travel in taiwan 11,12/2013
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ÂTRANSCRIPT
HigH-Mountain DeligHts
Qingjing and Mt. HeHuan
no. 60, 201311 12
toP ten touRist toWns Beitou Hot-sPRing DistRict
BacKPacK Bus touRs tRiP to Xitou
FooD JouRneY WateR caltRoPs in tainan
BMX Fun in northern taiwanWannian Festival in Kaohsiung
Hiking to Jialuo lakeBulau Bulau Village in Yilan
/
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Welcome to Taiwan!Dear Traveler,
Two words that bring joy to the heart of every person with a love of travel are “road
trip!” In this issue of Travel in Taiwan we take f ull advantage of late autumn’s cooler
temperatures to hit the road on adventures using a variety of locomotion tools – car, bus,
metro, bicycle, and feet – sometimes used in isolation, sometimes in combination.
In our Feature section we go on a car trip up, up, up into the soaring central mountains,
to the Mt. Hehuan area, where we then hit the high-mountain trails. On the way we spend
time in Wushe town, populated mainly by members of the Sediq tribe, and Qing jing Farm,
a place of alpine pastures, sheep, horse-riding shows, easy trails, and grand mountain views.
As always in our Feature section, we also provide ideas on where to stay, where/what to
eat, and what to buy.
We stay in the central mountains in our Hiking department for a two-day trek to
Yilan County’s Jialuo Lake, which is in fact a collection of some 20 lakes, capping the
deep-mountain excursion with a hike up Mt. Jialuo (2,320m). Then, in Indigenous Villages,
it’s down to Yilan’s lower elevations for a visit to Bulau Bulau Aboriginal Village, an
Atayal-tribe settlement where residents seek to recapture the traditional lifestyle of their
ancestors. Tourists are welcome, and are taken on an educational hike and walkabout.
This issue’s Backpack Bus Trip adventure is to the mountainous region of Xitou in
Nantou County, riding the hop-on hop-of f Taiwan Tourist Shuttle buses. Stops include a
lantern factory, tea-plantation area, nature education area, and “Monster Village.”
Our Top Ten Tourist Towns section features a Taipei Metro jaunt out to the Taipei
suburb of Beitou for a Beitou hot-spring resort area walkabout. Taiwan’s oldest such
resort, with a century-plus history, this is an enclave of heritage buildings, museums,
mineral-water soaks, and pleasing vistas. We invite you to engage in somewhat more
vigorous activity in our Active Fun article, introducing f irst-rate BMX biking facilities in
north Taiwan.
Taiwan road trips have f lavor and character a world apart f rom those you’ve
experienced back home, but you wind up at the same end-point – lifelong memories, fondly
recalled. Have f un.
David W. J. HsiehDirector General
Tourism Bureau, MOTC, R.O.C.
台 灣 觀 光 雙 月 刊Travel in TaiwanThe Official Bimonthly English Magazine of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (Advertisement)November/December, 2013 Tourism Bureau, MOTCFirst published Jan./Feb., 2004ISSN: 18177964 GPN: 2009305475 Price: NT$200www.tit.com.tw/vision/index.htm
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Sunrise at Kenanguan near Mt. Hehuan (photo by Jen Guo-Chen)
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1026
CONTENTSNovember ~ December 2013
Travel in Taiwan 3
feaTure10 Qingjing & Mt. Hehuan — Main Climbing Up to the Roof of Taiwan: A Wushe to Mt. Hehuan Highway Excursion — Stay/Eat/Buy Wushe/Qingjing/Mt. Hehuan – High-Mountain Stay/Eat/Buy Pleasures
1 Publisher’s Note4 Taiwan Tourism Events6 News & Events around Taiwan8 Concerts, Exhibitions, and Happenings
21 Meeting Tourists32 Fun with Chinese 54 Daily Life
BaCKPaCK BUS TriP38 Through the Mountain Mist
— Taking a Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Bus to Xitou
aCTive FUn50 BMXing in Nangang
— Having Fun and Meeting a Local Legend at the Extreme Sports Training Center 38
TOP Ten TOUriST TOwnS22 The Hot Springs of Beitou
— A Place of Warmth, History, and Mist-ery
HiKinG26 Jialuo Lake
— Entering a World Apart
inDiGenOUS villaGeS42 Bulau Bulau Aboriginal Village
— Reviving the Traditional Lifestyle of the Atayal Tribe
FOOD JOUrneY46 A Strange Fruit
— Visiting a Water Caltrop Farm in Tainan
34MUSiC TOUrS34 The Sound of Drums — Visiting a Traditional Drum Maker in Xinzhuang
SPlenDiD FeSTivalS28 Zuoying Wannian Folklore Festival
— A Great Fire Lion Visits Temples around Lotus Pond
28
Taiwan Cycling Festival (臺灣自行車節 )Location: Qixingtan, Hualien County
( 花蓮縣七星潭 )
Tel: (02) 2349-1748
Website: http://taiwanbike.tw
Held from November 9th to November 17th, the
Taiwan Cycling Festival has three main events. During
the competitive Taiwan KOM Challenge, professional
riders will start at Hualien’s Qixingtan on the Pacific
coast and climb all the way up to Wuling on a branch
of the Central Cross-Island Highway, 3,275 meters
above sea level. This is an extremely challenging
ride. The second event is a 9-day/8-night round-the-
island ride undertaken by seven groups, each starting
from a different location. The third event is the Sun
Moon Lake Come! Bikeday, a ride open to all, taking
cyclists around the scenic lake in the central Taiwan
mountains. Various governments and national scenic
area administrations around Taiwan also organize
their own bicycle events as part of this festival.
The Taiwan annual
festival calendar is filled with exciting events. Visit
timefortaiwan.tw/cal_en to see which festivals are
taking place the next time you visit this culturally
fertile island. The following festivals, all taking
place before the end of this year, will give you the
chance to learn about Hakka cuisine in Miaoli,
take part in organized bicycle rides, surf the waves
along the coast of Taitung County, take in the
f loral beauty of Taichung, watch marching bands
in the streets of Chiayi, and run a marathon in
Taipei. And this is just a small selection of the
events taking place over the coming months!
Miaoli Hakka Food Festival (客家美食活動 -客家粄仔節 )Locations: Miaoli City, behind Miaoli Railway Station, Miaoli County
( 苗栗縣苗栗市後火車站 )
Tel: (037) 331-910
Each year the Miaoli Hakka Food Festival highlights the best of Hakka cuisine. The
Hakka people in Taiwan are descendants of Hakka from mainland China, who began
immigrating to Taiwan in the 16th century. There are about 4.6 million Hakka living in
Taiwan today, comprising about 20% of the total population. Many Hakka live in the hilly
northwestern counties of Hsinchu and Miaoli. During the festival you can learn about
fine cuisine, snack foods, restaurants, gift options, and local produce. The festival’s wide-
ranging program features various food-related activities, such as food preparation classes
and cooking competitions, as well as a rich array of Hakka performing arts.
Taiwan Open of Surfing (臺灣國際衝浪公開賽暨東浪嘉年華 )Locations: Taitung County, Donghe Township, Jinzun
Harbor ( 金樽漁港臺東縣東河鄉 )
Tel: 089-324-902
Website: www.taiwanopenofsurfing.com
This year’s Taiwan Open of Surfing,
staged on the southeastern coast of
Taiwan at Taitung County’s Jinzun
Harbor, will include a competition rated
as a 1-star event by the Association of
Surfing Professionals (ASP). The rating
shows that Taitung is internationally
recognized as a great location for surfing,
with quality conditions. Water temperatures during
the event are expected to be a pleasant 20~24 degrees
Celsius, with left- and right-hand beach breaks giving
surfers different options for showing off their skills.
Surfers from Taiwan and abroad compete in various
divisions, with the top prize for the ASP Men’s 1-star
event set at US$15,000.
Food, Flowers, and Lots of Festival Fun
Festivals around Taiwan
Nov. 1
Nov. 9Nov. 13
23
1717
TAIWAN TOURISM EVENTS
4 Travel in Taiwan
Sea of Flowers in Xinshe (新社花海 )Location: Xinshe District, Taichung City (臺中市新社區 )
Tel: (04) 2228-9111, 2581-1311
Website: http://flowersea.coa.gov.tw/traffic.php
Each year, Xinshe District in central Taiwan’s Taichung City attracts hundreds of
thousands of f lower lovers, who come to enjoy vast fields of f lowers, in Chinese often
called a “sea of f lowers.” The festival, which goes on for about a month, is a great
showcase for local agricultural products and cuisine. There are special-theme exhibitions
highlighting aspects of the local agricultural sector, stands where visitors can sample
local specialties, and entertaining live stage performances. Tours to recreational farms are
offered, and visitors are encouraged to stay at one of the many guesthouses in the area.
Chiayi City International Band Festival (嘉義市國際管樂節 )Location: Cultural Affairs Bureau of Chiayi City Concert Hall, 275, Zhongxiao Rd., Chiayi
City ( 嘉義市政府文化局音樂廳嘉義市忠孝路275號 ), Culture Park ( 文化公園 ), Zhongzheng
Park ( 中正公園 ), Chiayi City Cultural Affairs Bureau Outdoor Plaza ( 文化局廣場 )
Website: http://cabcy.ehosting.com.tw/web/band/
This festival, staged each year since 1993, features marching bands from around Taiwan
and abroad (last year one band from Russia and one from Japan took part) in a grand
parade through the streets of Chiayi in southern Taiwan. Thousand of spectators line the
streets to watch big brass bands and marching drummers, all dressed in colorful uniforms
and festive costumes. Apart from the street parade, there are a large number of indoor and
outdoor concerts at venues around the city, including outdoor stages at Chiayi Cultural
Park and Zhongzheng Park.
Nov.
Dec.
Dec.
Taipei Fubon Marathon (臺北富邦馬拉松 )Location: Plaza in front of Taipei City Hall, 1, Shifu Rd., Xinyi District, Taipei City
( 臺北市市民廣場臺北市信義區市府路1號 )
Tel: (02) 258-55659
Website: www.sportsnet.org.tw/20121216_fubon/race_detail.php?race_no=20121216
Street running has gained much in popularity in Taiwan in recent years, and the number of
annual running events as well as participants in those events has been increasing steadily.
One of the most prominent annual runs in Taiwan is the Taipei Marathon, which each
year attracts more than 100,000 runners. The race starts and ends at Taipei City Hall in the
eastern city district of Xinyi, and runners of the full marathon will circle a large portion of
downtown Taipei. Races include a full marathon (42.195km), half marathon (21km), 9km
run, fun run (3km), and children’s run (2km).
DEc. 15
mid End
TAIWAN TOURISM EVENTS
Travel in Taiwan 5
NOVEMBER~DECEMBER
6 Travel in Taiwan
WHAT'S UP
News& Events around Taiwan
Tourist Sites
Lighthouses Opened to TouristsThe Ministry of Transportation and Communications recently announced the opening of two lighthouses to tourists – Baishajia Lighthouse in Taoyuan County and Green Island Lighthouse in Taitung County. Baishajia Lighthouse, located in Guanyin Township on the northwest coast, was built in the late 19th century, and is at 37 meters Taiwan’s second-tallest lighthouse (the tallest lighthouse is Mudouyu Lighthouse on Mudouyu Island, Penghu County; 39.9 meters). The lighthouse on Green Island, off the coast of southeastern Taiwan, is 33 meters high and was erected in 1938. Interestingly, the construction of the latter was financed with funds donated by members of the US public to the American Red Cross in response to the sinking of an American luxury ocean liner on a Green Island reef in 1937. There are a total of 35 lighthouses in Taiwan, of which eight are open to the public. The ministry plans to have half of Taiwan’s lighthouses opened to tourists within the next three years.Transportation
New MRT Xinyi LineThe long-awaited Xinyi Line of Taipei's MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) System, or Taipei Metro, will be in operation before the end of the year. The new line will connect the northern city district of Beitou, best known for its hot springs, with the modern eastern district, home to the Taipei 101 skyscraper and Taipei World Trade Center as well as numerous large department stores and hotels, on a single line. The establishment of this new line will mean that trains starting at Beitou Station will no longer proceed to the current terminal station, Taipower Building Station, instead proceeding to the terminus on the Xinyi Line, Xiangshan Station. The current Xiaonanmen Line, which connects Ximen and CKS Memorial Hall stations, will be extended by two stops to Taipower Building Station. Find more info about the Taipei Metro system at: http://english.trtc.com.tw.
Transportation
Direct Taipei-Fujian Ferry LinkTravelers now have a new option for getting from Taipei to mainland China’s Fujian Province. The high-speed ferry Haixia, which also carries passengers and cargo four times a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) between Taichung in central Taiwan and Pingtan in Fujian Province, now also runs twice a week (Wednesday, Saturday) from New Taipei City’s Port of Taipei in Bali District to Pingtan. The trip takes about three hours, and costs NT$3,200 (return ticket NT$6,300). The Haixia is the world's fastest ship of its kind, with a maximum speed of 96 nautical mph and a capacity of 782 passengers.
Green Is land Lighthouse
MRT Daan Park Stat ion
Travel in Taiwan 7
WHAT'S UP
Website
Smart Tourism TaiwanDirected by Taiwan’s Board of Science and Technology under the auspices of the Executive Yuan, Smart Tourism Taiwan (www.vztaiwan.com) is a helpful website providing information about Taiwan that helps visitors plan their tours with itinerary-planning tools that can be synced across smartphones, Google calendars, and web browsers. The website provides introductions to a wide range of tourist attractions, and gives visitors myriad ideas for tours, dining, and shopping.
Hotels
New Arrivals in 2013The tourism industry in Taiwan is f lourishing, and new hotels are opened frequently. Here are some of the hotels recently added to the local hospitality scene. Fleurlis Hotel (www.fleurlis.com.tw) is in central Hsinchu City, located close to the railway station. The hotel has 72 guestrooms, with room rates starting at NT$9,000. Reloading Hotel (www.reloading-hotel.com) is a small backpacker-friendly hotel in central Taichung City. Located close to Electronics Street, the hotel features a unique circuit-board theme. It has 47 rooms, with rates starting at NT$1,800. Two Hotel Cozzi (www.hotelcozzi.com) facilities have been opened in Taipei this year, one on Minsheng East Road and the other on Zhongxiao East Road. Both are modern and chic, with an emphasis on providing a warm and convenient accommodation option. Room rates start at NT$4,600 (Minsheng) and NT$6,000 (Zhongxiao). The Hoya Resort Hualien (www.hoyaresort.com.tw), located in Hualien City, is a modern hotel catering to tourists visiting eastern Taiwan. It has 189 guestrooms, with rates starting at NT$4,600. For a comprehensive list of accommodation options in Taiwan, visit http://eng.taiwan.net.tw and click on “Accommodation.”
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!We, the producers of Travel in Taiwan, wish to improve our magazine with each issue and give you the best possible help when planning – or carrying out – your next trip to Taiwan. Tell us what you think by filling out our short online questionnaire at v-media.com.tw/survey/travelintaiwan.html. Senders of the first 10 completed questionnaires for each issue will receive three free issues of Travel in Taiwan. Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Travel in Taiwan
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Museum
Red Dot Museum TaipeiSince 1955, the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany has awarded product designers from around the world the Red Dot Design Award, with winning products exhibited in Essen’s Red Dot Design Museum. The museum has about 2,000 exhibits, presenting a complete range of contemporary product design. In 2005 a second Red Dot Museum was opened in Singapore, and this year a third has been established in Taipei. This museum is located inside Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and showcases a large collection of Red Dot Design Award products, from jewelry and household items to furniture and vehicles. For more information about Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and the new museum, visit www.songshanculturalpark.org.
Reloading Hotel
8 Travel in Taiwan
CULTURE SCENE
Concerts, Exhibitions, and Happenings
Taiwan has a diverse cultural scene, with art venues ranging from international-caliber concert halls and theaters to makeshift stages on temple plazas. Among Taiwan's museums is the world-famous National Palace Museum as well as many smaller museums dedicated to different art forms and aspects of Taiwanese culture. Here is a brief selection of upcoming happenings. For more information, please visit the websites of the listed venues.
Cirque du Soleil: OVO太陽劇團:蟲林森巴
November 19 ~ January 5Parking Lot at TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall
The famous Cirque du Soleil, the largest theatrical producer in the
world, is coming to Taiwan. For nearly two months local audiences
will have the chance to watch OVO, the company’s 25th production,
featuring a dazzling array of acrobatic surprises, including a stunning
and extremely difficult f lying trapeze act with performers f lying as
high as 14 meters. The name “OVO,” Portuguese for “egg,” was chosen
as symbol for the show’s theme, a colorful ecosystem teeming with
lively insects. Dressed like insects, the world-class acrobats complete
breathtaking feats that seem to defy the limits of what is humanly
possible. More about the show at www.cirquedusoleil.com.tw.
