Du lịch đến Đài Loan Travel in TAIWAN tháng11-12/ 2013 No60

Du lịch đến Đài Loan Tạp Chí Travel in TAIWAN tháng11-12/ 2013 No60

HigH-Mountain DeligHts

Qingjing and

Mt HeHuan

toP ten touRist toWns

Beitou Hot-sPRing DistRict

BacKPacK Bus touRs

tRiP to Xitou

FooD JouRneY

WateR caltRoPs in tainan

BMX Fun in northern taiwan Wannian Festival in Kaohsiung

Hiking to Jialuo lake Bulau 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-off 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 GeneralTourism Bureau, MOTC, R.O.C

台 灣 觀 光 雙 月 刊

Travel in Taiwan

The Official Bimonthly English

Magazine of the Taiwan Tourism

Bureau (Advertisement)

November/December, 2013

Tourism Bureau, MOTC

First published Jan./Feb., 2004

ISSN: 18177964 GPN: 2009305475

Price: NT$200

www.tit.com.tw/vision/index.htm

Copyright @ 2013 Tourism Bureau All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form without written permission is prohibited.

PUBLISHER  David W J Hsieh

EdItIng ConSULtant 

Wayne Hsi-Lin Liu

PUBLISHIng oRganIzatIon

Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Ministry of

Transportation and Communications

ContaCt

International Division, Taiwan Tourism Bureau

Add: 9F, 290 Zhongxiao E Rd., Sec 4, Taipei,

onLine Read the online version of Travel in Taiwan

at www.zinio.com Log in and search for

"Travel in Taiwan." Or visit www.tit.com.tw/ vision/index.htm

in TaiWan Tourism Bureau Visitor Center; Tourism Bureau; Taiwan Visitors Association;

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at Taiwan Taoyuan Int’l Airport and Kaohsiung Int’l Airport, major tourist hotels; Taipei World Trade Center;

VIP lounges of international airlines;

major tourist spots in Taipei; visitor centers of cities and counties around Taiwan; offices of national scenic area administrations; public libraries

Sunrise at Kenanguan near Mt

Hehuan (photo by Jen Guo-Chen)

This magazine was printed with soy ink Soybean is said to be more environmentally friendly than petroleum-based ink and to make it easier to recycle paper.

This magazine is printed on FSC certified paper Any product with the FSC logo on it comes from a forest that has been responsibly maintained and harvested in a sustainable manner.

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dEPUty gEnERaL ManagER Frank K Yen

EdItoR In CHIEf Johannes Twellmann

EngLISH EdItoR Rick Charette

dIRECtoR of PLannIng & EdItIng dEPt Joe Lee

ManagIng EdItoR Gemma Cheng

EdItoRS Sunny Su, Ming-Jing Yin, Chloe Chu, Nickey Liu

ContRIBUtoRS Rick Charette, Stuart Dawson, Steven Crook, Owain Mckimm, Joe Henley, Cheryl Robbins, Rich Matheson, Hanré Malherbe

PHotogRaPHERS Jen Guo-Chen, Maggie Song, Sting Chen

aRt dIRECtoR Sting Chen

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MagazInE IS SoLd at:

1 Wu-Nan Culture Plaza, 6, Zhongshan Rd., Central Dist., Taichung City 40043 886-4-2226-0330  

Travel in Taiwan 3

feaTure

10 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 Note

4 Taiwan Tourism Events

6 News & Events around Taiwan

8 Concerts, Exhibitions, and Happenings

21 Meeting Tourists

32 Fun with Chinese

54 Daily Life

BaCKPaCK BUS TriP

38 Through the Mountain Mist

— Taking a Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Bus to Xitou

aCTive FUn

—Having Fun and Meeting a Local Legend at the Extreme Sports Training Center

38

TOP Ten TOUriST TOwnS

— A Place of Warmth, History, and Mist-ery

HiKinG

26 Jialuo Lake

— Entering a World Apart

inDiGenOUS villaGeS

— Reviving the Traditional Lifestyle of the Atayal Tribe

— Visiting a Traditional Drum Maker in Xinzhuang

SPlenDiD FeSTivalS

— 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 floral 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!

