day-long tour of Taipei and surroundings with six other passengers - two from America, two from Australia, and one from Japan. We visited some of the must-see historical sights. The first was the Chiang Kai Shek memorial park. Around the park, a 1200 meter corridor is built. A Chinese window taking the form of a lantern is seen on the wall every 4.5 meters. There are two ponds that take up 3000 square meters. It is surrounded by stones and landscaped with artificial hills, stone-paved paths, and arched bridges. In the ponds a great number of bright-colored carp swim back and forth. With an area of 250,000 square meters, the Memorial Park is a paradise for animals, plants, and birds. One can see the butterflies flying among the flowers and bees busily collecting honey.

We then moved on to Chih Fu Temple. The main god of this Temple is the God of the Land, Taiwan’s most popular god. This god has evolved into human form and understands all the hardships of the human being. He has the power to influence people and is always ready to help when needed. He has a healthy face, silver hair, kind eyes and laughing lips. The day to worship the “God of Land” is called “Ya,” which means to “welcome fortune.” It is held on the second and the sixteenth days of the lunar month.

The best visit was saved for last – the National Palace Museum. It has a permanent collection of over 650,000 Chinese artifacts and other pieces of art – the largest collection in the world. In 2008 it was the world’s 15th most visited museum. In 2001 the museum underwent a major overhaul that cost $21 million, making it more spacious and modern. The displays are rotated once every three months. If you were to see all 650,000 pieces, it would take you more than twelve years.

Finally, my trip came to a close. I’m now back in Tucson with my loving family. I am again enjoying the glorious sunsets, the majestic mountains, and the quaint cacti. I will be playing tennis and duplicate bridge, cooking and baking, and enjoying the friends I love.

This simple life is good for my soul. I can truly say I would be satisfied if all my worldly goods consisted of a good tennis racket, a bridge table, an efficient stove, and a comfortable bed on which to lay my head.

I will always treasure my memories of Taipei and keep them stored in my heart to relive and savor: the distinctive food specialties of each province, the toasting before the banquets, the red envelopes with money for tipping, the gifts that are exchanged, and the protocol for each event.

I will also remember the kindness of my family and friends, the polite waitresses and service people in their neat uniforms, and the emphasis on education. I have fulfilled all of my senses – from the exotic fruits and vegetables, the variety of sea food, fowl and meat (especially the exceedingly tender and flavorful kobe beef),  the beauty of orchids and other strange flowers, and the exquisite art and paintings.

I was also very impressed that everyone spoke Mandarin, which has unified all the Chinese people.

What a journey! What a vacation! What memories!

Thank you, Taiwan.