Wings of Desire is based on the film Der Himmel
über Berlin, directed by acclaimed German
director Wim Wenders. Internationally renowned
choreographer Yao Shu-fen has collaborated
with German opera director Thilo Reinhardt
to assimilate Wenders’ points of view while
inspecting her own inner being and exploring
the interactions between city, nature, and human
beings. With the help of holographic technology,
dancers’ figures interweave and overlap, implying
the clustering of people. Paper is the main theme
in Ho Hsiao-mei’s work My Dear, which is built on stories depicted using
Chinese paper-cutting. Dancers wander between the worlds of unreality and
reality in order to explore the meaning of love, hatred, anger, and persistence.
Yao Shu-fen: Wings of Desire & Ho Hsiao-mei: My Dear
December 27 ~ 29National Theater
姚淑芬《蒼穹下》& 何曉玫《親愛的》
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is the world's most famous portrait
painting, and has an iconic presence in Western cultural history. Her
appearance not only signifies the full f lowering of the Renaissance,
but also heralds the coming of the new age of humanism. Throughout
the past 500 years, her image has constantly been imitated, borrowed,
and interpreted by artists. This exhibition,
shown earlier this year at the Kaohsiung
Museum of Fine Arts, has four parts:
“About Leonardo da Vinci,” which traces
the art of da Vinci and his followers;
“About Mona Lisa,” which presents a
series of paintings inspired by and derived
from the Mona Lisa; “Leonardo and
Mona Lisa in the Modern World,” which
looks at avant-garde artists' creative takes on the Mona Lisa; and
“Models and Inventions,” which displays da Vinci's far-ranging talents
and experimental spirit. The exhibition allows visitors to investigate
da Vinci’s challenging, enigmatic life, better understand key issues
in art history and contemporary culture, and travel back 500 years to
enjoy a banquet of classical art while traveling from the Renaissance
to the present day.
Leonardo - Mona Lisa – The Myths蒙娜麗莎五百年:達文西傳奇
Until February 10National Palace Museum
December 6National Concert Hall
Lalo Schifrin, Argentine pianist and composer, is best known for his film and
TV scores, such as for Mission: Impossible and Rush Hour. He has received four
Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations. In this musical feast, Letters from
Argentina, Schifrin combines tango and Argentinean folk music with classical
music to create a fresh, new sound reminiscent of his homeland, Argentina.
The celebrated violinist Lin Cho-liang will lead a group of internationally
distinguished soloists to portray this musical tango journey.
Letters from Argentina 來自阿根廷的信
Travel in Taiwan 9
CULTURE SCENE
A dream come true for Barbie-lovers!
A real-life Barbie, together with Ken
and their friends, perform live on
stage in this dance-inspired musical,
a production filled with energetic
contemporary song and dance. Set on an all-pink Hollywood soundstage,
Barbie is shooting her latest film with her best friend and co-star Teresa.
When Teresa doubts herself, Barbie uses the lessons learned from her
Princess movies – Swan Lake, Princess and the Popstar, and Mariposa
& The Fairy Princess – to teach Teresa to be brave, believe in herself, and
embrace the power of true friendship.
Barbie Live芭比夢想音樂劇
January 3 ~ 5, 2014Taipei International Convention Center
Imminent Sounds: Falls and Crossings迫聲音-音像裝置展
Until January 5Taipei Fine Arts Museum
This is the second collaborative
exhibition between the Taipei Fine
Arts Museum and the Grame National
Center of Musical Creation in Lyon,
France. Imminent Sounds presents
seventeen video and installation
works by around twenty artists invited from the United States, Belgium,
France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Colombia, and Chile, including
video pioneer Bill Viola, music-video master Thierry de Mey, and Grame
founder Pierre Alain Jaffrennou. Works for the exhibition were selected
around the themes of Falls and Crossings. Programmed in conjunction
with the exhibition, performances and forums will be presented that
reflect Grame’s many years of experience developing new-media art.
Taipei
Taipei Zhongshan Hall (台北中山堂)
Add: 98, Yanping S. Rd., Taipei City( 台北市延平南路 9 8 號 )
Tel: (02) 2381-3137www.csh.taipei.gov.twNearest MRT Station: Ximen
Taipei International Convention Center (台北國際會議中心)
Add: 1, Xinyi Rd., Sec.5, Taipei City( 台北市信義路五段 1 號 )
Tel: (02) 2725-5200, ext. 3517, 3518 www.ticc.com.twNearest MRT Station: Taipei City Hall
National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (國立中正紀念堂)
Add: 21 Zhongshan S. Rd., Taipei City( 台北市中山南路 21 號 )
Tel: (02) 2343-1100www.cksmh.gov.twNearest MRT Station: CKS Memorial Hall
National Concert Hall (國家音樂聽)National Theater (國家戲劇院)
Add: 21-1 Zhongshan S. Rd., Taipei City( 台北市中山南路 21-1 號 )
Tel: (02) 3393-9888www.ntch.edu.twNearest MRT Station: CKS Memorial Hall
National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館)
Add: 49 Nanhai Rd., Taipei City( 台北市南海路 4 9 號 )
Tel: (02) 2361-0270www.nmh.gov.tw Nearest MRT Station: CKS Memorial Hall
National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院)
Add: 221 Zhishan Rd., Sec. 2, Taipei City( 台北市至善路 2 段 2 21 號 )
Tel: (02) 2881-2021www.npm.gov.twNearest MRT Station: Shilin
National Taiwan Museum (國立臺灣博物館)
Add: 2 Xiangyang Rd., Taipei City( 台北市襄陽路 2 號 )
Tel: (02) 2382-2566www.ntm.gov.twNearest MRT Station: NTU Hospital
Novel Hall (新舞臺)
Add: 3 Songshou Rd., Taipei City( 台北市松壽路 3 號 )
Tel: (02) 2722-4302www.novelhall.org.twNearest MRT Station: Taipei City Hall
National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國立國父紀念館)
Add: 505 Ren-ai Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City( 台北市仁愛路四段 5 0 5 號 )
Tel: (02) 2758-8008www.yatsen.gov.tw/enNearest MRT Station: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
Taipei Arena (台北小巨蛋)
Add: 2 Nanjing E. Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City( 台北市南京東路 4 段 2 號 )
Tel: (02) 2577-3500www.taipeiarena.com.twNearest MRT Station: Nanjing E. Rd.
Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館)
Add: 181 Zhongshan N. Rd., Sec. 3, Taipei City( 台北市中山北路 3 段 181 號 )
Tel: (02) 2595-7656www.tfam.museum Nearest MRT Station: Yuanshan
Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (台北當代藝術館)
Add: 39 Chang-an W. Rd., Taipei City( 台北市長安西路 39 號 )
Tel: (02) 2552-3721www.mocataipei.org.twNearest MRT Station: Zhongshan
TWTC Nangang Exhibiton Hall (台北世貿中心南港展覽館)
Add: 1, Jingmao 2nd Rd., Taipei City(台北市經貿二路 1號 )Tel: (02) 2725-5200 www.twtcnangang.com.twNearest MRT Station: Nangang Exhibition Hall
National Taiwan Science Education Center (國立臺灣科學教育館)
Add: 189 Shishan Rd., Taipei City(台北市士商路 189號 )Tel: (02) 6610-1234 Website: www.ntsec.gov.twNearest MRT Station: Shilin
Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (關渡美術館)
Add: 1 Xueyuan Rd., Beitou District, Taipei City(台北市北投區學園路 1號 )Tel: (02) 2896-1000 ext. 2432Website: www.kdmofa.tnua.edu.twNearest MRT Station: Guandu
Taichung
National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (國立台灣美術館)
Add: 2 Wuquan W. Rd., Sec. 1, Taichung City( 台中市五權西路一段 2 號 )
Tel: (04) 2372-3552www.ntmofa.gov.tw
TainanTainan City Cultural Center (台南市立文化中心)
Add: 332 Zhonghua E. Rd., Sec. 3, Tainan City( 台南市中華東路 3 段 332 號 )
Tel: (06) 269-2864www.tmcc.gov.tw
KaohsiungKaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (高雄市立美術館)
Add: 80 Meishuguan Rd., Kaohsiung City( 高雄市美術館路 8 0 號 )
Tel: (07) 555-0331www.kmfa.gov.tw Nearest KMRT Station: Aozihdi Station
Kaohsiung Museum of History (高雄市立歷史博物館)
Add: 272 Zhongzheng 4th Rd., Kaohsiung City( 高雄市中正四路 27 2 號 )
Tel: (07) 531-2560http://163.32.121.205/Nearest KMRT Station: City Council
Venues
At many art exhibitions, you
are not allowed to take photos
or get close to the art on display,
let alone play with it. Not so at
this exhibition. On the contrary,
visitors are encouraged to
bring their cameras and take
photos of friends and family
incorporating the artwork.
The idea is to pose in a way
that the illusion of real persons
interacting with the cartoon characters of the paintings is created. On
display are more than 20 large-scale hand-painted artworks, depicting the
popular Japanese cartoon character Kitarou and all sorts of animation
monsters. Posing in front of and interacting with these cartoon characters
brings great fun for the whole family.
Until January 5National Taiwan Science Education Center
3D Trick Arts Exhibition Part III – Kitarou奇幻不思議 3D幻視系列 -鬼太郎特展
Tak ing in the amazing scener y at Mt . Hehuan
10 Travel in Taiwan
FEATURE
Sky HighText: Rick Charette Photos: Jen Guo-chen
On a three-day adventure along the Central Cross-Island Highway in the Nantou County section of the soaring Central Mountain Range, I visit Wushe, an indigenous town best known for being at the center of the last great uprising against the Japanese during the 1895-1945 Japanese colonial period; enjoy the eagle-view scenery and ranch experience at mountainside-hugging Qingjing Farm; revel in the grand experience of being at eye level with scores of peaks above 3,000 meters at Wuling, Taiwan’s highest paved-road point; hike and walk high-mountain trails; lose myself in a sunrise perched on a spot over 3,200 meters up; feast on the culinary inventions of mainland China’s Baiyi people; visit a Baiyi settlement; watch Taiwan’s Sediq tribe members weave cloth the traditional way; watch thrilling horse-riding acrobatics performed by an outer Mongolian troupe; visit local museums, …
Let’s be off, you say? OK, time to launch.
Climbing Up to the Roof of Taiwan: A Wushe to Mt. Hehuan Excursion
Qingjing Guest House
Wanda Reservoir
Wuling
Kenanguan
Lu Mama Restaurant
Qingjing Farm
Sunshine Vacation VillaYunnan Fengqing
Xiu Hua Studio
Wushe
Nantou County Museum of Natural History
to Puli
Mona Rudao Memorial Park
Qingjing Community Development Association
Bowang New Village
Songxue Lou
to Lishan/Taroko Gorge
Mt. Shimen Trail
Mt. Hehuan
Travel in Taiwan 11
FEATURE QINGJING/MT. HEHUAN
We’re self-driving. My four-person adventure group takes
National Freeway No. 3 from Taipei to just past central
Taichung, then switches to picturesque National Freeway No.
6 to enter the mountains, reaching its end at Puli town. The
much-tunneled No. 6 is, in sections, raised dramatically high
above valley f loors. We leave pretty Puli Basin to start the steep
ascent into the central mountains along Provincial Highway No.
14, reaching Wushe town in 25 minutes. The full trip has taken
less than three hours.
Wushe is a Sediq-tribe community. Long lumped together
with the Atayal tribe, the Sediq were officially recognized as
an independent group in 2008. Though “Wushe” means “foggy
community,” it is known for crystal-clear alpine air, along with
a grand bloom of wild cherry and plum blossoms in early spring.
On the town’s lower edge, beside the highway, is Mona Rudao
Memorial Park. Towards the end of the Sediq uprising against
the Japanese in 1930 (see box), leader Mona Rudao committed
suicide while hiding in a cave, refusing to be taken prisoner. In
1981 this memorial park was created and his remains transferred
here. It is a quiet place of tall, shady coniferous trees, entered
via an elegant white gateway.
DAY 1
The Wushe Incident
On October 27, 1930, Mona Rudao, the son of a local chieftain, and over 300 Sediq warriors ambushed Japanese officials and family members attending a sports meet at the local elementary school. The attack was in retaliation for ongoing language and cultural repression, demands for forced labor, and recent insults. After days of fighting, with Japanese reinforcements expected from the lowlands, the rebels retreated to the higher mountains and fought on for two months, hiding in caves to escape air bombing. The Japanese eventually resorted to poison gas, and many tribal members, sick and on the point of starvation, chose suicide over surrender. Approximately 2,000 Sediq died in the fighting, 200 Japanese. Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (2011), Taiwan’s first epic film about local indigenous history, is centered on the Wushe Incident.
Directly across the highway from the memorial park is
the entrance to stained-timber stairs set amidst tall, aromatic
coniferous trees that bring you to and – literally – through
Wushe Elementary School, to the Nantou County Museum
of Natural History (Tues ~ Sun, 9 am ~ 5 pm) on the far
side, down more steps beyond the playground. On the way
we stopped for posed shots with a bust of Chiang Kai-shek
that, whimsically, has the generalissimo sporting Sediq facial
tattoos and bright-red warrior garb.
The simple museum has rotating exhibits on the first level
(on Taiwan’s butterf lies when we visited), and a permanent
exhibit on Taiwan’s indigenous peoples on the basement
level, including a display on the 1930 uprising. We much
enjoyed a multimedia installation that magically puts you in
old photographs in Sediq warrior or maiden costume, and I
particularly enjoyed a display on the ingenious traditional
traps and nets used to catch small game and fish. There is
English information on both levels, and an English-speaking
guide can be arranged.
Wushe is perched high above pretty Wanda Reservoir,
which is surrounded by abrupt mountain escarpments and has
the ref lectiveness of an emerald-green mirror. Your photos will
Statue of Mona Rudao
12 Travel in Taiwan
FEATURE
Wanda Reser voir near Wushe
DAY 2
have the look of a lyrical Chinese shanshui landscape painting,
especially with the rustic awning-covered fishing rafts that
dot the surface. One and all can fish from the shore, but only
natives are allowed fishing on the water.
From Wushe (elevation 1,150m), we drove up, up, up to
Qingjing Farm (1,750m). The twisting highway – there is a split
at Wushe, and we were now on the 14A – moves along the long,
steep ridge of a massive mountain spur that goes all the way to
the Wuling Pass (3,275 meters) at Mt. Hehuan. The views are,
as you have already imagined, quite dramatic, and at numerous
points you look down into deep valleys.
Travel in Taiwan 13
FEATURE QINGJING/MT. HEHUAN
Qingjing Farm bills itself as “Little Switzerland.” The
reasons are clear. The major attraction is the Green Green
Grassland (NT$160 for adults, NT$200 on weekends and
holidays; 8 am to 4 pm, 5 pm on weekend and holidays), where
sheep munch on rolling mountaintop pastureland. All about are
tall-peak alpine panoramas. The sheep and the skills needed to
tend them were introduced decades back by government-hired
Australian ranchers. You can buy feed to give the animals, and
there are regular sheep-shearing and sheep-dog shows. Note
that pet dogs are not allowed in this area, because they might
disturb the sheep; there are pet-care services at both the north
and south gates.
A highlight when we visited this section was the horse-
acrobatics show put on by a very talented, colorfully dressed
troupe from Mongolia. Most amazing of many amazing feats
was one rider shooting arrows at a target with deadly accuracy,
sometimes turned to face backwards, as he galloped headlong in
circles. Onlookers nearest the target leaned away instinctively,
but he never came close to missing. Seeing the demonstration,
I could well imagine the power of the attacks in days of yore by
his ancestors, on horseback and in the hundreds and thousands.
The second big draw at the farm is the Small Swiss Garden
(NT$120; 9 am to 9 pm), a landscaped area tucked away
amidst tall coniferous trees which overf lows with bright alpine
f lowers and is dotted with small replicas of windmills and other
E xhibits inside the Nantou Count y Museum of Natural His tor y
Green Green Grassland at Qingjing Farm
14 Travel in Taiwan
FEATURE
European touches. Ducks, geese, and turtles swim in the large
pond in the middle. There are periodic water-fountain displays,
and a romantic – and popular – water-and-light show at night.
