Word: xiao
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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When the 50-minute flight touches down, we cruise through the official formalities to find my girlfriend's xiao gugu, or little auntie, waiting for us. It's after 9 p.m. but Xiao Gugu, a high-school Chinese literature teacher and staunch epicure, has plotted out an evening of eating. (When flying to Taipei, don't bother touching a morsel on the plane.) We head to Liaoning Street in northeast Taipei where vendors famous for their seafood concoctions line the crowded alley. Xiao Gugu waves us over to a woman who is ladling taro batter onto a round grill...
...noon on Saturday our local gourmand comes around to guide us to lunch. Xiao Gugu ushers us into an inconspicuous little dive, explaining that when Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian wants to treat foreign dignitaries to authentic local dishes, he brings them to this charming place?the Lian Hsin Yuan Vegetarian Restaurant on Hsinsheng North Road; call (886-2) 2560-1950 for reservations. Xiao Gugu orders a flurry of dishes. First out is xueyu (snow jade) doufu, a two-tone brick of bean curd, green on top, white on the bottom. The top "jade" layer gets its color from...
...skip the exquisite kumquat cake for dessert (we didn't), just a few blocks away at 15 Youngkang Street is Bing Guan (The Ice House), a small stand that has become a Taipei institution serving shaved ice covered in fruit and cream. Because the line curls around the corner, Xiao Gugu has us hover over a table while she queues up to get the special of the day: flaming red strawberries sliced over thick cream on a bed of finely ground ice. A simple delight no one should miss...
...dinner Xiao Gugu sends us to Mitsui, a modern Japanese restaurant near the Intercontinental Hotel. The dEcor is trendy and clever, but the food doesn't hide behind wily frills. Our yellowtail sashimi literally melts away into a mouthful of flavor. Nothing tastes anything short of delicious, and at less than $30 for the two of us, Mitsui serves the best sushi I've ever eaten without having to hock the koi farm to pay the bill. Bookings can be made by calling...
...Dutch, Taiwan's students now learn that they helped build schools and developed the island as a trading hub. Over in Beijing, at a special exhibition on Taiwan at the Revolutionary History Museum, the scenario goes more like this: the Dutch colonize, Zheng liberates and communism eventually triumphs. Says Xiao Yan, a 19-year-old visitor: "Taiwan will unite sooner or later, peacefully or through force...