Taiwan Trip 2010 (Day 8/Summary)

Day 8

Taichung -> Hong Kong

   Day 8 was very short, since we had to catch a flight in the morning. We got up early in the morning, packed our bags, and walked around to look for a veggie breakfast. Then, we bought several packages of suncake (太陽餅) near the Taichung Central Station as souvenir. We chatted with one of the shopkeepers and she noticed there were an increase of tourists from Mainland China and we chatted what ECFA (a joint agreement of free trade between China and Taiwan) would affect the economy of Taiwan in the future.We walked through some alleys including a street market and had a quick breakfast before heading to the bus station for the bus en route to Taichung Airport.

Morning street market

Waiting in the bus station

Finally, a nice morning after 3 days of rain in Taichung, @ Taichung Central Station

Humid morning

Flying home over Tsing Yi, Hong Kong

   The flight took 90 minutes. We went our separate ways after getting off the plane at Hong Kong International Airport. I was glad that I did not fight with Ben and Kevin during the trip, although I was accused of exploring areas on my own without notifying them and they were a little bit upset about it.

   The trip was slightly different from what I had originally planned. I was very ambitious by planning to go to Alishan and Guanziling, in addition to Taichung, Fengyuan but Ben said there would be too little time to do so. I also avoided Taipei and Kaohsiung (the two largest cities in Taiwan) because we wanted to see the more 'local' side of Taiwan. 

   I had a very good impression of Taiwan. First, Taiwan is a beautiful country with amazing scenery from the Pacific coast to snow-covered mountains that stand over 3500 meters above the sea level. Most people I came across during the Taiwan trip (albeit it took me a while to understand how car traffic works) were very friendly and helpful. Taiwanese food is to die for (a combination of Minnan, Hakka, Eastern Chinese, and Japanese cuisine) and we were lucky to find many good eateries during the trip. It is also one of the most vegetarian friendly countries in the world (among with India), due to the number of Buddhists. The pace is certainly much slower than Hong Kong and they are much more cheerful and laid-back (or at least they show) than Hong Kongers. I would like to visit there again (Kelvin already cycled around Taiwan in 2013!), as there are many places that I have not been to yet, and I have made some Taiwanese friends as well.

   In the future, I would love to experience more on the little island which is known as the true successor of the Chinese culture (sorry PRC, but Cultural Revolution destroyed many things irreversibly, including the soul and root of Chinese culture). I would also recommend people who wants to experience the Chinese culture to pay a visit to Taiwan. It might not have the stunning scenery that can be found in Mainland China, but it is easier to travel and get around, and infrastructures in Taiwan are tend to be better than China.

   Thanks for those who are willing to read my blog. I hope you enjoy the read and get to learn and understand more about this sub-tropical little island on the West Pacific. Also, many thanks to Ben and Kelvin for putting up with my during the trip, as well as their permission for using their photographs on the blog.

Taiwan Trip 2010 (Day 7)

Day 7

Tainan → Taichung

So we got up and prepared our last full day in Taiwan. After we had some breakfast in the hostel, we decided to go visit the sights in Central-western District (the heart of the city government and some sights) of Tainan, along with a little bit of the Eastern District (the two districts are separately by the main railway).

We first went to a place called Chekam Tower. It is one of the most famous attractions in Tainan and many restaurants were built around it to accommodate the tourists. Chekam Tower had a long history and was the second fort built by the Dutch colonists after Fort Zeelandia in Anping District. The Japanese later conquered Taiwan from the Qing Dynasty in 1895 and demolished the fort, and rebuilt the fort in the Japanese architecture style.

Chekam Tower

We encountered a large group of kindergarten students walking around the site. Most of them seemed to enjoy themselves and it was fun to see the different personalities between different kids. Most of the kids were well behaved, and yet, I felt the teachers had a lot of responsibilities, as it was not easy to oversee more than twenty 5 year old kids.

After we saw the Chekam Tower, we walked about three hundred meters to the Confucius Temple. There are many Confucius temples in Taiwan. The one in Central-western District of Taiwan was probably the most famous of them all, thanks to the architecture styles and the number of exhibits. The Confucius had a traditional Chinese style building layout. There was not much to see inside the temple, besides that fact that were some alters who were dedicated to Confucius and his disciples. There were also some interesting ancient Chinese musical instruments that I have never seen before.