The farm’s administrators have set up a number of for-the-most-
part short and easy trails that let you experience the facility from
different angles. On this day we tackled three: the 499 Steps Trail,
1,800 meters long, featuring the 499 steps of a long, attractive tree-
shaded wooden staircase stretched along some of the farm’s cash-
crop orchards; the Cryptomeria Trail, 750 meters, which takes
you through a mature, pleasantly fragrant stand of the evergreens
planted long ago by the Japanese and around behind the Small Swiss
Garden; and the Tea Garden Trail, 800 meters, which takes you into
the slope-hugging tea fields behind the Qingjing Guest House.Qingjing Farm is fun
for famil ies
Feeding a sheep
Sheep herding show at Qingjing Farm
DAY 3
Qingjing’s Baiyi Community
Beyond its superb mountain vistas and bucolic alpine farmland experience, Qingjing is also known for its vibrant Baiyi community. The Baiyi or Dai people are from China’s Yunnan Province. When the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 and the ROC government evacuated to Taiwan, many Kuomintang soldiers were left behind in border districts in China’s southwest. In 1961 a group from Yunnan was airlifted to Taiwan; the majority of their wives were from various Yunnan minorities, the greatest number Baiyi. In light of the rugged high-mountain conditions, most couples settling around Qingjing Farm were childless. Many second-generation community members, many of these in their 50s, now run restaurants and homestays/inns that give tourists a look into their lives. Second-generation member Ms. Li Cong-xiu took us on a tour of small, colorful, single-street Bowang New Village, one of the original 1961 settlements, which welcomes all visitors and has an intriguing collection of old photos and info (Chinese) in the Qingjing Community Development Association hall. If interested in a tour, call her at 0952-218-966 (she speaks Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, and Baiyi).
Travel in Taiwan 15
FEATURE QINGJING/MT. HEHUAN
The climb from Qingjing to Highway 14A’s highest
point, at Wuling, takes about an hour. You leave almost all
manmade structures behind; all permanent dwellings seem
to be far below you. There are a number of scenic places
to stop, with good English posted telling you what you’re
seeing.
At Wuling Pass (3,275 m), you’ve cleared forest cover
and are amongst a sea of waving high-mountain bamboo
sprinkled with pine and, in winter, the occasional dusting
of snow. Just above, not more than a few hundred feet, is a
world of bare rock. Mt. Hehuan’s east peak is right on top
of you, the road running over its neck and down its back
toward Taroko Gorge on the east coast. Laid out to the
right of the east peak is what seems like a scale model of
ridges and peaks running far toward the island’s south, a
who’s who of topographical stars lined up – Qilai Ridge,
Mt. Nenggao, Mt. Jade in miniature far at the end. All are
now at eye-level, and you feel you can reach out and touch
them all.
You make the drive in the dead of night to catch the
sunrise. You won’t be alone. People park along the highway
around Wuling, or head up along the Mt. Hehuan area’s
many popular trails – to the east peak, the main peak, etc.
Before the big show, the number of stars in the clear skies is
incredible, and the many shooting stars provide thrills. We
went past Wuling Pass, descending down the other side of
the Hehuanshan massif about 10 minutes to Kenanguan.
This is a highway pass blown right out of the mountains
by the Japanese and then later expanded by the ROC
government; “Kenanguan” means “Conquering Difficulty
Pass.” You stare down into a deep, dark valley, and off over
soaring peaks. This is also one of many great area spots to
watch ethereal “seas of clouds” roll into valleys below you
like slow tsunamis.
Sunrise at Kenanguan near Mt . Hehuan
Mongolian horse r iding show at Qingjing Farm
Three f i rs t- generat ion Baiy i l iv ing at Bowang New V i l lage
16 Travel in Taiwan
FEATURE
Mountain scener y at Wuling
FEATURE
English and Chinese
Atayal 泰雅
Baiyi 擺夷
Bowang New Village 博望新村
Central Weather Bureau 中央氣象局
Cryptomeria Trail 柳杉步道
499 Steps Trail 步步高升步道
Green Green Grassland 青青草原
Hehuanshan Villa Visitor Center
合歡山莊遊客中心
Kenanguan 克難關
Li Cong-xiu 李從秀
Mona Rudao Mem. Park
莫那魯道紀念公園
Mt. Hehuan 合歡山
Mt. Shimen Trail 石門山步道
Puli 埔里
Qilai Ridge 奇萊稜脊
Sediq 賽德克
Small Swiss Garden 小瑞士花園
Tea Garden Trail 茶園步道
Wanda Reservoir 萬大水庫
Wuling 武嶺
Wushe 霧社
Nantou County Museum of Natural History (仁愛高農自然史教育館 )Add: 27, Shannong Lane, Datong Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村山農巷 27號 )Tel: (049) 280-1103
Qingjing Farm (清境農場 )Add: 170, Renhe Rd., Datong Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村仁和路 170 號 )Tel: (049) 280-2748Website: www.cingjing.gov.tw
Qingjing Community Development Association (清境社區發展協會 )Add: 42, Bowang Lane, Datong Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村博望巷 42號 )Tel: (049) 280-3876Website: community.cja.org.tw (Chinese)
The Central Cross- is land Highway
Travel in Taiwan 17
FEATURE QINGJING/MT. HEHUAN
Getting There & Getting AroundThe E-Go tourist-bus company (www.e-go.com.tw; Chinese) has daily departures from Taipei Railway Station and other points on Taiwan’s west side to Wushe and on to Qingjing. From there you can choose from their tour-bus outings to Wushe, around Qingjing Farm, to Mt. Hehuan, and other area spots. There are sunrise and sunset Mt. Hehuan outings. You can also check out the Qingjing-Hehuan Sightseeing Commentary Limousine service (www.travelbus.com.tw; Chinese), which operates bright-red sightseeing buses.
After the sunrise, we headed a short distance back
west along the highway, toward Wuling Pass, and
parked in the small lot across from the easy 800-meter
Mt. Shimen Trail. Though our hike was just 30
minutes or so, we ended up atop one of Taiwan’s 100
famous peaks above 3,000 meters high, at 3,237 meters,
surrounded by low, slope-hugging juniper, prickly high-
mountain bamboo and abundant Yushan azalea and
red hairy azalea, and colorful birds such as Formosan
laughing thrush and vinaceus rosefinch.
The weather in Hehuanshan National Forest
Recreation Area (http://recreation.forest.gov.tw) is
highly variable, so bring both warm clothing and
raingear. Heavy fogs often roll in in the afternoon.
Check the Central Weather Bureau website (www.cwb.gov.tw) ahead of time. Note also that information
on guided tours is available from the newly opened
Hehuanshan Villa Visitor Center, located highway-side
near the Mt. Shimen Trail trailhead.
Fun at Mt . Hehuan
FEATURE
Most accommodations are in the Qingjing Farm area, where there are now over 140 minsu or homestays. The term
“minsu” is almost universally used, but as explained to me by Qingjing Farm authorities, a true minsu has seven or
fewer guest rooms and the owner/operators must live on the premises. Most of the facilities that do not qualify are better
described as inns, or B&Bs
My favorite Qingjing overnight getaway is the classy Sunshine Vacation Villa, an inn with Swiss-style building
exteriors. Its rooms, restaurant/gift shop, and café are in different buildings, which seem to hang over the valley
below, the long Qilai Ridge in all its grandeur spread out yonder. The rooms are comfy, airy, and tastefully appointed,
and the restaurant serves first-rate Baiyi cuisine (more on this later), but it’s the café I think about upon returning
home, eclectically yet tastefully decorated in Western style with fireplace, its f loor-to-ceiling windows making you feel
you’re f loating outward above the valley. (Rooms start at NT$2,460.)
Another fine choice is Yunnan Fengqing (“Yunnan Style”), run by Jiang Shao-lu and his wife. A quirky place
brimming with personality, I’ll call it a hybrid homestay/inn. There are three buildings. Of the 15 guest rooms, 14
are in a building with an air of what I’ll call “European classicism with Baiyi/Mr. Jiang characteristics.” The couple
lives on the main f loor of a rustic two-story wood building, with the attractive, homey restaurant on the second f loor.
Big windows and extensive use of big pieces of scrap-timber and driftwood cedar in furniture/decorations are the big
themes here. Both husband and wife are second-generation Qingjing Baiyi, both cook, and the Baiyi food here is tasty.
The great draw at Yunnan Fengqing, however, is the wonderful, whimsical birdhouse/treehouse room. Built with a
healthy dose of scrap timber and driftwood, Jiang says it is his architectural paean to his Yunnan brethren, who build
their high-mountain structures high and narrow to maximize agricultural space. (Rooms start at NT$2,310.)
The venerable Songxue Lou (“Pine Snow Lodge”) is a quiet place just off the highway on the east slope of Mt.
Hehuan’s east peak, popular with hikers and bikers. Cycling has become very popular in Taiwan in the past decade,
and tackling Mt. Hehuan (i.e., on the highway) has become de rigeuer for the most dedicated. The 36 rooms are
roomy and spartan, with simple furnishings and much space for hiking/cycling gear, bikes, etc. The lodge façade
and common areas have been renovated, and are quite attractive. The bright, open restaurant serves simple, hearty,
inexpensive Chinese fare. Like other area accommodations, recreation facilities are pretty much non-existent – you’re
supposed to be outside enjoying nature’s gifts. (Rooms start at NT$2,440.)
Where to Stay
There has been a tourism explosion in the Wushe/Qingjing/Mt. Hehuan region in the past decade-plus, and many people will include at least two of these three destinations in any overnight outing to the central mountain region of Taiwan. Your Stay/Eat/Buy options are many, and are of high quality.
18 Travel in Taiwan
FEATURE STAY/EAT/BUY
Wushe/Qingjing/Mt. HehuanHigh-MountainStay/Eat/Buy Pleasures
Text: Rick Charette Photos: Jen Guo-chen
Sunshine Vacation V i l la ( lef t) ; Songxue Lou (above)
I’ve visited Qingjing six times, and very much enjoy the zesty Baiyi fare, with many dishes featuring
heavy seasoning. Many of the traditional herbs and spices used are not commonly used elsewhere in
Taiwan, and are either imported or grown in local household gardens.
Topping my restaurant list is Lu Mama, beside the highway just below Bowang New Village. On this trip
I had the privilege of visiting with founder “Mother Lu,” whose compelling personal story includes dodging
Communist soldiers before escaping from Yunnan to Taiwan, then severe hardship and homesickness
while opening up the Qingjing land. From her restaurant’s menu, I specially recommend the crispy spiced
mountain fish, which is cut in half, smothered in seasonings inside, put back together and quick-fried, and a
dessert treat not found in many local Baiyi restaurants, fried triangles of red glutinous-rice paste with peanut
powder and sesame seed, dipped in honey and/or coconut shreds. Delicious!
Second of my top Baiyi three is the Sunshine Vacation Villa restaurant. Especially interesting is the dish
featuring pork-head skin slices. The skin is roasted, blackened sections scraped off, and the meat sliced and
served with chili pepper and peanut.
At the Yunnan Fengqing restaurant, try the spiced pork slices with finely chopped tomato, onion, and
garlic, delectably complemented with rice vinegar, lemon juice, and huajiao (Sichuan flower pepper). The
Baiyi also use this as a condiment.
Area restaurants almost invariably have great views, but wood-built Talowan’s is different. (“Talowan”
means “welcome” in the native Sediq language.) It sits high up looking straight down the long, mountain-
bracketed, emerald-green Wanda Reservoir. Sit outside on a roofed deck or on a patio with large-umbrella
shading. The menu is a Chinese/indigenous mix; most popular is the hotpot with fresh mountain fish-
head and mountain produce, but to me, nothing here beats the melt-in-your-mouth whole chicken, steeped
in six herbs 3-4 days then baked in a special wood-fired oven.
FEATURE
Travel in Taiwan 19
STAY/EAT/BUY
Where to Eat
Delicious f ish prepared at Yunnan Fengqing
Hotpot with f ish head prepared at Talowan
Yunnan specialt ies prepared at Lu Mama
At Songxue Lou
Inside the birdhouse
Birdhouse at Yunnan Fengqing
An iconic Qingjing Farm image is woolly sheep and goats, and when visiting you can buy a
number of different sheep/goat-theme items. In the lobby of the farm-run Qingjing Guest House,
buy aromatic fresh-baked bread and silky-smooth popsicles and ice cream made with goat milk.
Kids also like the cute sheep-theme DIY windmill chimes and figurines.
At the Ville de la France shop, beside the Qingjing Farm Tourist Center, buy tasty,
f laky, handmade danjuan (“egg rolls,” a sweet treat – not the fried egg rolls you know
from Chinese restaurants) and creamy pudding made with goat milk.
Chen Xiu-hua, owner of Xiu Hua Studio on the highway just above Wushe village,
makes indigenous fabrics the traditional way, and creates/sells (cash only) both the
beautiful traditional-style attire of Taiwan’s various tribes and appealing traditional-
pattern, modern-styling items such as bags, purses, and even high-heel shoes. Her award-
winning Li Du Lu Mu designer-label creations are also sold elsewhere (visit http://theme.otop.tw/renai/p38.html and http://www.otop.tw/feature/104941.html; Chinese).
What to Buy
20 Travel in Taiwan
FEATURE
STAYQingjing Guest House (清境農場國民賓館 )Add: 25, Dingyuan New Village, Datong Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村定遠新村 25號 )Tel: (049) 280-2748Website: hotel.chingjing.com.tw
Songxue Lou (松雪樓 )Add: 33, Guanyuan, Fushi Village, Xiulin Township, Hualien County (花蓮縣秀林鄉富世村關原 33號 )Tel: (04) 2522-9696Website: tsfs.forest.gov.tw (Chinese)
Sunshine Vacation Villa (見晴花園渡假山莊 )Add: 18-1, Dingyuan New Village, Datong Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村定遠新村 18-1號 )Tel: (049) 280-3162Website: www.sunshine-villa.com.tw (Chinese)
Yunnan Fengqing (雲南風情渡假山莊 )Add: 50-1, Rongguang Lane, Datong Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村榮光巷 50-1號 )Tel: (049) 280-3577Website: www.yunnan.com.tw (Chinese)
EATLu Mama (魯媽媽 )Add: 210-2-1, Renhe Rd., Datong Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村仁和路 210-2-1號 )Tel: (049) 280-3876Website: www.lumama.com.tw (Chinese)
Talowan Restaurant (塔洛彎景觀餐廳 )Add: 25-1, Xinyi Lane, Renhe Rd., Datong Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村仁和路信義巷 25-1號 )Tel: (049) 280-3839
BUYXiu Hua Studio (秀花工作室 )Add: 77-1, Xinyi Lane, Datong Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村信義巷 77-1號 )Tel: (049) 280-1885
English and ChineseChen Xiu-hua 陳秀花danjuan 蛋捲huajiao 花椒Jiang Shao-lu 江紹陸Qingjing Farm Tourist Center 清境農場遊客服務中心Ville de la France 法國小鎮
Cute sheep f igur ines
Bag and purses by Xiu Hua Studio
Chen Xin-hua at work
SHILIN NIGHT MARKET
Travel in Taiwan: You’ve lived here for a number of years.
What do you think of Taipei as a city?
Alex: I think it is a very interesting place. The city changes
and grows rapidly. For example, the MRT system keeps
growing, and new large malls are opened almost every
year it seems. This building right here, the Eslite Spectrum
Songyan Store, is a good example.
Travel in Taiwan: When did you arrive in Taiwan, and how
long will you stay?
Ruud: We just arrived a few days ago. This is our first visit. I
will be studying for a semester at National Taipei University of
Technology in Taipei.
Travel in Taiwan: What are your initial impressions of Taiwan?
Ruud: Oh, it’s so very different from any country I have been to
so far. Everything is strange and unusual – for example the food
smells in the streets – in a good way.
Travel in Taiwan: Where will you be going next?
Pieter: Taipei 101. It’s right over there. You can’t miss it. Ha, ha!
Travel in Taiwan: Where do you like it best in Taipei?
Alex: I am particularly fond of the area around MRT
Dongmen Station. There are many restaurants along
Yongkang Street, and it is a very pleasant neighborhood.
Travel in Taiwan: What do you think about Songshan
Cultural and Creative Park?
Alex: I like that old areas and buildings are being preserved
and made useful again. The idea of preservation for the
sake of culture and history is great. Taipei’s cityscape is a
real mix of old and new.
Travel in Taiwan: Can you recommend three places to go
to in Taipei?
Alex: I would first recommend visitors go to Elephant
Mountain, just south of Taipei 101, do a bit of hiking,
and look over the whole city from up high. Then I
would recommend going to the coastal town of Tamsui
north of Taipei, and enjoy the seafood and sunsets.
Finally, back in the city, a night-market visit, maybe in
the Longshan Temple area or in Shilin.
Alex, from Wisconsin, USA
At Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, one of Taipei’s new and thriving cultural centers, Travel in Taiwan asked foreigners about their travel and living experiences in Taiwan.
Pieter: And I will be studying for one semester at National
Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung. We both study business
administration, and we will try to take some Chinese language
classes too.
