in the us, president trump has told supporters his republican party is delivering the american dream. for the democrats, former president barack obama said the character of the country was on the ballot. the government in cameroon has launched a huge search for 79 children kidnapped from a boarding school. unidentified gunmen seized the students and some of the staff. students have described hiding as the hostage—takers ransacked the building, in bamenda in the north—west of the country. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, says washington will exert relentless pressure on iran unless it changes its current course. at the first sweeping economic sanctions. the us post. speaking after the reimposition of sanctions, mr pompeo said the objective was to starve the country of the revenue he said it used to fund violence. now on bbc news — the travel show. this week, the travel show is in taiwan, an island

of traditions and religions, amazing landscapes and modern marvels. i'm on a journey to discover how the island's colonisers have shaped the history, culture, and traditions of this beautiful land. whoo! oh, my goodness. don't go into the house! taiwan is a unique blend of east and west, making it one of the most dynamic and travel friendly destinations in asia. this view is magnificent. and any moment now the sun is going to rise over those mountains. situated around 150 kilometres off the coast of mainland china, taiwan is an island of bustling cities, beautiful landscapes, and vibrant cultures. in 1949, at the end

of the chinese civil war, the winning communists drove the defeated nationalists from the mainland. more thani million people, soldiers and civilians, made the journey to taiwan. ever since, taiwan's relations with mainland china have been fractious. the first stop on our journey around taiwan is the former capital, tainan. tainan is the island's oldest city. it has been the port of entry for most of taiwan's conquerors. the dutch, the spanish, the chinese and the japanese have all ruled taiwan and have all left their mark. the dutch were the first to colonise taiwan and, soon after, they began building this

large fortification. this fort was built by the dutch — dutch east india company, from 162a, because the dutch people wanted to trade with china since the early 16205, but the chinese government don't allow them to have a settlement in china, so they are forced to come here and find this place. and they built the fort. the build construction lasted for more than ten years. you can see the wall. the way of the bricks were — it is very different to the chinese — the chinese way. how is it different? we call this a dutch bond. you see this layer, only the head of the brick toward outside, and this layer on this side. by the 1680s, chinese traders and settlers — mainly from nearby fujian province — were arriving in taiwan

in increasing numbers, bringing with them their language, culture, and, of course, their religion. this is tainan‘s kaiyuan monastery. surrounded by the modern city, it is one of the oldest temples in taiwan. parts of it date back to the 1680s. most mornings and evenings, the 100 or so monks and nuns here gather for prayer and devotion. their chanting gives thanks to the buddha for his teachings and for providing a path to enlightenment. reverend chuan cheng,

who has been a nun for 20 years, kindly showed me around this beautiful and atmospheric place. you come to the temple, we hope you will maintain happiness in life. so chuan cheng, tell me a bit about the buddha behind us. he is the happy buddha. he looks very happy. yes, why is he happy? because he is full of wisdom and compassions. also knowledge. he is just full of great mercy. i asked reverend chuan cheng why she became a nun. i became a nun to give my thanks to my parents and especially my mother, and also give thanks to buddha. buddhism, taoism, and christianity are the main religions on the island. visitors to the temple

are encouraged to learn about buddhism and to pray. we hope they can learn and train himselves and the more compassion, more mercy, and more wisdoms, and to whole of human beings, yeah, just like buddha. before we leave, i take a moment to burn some incense and to reflect on my own personaljourney. as the light fades, the monks and nuns gatherfor evening prayers. as their day began, it also ends.

leaving behind the history and beauty of some of tainan‘s oldest buildings, i am off to the neighbouring city of kaohsiung, to see the island's newest and biggest building. this modern and industrial city is not known for the arts, but that's all about to change. this the weiwuying, taiwan's brand—new national arts centre. they say it's the largest the world. the centre has been built to boost the arts in southern taiwan. and to become a fixture on the international performance circuit. so this might look like a big empty warehouse, but we're actually backstage at one of the more

intimate auditoriums here. it can sit around 1200 people. the centre will stage its own performances and host international touring productions. the weiwuying has four main stages, an opera house, a concert hall, a playhouse, and a recital hall. it also has a huge outdoor performance space that can accommodate an audience of 20,000 people. the total indoor auditorium capacity is close to 6000. 6000?! it's massive. that's a lot. yes. how are you going to fill it? we're just going to do a bit of something for everybody. that is our mission. we are the centre for the people. so we have very diverse programming for the children, for the theatre—goers, for families, just a bit of everything. but with most transport links

going through the capital, taipei, in the north of the island, i wonder, will it get the international and metropolitan audiences that it's catering for? kaohsiung is very easy to access. we have an international airport that's15—20 minutes away from the centre. it flies in direct flights from southeast asia, northeast asia and beyond. it's quite easy to come by through hong kong, but also with the high—speed rail. it gets you from taipei to the kaohsiung within 90 minutes. very easy to come. cathy and her team are hoping that their approach of developing local talent and importing big international productions and acts will strike the right balance artistically and commercially.

