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

Taiwan Trip 2010 (Day 3)

Taichung

   Day 3 was planned as an adventure in Taichung, the third largest city in Taiwan. Taichung is a sprawling city that was first developed around the main train station. It has been developed rapidly in recent years, due to its relatively cheaper real estate prices and its pleasant climate. It has a reputation of many gangster fights although I did not encounter any. There are some large malls on the outskirt of the city. Traffic in Taichung is often clogged perhaps because of the reliance of automobiles, lack of main roads from the national grade highway to the city, and the lack of metro system.

Yum yum breakfast

   After grabbing some quick breakfast in a vegetarian (credit to Ben and Calvin for putting up with my shit practice of not eating meat :-)) place ( the nice things about breakfast in Taiwan is there are tons of breakfast canteens literally everywhere, with countless varieties), we ventured into the Old Taichung Brewery for some pictures. Taichung Brewery was an abandoned-brewery-turned-into-cultural-park site. The rooms can be rented out for special events, and there were not much to see, other than take the pictures of the buildings and decorations. It is a nice park to stop by on a sunny day though.

So flooded that we had to walk on the plank

Temples are everywhere in Taiwan

Conservatory in Science Museum

    After that, we took a bus to the Science Museum to dodge the rain but we forgot that is closed every Monday. The rain became harder and some parts of the streets were flooded. We stumbled our way in Wu Wei Teahouse (the closest translation of wu wei in English is 'let it be', it is an ancient philosophy from Zhuangzi where things should be kept natural), a quiet pagoda-style restaurant/teahouse. It is a very nice building with a pond full of koi, and was built into the ancient Chinese garden style. It was an excellent spot to escape the urban chaos temporarily. We had a lunch and sat over there until the rain has finally stopped.

The retro decoration of Wu Wei

The serene pond with koi

Fried pumpkin slices and rice balls at Wu Wei

The main hall? at Wu Wei

Menxin Park

    We stumbled our way through the city and we walked into the Wenxim Forest Park. I was surprised that it actually does not have many trees, it did have a


amphitheatre and a stage for performance. Perhaps it is a good summer concert site. We then took a crowded free bus full of students to Feng-chia Night Market, got lost in the process and found a very kind middle aged woman. She walked us to the direction of Feng-Chia Market (Many Taiwanese seemed to be so nice to foreigner travellers in general, they may go out of their way to help).

The plateau of Menxin Park, overlooking the skyline

    Feng-chia Night Market is located near a private university with the same name. It is a popular hangout place for the university students and it had

Fresh *literally* fruit juice

became a tourist spot over the years. I was beginning to get tired of night markets and we walked through the alley like a zombie. We originally planned to go back to Nan Bei Hotel by bus but we realized the bus had never came. We asked the a storekeeper nearby and he explained the bus service shuts down prematurely if there were not enough passengers.

The fashion district of Feng-Chia Night Market

Busy night street near Feng-Chia Market

     We decided to flag down a taxi. It became one of the most memorable experiences in the trip. The posted speed limit of the road he took was 50 km/h. Not only was he driving 80 km/h per hour, he was also Idaho stopping the traffic and cars seem to let him go cut his way through. I was amazed that Crazy Taxi actually exists. We had to catch bus to Cingjing Farm in the Central Mountain on following day, so we slept early to get plenty of rest for the real mountain.