Pieter: I am not quite sure what foods to pick,
because I am not familiar with many of the
things on offer here. We’ve already tried some
exotic foods, like dried pork blood on a stick.
Ruud and Pieter, from the Netherlands
MEETING TOURISTS
Travel in Taiwan 21
MEETING TOURISTS
The Hot Springs of BeitouA Place of Warmth, History, and Mist-ery
Beitou’s Geothermal Valley
Hot-spr ing bathing
Beitou Museum
TOP TEN TOURIST TOWNS
22 Travel in Taiwan
Text: Rick Charette Photos: Vision Int'l
Beitou Hot Spring Museum
TOP TEN TOURIST TOWNS BEITOU
The Beitou hot-spring district, now long enclosed within the borders of Taipei City, was voted one of Taiwan’s “Top 10 Tourist Towns” in a nationwide poll and expert survey concluded last year. Travel in Taiwan recently spent an afternoon with Yang Yeh, well-known Taiwan mapmaker, resident of Beitou since childhood, and expert on its history and culture.
Travel in Taiwan 23
One of the earliest, a simple
bathhouse called Longnaitang, is
still in operation beside the park (244
Guangming Road). It was built in 1907,
has separate male/female pools, and
today requires swimwear. Two other
places from the Japanese era are also
still in business. The Yitsun Hotel,
originally a private guesthouse for
Japanese military officers, includes Sun
Yat-sen among its famous guests (140
Wenquan Road). The pretty wood-built
Whispering Pine Inn, built in 1934, is
further up the valley, above the park (21
Youya Road).
In Yang’s view, of the many
attractions in the hot-spring area,
manmade and natural, the Beitou Hot
Spring Museum (beitoumuseum.taipei.gov.tw), located just inside the park at
its lower end, is a must-visit. This lovely
Victorian-style building of red brick
and white stucco originally housed the
Beitou Public Baths, Taiwan’s first public
bath and long East Asia’s largest hot-
spring public bath. A Romanesque pool
and columns have been restored, as has
the original large, breezy tatami resting
room, and there are many intriguing
artifacts and info displays. Says Yang:
“A highlight for me at the museum is the
fine collection of black & white photos
and documentary footage of Beitou and
Taipei’s riverside areas in the Japanese
period, which is great for visualizing
what everything used to look like as you
tour the area.”
Higher up in the park you’ll come
to Plum Garden. This is an attractive
Japanese-style villa made of timber, with
Western elements, that was built in the
1930s. It was the summer home of the
esteemed politico and calligrapher Yu
You-ren from 1949 to 1964. Inside the
heritage home is a visitor information
center, and there are displays on
Yu’s calligraphy as well as the villa’s
distinctive architecture and decorative
elements. “The villa was originally built
for the use of Japanese military officers,”
says Yang, “and the basement has an air-
raid shelter built with reinforced concrete
during WW II. The external wall is a
battlement-shaped structure, as if the
Japanese expected the Americans to one
day come fighting up the valley.”
In a very small side
valley near
the top of the park is Geothermal Valley,
Beitou Stream’s sulfur-water source,
popularly called Hell Valley. This is the
heart of the hot-springs area. A deep, rock-
strewn depression created by a volcanic
burst long ago, it’s filled with what’s more
a lake than a pool, the sulfurous waters
bubbling and spitting, the steam sometimes
filling the entire little valley on cool days.
These are the Yangmingshan massif’s
hottest waters, at about 100 degrees
Celsius. Yang says that the Ketagalan
called the mist- and steam-filled hot-
springs area ‘Patauw,’ meaning ‘witch’
or ‘sorceress,’ and considered the enclave
sacred. The Chinese place name ‘Beitou’ is
a bastardization of the original name.
Resort Area Origins
“The native people who originally lived in this area, the Ketagalan, had no history of hot-spring soaking,” says Yang Yeh. “Neither did the Taiwanese, whose ancestors had come from China in the previous few centuries. The Japanese wanted to develop Beitou’s springs primarily for use by the military – for officers and injured servicemen, to help in their recuperation. The place really began to boom with the transport of many injured in the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. Beitou Park, opened in 1913 along with the Beitou Public Baths, today home to the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, was sculpted in classical European style. After the Japanese left at the end of WW II it was returned to a more natural look.”
To get to the hot-
spring area,
which percolates with resort hotels,
public baths, and tourist attractions, take
the Taipei Metro (“MRT”) to Xinbeitou
Station. On exiting, you’ll see a long,
narrow, valley directly ahead, sloping
upward toward the high hills and peaks
of the Yangmingshan massif looming
behind. This valley was carved by the
Beitou Stream, a hot-spring stream that
gurgles and steams. It runs through long,
narrow Beitou Park, which takes up the
center of the lower part of the valley.
The metro station is, says Yang, the
best place to launch a day-tour of the hot-
spring enclave, because the area’s history
as a resort was also launched here. The
Japanese developed the valley during
their 1895-1945 period of colonial rule
over Taiwan, and built a large and lovely
wooden railway station in 1916 on a spot
right beside today’s metro station to serve
as the terminus on a spur line specially
built to deliver soakers from a then much
smaller Taipei.
Old-time Beitou residents are very
happy these days, says Yang, because
government officials recently announced
that the station, relocated to Taiwan Folk
Village in Changhua County in 1992, is
being returned to Taipei, and will be re-
erected in small Qixing Park beside the
metro station by 2016.
The entrance
to Beitou Park is just across the street
from the metro station. There are a
number of small Beitou Stream waterfalls
within the park. “Early on, before many
facilities were developed, Japanese
nationals would come here and soak in
the pools below the falls – naked, in the
Japanese fashion. This caused quite a
stir with locals, and Japanese officials
thought it best to stop the practice, to
maintain Japanese dignity and esteem.”
(Today only foot-soaking is allowed in
the stream.) Small inns and baths began
to pop up.
Geothermal Valley
TOP TEN TOURIST TOWNS
24 Travel in Taiwan
At the top of the valley on Youya
Road is the lovely Beitou Museum (www.beitoumuseum.org.tw; formerly known
as the Taiwan Folk Art Museum), housed
in a former Japanese hot-spring inn
built in 1921 that served as an imperial
officers’ club and once entertained
kamikaze pilots on their final nights
of mortality. The complex is among
Taiwan’s largest examples of Japanese
wood-built architecture, measuring about
2,500 square meters. Built in Chinese
Tang Dynasty style, it was renovated top
to bottom 2002~2007, and is a work of
art in itself.
The museum has Beitou-theme
exhibits on early Taiwan life and culture.
Beitou was once a key area in Taiwan
ceramics production, with well-suited
mineral-rich earth, and the museum has
many compelling high-end works, with
historical background provided. Yang
recommends the black & white photos
from the area’s Japanese colonial-period
heyday, when the developed valley
looked nothing like it does today.
Beside the museum is the Marshal Zen
Garden (www.sgarden.com.tw), also called
the Shann Garden. This was, says Yang, for
a time the home of the “Young Marshal,”
Zhang Xue-liang, a Manchurian warlord
best known for kidnapping Generalissimo
Chiang Kai-shek in 1936. He lived to
tell the tale, though under house arrest,
and lived here while the home he lived in
longest while under the Kuomintang’s care,
elsewhere in Beitou and not open to the
public, was built.
During the Japanese era, the
aesthetically magnetic complex of
Japanese-built wooden structures served
as a hot-spring inn, officers’ club, and
short-stay R&R retreat for kamikaze
pilots. It is now run as a teahouse/
restaurant/spa enterprise.
English and ChineseBeitou 北投Beitou Hot Spring Museum 北投溫泉博物館Beitou Museum 北投文物館Beitou Park 北投公園Beitou Public Baths 北投溫泉浴場Beitou Stream 北投溪Geothermal Valley 地熱谷Guangming Road 光明路Jiufen 九份Ketagalan 凱達格蘭Longnaitang 瀧乃湯Marshal Zen Garden 少帥禪園Plum Garden 梅庭Qixing Park 七星公園Taiwan Folk Village 台灣民俗村Wellcome Supermarket 頂好超市Wenquan Road 溫泉路Whispering Pine Inn 吟松閣Yangmingshan 陽明山Yang Yeh 楊燁Yitsun Hotel 逸村大飯店Youya Road 幽雅路Yu You-ren 于右任Zhang Xue-liang 張學良
Getting There To get to the hot-spring resort area, take the Taipei Metro to Xinbeitou Station. To get around, consider taking one of the regular Beitou Museum shuttle buses (free) from the station to the museum, at the valley’s top, which will allow you to walk downhill during your exploration.
Off the Beaten Track: A Special Yang Yeh RecommendationTravel in Taiwan: Do you have any special “insider’s touring tips” that our readers should know about?
Yang: Indeed I do. Virtually all tourists move through Beitou Park. For a time-capsule glimpse into old-time Beitou living, however, ascend the old, narrow stairway beside the Wellcome Supermarket near the park’s entrance and explore the community on the slopeland parallel to the park, along Wenquan (Hot Springs) Road. There are many old residences and other heritage architectural elements here that went up in the period after WW II. The ambience is akin to that in Jiufen (another of the Taiwan Top 10 Tourist Towns, an old gold-mining town on a mountainside overlooking the Pacific). Just where Wenquan Road comes down just above Beitou Park is a lovely old hillside church.
TOP TEN TOURIST TOWNS
Travel in Taiwan 25
BEITOU
Beitou Museum
Marshal Zen Garden
Text and Photos: Stuart Dawson
Jialuo Lake is not just one lake, but a collection of some 20-plus lakes situated in the northern reaches of the Central Mountain Range in northeastern Taiwan. Visiting the lake involves a fantastic 2-day camping and hiking trip that takes you deep into the mountains.
HIKING
26 Travel in Taiwan
The lakes were well known during the 1895-
1945 Japanese colonial era, when the area was developed for logging, but then apparently almost forgotten until 1999, when a man-made fire burnt down some 50 hectares of surrounding forest and the exposed lakes were rediscovered.
The hike begins off an old forestry road that
once was used for logging, just above the small
indigenous village of Siji, which is located along
Provincial Highway No. 7A in Yilan County.
The forestry road is normally passable by
motorbike; but on my most recent visit, in May
2013, only travel on foot was possible, adding a
couple of hours to the hike.
At the end of the road is a small stream
and waterfall. My fellow hikers and I stopped
there for lunch, taking advantage of the water
supply to make some coffee and fill up canteens.
While the water is clean and clear, it can’t be
drunk unless it has been boiled or treated with
chlorine.
The trail proper begins just 100 meters
beyond the spot where we lunched, and is easy to
find. Next to the trailhead is a giant red cypress
that is at least 70 meters tall. The tree towered
above us, and we all strained our necks trying to
see the top! I always find it amazing that in places
like Jialuo Lake and Alishan, where there was so
much logging in the past, the odd giant tree such
as this one was left intact. It’s almost as if the tree
was so huge that no one dared cut it down.
Although the hike up from the trailhead
is a tough, relentless uphill slog, it takes you
through a gorgeous pine forest. The f loor of the
forest is covered with large ferns, making the
scene especially beautiful. As we headed up ever
higher, the clouds that had been threatening to
rain on us instead began to part, and we were
treated to beams of ethereal light breaking
through the forest canopy.
As we carried on walking the ferns began to disappear, replaced by
sturdy dwarf bamboo –which meant we were nearing the top. After four hours of hiking we finally climbed over a crest, finishing the hardest part of the hike.
From this point, it’s like you’ve entered a
completely different world. The trail is totally
surrounded by two-meter-high silver grass. In
places, if the person in front of you gets more
than a couple of meters ahead he/she completely
disappears from view! Many branches shoot off
the main trail – the area is riddled with trails –
so care needs to be taken to avoid becoming lost.
In amongst the silver grass, you can also see
hundreds of white, dead trees, killed in the 1999
forest fire.
Pressing on, we crossed another ridge and
passed several smaller lakes, all the time in
ankle-deep mud, before finally arriving at Jialuo
Lake in the late afternoon. It seems the hike is
gaining in popularity, as there were at least 20
tents already set up by the lakeside. We decided
to camp on ground a little higher and further
away in the hope it would be a little quieter.
The next morning we woke to brilliant
blue skies. There wasn’t the slightest breeze,
so the reflections on the lake were perfect, a
photographer’s dream. After spending a while
exploring the lake, we packed up and started
back.
Along the way, half of our group decided on
a detour in order to climb to the top of nearby
Mt. Jialuo (2,320m). It is a challenging climb;
the path is steep and the bamboo is so thick that
in places you need to get on all fours to crawl
through it. Soaking wet from the dew-covered
bamboo, we arrived at the peak to be greeted by
a spectacular sea of clouds sitting over Yilan far,
far below us. The half of the group that didn’t
come with us had really missed out!
English and ChineseAlishan 阿里山Jialuo Lake 加羅湖Mt. Jialuo 加羅山Siji 四季
Practical Info
A mountain entry permit is required for the hike, and can be applied for on the spot at the police station in Siji village. It can get very muddy, so gaiters are a good idea. Also, the thick silver grass is very sharp; wearing long sleeves and trousers reduces the risk of cuts and scratches.
HIKING JIALUO LAKE
Travel in Taiwan 27
Lush forest
Giant c ypress
Dwar f bamboo path
Camping near the lake
Zuoying Wannian Folklore Festival
Text: Steven Crook Photos: Rich Matheson
These days Zuoying, a Kaohsiung suburb, is best known for Lotus Pond and the colorful temples that surround this pretty body of water. But back in the 17th century, just after Koxinga expelled the Dutch East India Company from Taiwan, it was the military and administrative headquarters of Wannian County and thus a place of considerable importance. Today the toponym lives on in various forms, as “Zuoying District” and in the names of the district’s major mass-transportation hub and a large naval base, as well as in the names of happenings such as the annual Kaohsiung Zuoying Wannian Folklore Festival, evoking the glory of the past.
The lion is set ablaze at the very
end of the festival so as to carry the
wishes of the faithful up to heaven
A Great Fire Lion Visits Temples around Lotus Pond
Great Wannian Fire L ion
SPLENDID FESTIVALS
28 Travel in Taiwan
Dragon and T iger Pagodas
There are times when people
on this island
put their smartphones down and their 21st-century concerns
and ambitions aside, and a much older Taiwan bursts into the
foreground. The final day of the Kaohsiung Zuoying Wannian
Folklore Festival was one such occasion.
My friends and I were positioned in front of Zuoying's
Chenghuang Temple, enjoying a form of entertainment
that has hardly changed in hundreds of years. Lion dancers,
accompanied by drum-beating and gong-thumping musicians,
teased children, opened gaping jaws and snapped them shut
inches from spectators' faces, and threw candies into the crowd.
But the professional and amateur zhentou troupes that
perform these and other acts aren't slavish in their adherence to
tradition. Modern twists on old forms include Techno San Taizi
or Techno Prince performances. Another example followed the
lion dancers on this day. Five young men, dressed to resemble
the key characters in Journey to the West, danced disco-style
to pop music. Even if you've never heard of this classic Chinese
novel, you may well know a bit about the story (based on the
adventures of a seventh-century Chinese monk who traveled
to India to study Buddhist scriptures) because it inspired a
Japanese TV series shown throughout the English-speaking
world under the title Monkey.
A few minutes later came the real star of the show – the
Great Wannian Fire Lion. This effigy, cute yet dignified, is
far larger than a real lion. But for a yellow underbelly, it was
covered with red tinsel “fur.” Red, of course, is an auspicious
color in Chinese culture.
The lion is set ablaze at the very end of the festival so as to
carry the wishes of the faithful up to heaven, and is therefore
designed to burn well. There's a very real risk of premature
destruction, however, because thousands of firecrackers are
detonated beneath and around it as it is paraded through
Zuoying's streets prior to its sacrifice. I wasn't surprised to see
a man following behind with a small tank of water and a hand-
held sprayer, ready to put out any fires.
The modern Wannian Folklore Festival
dates from 2001, when
the Kaohsiung City Government's Civil Affairs Bureau began
coordinating and sponsoring traditional events in Zuoying
District. Since 2005 the central government's Tourism Bureau
has been lending a hand, and the festival – always held in mid-
or late October – has grown steadily in popularity.
The Fire Lion has its origins in rites traditionally conducted
at Ciji Temple, a house of worship that overlooks Lotus Pond's
southwestern corner. In these ceremonies, the lion was believed
to serve as a mount for Baosheng Dadi, a medicine deity. He's
far from the most important god in the expansive Chinese
folk pantheon, but his career is worth reviewing. Baosheng
Dadi, which means “life-protecting emperor,” is an honorific
title given to Wu Ben, a healer who lived in China’s Fujian
province. It’s said he once brought a skeleton back to life, and
following his death in AD 1036 he was credited with successful
posthumous interventions in hopeless cases – clearly an
exceptional physician who deserves reverence!