One of the buildings in the Confucius Temple

Some of the displayed musical instruments

We were hungry and decided to grab some snacks, after we spent the morning visiting Chekam Tower and Confucius Temple. We went to a grocery store, where steam buns were their specialties. I ordered a matsutake flavoured bun with bamboo sticks and it was absolutely delicious. The aroma lasted in my mouth for many minutes.

We tried to catch a bus to the Tainan Main Train Station so we could headed to the East District. Unfortunately, the public transportation in Taiwan was very poor and nothing came for half and hour. We gave up and flagged down a taxi instead. The ride took about five minutes and we headed to the East side.

We still had about three hours to burn before we have to catch the train to Taichung. We went to see the campus of National Chengkung University (NCKU). NCKU is the most prestigious university in southern Taiwan and has a campus that is pretty enough to be considered a sightseeing attraction. After touring the campus, we felt hungry again and walked to a pedestrian-only shopping street for a quick fix.

Part of the campus of NCKU

We ordered some very good fried rice for a very cheap price in a fast food style restaurant around the shopping street. The restaurant probably served cafetaria style so everything is quick. I chatted to one of the restaurant staff who was also a student at NCKU. She seemed pretty excited when she knew that that we were from Hong Kong. However, she enjoyed the shopping parts of Hong Kong, because Hong Kong has very little restriction on exports and imports. After we finished with our lunch, we headed to Tainan Park and saw three male ducks (presumably bachelors or brothers) hanging out together. They walked and swam together and I thought that was cute. Kelvin, Ben, and I hung out in park until 3 in the afternoon, when we decided to get on the northbound bus to Taichung.

Tainan Park

Very pretty blooming lotus flower in Tainan Park. Photo credit to Calvin

One of the better ways to spend the hot afternoon in Tainan Park

The bus arrived Taichung at approximately 18:00 in the evening. We headed for a dinner in a local night market and went to Eslite Bookstore souvenir shopping around Taichung First High School district. Then we headed back to nap for the last morning.

Back to Taichung and the night market crowd again!

Taiwan Trip 2010 (Day 6)

Tainan

     We spent the entire 6th day in Tainan. Tainan was the old capital of Taiwan before the it was moved to Taipei. It is known for its slow pace of life, traditions rituals, large amount of people who speaks Taiwanese instead of Mandarin, sweet by delicious food, salt mines and old architectures. It is also the home of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), one of the top four universities in Taiwan. Tainan has a very flat terrain, and is very hot in the summer. During colonial days, parts of the beach in Tainan were used to harvest salt. Enough of the background trivia.

      We decided to borrow the bicycles from the hotel for the rest of the day. We

Hotel bikes, not very fast but does its job

had done so because we thought it was fun to ride a bicycle in a small city. Also, the public transportation system in Tainan is very poor and most people get around by mopeds. Most roads in Taiwan have a lane that is dedicated to mopeds, and it is perfectly fine for bicycles to use the moped lanes. Since this is Tainan and we did not know what to do, we decided to do what most tourists do - eating and sightseeing. Fortunately, we had a book of coupons for the eateries and attractions, and therefore we can afford to buy more.

     After we had a brief breakfast in the hotel, the first place we decided to stop
by was the breakfast place that specializes in fish soup and decided to have a second breakfast. Ben and Calvin bought a bowl, and I biked to other store to buy a vegetarian soup. The owner was nice enough to give me a bowl for me to eat with my friends. The soup was very good, according to my friends, but we were all sweating with the combination of heat and the hot soup.

The ever cool Anping Tree House. I felt like I was in another dimension

The main tower of Ford Zeelandia

     We biked to Anping district and first dropped by the Anping Tree House and the Tait Hong, a Anglo trading company. Anping Tree House was not an actual tree, but an old abandoned house surrounded by the long roots, and the city decided to turn let it be and turned it into a city attraction. The Tree House provided nice shades under the blazing sun and it was a cool maze. On the other hand, the Tai Hong was converted into a museum which explains the history of Taiwan, from the Dutch colonial period to the current. Republic of China regime.