plays bach's fugue in d minor. this splendid venue can sit over 2000 people. after rehearsal, organist tony liu kindly offers to show me the pride of the concert hall. hi, wow, tony, that was amazing. yeah, thank you so much. what does it feel like to play such a magnificent instrument? it is very exciting. because i can make any kind of music in here. and the very, very high pitch here... and the very low, we do

have very low pipes. you can hear the entire halls vibrating. how coordinated do you need to be? there are a lot of keyboards. how many are there here — one, two, three, four, five. five keyboards and 127 buttons, not to mention all these chords down the bottom. i do have to spend a lot of time to practise. this is a brand—new organ. also i believe it is the biggest one in the entire asia's concert hall. the largest pipe organ in asia? what a privilege to play it. you want to play something? i know you played piano. i have not played in 20 years. you can play a little bit of a song. plays heart and soul. thank you, tony.

you're such a good sport to humour me. the next stop on myjourney around taiwan is alishan, in the south of the central mountain range. it is ridiculously early. my alarm went off at 3.30 this morning and it's now 11.30. thank goodness for coffee. but we are about to get a narrow gauge railway up to sunrise view, one of taiwan's most famous beauty spots. a few minutes later, the first train of the day arrives. it's dark and cold. 0n the way up, the mood

is sleepy and subdued. it's quite crowded now. there are a few stops along the way and a lot more people got on. the train takes about 30 minutes to climb the final leg of the journey to the summit, which stands at 2,500 metres. this view is magnificent. we're overlooking what's called the lake of clouds and any moment now the sun is due to rise over those mountains. it was worth waking up in the middle of the night for this.

it was a beautiful sight when the sun hit the lake of clouds below. i think i got some beautiful pictures. this is a favourite spot for visitors from taiwan and from mainland china, as the area is known for its myths and legends. one of the best—known is the story of sisters pond. so, jay, we arejust approaching sisters ponds. tell me the story behind the legend. the story is about two sisters falling in love with the same man at the same time. each sister wants her sister to be happier. so she decide to drown herself in the pond — kill herself. so each sister killed themselves separately, in the ponds, unbeknownst to the other sister? yes, that is the story. so that the other one could be happy? yes. wow, that's so tragic. it's like romeo and juliet

but with sisters. yes. the ponds are dark and i am told, very deep. there is an air of stillness and quiet here, under the forest canopy. west of the great forest, the rolling hills of alishan have been shaped by centuries of tea growing. these rows of tea bushes seem to go for miles and miles. it must take a vast number of people to harvest all this, and i am told here in alishan they do it all by hand. aurora here is about to show me how. grown at altitudes of over 1,000 metres, oolong is the variety

of mountain tea favoured in alishan. aurora i have never picked tea before, what do i do? ok if you want to pick tea, you have one tip, to lift. mountain teas are slower growing, which makes their flavour more intense. i hope i'm doing a good job. i am not sure if i am up to alishan tea picking standards. alishan has a particular climate which is thought to enhance the flavour of the tea. damp and misty mornings give way to hot and usually sunny afternoons and then to cool, dry evenings. after picking, the tea needs to be dried. that was actually quite hard work. yes. i don't have as much as you. and now for my favourite part of the day. this is the final step. i would love to see how

you do it here in taiwan. can you show me how to make the perfect cup of tea? ok, so we have three points of how to do it. the first point is the temperature of water, the amount of the tea, and the brewing time. ok, so open the pot cover, let the tea leaves inside. the amount of the tea have to cover the bottom. cover the bottom. yes. let's see, is it covering the bottom ? yes, it is. 0k, we have to count to 60 seconds. mmm, it is quite strong. it is very fragrant, but also bitter.

i like oolong tea. last stop on my journey around taiwan is the village of pingxi in the north—east of the island. it is a holiday weekend here, and the village has a feeling of the old wild west about it. every half hour or so a train comes barging through. tourists come here from all over the world to do one particular thing. this is a village that has embraced the tradition of making and releasing sky lanterns during festival time. and the taiwanese say this is something you should do at least once in your lifetime. traditionally lanterns were used to signal neighbouring towns and villages.

