I look forward to bringing educational and fun experiences in Asia to my granddaughter Mila, who lives in Oklahoma, USA. She can learn about the world through all my adventures. I got a flat stuffed toy to join me. She is reversible. One side is a little girl and the other is a ladybug. I call her LadyB. I sent the same toy to Mila, which she can name as she sees fit. My Chinese name is Gonggong (公公), which means grandfather in Chinese.

I posted the first 15 on Facebook and got so many complaints from fans who hate it, don’t use it or got banned, so I decided to start posting them on China Rising Radio Sinoland. Catching up with #6 here.

ADVENTURES IN ASIA WITH LADYB AND GONGGONG

Story #6: BIG typhoon coming down on us!

Puli Town, Nantou County, Taiwan Province, China.

Dear Granddaughter Mila,

OMG! We move to Taiwan and the first week we have a big typhoon, which is the name for hurricanes in Asia. This one is called Kongrey. Each new typhoon gets its own special name.

See that purple dot on the map below? That’s where LadyB and I live, in Puli Town, 530m above sea level, in the foothills. See that purple line? That is where the Taiwan Mountain Range is. Over 100 peaks reaching 4,000m! That’s high!

You have to be hardy to live on the east side of Taiwan. Several times a year, they have to batten down the hatches with each incoming typhoon.

Thank goodness for the Taiwan Central Mountain Range. It keeps us safe from all the typhoons that pound the island every year, mostly May-October.

For those living on the east side of the mountains, they get hammered with the full force of every typhoon. That may help explain why 90% of Taiwanese live on the west side of mountains. This population density map tells the story,

See that green circle? That’s where we live in Puli Town, which has 85,000 souls. In that same circle, 25km to the west is Nantou County’s seat – you guessed it – named Nantou City. It has 105,000 citizens. Further to the west of Nantou City on the coast is Taicheng, which has one million inhabitants. It is about 45km away from Puli Town.

Those of us on the west side have that huge mountain range protecting us. As each typhoon slams into the island, we just get a lot of rain and some wind, but the typhoons peter out. Once in a while, a typhoon can hook around the mountains from the south and hit the west side, but luckily, it’s rare.

LadyB and I are prepared. We bought big bowls of ramen noodles, nuts, crackers, snacks and juice, to ride out the storm until we wake up tomorrow. We are hunkered down tonight and will sleep to the sound of falling rain.

Do you know who makes the best snacks? Taiwan and the rest of China have great goodies, but truth be told, it is the Japanese. They are amazingly tasty, come in so many varieties and Taiwan imports all of them!

LadyB and I say good night. We send you our love while she watches me work!

Until the next post, Grandfather Gonggong