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

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 flower lovers, who come to enjoy vast fields of flowers, in Chinese often called a “sea of flowers.” 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.

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)

Lighthouses Opened to Tourists

The 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 Line

The 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 Link

Travelers 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 Island Lighthouse

MRT Daan Park Station

New Arrivals in 2013

The tourism industry in Taiwan is flourishing, 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!

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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

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 5 Parking 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 flying trapeze act with performers flying 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

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 10 National Palace Museum

December 6

National 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, 2014

Taipei International Convention Center

Imminent Sounds: Falls and Crossings 迫聲音－音像裝置展

Until January 5 Taipei 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 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.tw

Nearest 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) 2343-1100 www.cksmh.gov.tw Nearest 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) 3393-9888 www.ntch.edu.tw Nearest 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 49 號 )

Tel: (02) 2361-0270 www.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 221 號 )

Tel: (02) 2881-2021 www.npm.gov.tw Nearest 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) 2382-2566 www.ntm.gov.tw Nearest 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) 2722-4302 www.novelhall.org.tw Nearest 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 505 號 )

Tel: (02) 2758-8008 www.yatsen.gov.tw/en Nearest 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) 2577-3500 www.taipeiarena.com.tw Nearest 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) 2595-7656 www.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) 2552-3721 www.mocataipei.org.tw Nearest MRT Station: Zhongshan

TWTC Nangang Exhibiton Hall

（台北世貿中心南港展覽館）

Add: 1, Jingmao 2 nd Rd., Taipei City

( 台北市經貿二路 1 號 )

Tel: (02) 2725-5200 www.twtcnangang.com.tw Nearest 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.tw Nearest 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 2432 Website: www.kdmofa.tnua.edu.tw Nearest MRT Station: Guandu

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 272 號 )

Tel: (07) 531-2560 http://163.32.121.205/

Nearest KMRT Station: City Council

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 5 National Taiwan Science Education Center

3D Trick Arts Exhibition Part III – Kitarou

Taking in the amazing scener y at Mt Hehuan

10 Travel in Taiwan

FEATURE

Sky High

Text: 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 Villa Yunnan Fengqing

Xiu Hua Studio Wushe

Nantou County Museum of Natural History

to Puli

Mona Rudao Memorial Park

Qingjing Community Development Association

Bowang New Village

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 floors 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 butterflies 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 reflectiveness 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

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 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,

horse-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 overflows with bright alpine flowers and is dotted with small replicas of windmills and other

Exhibits inside the Nantou Count y Museum of Natural Histor 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 families 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

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 riding show at Qingjing Farm

Three first-generation Baiyi living

at Bowang New Village

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

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

( 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村仁和路 170 號 )

Tel: (049) 280-2748 Website: 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) 280-3876 Website: community.cja.org.tw (Chinese)

The Central Cross-island Highway

Travel in Taiwan 17

Getting There & Getting Around

The 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 floor-to-ceiling windows making you feel

you’re floating 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 floor of a rustic two-story wood building, with the attractive, homey restaurant on the second floor

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

Text: Rick Charette Photos: Jen Guo-chen

Sunshine Vacation Villa (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, 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

mountain-in six herbs 3-4 days then baked mountain-in a special wood-fired oven

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,

flaky, 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 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

STAY Qingjing 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) 280-2748 Website: 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) 2522-9696 Website: 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) 280-3162 Website: 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) 280-3577 Website: www.yunnan.com.tw (Chinese)

EAT

Lu 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) 280-3876 Website: 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 BUY

Xiu Hua Studio ( 秀花工作室 ) Add: 77-1, Xinyi Lane, Datong Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou

Cute sheep figurines

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 Beitou

A Place of Warmth, History, and Mist-ery

Beitou’s Geothermal Valley

Hot-spring bathing

Beitou Museum

TOP TEN TOURIST TOWNS

22 Travel in Taiwan

Text: Rick Charette Photos: Vision Int'l

Beitou Hot Spring Museum

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.”

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.”

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 Chinese

Beitou 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 Recommendation

Travel 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

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 floor 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 onwalking 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 Chinese

Alishan 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.

Travel in Taiwan 27

Lush forest

Giant cypress

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 Lion

SPLENDID FESTIVALS

28 Travel in Taiwan