For the first eight days of this nine-day-long festival, the
Fire Lion tours temples and other area landmarks, going as far
afield as Kaizhang Shengwang Temple. This shrine is located
in Kaohsiung City's Fengshan District, some 8 km southeast of
Lotus Pond.
As part of the festival, the historical links
between Zuoying and Fengshan
were explained during a low-key event called “Grandpa Tales
Telling.” Beneath a banyan tree near the Dragon and Tiger
Pagodas – probably Lotus Pond's single most famous sight –
a knowledgeable gentleman outlined the area’s rich past. A
crucial episode was the seizing of Zuoying in early 1787 by a
force participating in a major rebellion led by a man named
Lin Shuang-wen. This spelled the end of Zuoying as a political
center, because the imperial court in Beijing responded by
moving the county magistrate's office to what's now called
Fengshan. There it stayed until Kaohsiung County was merged
with Kaohsiung City at the end of 2010.
After sampling the food and getting a taste of events that
happened long ago, join a session of Gongpaocheng, a spectacle
not to be missed. Though an English translation of the name
SPLENDID FESTIVALS KAOHSIUNG
Travel in Taiwan 29
Burning of the Fire L ion Revelers at the Dragon and T iger Pagodas
– “attacking the city wall with firecrackers” – makes it sound
like an act of vandalism, it's actually a game of skill in which
participants hurl lit fireworks at dollhouse-sized paper models
of Zuoying's old city gates. These are suspended about head-
height, and filled with firecrackers. Make sure your friends
have their cameras ready, because if you succeed in getting a
firework through the opening at the front, the gate is sure to
explode in a shower of sparks.
It's said that soldiers stationed in Zuoying back in the 19th
century played this game to kill time, and also to sharpen the
throwing skills they'd need if they had to fight. If you want to
play, register in advance through the festival's website or in
person at one of the information centers. There's also a team
event; in 2012, first prize was NT$20,000 cash.
Fans of the performing arts are spoiled
for choice, as the festival
always includes pop concerts, drumming, Taiwanese opera
performances, plus choral and instrumental acts, all of which
are free. The schedule for the secondary stage at the Confucius
Temple included enka (popular Japanese ballads) and belly-
dancing. What would the Great Sage think?
The festival also gave Kaohsiung residents a chance to see
a form of Chinese opera seldom seen in Taiwan, Sichuan Face-
changing Opera, during which changes in mood are conveyed
by use of an amazing technique. An actor waves his cape or
sleeve in front of his face, and in that split second it seems as if
the previous full-face makeup is removed and a totally different
color-and-pattern scheme has been applied.
This being Taiwan, the festival naturally
has a culinary angle. In fact,
it has two. Vendors on the western side of Lotus Pond sell
everything from hot dogs to stinky tofu. Other interesting
eating options can be found at the lakeside temples, which
give away traditional snacks such as ong-ku-koe (Taiwanese
pronunciation) and tangyuan. The former is a turtle-shaped
rice-based cake which symbolizes good luck and longevity. The
latter is a popular dessert consisting of little balls made with
rice f lour and filled with sesame paste, crushed peanuts and
sugar, or something else sweet.
Note also that, since 1949, Zuoying has been home to many
Chinese mainlanders, who came in the great exodus across the
Taiwan Strait at the end of the Chinese Civil War, making this
neighborhood perhaps the best in the metropolis for authentic
mainland delicacies.
As you can see, you’ll have much to see and do at Lotus
Lake and in the surrounding district during the Zuoying
Wannian Folklore Festival. Be sure to arrive with an empty
stomach, plenty of space on your camera's memory card, and a
wish to pin on the Fire Lion!
30 Travel in Taiwan30 Travel in Taiwan
SPLENDID FESTIVALS
Lotus Pond is easy to reach. If you're coming from another city, you may want to take a Taiwan High Speed Rail train to Kaohsiung's THSR Zuoying Station and then take a Red 51 bus. The TRA (regular railway) station closest to Lotus Pond is “old” Zuoying Station (not to be confused with New Zuoying Station, part of the same complex containing the HSR station). From it, you can walk to Lotus Pond in less than 10 minutes.
Other attractions in the area include the North Gate of Zuoying Old City and two sites that will appeal to ecotourists. Zhouzai Wetland Park is where the Pheasant-tailed jacana, a rare wading bird, was first sighted in Taiwan; the species has returned following restoration of the environment. Also within walking distance of Lotus Pond is the 4.66-hectare Protogenic Plants Garden, which has a collection of indigenous plants and trees that nature-lovers will find engrossing.
English and ChineseBaosheng Dadi 保生大帝Chenghuang Temple 城隍廟Ciji Temple 慈濟宮Confucius Temple 孔廟Dragon and Tiger Pagodas 龍虎塔Fengshan District 鳳山區Gongpaocheng 攻炮城"Grandpa Tales Telling" 阿公來講古Great Wannian Fire Lion 萬年季迓火獅Journey to the West 西遊記Kaizhang Shengwang Temple 開漳聖王廟Kaohsiung Zuoying Wannian Folklore Festival 高雄左營萬年季
Koxinga 鄭成功Lin Shuang-wen 林爽文Lotus Pond 蓮池潭North Gate of Zuoying Old City 左營舊城ong-ku-koe 紅龜粿Protogenic Plants Garden 原生植物園Sichuan Face-changing Opera 川劇變臉Techno San Taizi 電音三太子tangyuan 湯圓Wannian County 萬年縣Wu Ben 吳本zhentou 陣頭Zhouzai Wetland Park 洲仔濕地公園Zuoying 左營
The festival always includes
concerts, drumming,
Taiwanese opera, and other
performing arts
Travel in Taiwan 31Travel in Taiwan 31
SPLENDID FESTIVALS KAOHSIUNG
Smoothie House Chang'an Branch ~ Breakfast ShopAdd: 55 Chang'an W. Rd., Taipei City Tel: +886-2-2552-3250
Groups are welcome. Looking for cooperating travel agencies and representatives Contact: [email protected]
The ice treats of Smoothie House are made with fragrant aiwen mango cultivated in Taiwan. This type of mango has a firm texture and is very juicy. The fruit meat melts in your mouth and creates an amazing sweet and sour sensation. No one seems to be able to resist this unbelievable treat.
For many tourists coming to Taiwan, visiting
Smoothie House is a must. Eating mango ice
simply is a joy and makes everyone happy.Mango ice is one of the most popular refreshing foods during the summer months in Taiwan. Try the mixed mango shaved ice, made with fresh mango, strawberry, and kiwi, a sublime combination of ice and superb fruit flavor! This is the best-selling item on the menu.
1F, 15 Yongkang St., Taipei City2F, 15 Yongkang St., Da'an District, Taipei CityLongmen Shop: 52 Guo’ai St., Sanchong District, New Taipei City
Tel: +886-2-2972-0758
Beitou Shop: 294 Zhonghe St., Beitou District, Taipei City
Tel: +886-2-2894-5511
Tel: +886-2-2341-8555Tel: +886-2-2395-8770
On the second floor there are private rooms where coffee, ice treats, and desserts are served.
kai
guan
men
Photo: Maggie Song
32 Travel in Taiwan
Doors, & Open
ClosedThe Chinese character 門 (men), meaning “door,” is one of the easier
ones to learn. It is easy to write, it is symmetrical, and it
looks a bit like a pair of swing doors, the kind of which you would see in a saloon in the
old American west.
This character is part of quite a few other characters directly or indirectly related to
doors. Two particularly useful characters to learn are開 (kai), which means “open, and 關
(guan), meaning “close.” In Taiwan daily life, chances are that you will come across these
two characters frequently – when operating life’s many electrical devices, for example.
Should you forget which is which, just remember that 關 is a bit more complicated to write.
If you combine the character for “open” with 心 (xin), meaning “heart,” you get 開
心 (kaixin), which means “happy” – i.e., to open your heart to others means happiness.
If, however, you combine the character for “close” and “heart” you get 關心 (guanxin),
which means not “sad” but “to care/be concerned about.” A usage example is 我關心
你 (wo guanxin ni), meaning “I care about you,” with 我 (wo) meaning “I” and 你 (ni) meaning “you.” The character you get when you put a heart inside a door, 悶 (men), is
quite graphic, and has the meaning “depressed,” “bored,” “stif ling,” or “smothering.”
Another graphic door-related character is 閂 (shuan). Can you guess its meaning?
Answer: A “bolt” or “latch.” The horizontal stroke in the middle does indeed look a
bit like a door latch, don’t you think?
FUN WITH CHINESE
Big drums are an important part of traditional temple festivals in Taiwan, and also feature prominently in the performances of a number of acclaimed local drum troupes. If you happen to see one of these big and often bright-red drums while in Taiwan, chances are that it was made by Wang Xi-kun, one of only a few local masters who still produce drums in the traditional way.
Text: Owain Mckimm Photos: Sting Chen
Master drum maker Wang Xi-
kun, his
face beaded with sweat, greets us at the large, open storefront
of the Xiang Ren He Drum Workshop in the district of
Xinzhuang, New Taipei City. Walls of freshly painted drums,
stacked three high, segment the workshop. Half-finished drums
bound with ropes rest on raised platforms, apprentices prowling
around them tightening and adjusting the bonds. Electric
fans hum and blow breezes from every direction, making
little difference to the temperature of this furnace of human
endeavor. Though the road outside the workshop blares with
the modern sound of car engines, the patter and boom inside, as
Wang tests one of his drums, makes everything seem somehow
ancient, somehow archaic – these hand-made drums and their
creator are an anachronism on this busy Xinzhuang street.
During the Japanese colonization of Taiwan (1895-1945), the
street that is now known as Xinzhuang Old Street was a hive of
theatrical activity, and as many as nine theater troupes specializing
in puppet theater were based there. Their puppet operas
were often of a military theme – of great battles,
marching armies, and glaive-wielding heroes –
and of course, where there’s war there must also
be drums. So began Xinzhuang’s entwinement
with the drum-making industry. In the mid-
1920s, a young carpenter with a penchant for
traditional opera named Wang Gui-zhi (the father of
Wang Xi-kun) set up a drum workshop in the area and
began providing drums to the theater troupes, as well as
to the temples that abounded on the streets of Xinzhuang
and the neighboring boroughs of Taishan and Sanchong.
Over the years, however, Xinzhuang has changed. Decades
of industrialization and, recently, the opening of a new metro
line have propelled the area to the forefront of development.
Yet peering into Master Wang’s workshop, you’d be hard-
pressed to admit that times have moved on. There are a few
giveaways: Those with a keen eye for wood will notice that
the drums are now made of rosewood rather than the Chinese
cedar commonly used in the past, mechanical jacks raise the
drums to tighten the hides – a job that once fell to burly men
– and Wang’s apprentices wear high-street specs with trendy
thick frames.
These appear, however, as mere glitches in an otherwise
perfect time capsule. Wang’s industry is, like the art of drumming
itself, something beautiful yet primal, and he remains resolute
amidst the surrounding onslaught of modernity. Yet though
the methods remain the same, the customers that commission
Wang’s work are changing. The last twenty years have seen the
rise of several drum troupes, such as the Grammy-nominated
Ten Drum Art Percussion Group and
the meditative, mountain-based
U-Theatre, which have gained
an added sense of grassroots
authenticity by using Wang’s
tailor-made drums. And in the
last three or four years orders
from drum-fitness groups, which
use drumming as a way to shed
calories, have introduced Wang’s
drums to a completely new 21st-
century audience.
The Sound of DrumsThe Sound of DrumsVisiting a Traditional Drum Maker in Xinzhuang
MUSIC TOURS DRUMS
34 Travel in Taiwan
Temples, nevertheless, remain Wang’s bread
and butter. Taiwanese temples require
drums for two important purposes – as part of the “morning
bell, evening drum” set suspended inside every temple, and as
key instruments in the zhentou or battle-array formation squads
that perform at temple celebrations and festivals. For anyone
who has attended these temple celebrations, or even been within
hearing distance of one, the noise, incredible color, and seeming
pandemonium (to the uninitiated) is not something quickly
forgotten, and the battle-array troupes in particular are a sight to
behold. Costumed performers take on the roles of folk gods such
as Lords Seven and Eight – who escort the spirits of the dead to
the afterlife – or the mythical Eight Generals – expellers of plague
and evil spirits – and teeter back and forth in their f lamboyant,
oversized apparel. Holding it all together amid the chaos is the
beat of the drum. Indeed, whether used to drive lion dancers into
an animalistic frenzy or to set the pace for a Taoist priest to chant
scripture, the beat of a drum underlines many traditional rituals
of Taiwan. At a great many events the inquisitive would find that
it is Wang who has created the tools that perpetuate this beat.
And he does so resolutely, the old-fashioned way.
“There are three basic elements to consider when making a
drum,” explains Wang. The first is the drumskin, which, under
Wang’s watch, is almost exclusively made from water-buffalo
hide – the older and more grizzled the animal the better. “Ten-
year-old buffalo produce the best hide for making drumskin,”
says Wang. “The older the buffalo, the tougher and more
durable the skin is. In the past, when buffalo used to work the
fields, their skin would be even tougher.” Nowadays, very few
water buffalo are bred and none at all are used to plough the
fields, so getting one’s hands on good, gnarled buffalo hide is
not an easy task. As a result, many drum makers are resorting
to ox hide as a replacement. But Wang insists on using only the
best buffalo hide. He takes us over to an ornate temple drum
in the exhibition center next to his workshop. The skin on one
side of the drum is corn-yellow, with a fine, smooth texture
– ox hide. The skin on the other side is coarse, with a hint of
stubble, and is speckled grey-beige – water buffalo. Wang hits
one side with the palm of his hand; then he hits the other.
The contrast is obvious even to a layman. “Finer skin gives a
milder, mellower sound, while coarser skin is more dominant,
more powerful.”
While acquiring high-quality skin may be a headache,
turning it into high-quality drumskin is the equivalent of a
New Year’s Day hangover. It’s gory, exhausting, foul-smelling
work. Once the section of hide has been chosen and roughly
cut to size, the thick, black buffalo hair must be removed.
Wang explains that the traditional way to remove the hair is
by shaving it off by hand; the modern way is to dip the hide in
a chemical bath. Wang, unsurprisingly, prefers the traditional
route, as immersing the hide in chemicals affects the quality of
the skin and, in the long run, produces drumskin which splits
more easily and produces inferior sound. Wang then shaves
the skin to just a quarter of a centimeter thick, using only his
judgment as a guide, before letting it dry for a week in the sun.
Wang’s industry is something beautiful yet
primal, and he remains resolute amidst the
surrounding onslaught of modernity
Drum maker Wang Xi -kun
70 -year- old drum made by master Wang’s father
MUSIC TOURS
Travel in Taiwan 35
DRUMS
look on open-mouthed. “It’s done in order to develop elasticity
in the skin. If you don’t perform this step, after about two
years the drumskin will go slack, and you’ll get nothing but a
dampened, muff led sound.” This process is repeated several
times over a number of days, until the sound is just the way
Wang wants it.
Making drums that stand the test
of time is obviously
important to Wang. One of his proudest possessions is a
gorgeous crimson temple drum decorated with pink and
blue chrysanthemums, rolling pastel clouds, and a pale-green
Chinese dragon. The drum is over 70 years old, and was made
by Wang’s father. Wang instructs us to stand next to the drum.
Though he hasn’t struck it yet, one can still feel vibrations
coming from within, like a storm brewing in the belly of this old
beast. Wang hits it with an open palm, and the sound emitted is
deep and sonorous, fading after a few seconds. “A good drum
won’t become dull or muted as the years go by,” he explains. “As
a drum ages, its potential should slowly emerge. It’s only after
many years that the sound of a drum reaches its peak.”
Visitors to Taiwan have no shortage of opportunities to hear
traditional drum music. Ten Drum Cultural Village in Tainan
“The second thing to consider when making a drum is the wood
used to make the shell,” says Wang. “The wood can take up to a
year to prepare, and it can’t be rushed. If you use wood that isn’t
ready, it will seriously affect the sound and quality of the drum.”
The wood is carved in the form of curved staves, not bent like those
of a wine barrel, and dried in a special room for approximately 40
days, then further dried at room temperature for 6-8 months. The
staves are then pieced together to form the drum shell.
The most important part of the process, according to Wang,
comes last – binding the drum. Wang and his apprentices place
the drum shell on a platform supported by four jacks. The outer
part of the drumskin is threaded with thick hemp ropes and
bound to a circular steel railing below the platform. As the
platform is raised, the ropes tighten and the drumskin is pulled
taut over the top of the shell. An almighty crack, like that of a
whip, rings out through the workshop as the skin edges over the
rim. Wang stops for a moment and checks for any anomalies.