     The next place we decided to stop by was Fort Anping/Fort Zeelandia. It was
the first fort built in Taiwan by the Dutch colonist in 1624, in order for the colonists to defend themselves against the aboriginals. The fort that is standing today was actually built by the Japanese, as the original fort was demolished by the Japanese when Taiwan was Japan's colony. We also found a ruin but it was still 'work in progress'. From the tower of the fort, one can enjoy the view of the mangrove, Taiwan Strait, and Tainan city.

One of the digged ruins near Ford Zeelandia

View of Tainan from the tower of Ford Zeelandia

The mangrove with egerts

      We biked along the canal toward the west until we found some small snacks. I had a raisin rum flavoured ice cream at Rabbits Ice Cream.

Ice Cream from Rabbit's

Then we went to Anping tofu shop to enjoy some tofu dessert.

The soft tofu dessert with adzuki means. Good for cooling ourselves down during hot days but the tofu is not silky enough for my taste

We finally reached the beach and saw the Taiwan Strait. The other side of the land would be Fujian province of People's Republic of China. We biked south and walked around another site of interest called Eternal Golden Castle.

One of the entrance/exit of Eternal Golden Castle

It was built in the Qing Dynasty and was served as a cannon firing site. Now it is simply a park composed with fortified areas. My tire was blew up and I had to push the bicycle back to the hotel. Fortunately, the hotel manager said it was okay and he let me ride another bicycle.

Taiwan Strait facing west

       We walked to the Huayuen Night Market, which is considered the largest night market in Tainan. It has a very festive atmosphere but we were too exhausted to enjoy it after riding bicycle all day under the blazing sun. We grabbed some food, and walked back to sleep in the hotel.

Huayuen Night Market

Taiwan Trip 2010 (Day 5)

Cingjing Farms -> Puli -> Taichung -> Tainan

    After we got up, we walked to the Yunnan style Daipaidong for some delicious breakfast. I couldn't taste the Yunnanese food but the food was very good. We caught the bus and headed down west to Puli.

Morning soup to warm up for the day in the mountain

Daipaidong

    Puli is located in the geographical centre of Taiwan and it was devastated in the earthquake happened on 21 Sept 1998. More than 90% of the buildings in town was destroyed and the town has to be rebuilt. Puli is a transportation hub to a number of rural attractions in central Taiwan because of its approximate location. Puli is known for its wine, rice, crispy clean water running from the mountains. It is very easy to navigate through the town centre, as there are two main commercial streets that intersects each other with a roundabout.

a main street of Puli

     The first stop we stopped by was the Puli Winery. It was a short walk from the bus station we got off. The building itself is no longer an active winery. The building have two floors, where the ground floor is for vendors and promotions, the second floor is a museum that explains the history of its famous wine.

Shrine to the wine god

Wine

     Once we enter the building, we tried the distilled the 120 and then the 60 proof distilled Shaoxing wine samples. They were too strong for me and tasted like rubbing alcohol. We also tried the Shaoxing ice pop, and it tasted great and I could taste the aroma of Shaoxing wine in the ice pop. 

     The second floor has some historical info about the wine, but one thing that bothered my mind was that I saw a piece of porcelain with the portrait of the young Chen Sui-bien and his wife Wu shu-chen. It reminded me how politics has destroy the soul of a once young, ambitious young man. Maybe he lost himself and fell victim of power and temptations. Finally Chen went to prison for corruption, his incompetency as a President was also quite memorable. Oh well.

Chen Sui-bian and Wushu-chen

     Once we got out of the building, we went to a souvenir store near the parking lot and chatted with a lady who worked there as a storekeeper. I learned that she was originally from Puli. She moved out of Puli to pursuit a 'better' life in the city. She helped to rebuild Puli from the earthquake and she decided to stay in Puli for the love of her hometown. I thought that was a fascinating story. 

     We had a quick lunch in a rice vermicelli restaurant. I also bought some dried vermicelli to take home and I was teased by Ben and Calvin the rest of the trip. Finally we arrived back to Taichung at 4PM, and took a bus to Tainan (literally South Taiwan). The hotel driver picked us up and drove us to the hotel as we checked in. 