0ne lantern for danger, two lanterns for all is well. these days a different practice is followed. people write their hopes and wishes on the sides of their lanterns and release them up to the skies, asking their ancestors above to look favourably upon their request. what do you wish for? i wish for health and happiness for me and for my family. i hope it comes true! thank you so much. when you arrive in pingxi you can buy a ready—made lantern or make your own with the help of a local expert, of course. ben helped me. so we open this out... you have two sheets of paper, around the wrong way, 0k. two pieces of paper, we are just going to put glue on the edges here...

so people wish for happy marriage... 0r study, money... people wish for money? yes. i wish for money! i want to be rich. now we try to put the body and the base together. 0k. very good. that's it? yes. that is it. now the fun bit, we get to decorate our lantern. it is customary to write a message. and hopefully your wish will be granted. not bad? not all the lanterns have the smoothest ofjourneys. health and safety is definitely an issue. oh my god, it hit the house! their potential danger means that sky lanterns are banned in some parts of the world. because it is so windy all these lanterns are going up and flying every which way, things

are banging and popping. during holiday weekends like this the localfire brigade is on hand. so it is customary to take a picture... before we release the lantern. and now we light it, is that correct? happy travels! oh my goodness, don't go into the house... 0h! laughs. that was almost a disaster! oh, it's still going! laughs. oh my goodness, it is alive! i thought for sure it was going to crash into someone‘s house. that evening just down the road the local community gathers to celebrate the mid—autumn festival. traditionally the festival celebrates the gathering of the harvest and family reunion. 0n the lanterns people write

messages of love and thanks to the ancestors. over the years this event has turned into a big annual televised show with singing and dancing and a very engaging host. a large lantern is released on behalf of the community. and the people then release their own lanterns. it's a beautiful moment, and a memorable end to my taiwan journey. coming up on next week's travel show, we're off to scotland

to dive into some first world war history, and also head to india to find out how street fashion is becoming high fashion. i hope you canjoin us for that if you can, and don't forget, if you want to follow the travel show team on theirjourneys in real—time you can sign up to us on social media. until next time, from me, carmen roberts, and the rest of the travel show team here in taiwan, it's goodbye. hello there.

the pressure patterns set up across the uk for the next few days will be crucial to how the weather is going to look and certainly feel. we've got a big area of high pressure over the continent, spinning clockwise, and a big area of low pressure over the atlantic, to the west of us, spinning anti—clockwise. and this is driving up southerly winds right across the country, and this mild air moving up from the mediterranean, through france, and across our shores. but as we go through the next few days, this area of low pressure across the west will slowly encroach into our shores, so although it's going to be mild, it will start to turn windier, and there will be outbreaks of rain pushing in from the west. now, early this morning, it's going to be a largely dry start. some mist and murk around from the bonfires and fireworks on the previous evening. but there will be some splashes of rain pushing into some western areas, but generally light at this stage. and a very mild start to the day, no lower than 8—11 degrees. so for tuesday morning, we start off on a largely dry note. for much of england,

wales and scotland, there will be some spells of sunshine around, but quite a bit of cloud too. as we head into the afternoon, this more active weather front will start to throw in some pretty heavy rain at times to parts of cornwall, devon, in towards western wales as well. could even be a rumble of thunder with this rain as it moves in. could also be pushing into irish sea coastal areas, maybe the far west of north—west england, in towards northern ireland, certainly be turning wetter here, and then eventually western scotland. and it will be a blustery day for all, but certainly across western areas. temperature—wise, pretty good. further east, where we have the dry and bright conditions, 17 or 18 degrees. but even further west, with the cloud, the rain and wind, 13 or 1a degrees. and then through tuesday night, that rain will continue to edge its way eastwards, perhaps not reaching the far east of scotland and england until we head into wednesday morning. but we've got a secondary area of low pressure developing out of this as it moves across oui’ shore,

so wednesday is looking particularly unsettled — very windy, cloudy, some heavy rain pretty much anywhere through the morning. maybe a rumble of thunder or two, particularly in these showers, these blustery, heavy showers, which will arrive across southern areas into the afternoon. temperature—wise, not quite as high as monday and tuesday, looking at 12—14 celsius. and it will be a windy day, with gales in exposure, certainly around coasts and over hills. and then as we end the week, well, we maintain a south or south—westerly wind, with low pressure still out towards the west. but because low pressure will still be close by, it's going to remain unsettled, with sunshine and showers, even longer spells of rain. but again, with the winds coming in from the south, it should be pretty mild for the time of year. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: reaching the final furlong, president trump makes one last pitch ahead of the us midterm elections.

a blast from the past — barack 0bama stumps for the democrats — he calls this a defining moment. a major search is under way to find 79 children kidnapped from a boarding school in north—west cameroon. and how we shall remember them — 100 years of changing attitudes towards the first world war.