He orders an apprentice to raise one of the jacks a tad – another
crack as the drumskin equalizes. Wang then tests the sound,
hammering the drumskin with two wooden batons. Next, the
drum is lowered, and an apprentice clambers on top of the
drumskin and begins to leisurely dance what looks like an Irish
jig. “This is called ‘trampling the drum,’” Wang explains, as we
Master Wang’s tools
Test ing the soundMeasur ing the shell Trampling the drum
MUSIC TOURS
36 Travel in Taiwan
Xiang Ren He Drum Workshop (响仁和鐘鼓廠 )Add: 171, Zhongzheng Rd., Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City(新北市新莊區中正路 171號 )Tel : (02) 2992-7402
Getting there: The workshop is a 5-minute walk from MRT Xinzhuang Station, Exit 2.
English and ChineseEight Generals 八家將Ju Percussion Group 朱宗慶打擊樂團 Laoquan Mountain 老泉山Lords Seven and Eight 七爺八爺Muzha 木柵Sanchong 三重Taishan 泰山Ten Drum Art Percussion Group 十鼓擊樂團Ten Drum Culture Village 十鼓文化村U-Theatre 優人神鼓Wang Gui-zhi 王桂枝Wang Xi-kun 王錫坤Xinzhuang 新莊Xinzhuang Old Street 新莊老街Xinzhuang International Drum-Art Festival 新莊國際鼓藝節zhentou 陣頭
has performances twice daily by the acclaimed Ten Drum
Percussion Art Group (www.ten-hsieh.com.tw/e-culture/show.html). Alternatively, U-Theatre (http://utheatre.glis.ntnu.edu.tw)
and Ju Percussion Group (www.jpg.org.tw) perform regularly
around Taiwan and also abroad. In addition, Xinzhuang plays
host to the International Drum-Art Festival in May and June
each year. To see how the drums are made, you can visit Master
Wang and the collection of drums he has on show at a display
hall next to his workshop. Wang requests that large groups book
a week in advance.
Ju Percussion Group “A good drum won’t become dull or muted as the years go by. As a drum ages, its potential should slowly emerge”
MUSIC TOURS DRUMS
Travel in Taiwan 37
The Xitou shuttle buses leave
from both
the Taichung Railway Station and the Taiwan High Speed
Rail Taichung Station at Wuri, and run south through Nantou
County, passing through the town of Zhushan, known for
bamboo products, and the tea-growing region of Lugu before
reaching Xitou, a popular forest recreation area.
Text: Joe Henley Photos: Maggie Song
Taking a Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Bus to Xitou
The mountainous region of Xitou in Nantou County is less than an hour from downtown Taichung when taking a Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus. Though not far geographically from the metropolitan hustle of the big city, quiet Xitou could not be more distant from any form of urban monotony. The area gives you a taste of Taiwan's central mountains as well as a glimpse into the region’s history.
Through the Mountain Mist
Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus
THRS Taichung Station
Takeyama Interchange
Taichung Gancheng
Bus Station
Taichung Railway Station
Minxing Park
Daqing Station
Chu-XiangBay pit
Kwong Hing
Nei Hu
Nei Hu Elementray
School
Le Midi Hotel
Zhushan Industrial
Zone
Lugu Township
OfficeXitou
Having fun at Xitou
38 Travel in Taiwan
BACKPACK BUS TRIP
Stop II / Fonghuanggu Bird and Ecology Park
Though not directly on the shuttle-bus route, my next stop,
Fonghuanggu Bird and Ecology Park, was nonetheless easy
to reach by taking a taxi from Zhushan (30 min. / NT$500 one
way; you can also take Yuanlin Bus No. 6717, which only costs
you NT$83 but will take almost an hour). Part sanctuary, part
zoo, and part research center, the park offers stunning views of
Mt. Fenghuang, which belongs to the Alishan Mountain Range.
A husband-and-wife volunteer guide team led me around the
park, teaching me about the various plant and bird species we
passed, paying special attention to those native to Taiwan, such
as the Swinhoe's Pheasant. The true stars of the park are the
parrots, which take the stage several times a day in their own
show, which is equal parts educational and entertaining. I was
introduced to Xiao-Bai, a mischievous blue-eyed cockatoo, and
his somewhat grumpy counterpart Mei-Mei, a blue-and-yellow
macaw whose nasty disposition was brightened with nothing
more than a few sunflower seeds.
But oh, yes, my next mission. Parting ways with Xiao-Bai,
who had taken up residence on my arm for a good long while
as he ate seeds from my palm, I was off in search of Taiwan's
national bird, the Formosan Blue Magpie. With the help of
my guides I was able to locate my majestic quarry, spying the
trademark dark-blue hindfeathers of the “long-tailed mountain
lady.”
Xitou
Stop I / Evershine Lantern Factory
Once again (similar to previous Taiwan Tourist Shuttle
bus trips done for Travel in Taiwan), I was off on the shuttle
bus with a stack of missions to complete. My first stop: the
Evershine Lantern Factory in the Zhushan Industrial Zone.
Don't let the “Industrial Zone” in the name throw you. It's
more a quaint collection of artisan warehouse workshops than
the dusty, dirty grid of smoke-spewing factories the name might
bring to mind. As for Evershine, it's a former umbrella factory
that began churning out lanterns in 1960 for everything from
celebrations, festivals, and weddings to funerals. Visitors learn
about the history of lantern usage and what the various lantern
designs mean, with English tours available.
There is also an open workshop, where a team of five
expert lantern makers produce between two and three hundred
lanterns per day, doing everything from making the
f lexible bamboo frames to cutting the cotton cloth
that will be slid over them. My mission here was
mercifully less difficult than this exacting task. I
was handed a completed lantern and simply had
to paint a f lower on it, along with the Chinese
characters for “I Love Taiwan.” Though it
came out something like a pre-schooler's
art project (with all due respect to any
preschoolers who may be reading this),
I was nonetheless pleased with my
work, and with a new souvenir to
take home headed on to stop
number two.
Don't blink!
" I Love Taiwan" lantern
Formosan Blue Magpie
XITOU
Travel in Taiwan 39
BACKPACK BUS TRIP
Stop III / Lugu
Back on the shuttle route again. The next stop, the township
of Lugu, is a place known for its many tea plantations and
teahouses. I strode from the bus stop over to Hong's Tea House
– Chun Ya Tang Tea World, where I received a crash course in
tea etiquette and tasting.
My instructor, the kindly Mrs. Wu Mei-na, walked me
through a basic “Art of Tea 101” session that is available to
anyone who wants to stop by. Basics include filling the pot a
quarter of the way up with tea leaves, heating the water to a
lower temperature, around 95 degrees Celsius, for a thinner
taste, and higher for a thicker taste, and using the proper
brewing time, 50 seconds for the first pour, going up in
increments of about 10 seconds for every subsequent round.
And don't forget the proper serving form – elders first, and if
everyone is around the same age, right to left.
With these basics out of the way, it was time to put my
newfound expertise to the test – a taste test. Three kinds of
oolong tea were placed before me, and I was to determine which
of the three was the smooth dongding variety I had sampled
earlier in my visit – for which Lugu is best known – a tea said
to aid digestion, best enjoyed on a full stomach. I also had
to match each cup with the different types of leaves that had
been placed in three separate bowls. Much to my surprise, and
thanks to Mrs. Wu's expert teaching, I was able to get all three
correct, and after one or two more quick cups of oolong it was
time to be on my way again.
Stop IV / Xitou Nature Education Area
Next up was a place well-known to tourists in Taiwan, to
the tune of about a million of them per year, Xitou Nature
Education Area. This park was the site of a Japanese logging
operation during the 1895~1945 colonial era, during which
almost all the native Taiwanese cedar was cut down. The
Japanese cedar planted in its stead have since been allowed to
reach up toward the sky without the threat of the saw, and the
Taiwanese variety is starting to make a modest comeback.
The showpiece of the park is the aptly named Sacred Tree, a
2,800-year-old red cypress that has survived no less than three
lightning strikes, spared the blade due to the fact that a fungus
left it hollow and unusable.
Another highlight, and the subject of my mission for this
stop, is the Skywalk, 220-meter-long walkway built seven-
stories-high above the forest f loor. It was originally built
for visitors to observe canopy life from above; but since its
construction in 2004, the surrounding trees have actually grown
past it. Unfortunately, the Skywalk was closed for maintenance
during my visit, so a picture taken with me standing beside it
will have to do.
Stop V / Monster Village
Conveniently located right next door to Xitou Nature
Education Area is Monster Village, a quirky collection of shops
and restaurants tied together with a Disney-esque horror theme.
Even the food is “monstrous,” with snacks including tang yuan (boiled balls of glutinous rice f lour) made to look like eyeballs,
and “biting cat buns,” so named for their use of a stinging nettle
found in the Xitou area, Urtica thunbergiana, commonly called
“biting cat” in Taiwan. The plant, if handled, produces an
itching sensation similar to poison ivy, but is perfectly edible
after it's cooked.
Speaking of which, my mission was to try this ominously
named treat, and it didn't take long to find the bakery that
was the village's first shop, opened decades ago. On the way I
Let's bite a biting cat bun
Let's have some fine Lugu dongding
BACKPACK BUS TRIP
Reservation Hotline: (02) 2775-5005 Address: 73, Lane 72, Guangfu S. Rd., Taipei City(台北市光復南路72巷73號) Website: www.burntcharcoal.com
We serve traditional Korean cuisine in a modern yet cozy setting and provide excellent service for a unique Korean dining experience.
Burnt Charcoal Korean BBQ Restaurant
Contemporary Korean Cuisine
passed by the village mascots, Bado and Kumar, representatives
of black bear and clouded leopard species native to Taiwan
(the latter now extinct), and also took in a performance by an
indigenous music troupe.
The village provides a free performance area for musicians,
and shows are held every day of the week. The biting cat buns,
I'm pleased to say, were delicious, as were the biting
cat pineapple cakes. Feel free to try some the next time
you find yourself in Xitou. And say hello to Bado and
Kumar for me.
Evershine Lantern Factory (光遠燈籠觀光工廠 )Add: 11, Yanping 2nd Rd., Zhushan Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣竹山鎮延平二路 11號 )Tel: (049) 264-2394Website: www.ever-shine.com.tw
Fonghuanggu Bird and Ecology Park (鳳凰谷鳥園 )Add: 1-9, Renyi Rd., Fenghuang Village, Lugu Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣鹿谷鄉鳳凰村仁義路 1-9 號 )Tel: (049) 275-3100Website: fhk.nmns.edu.tw
Hong’s Tea House – Chun Ya Tang Tea World (宏記茶業 – 春雅堂名茶 )Add: 88-9, Xingchan Rd., Lugu Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣鹿谷鄉興產路 88-9 號 )Tel: (049) 275-5798
Xitou Nature Education Area (溪頭自然教育園區 )Add: 9, Senlin Lane, Lugu Township, Nantou County ( 南投縣鹿谷鄉森林巷 9 號 )Tel: (049) 261-2111Website: www.exfo.ntu.edu.tw/sitou/eng/01about/
Monster Village (妖怪村 )Add: 2-3, Xingchan Rd., Lugu Township, Nantou County ( 南投鹿谷鄉興產路 2之 3號 )Tel: (049) 261-2376Website: www.mingshan.com.tw (Chinese)
English and ChineseAlishan Mountain Range 阿里山山脈"biting cat buns" 咬人貓麵包dongding 凍頂"long-tailed mountain lady" 長尾山娘 Lugu 鹿谷Mt. Fenghuang 鳳凰山 Sacred Tree 神木
tang yuan 湯圓Wu Mei-na 吳美娜Wuri 烏日Xitou 溪頭Zhushan 竹山Zhushan Industrial Zone 竹山工業區
BACKPACK BUS TRIP XITOU
Travel in Taiwan 41Reservation Hotline: (02) 2775-5005 Address: 73, Lane 72, Guangfu S. Rd., Taipei City(台北市光復南路72巷73號) Website: www.burntcharcoal.com
We serve traditional Korean cuisine in a modern yet cozy setting and provide excellent service for a unique Korean dining experience.
Burnt Charcoal Korean BBQ Restaurant
Contemporary Korean Cuisine
Text: Cheryl Robbins Photos: Sunny Su
Tradit ional huts at Bulau Bulau V i l lage
Cooking food over an open f ire
Reviving the Traditional Lifestyle of the Atayal Tribe
Bulau Bulau Aboriginal Village
Although the place is called an indigenous village, it differs
from most indigenous communities in that it
is not an administrative unit. There are no elected representatives, schools, or police. Instead, this
is a group of several families with adjoining plots of land who came together to try and recapture
the traditional lifestyle of their ancestors. The idea for this community started to come to fruition
eight years ago under the leadership of Wilang (Pan Jin-cheng). Wilang’s wife is from the Atayal
tribe, and one of those with land here. Though enjoying a successful career in Taipei, Wilang
found himself wanting to live a quieter, more meaningful life.
In the beginning, things were difficult. Yilan County has abundant rainfall, which can make
it difficult to grow some crops. After a period of trial and error, however, the group began to grow
most of what it needed, including bamboo, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes, plus millet, corn,
and other grains. Based on a design created by Wilang, the residents built homes using modern
methods and natural materials such as stone and wood to blend in with the hillside landscape.
They also built more traditional-style buildings using bamboo.
Once the residents had their homes and food, the next step was to create economic
opportunity. They learned woodcarving techniques and began to make their own furniture and
plates, not only for their own use, but also to sell. A weaving workshop was set up to produce
woven items for sale and to allow the elderly women proficient in this traditional art form to pass
on their knowledge to the younger generation.
42 Travel in Taiwan
INDIGENOUS VILLAGES
In the hills above Hanxi Village in Datong Township of Yilan County in northeast Taiwan is Bulau Bulau Aboriginal Village. The residents of Bulau Bulau are from the indigenous Atayal tribe, and in their language “bulau bulau” means to “go for a stroll” or to “take things easy.”
After the welcome, it is time for a visit to the open kitchen where
the many courses that will be served throughout the afternoon are
prepared. The counters are stacked with fresh ingredients. The next
stop is the men’s house. This is where woodcarving is done, and
where bamboo eating utensils such as cups and chopsticks are made.
The tour then continues in an area where there are traditional-style
bamboo buildings and where the millet wine is produced. After this,
it is a short walk downhill to where the community raises chickens.
Just beyond this is a stairway leading to the women’s house. This
is the community’s weaving workshop. Visitors can watch women
at work on traditional-style and more modern manual looms, and
listen to an explanation of traditional weaving techniques.
Travel in Taiwan 43
The community’s residents have opened their
doors to the public but,
concerned with the need to maintain a balance with nature, the number of
guests is restricted to 30 per day. To further minimize impact and to provide
safe transport along the narrow, winding local roads, four-wheel drives were
acquired. Guests are either picked up in the parking lot next to the Hanxi
Village police station or are instructed to walk across the adjacent Hanxi
Suspension Bridge, to be picked up on the other side. The Hanxi Suspension
Bridge is the longest cable suspension bridge in Yilan County, measuring more
than 300 meters, and is brightly decorated with Atayal-tribe motifs.
One of the first things that you will notice when meeting the guides who
take you on a tour of the community is that they dress in traditional Atayal
attire. Before going into the community proper they will explain the process
for growing mushrooms at a mushroom farm. From there, if the weather is
cooperative they will take you on a short uphill hike, with strategic resting
points where they explain the use of traditional-style Atayal traps that are in
place along the sides of the trail. Just before reaching the community, you are
taught the traditional Atayal greeting “lokah su.”
As you enter the community’s main activity area, you will see a traditional
Atayal watchtower. Scattered around the watchtower, on a grassy knoll, are
replicas of wild boar. These will be used for archery practice later in the day.
Next to the main dining area is a fire pit. Here, each guest is handed a skewer
on which is placed either a piece of pork pickled in millet wine or a large
mushroom. Guests cook their food over an open fire and wash it down with
the first of what may be many cups of millet wine. At Bulau Bulau it is possible
to sample millet wine from the top, middle, and bottom of the fermentation
vat. The differences lie in the transparency and the kick. So be careful to pace
yourself, especially if you plan to drive home after the day is done.
