Driving to Guan Xi to Tom's Family Gathering. Guan Xi, Taiwan. 2004 New Year's Day. Tom's mother's family has their annual family gathering in Guan Xi (a town about 1.5 hours from Taipei), and Tom invited me to join in their festivities... The weather was horrible (wet and cold), and the traffic was awful - but it sure was fun watching Megan play with their other kids and having fun with fireworks!