Busy Tainan street at night

      The hotel allowed us to borrow the bicycles for free! I always thought bicycle would be a great way to explore a small-medium size city such as Tainan. We rode to a night market, enjoyed the local atmosphere, and came back to the hotel.

A night market in Tainan

Taiwan Trip 2010 (Day 4)

Taichung -> Cingjing Farm

   Since I could not sleep well and I did not feel like reading my book, I have decided to continue on what I have left off years ago. That is, to write about my trip to Taiwan. Anyway, I should get this started.

   The fourth day was spent in the mountain near the Hehuanshan Range. Cingjing Farm is a ranch that is also opened to tourists. It is surrounded by the beautiful mountains in central Taiwan. It is also located in Nantou County, the only landlocked county in Taiwan.

   Soon after we got up, we took a morning bus in the Central Bus Terminal in Taichung. The bus took about 2 hours from Taichung to Cingjing Farm. The bus went south toward Puli, a small town in Nantou County that is known for its rice wine brewery, artistic paper, rice, and clean water running from the mountains. After departing Puli, the bus started to go up across the Central Mountains, broke down for about half an hour, and we finally arrived Cingjing Farm safely.

   What is unique about Cingjing Farm is that it is very tourisy. It does have Alps-like scenery, and many European styles guesthouses were built to accommodate the tourists' dream of being in the Alps. It is also a theme park with things such as sheep farm, horse riding, souvenir stores, Yunnan style restaurants, and plenty of hikes. It is probably more suitable for romantic trips than backpacking adventurers but we were only coming for the scenery and the fresh mountain air. Oh well...

   We checked into the guesthouse and finally we got to stay in a spacious room, after the three previous nights in the compact rooms in the chaotic, but exciting city.

Our guesthouse. It is very well-kept and clean

    After we dropped off our stuff in our guesthouse, we ventured out and first started the mountain touring in a place called Green Green Grassland (青青草原). The morning rain has stopped by the time we reached there, but the paths were still very wet. Green Green Grassland is actually a touring farm that has rolling grass for sheep grazing, hikes to look at the Hehuanshan range, and souvenir stores that sell sheep milk candies from the milk of the local farms. From here, pictures would tell better stories so I am posting a few photos here.

Inside Green Green Grassland, overlooking Hehuanshan

 

More pictures

More pictures

Castle-themed guesthouse

The view is just magical

Breathtaking image.

Sheep grazing but it was inaccessible for close looks

I wished I had attempted to paint this

Still inside Green Green Farm

Sorry, no sheep exhibition today.

Bee on lavender

Depress-looking pony that made me feel sad, perhaps her back hurts or she is too tired?

Ice cream made of sheep milk

    We snacked ourselves with ice cream made with sheep milk, then found walked up to a staircase that leads to a bronze statue of the ex-President (aka dictator Chiang Kai-Shek). I heard there were used to be his statues everywhere in Taiwan. Many Taiwanese disliked him for his implementation of martial laws between the 50's and 80's and the sanction of the mainland. But politics isn't that point of this blog so I'll hush.

Statue of thet ever-controversial Chiang Kai-Shek on the top of the ladder. Perhaps he is over looking Taiwan from above?

Part of the 355-steps inside the clouds (literally)

    We continued to walk down slope toward our guesthouse through a system of staircase and wooden path. The path was very foggy and cool but I felt very comfortable. There was a 355-step staircase that made me think about the most-played song from the band Led Zeppelin. Fortunately we were walking down so it was a Staircase to Hell (pun intended). We stopped by the souvenir stores but there was not much to see or to shop for.

    Originally, we planned to grab a dinner in a Yunnan style that the guesthouse

keeper recommended, but we lingered for too long and the restaurant was already closed down. Instead we went to a shopping arcade in the dark through

Biohazard/Resident Evil like pathway but it was built for visitors' safety from automobiles

the pathway (above) and had some mediocre meal. It was a lost cause but at least we filled up our stomach. We bought couple cans of Taiwan Beer to drink inside our room, along with peanuts to snack with. And this time, I was able to drank about half a can of beer before I felt tipsy and fell asleep (for those who know me, I have a low enough tolerance toward alcohol that people would not believe).

Another set dinner.

Part of the mediocre dinner