Cooking food over an open f ire
Guests cook their food over an open fire
and wash it down with the first of what
may be many cups of millet wine
Vil lage k itchen
YILAN
Vil lage resident
Shooting prac tice
Weaving work shop
English and ChineseAtayal tribe 泰雅族Datong Township 大同鄉Hanxi Suspension Bridge 寒溪吊橋Hanxi Village 寒溪村Pan Jin-cheng 潘今晟
Getting ThereBy car: From National Freeway No. 5, which connects Taipei City and Yilan County, get off at the Wujie/Luodong exit and head toward Luodong on County Road No. 191A. At Wujie Road, turn right and connect to County Road No. 196. At Zhongzheng North Road, turn left. This will eventually turn into Zhongzheng Road. Then turn left onto Zhongshan Road (Prov. Hwy No. 7C). Stay on this road until you come to Meihua Road/Yilan Township Road No. 33. Connect to Yilan Township Road No. 33 and follow it until you reach the Hanxi Village police station.
By train: From the Luodong Railway Station, you can take a taxi to the Hanxi Village police station. The cost is around NT$350. About 50 meters from the front of the train station is a stop for the Kuo Kuang Motor Transport route 1795 bus. The bus to the Hanxi Village police station only comes once every one or two hours, and the latest bus you can catch here to arrive on time at the police station departs at 9:30 a.m.
Bulau Bulau Aboriginal Village (不老部落落腳宿 )Add: 46, Huaxing Lane, Hanxi Village, Datong Township, Yilan County (宜蘭縣大同鄉寒溪村華興巷 46號 )Tel: 0919-090-061, (03) 961-4198Website: www.bulaubulau.com (Chinese)
After the tour, it is time to sample some fusion cuisine.
As certain crops are harvested at certain
times of the year, the menu changes from season to season. The appetizer
usually consists of three small portions of different dishes served on a long tray.
These can include pickled tomatoes and marinated home-grown vegetables.
The next course is usually another appetizer, such as sweet potato served with
ginger and rose salt. This may be followed by grilled fish coated in salt, served
with millet dumplings and a stew of pork with potatoes, carrots, leeks, and
mushrooms. There is still a main course to enjoy, which can be grilled chicken,
pork, or lamb shank. Vegetarians have their own menu, with items such as fried
rice and millet dumplings prepared with pumpkin rather than pork.
Between courses there is entertainment. Guests can enjoy listening to
traditional indigenous songs, and have the opportunity to learn a few dance
steps. After the meal, the fun continues with a dance circle and the opportunity
to test your skills with a bow and arrow. The time goes by surprisingly fast, and
at around 4 p.m. it is time to say goodbye and board the four-wheel drives for the
ride back down the hill.
Reservations are required to visit Bulau Bulau. The community currently
accepts reservations for Tuesday~Saturday visits. This is sometimes reduced
to four days a week, to allow the land and the people who live on it to rest.
The easiest way to make a reservation, if you can read Chinese, is to submit
a form on the community’s website (www.bulaubulau.com). Once the form is
submitted, you will receive an e-mail with map and directions to the Hanxi
Village police station and instructions on how to remit the required 10% deposit.
The balance is to be paid at the end of the day’s activities. The cost per person,
including transportation to and from the Hanxi Village police station, food,
drink, tour, and activities, is NT$2,200 per person, and guests must be at least
16 years of age. Another point to note is that Bulau Bulau does not currently
have any accommodations. Those who would like to stay in the area overnight
will find guesthouses in Hanxi Village.
If you have difficulty completing the reservation process in Chinese, Bulau
Bulau can provide English service by e-mail or phone.
After the meal, the fun continues with a
dance circle and the opportunity to test
your skills with a bow and arrow
INDIGENOUS VILLAGES
44 Travel in Taiwan
Caltrop farmers of Guantian, Tainan
A Strange Horny Fruit Text and Photos: Rich Matheson
The water caltrop (Trapa bicornis) is an aquatic plant with a fruit strangely shaped like Dali's moustache – although it is more often likened to the shape of a bull's horns. The fruit is alternately called ling nut, horn nut, bat nut, devil pod, and, in Chinese, ling jiao. On a recent trip to southern Taiwan, Travel in Taiwan found out more about this exotic fruit, the seed of which is edible.
46 Travel in Taiwan
FOOD JOURNEY
Native to parts of
Eurasia and China, there is evidence that the water caltrop has been cultivated for three thousand years. The genus Trapa was once found in North America, but disappeared prior to the Pleistocene. The fruit, rarely found in the West, becomes a ubiquitous part of southern Taiwan's landscape from September through December, when stands sporting signs with its distinct taurine shape line the roads.
Throughout Tainan's Guantian
District, during water-caltrop season you
can see farmers in hip waders harvesting
the fruit. Others will be squatting in
small canoes to harvest fields too deep to
wade through. This traditional method
was originally employed when water
caltrop was grown in deeper waterways
and natural wetlands rather than in
dedicated paddies.
Li Wen-yu, of the Guantian
District Farmers' Association, explains to us that the ling nut was introduced to Taiwan during the time when
Ming Dynasty loyalist and military leader Koxinga (1624~1662) had his headquarters in the Tainan area. At that time, Guantian was dotted with muddy pools created after the excavation of clay used in the area's brick kilns. The area offered easy access to water, and the clay soil was ideal for water caltrop. Guantian long enjoyed a virtual monopoly in Taiwan’s water-caltrop market, until about a decade ago when farmers in other areas, mainly Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties, began cultivating water caltrop as well. There followed a few difficult years for Guantian farmers as market prices fell, but the situation has improved in the last several years, spurred in part by the introduction of organic cultivation.
Yang Cong-gui, chief of operations for
the Friendly Earth Organic Alliance, a
cooperative of farmers who share the dream
of turning Taiwan into an organic paradise,
kindly agreed to show Travel in Taiwan around his Guantian-based operation.
When Yang was only 18 he decided
he wanted to be an organic farmer, but he
had to wait until he was 37 and after he
had ended a career in technology before
embarking on his dream. He established
a lab/classroom consisting of six pools for
research. Following two years of studying
the local eco-system and critically
weighing matters of ecology and habitat,
Friendly Earth was founded in 2010. Yang
says the public must be educated not only
on the cost to human health from the
harmful chemicals used in agriculture, but
also on the environmental costs caused by
regular farming.
Guantian has 350 hectares of water-
caltrop paddies, of which about 3-4% are
cultivated organically, without the use of
chemicals. In 2011, Friendly Earth had
seven organic farmers and 3 hectares of
organic fields. The following year there
were 15 organic farmers, harvesting 8
hectares. Today, 30 work 17 hectares.
Mr. Yang stresses that the most
important quality his organic farmers
possess is their “heart.” According to
him, only about 5% of Taiwan’s farmers
meet government standards on the
A strangely shaped fruit indeed Famer tending to his deep -water f ie ld
Travel in Taiwan 47
WATER CALTROPSFOOD JOURNEY
You can see farmers in hip waders harvesting the fruit; others will be squatting in small canoes to
harvest fields too deep to wade through
safe use of chemicals, the non-use of
chemicals, or organic farming. With
both regulations and law enforcement
leaving much to be desired, he says, when
it comes to organic farming the most
important factor is the farmers’ personal
desire and commitment to creating the
best product they are capable of while
being as careful with area ecology as
their knowledge enables.
Among its various initiatives,
Friendly Earth championed successful
efforts to protect the pheasant-tailed
jacana. Guantian's caltrop paddies are
the main breeding grounds for these
waders, and the use of chemicals in
agriculture was causing the population
of this rare and valuable bird to dwindle.
Today there is a healthy population.
From the first to fourth
months each year, caltrop seedlings are grown in successively larger tubs of water, and around the Dragon Boat Festival, which is generally in June, the plants are transplanted to the water-filled paddies. Three months later the harvest begins, usually starting in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival around September, and lasting through to December. In the final month of the year, rice is planted,
and after the rice harvest in the next year, the field is baked in the sun to prepare for the next water-caltrop planting. Crops are rotated, and each field is left fallow for a year every 2-3 years.
After our chat with Mr. Yang, we
carry on to a caltrop field where a
busload of schoolchildren is learning
about their renowned local crop. Local
farmer Xu Yu-can is explaining harvest
techniques to the children, and later gives
them a chance to wade in the field and
harvest the horny nuts.
During the harvest months the
farmers rotate through their fields,
picking each clean in turn, eventually
arriving back at the field where they
started. Then they start circling again.
These cycles continue until the end of the
harvest – signaled by the coming of the
north wind, usually mid-December.
Farmer Xu says that an ideal water-
caltrop plant produces 32 harvests in its
lifetime, and the highest-quality water
caltrops are harvested in October – they
have the finest taste.
Li Wen-yu of the Guantian District
Farmers' Association explains the
association’s role in the water-caltrop
harvest to Travel in Taiwan. “We first
collect water caltrop fruit from the
individual farmers, and the fruit is
thoroughly cleaned in a large vat of
water. All fruit that f loats to the top is
optimal for immediate consumption;
these are shelled and sent to vendors or
restaurants. The remaining select fruit
are hand-sorted according to size, and
the horns are inspected to see if the thin
skin layer that covers the hard shell is
damaged. Rotten fruit are disposed of.
The remaining fruit are either shipped
to farmers’ markets in 20kg bags or
immediately frozen to retain freshness.”
The larger fruits aren't necessarily tastier;
they just look better. In fact, explains
Mr. Li, you can't tell if a fruit is tasty and
fresh until you have shelled it. The smell
is telling, however. A fragrant ling nut
will taste good, a pungent one will not,
and one with no smell will be tasteless.
Water caltrops are typically prepared
for consumption with a 40-minute boil.
The shells are very hard and sharp, so
caltrops are often sold already shelled,
for which a special knife is used. A great
snack, they are filling and are said to be
good for hangovers and fever.
The smell is telling. A fragrant
ling nut will taste good, a pungent one will not, and one with no smell will be tasteless
48 Travel in Taiwan
FOOD JOURNEY
Kai Hsuan Restaurant (凱旋餐廳 )Add: 41-1, Sanjieyi, Guantian District,Tainan City (台南市官田區三結義 41-1號 )Tel: (06) 579-4020
In the afternoon we visit Kai Hsuan Restaurant, where proprietor Yang Mei-e has prepared the restaurant’s popular water-caltrop set meal (book a day in advance, as the dishes take time to cook and prepare). She states that the restaurant is well known simply because it is the only restaurant specializing in water caltrop. That said, the food is superb.
The pork caltrop soup is seasoned
with cilantro and the subtle taste of the
fruit is effused with the pork's f lavor.
In season, the water caltrop are fresh,
direct from the farms, but with a three-
day shelf life, frozen fruit are often used
and can be kept for a year without losing
freshness. Mrs. Yang says they use fruit
that is not too ripe nor too young, just
right, otherwise the meat would be too
watery or tough respectively.
The most f lavorful dish we sample
is deep-fried caltrop coated in a bread
crumb mixture, which is crunchy,
starchy, and filling. Finally we try sesame
oil water caltrop with sticky rice. The
caltrop in this dish brought to mind a
russet potato texture; a stickier starchier
version of the fruit.
Next time you see this strange
horny fruit being sold on the roadside
in southern Taiwan, don't pass up the
opportunity – buy a bag to munch on as
you drive on.
English and ChineseFriendly Earth Organic Alliance 友善大地有機聯盟Guantian District 官田區Li Wen-yu 李文裕
ling jiao 菱角Xu Yu-can 許玉燦Yang Cong-gui 楊從貴Yang Mei-e 楊美娥
Pork caltrop soup
Deep -fr ied caltrop
Travel in Taiwan 49
FOOD JOURNEY WATER CALTROPS
Add: 5-1, Lane 75, Sec. 4, Minsheng E. Rd., Taipei City (台北市民生東路四段75巷5-1號)Tel: (02) 2718-8373 Blog: http://sophie109.pixnet.net/blog (Chinese)Located close to MRT Songshan Airport Station (7 min. by foot)
We insist on natural ways and make all our dishes and seasonings by hand.Every Saturday evening we have a cultural performance (music or dance).Most of the produce used is from organic production.
Enjoy creative international cuisine (vegan) in a relaxed Southern-France-style ambience!
Sophie’s Garden蘇菲花園
Vegetarian Restaurant
50 Travel in Taiwan
Text: Hanré Malherbe Photos: Zenith Lin
Extreme sports are alive and well in Taiwan, with regular
events scheduled through most of the year at venues
that are easily accessible. Each respective discipline
has its local and national heroes and heroines, who
put much into their sport to advance their own skills
and give much back as well to advance it. The various
disciplines are integrated by online social networks.
Having Fun
and Meeting a
Local Legend
at the Extreme
Sports Training
Center
in Nangang
XBMX legend John Cheng BMX newbie Hanré
ACTIVE FUN
The three most prominent
extreme sport disciplines in Taiwan are BMXing, skateboarding,
and rollerblading. Others include downhill mountain biking,
dirt jumping, slack lining, rock climbing, and parkour. I have
primarily been involved with the local rollerblading scene, and
had encounters with the downhill mountain biking scene, and
have seen (and been told) that the followers in each discipline
are like family, the more proficient individuals helping everyone
else improve their skills on the regular outings, giving them a
relaxed and positive feel.
On a recent day I headed to the Taipei Extreme Sports
Training Center to meet up with a Taiwanese BMX legend –
John Cheng. When I had started looking for BMX riders willing
to do an interview, the first person recommended to me (by my
fellow rollerbladers) was John’s son, who informed me that he
unfortunately had to attend a competition in mainland China
and asked if I would be willing to interview his father instead. I
was curious, and did a bit of research to find out who he was.
Just by looking at the vast number of stunning action photos
I found, I was sure that he’d been around for a very long time.
Sponsored by DC shoes, Haro Bike, and Thor, he has seen and
done pretty much everything in extreme sports. His intimidating
achievements include jumping over 33 people and, later, over 15
motor scooters! On top of this he also has an impressive track
record, competing both nationally as well as internationally, in
various BMX disciplines such as vert (half-pipe), dirt jumping,
big air, street (park), and flat landing. Most notable are probably
his 1st-place finish on the ESPN X-Games Asian Tour in 2001,
and his 3rd-place finish in 2003 at the ESPN X-Games on its stop
in Taiwan. Like many professionals in cycling – especially the
extreme forms thereof – he has done a fair share of motocross
as well, and on many occasions has served as announcer or
commentator at competitions and shows.
Before we come to the interview with
John, I would like to
introduce two skate parks in northern Taiwan – both of which
are easy to find, have free admission, are surrounded by beautiful
scenery, and are accessible on a daily basis. The first one is
located in Pingzhen City, Taoyuan County. After a 40-minute
train ride from Taipei Railway Station to Zhongli Railway
Station, take a taxi to the recently built skate park, which is
located inside Xinshi Park. It is basically a huge, long concrete
depression shaped roughly like a tub, around 10 feet deep at
one end and 5 feet at the other. Toward the middle of the “tub,”
extending part-way into it from a side wall like a soap dish, is
a bowl about 6 feet deep. Along the outside of the tub, on level
ground, are various street obstacles: a multiple-line box, rails,
and ledges – perfect for beginner and intermediate-level riding (or
blading, skating ... the lot). Both young and old extreme-sports
practitioners visit this park – mostly on weekends. On weekdays
you’ll likely have the park almost to yourself.
The second skate park, and the place I met up with John
Cheng, is the Taipei Extreme Sports Training Center. It is
located right next to Exit 2 at the MRT Nangang Station on
the Taipei Metro’s Bannan Line (Blue Line). Nangang Railway
Station is also close by, making it easy to visit this park and the
one in Pingzhen in a single day. The park, in which wood is
the primary building material used, is built in three levels on
a hillside, with a building on the first level, a street course on
the second, and a 12-foot vert ramp on the third. Some exciting
recent news for aficionados is that the Taiwan Extreme Sports
Association, which runs the center, is planning a complete
revamp of the street course and renovation of the vert ramp and
mini bowl, topping everything with a roof! Yes! A roof!
After seeing the blueprints, I can honestly say that this skate
park will become one of the best venues of its kind in all of
Taiwan. In addition to the changes described above, facilities
and services will include a small, well-stocked gym, rental of
bikes, boards, skates, and protective gear, parking spots for
scooters and cars, and bathrooms.
The action started shortly after I
arrived at the
park in Nangang. John greeted me and picked out a BMX (one
of his own) and helmet for me to use, and we headed straight
for the street course. He started showing his prowess by doing
effortless 180 table tops on the 9-foot quarter pipe, and gave
me tips as I was getting used to the feel of a BMX. Next, he did
f lawless 360s one after the other over the fun box, and then we
moved on to (in his words) “smaller, easier tricks” – graceful
back-wheel stalls on the spine, and accurate “ice pick” grinds on
the square rail.
By then the time had come for me to try out some stunts of
my own, and I have to admit that, despite growing up doing
downhill mountain biking, I didn’t expect it to be that difficult!
I ended up doing some exhausting pumps on the vert ramp, and
some simple bunny hops over the box with the square rail on
top of it. All in all, I have to say BMXing is seriously fun. The
small wheelbase of the bike makes every little bump and drop
feel exhilaratingly playful. I would recommend that every thrill-
seeker try BMXing at least once, for you’ll not be disappointed!
in Nangang
ACTIVE FUN BMX BIKING
Travel in Taiwan 51
52 Travel in Taiwan
How and when did you start riding BMX?
“I started riding BMX in primary school, roughly 30 years
ago. When I was small, Taiwan was a manufacturers’
paradise, so one would often see BMX bikes in the city. What
really stimulated my interest in the sport, though, was a
Taiwanese BMX film called Magic Wheels.”
Who would be most likely to go along on a BMX session
with you?
“Currently, most of the time I go riding with my children,
honing our skills together. However, on the odd Saturday
I’ll be joined at the skate park by other veteran riders, or the
next generation of professionals. We’ll ride till they turn off
the lights, and then go enjoy dinner together before heading
home.”
If you could go riding anywhere in Taiwan for the next 7
days, which spots would you visit?
“I would actually put my bike on the back of my car, avoid
skate parks, and drive through the mountains in Hualien or
Taitung counties, stop whenever I see something that looks
like fun, take my bike off the car and ride it, you know? Make
a trip of it. Because if you only go to the various skate parks,
it feels a little meaningless. You can find amazing obstacles
in the strangest places... like huge banks along riversides. In
the end you’ll feel like you’re riding for the sake of riding, not
for the sake of competing.”
What has been happening lately on the Taiwan BMX scene?
Is it more alive than in the past? Events? Demos?
“One sees a lot more people BMXing nowadays, because
more skate parks are popping up or getting renovated, which
obviously puts more and more children in contact with the
sport as well. Demos depend on manufacturers, as they
always have, varying in number from one season to the next.
Every year, however, there is a big international cycle trade
show in Nangang, which is 4 days packed with demos.”
Is there anything you’d like to say regarding events here at
the Nangang Extreme Sports Training Center?
“The Taiwan Extreme Sports Association organizes summer
camps every year, and they are free! If you have children,
or are interested in trying out BMXing, skateboarding, or
rollerblading, be sure to join up. You can call (02) 2786-3258,
or visit www.xgame-tw.org for details.”
Q :
Q :
Q :
Q :
Q :
Nangang E x treme Spor ts Training Center
Now then, let’s hear what John had to say, shall we?
ACTIVE FUN
English and Chinese
John Cheng 鄭邦中
Pingzhen 平鎮
Taipei Extreme Sports Training Center
臺北市極限運動訓練中心
Taiwan Extreme Sports Association
中華民國極限運動協會
Xinshi Park 新勢公園
Zhongli 中壢
So there you have it... and I have to say, I feel lucky to have had the chance to
spend some time with a real Taiwanese BMX legend! I’ll leave all of you with some
practical information and things to remember when visiting skate parks in Taiwan:
Pingzhen Skate Park:
58, Zhongyuan Rd., Pingzhen City, Taoyuan County
(桃園縣平鎮市中原路 58號 )
Taipei Extreme Sports Training Center:
382, Sec. 7, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Nangang District, Taipei City
(台北市南港區忠孝東路 7段 382號 )
While at skate parks in Taiwan:
Please watch out for children, because on more crowded days, they play around, sometimes behind
obstacles, making them difficult to see, which can lead to collisions and serious injury.
When is the best time to visit these skate parks?
Mornings and evenings are usually the best time, as it can get crowded in the afternoons.
Taiwan Extreme Sports Association's Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/cxsa.taipei
You’ll be able to ask any unanswered questions here, as well as see photos of and promotions for
events, the various skate parks, and so on.
“ Ice pick s” on a square rai l
Pumps on the ver t ramp
ACTIVE FUN
Travel in Taiwan 53
BMX BIKING
Good Service
Photos: Din Tai Fung, Tripod King
When asking visitors to Taiwan about their
travel experience here, you
will often hear praise for the friendliness and helpfulness of the locals. In
Taiwan, treating foreign visitors with respect and hospitality is a matter
of course. This warmth and friendliness when dealing with others, often
called “rén qíng wèi” (人情味 ) in Mandarin, is ingrained in the society and
is nothing out of the ordinary for people living here.
In some cases, however, hospitality reaches new heights, and business
service is of such a high quality that even locals are pleasantly surprised.
Prime examples are two well-known restaurant chains, the renowned
dumpling-maker Din Tai Fung and the popular hotpot restaurant chain
Tripod King. Their success, beyond the outstandingly delicious dishes
served, is due to their insistence on high-quality service. At Din Tai Fung
every guest is greeted and served like a VIP. Friendliness and f lexibility are
this restaurant chain’s stated keys to providing outstanding service.
Like Din Tai Fung, Tripod King emphasizes sincere and attentive service.
Staff members are carefully selected and trained to ensure that every single
guest is welcomed and served with the proper attitude and etiquette. Apart
from its exquisite mala (literally “numbing spicy”) hotpot, this restaurant
chain is probably best known for something you don’t often see outside
Japan – the wait staff making 90-degree bows each time they leave your
table. Asian hospitality at its finest!
54 Travel in Taiwan
DAILY LIFE
Asian Hospitality at Its Finest
Travel in Taiwan 55
REGENT TAIPEI台北晶華酒店 Taipei 台北
No.3, Ln.39, Sec.2, Zhongshan N. Rd., Taipei City, 1041 0 4台北市中山北路二段3 9巷3號
Tel: 02.2523.8000Fax: 02.2523.2828
www.regenttaipei.com
No. of Rooms: 538
Room Rates: Superior Room NT$ 13,600 Deluxe Room NT$ 14,600 Residence NT$ 20,800 Junior Suite NT$ 22,800 Elite Suite NT$ 26,800 Corner Suite NT$ 32,800 Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak:English, Japanese, Chinese
RestauRaNts:Szechuan & Cantonese Cuisine, Japanese Cuisine, Steak House & Teppanyaki, Lounge Bar, Buffet, Café
sPecial featuRes: Executive business center, fitness center, sauna, rooftop swim-ming pool, SPA, ballroom and convention facilities, parking, laundry service, 24-hour room service, wireless Internet, airport transportation service
TAIPEI GALA HOTEL慶泰大飯店 Taipei 台北
186 Songjiang Rd., Taipei City,1041 0 4台北市松江路18 6號
Exit 1 of MRT Xingtian Temple Station on the Luzhou Line.
Tel: 02.2541.5511 Fax: 02.2531.3831Reservation Hotline: 02.2541.6888
E-mail: [email protected]
www.galahotel.com.tw
No. of Rooms: 160
Room Rates: Single Room NT$ 5,800 Deluxe Single Room NT$ 6,200 Deluxe Twin Room NT$ 6,800 Suite Room NT$ 9,800
Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Chinese
RestauRaNts: Golden Ear Restaurant (Western semi buffet); Golden Pot (Chinese Cuisine)
sPecial featuRes: Business Center, meeting rooms, airport transfer service, parking lot, laundry service, free Internet access, LCD TV, DVD player, personal safety box, mini bar, private bathroom with separate shower & bath tub, hair dryer
COSMOS HOTEL TAIPEI台北天成大飯店 Taipei 台北
43, Chunghsiao (Zhongxiao) W. Rd.,Sec. 1, Taipei City, 100
(MRT Taipei Main Station, Exit M3)1 0 0台北市忠孝西路一段4 3號 (捷運台北車站M 3號出口)
Tel: 02.2361.7856 Fax: 02.2311.8921 Reservation Hotline: 02.2311.8901
Reservation Fax: 02.2311.8902 E-mail: [email protected]
www.cosmos-hotel.com.tw
No. of Rooms: 225Room Rates: SUPERIOR SINGLE NT$ 4,500 SUPERIOR TWIN NT$ 5,000 EXECUTIVE DELUXE NT$ 5,200 DELUXE TWIN NT$ 5,500 FAMILY TRIPLE NT$ 5,600 DELUXE TRIPLE NT$ 5,800 FAMILY QUAD NT$ 6,200 DELUXE QUAD NT$ 6,800 VIP ROOM NT$ 6,800 JUNIOR SUITE NT$ 8,000 DELUXE SUITE NT$ 16,800 COSMOS SUITE NT$ 20,000Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: Chinese, Japanese, English, Cantonese
RestauRaNts: Cantonese Dimsum, Shang-hai Cuisine, Buffet Breakfast, Lily Café, Ditrevi Ice Cream Shop, La Fusion Bakery
sPecial featuRes: Conference Room, Banquet Hall, Gift Shop, Barber Shop, Flower Shop, Parking Space, Gym
HOTEL ÉCLAT怡亨酒店 Taipei 台北
370, Sec. 1, Dunhua S. Rd., Da-an District, Taipei City 1061 0 6 台北市敦化南路一段37 0號
Tel: 02.2784.8888 Fax: 02.2784.7888Res. Hotline: 02.2784.8118
www.eclathotels.com
No. of Rooms: 60
Room Rates: Deluxe Room NT$ 12,000 Grand Deluxe Room NT$ 12,500 Premier Room NT$ 13,000 Premier 9 NT$ 15,000 Éclat Suite NT$ 35,000(All rates are exclusive of 5% VAT and 10% service charge)
Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, Cantonese,
RestauRaNts: Éclat Lounge, George Bar
sPecial featuRes: Member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World; strategically located in the most fashionable and prestigious district of Taipei; offers guests great convenience for business and entertainment; Wi-Fi connectiv-ity and in-room business facilities; variety of meeting rooms providing the ideal venue for professional meetings, corporate functions, and social gatherings.
No. of Rooms: 220
Room Rates: Deluxe / Single / Twin & Double NT$ 7,800~8,500 Suite NT$ 9,500~20,000
Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: Chinese, English, Japanese
RestauRaNts: La Fontaine (Western), Chiou Hwa (Chinese)
sPecial featuRes: Coffee Shop, Fitness Center, Business Center, laundry service, meeting and banquet facilities, non-smoking floor, parking lot, airport transfer service
GLORIA PRINCE HOTEL TAIPEI華泰王子大飯店 Taipei 台北
369 Lin-sen (Linsen) N. Rd., Taipei City, 104 1 0 4台北市林森北路3 6 9號
Tel: 02.2581.8111Fax: 02.2581.5811, 2568-2924
www.gloriahotel.com
HOTEL SENSE伸適商旅 Taipei 台北
No. of Rooms: 79Room Rates: Superior Room NT$ 7,500 Business Room NT$ 8,500 Deluxe Room NT$ 9,500 Executive Deluxe Room NT$ 9,000 Executive Suite NT$ 10,000 Sense Suite NT$ 15,000 Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Chinese
sPecial featuRes: Business center, fitness center, meeting rooms, Club House with luxury furniture and advanced media facilities for private meetings and gatherings, wood-floored open-air Sky Garden, parking tower, close to the MRT system near Zhongshan Elemen tary school MRT station and key commercial and entertainment districts.
477 , Linsen N. Rd., Zhongshan District, Taipei City 1041 0 6台10 4台北市中山區林森北路47 7號
Tel: 02.7743.1000 Fax: 02.7743.1100 E-mail: [email protected]
www.hotelsense.com.tw
No. of Rooms: 203Room Rates: Deluxe Room NT$ 8,000 Business Room NT$ 9,000 Executive Deluxe Room NT$ 10,000 Boss Suite NT$ 15,000 Premier Suite NT$ 20,000
Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese
RestauRaNts: Rain Forest Café, Garden Terrace, Lounge 81
sPecial featuRes: Business center, Pyramid Club - luxury executive floor, multifunctional room, Internet service, 32-inch LCD TV, garden terrace, bar, fitness club, outdoor pool, sauna, spa, aromatherapy, car park
MIRAMAR GARDEN TAIPEI美麗信花園酒店 Taipei 台北
83 Civic Boulevard, Sec. 3, Taipei City, 1041 0 4台北市市民大道三段8 3號
Tel: 02.8772.8800 Fax: 02.8772.1010E-mail: [email protected]
www.miramargarden.com.tw
Hotels of Taiwan
*Hotel list in alphabetical order from Northern to Southern Taiwan.
Visitors to Taiwan have a wide range of choice when it comes to accommodation. From five-star luxury hotels that meet the highest international standards, to affordable business hotels, to hot-spring and beach resort hotels, to privately-run homestays located in the countryside there is a place to stay that satisfies every traveler’s needs. What all hotels of Taiwan — small and big, expensive and affordable — have in common is that serve and hospitality are always of the highest standards. The room rates in the following list have been checked for each hotel, but are subject to change without notice. Room rates at the hotels apply.
56 Travel in Taiwan
THE GRAND HOTEL圓山大飯店 Taipei 台北
No. of Rooms: 487 (Suites: 57)Room Rates: Single/DBL NT$ 5,700 – 11,000 Suite NT$ 15,000 – 28,000
Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, French, Spanish, and Japanese
RestauRaNts: Western, Cantonese, Northern China Style Dumplings, tea house, coffee shop
sPecial featuRes: Grand Ballroom, conference rooms for 399 people, 10 breakout rooms, business center, fitness center, sauna, Olympic-size swimming pool, tennis courts, billiards
1 Chung Shan N. Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City, 10461 R.O.C1 0 4 6 1台北市中山北路四段1號
Tel: 886.2.2886.8888Fax: 886.2.2885.2885
www.grand-hotel.org
No. of Rooms: 121Room Rates: Cozy NT$ 7,200 Deluxe NT$ 7,800 Premier NT$ 8,500 Premier City View NT$ 8,800 Dual Queen NT$ 10,800 Premier Dual Queen NT$ 11,800 Executive Suite NT$ 12,800 Grand Suite NT$ 12,800 Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Chinese, JapaneseRestauRaNts: Unwind Bar & Restaurant sPecial featuRes:
Located in the heart of the energetic Xi-mending; 1 minute on foot to MRT Ximen Station; free wireless Internet access; fitness center; business center; laundry; meeting room; complimentary Chinese/Western buffet breakfast; safety deposit box; express laundry service; limousine service; airport pick-up.
TAIPEI WESTGATE HOTEL永安棧 Taipei 台北
No.150, Sec. 1, Zhonghua Rd., Wanhua Dist., Taipei City, 108
(MRT Ximen Station, Exit 6)
1 0 8台北市中華路一段15 0號
Tel: 02.2331.3161 Fax: 02.2388.6216Reservation Hotline: 02.2388.1889
www.westgatehotel.com.tw
ALISHAN HOUSE阿里山賓館 Chiayi 嘉義
No. of Rooms: 139
Room Rates: Scenery Suite Room/Twin Room NT$ 6,600 Double Suite NT$ 10,000 Fragrant Suite Room/Quad Room NT$ 12,000 Superior Suite NT$ 16,000 VIP Suite NT$ 16,000 Executive Suite NT$ 26,000 Handicapped Suite(Free Space Room) NT$ 26,000 President Suite NT$ 300,000
(Prices above not including 10% Service Charge)
GeNeRal maNaGeR: Mr. Jen-Shing Chen
Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: Chinese, English, Japanese
RestauRaNts: Chinese, Café, Courtyard
sPecial featuRes: Broadband Internet access in guestrooms, business center, Souvenir Shop, Gazebo, 1950’s dance hall, foot massage
16 Sianglin Village, Alishan Township, Chiayi County, 605
6 0 5嘉義縣阿里山鄉香林村16號 ALISHAN Tel: 05.267.9811 Fax: 05.267.9596 TAIPEI Tel: 02.2563.5259 Fax: 02.2536.5563
E-mail: [email protected]
www.alishanhouse.com.tw
TAICHUNG HARBOR HOTEL台中港酒店 Taichung 台中
388, Sec. 2, Dazhi Rd.,Wuqi District, Taichung City 4354 3 5台中市梧棲區大智路二段3 8 8號
Tel: 04.2656.8888 Fax: 04.2656.8899 www.tchhotel.com
No. of Rooms: 200Room Rates: Superior Single NT$ 5,600 Deluxe Single NT$ 6,200 Family Twin NT$ 7,600 Corner Semi-Suite NT$ 8,800 Harbor Suite NT$ 10,800 Executive Suite NT$ 12,800 Presidential Suite NT$ 38,000
Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Chinese
RestauRaNts: Gladden Restaurant, Fukumi-nato Japanese Restaurant, Pier 88 Lounge Bar
sPecial featuRes:
SEA SPA, Fortune Boutique Shop, Gym, Conference Room
Taichung Harbor Hotel will make you feel at home with its newest and complete facilities and a tranquil environment.
Edison Travel Service specializes in Taiwan toursand offers cheaper hotel room rates and car rental services with drivers .Edison welcomes contact with other travelservices around the world.