Travel in Taiwan (No.58, 2013 7/8)

78

No. 58, 2013

Lovely Penghu

Summertime Geo- and Eco-Exploration TOP TEN TOURIST TOWNS Daxi in Taoyuan County

BACKPACK BUS TOURS Changhua and Lugang

FOOD JOURNEY

Lychees in Kaohsiung Whitewater Rafting Climbing Mt. Beidawu Amis Harvest Festival

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Welcome to Taiwan!

Dear Traveler, During the summer months the islands of Penghu, situated in the Taiwan Strait west of the main island of Taiwan, are among the most popular destinations for local vacationers.

Sunny weather, sandy beaches, and various water-f un activities await the visitor. Penghu has also a rich history, with many heritage sites telling stories of times gone by. In this issue’s Feat ure, however, we highlight the islands’ amazing geological f eat ures and ecological resources, and show you some of the best spots to visit on a geo- and eco-exploration tour. We also recommend places to stay, restaurants where you can sample local delicacies, and Penghu must-buy souvenir items.

Elsewhere, we introduce you to t wo interesting old towns, Daxi and Lugang, both conveniently accessible to individual travelers who make use of the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle network. In Taoyuan County, Daxi is known for its old streets lined with heritage shophouses sporting Baroque-style f acades, which date f rom the time when the town was an important center of trade. Be sure to try the town’s specialty food, dried tof u, and take in the stunning views of Little Wulai Waterf all, about 40 minutes by bus f rom Daxi. Lugang, in Changhua County, is one of the oldest towns in Taiwan and a great place for wandering through old alleys lined with venerable handicraf t shops, eateries, and temples. A special highlight of a Lugang tour is Husheng Temple, a temple made entirely of glass.

In this issue of Travel in Taiwan you will also read about the Amis indigenous people’s annual harvest f estival and their traditional music, lychee cultivation in southern Taiwan, whitewater raf ting on the Xiuguluan River, and hiking Mt. Beidawu, the southernmost of the Central Mountain Range’s high peaks.

Finally, a bit of advice. Please always make sure to protect yourself properly against the strong sunshine you will encounter during Taiwan’s hot summer months. This is especially the case in Penghu, where the sun is strong and tree cover is limited.

On behalf of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, I wish you f un-f illed summer days in Taiwan!

David W. J. Hsieh Director General Tourism Bureau, MOTC, R.O.C.

CONTENTS July ~ August 2013

10 28

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PUBLISHER David W. J. Hsieh Editing Consultant

Producer Vision Int l Publ. Co., Ltd. Address Rm. 5, 10F, 2 Fuxing N. Rd., Taipei, 104 Taiwan

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TEL: 886-2-2711-5403 Fax: 886-2-2721-2790 E-MAIL: editor@v-media.com.tw endy L. C. Yen General Manager W rank K. Yen Deputy General Manager F Editor in Chief Johannes Twellmann English Editor Rick Charette DIRECTOR OF PLANNING & EDITING DEPT Joe Lee MANAGING EDITOR Sunny Su EDITORS Ming-Jing Yin, Gemma Cheng, Chloe Chu, Nickey Liu CONTRIBUTORS Rick Charette, Joe Henley, Eric Bratt, Stuart Dawson, Rich Matheson, Amanda Hsiao PHOTOGRAPHERS Jen Guo-Chen, Sunny Su, Maggie Song, Fred Cheng ART DIRECTOR Sting Chen DESIGNERS Fred Cheng, Maggie Song, Eve Chiang, Karen Pan ui-chun Tsai, Nai-jen Liu, Xiou Mieng Jiang Administrative Dept H 86-2-2721-5412 Advertising Hotline 8

Publishing Organization

Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications CONTACT

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台 灣 觀 光 雙 月 刊 Travel in Taiwan The Official Bimonthly English Magazine of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (Advertisement) July/August, 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.

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At the Chixi Rock Waterfall on Penghu's Xiyu Island (photo by Jen Guo-chen)

In Taiwan

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FEATURE 10 Penghu

— Main The Penghu Pearls – Islands Close to Taiwan’s Heart, Yet a World Away — Stay Your Penghu Islands Adventure – Where to Sleep, Where to Eat, What to Buy

1 Publisher’s Note 4 Taiwan Tourism Events 6 News & Events around Taiwan 8 Concerts, Exhibitions, and Happenings

35 Fun with Chinese 48 Meeting Tourists 54 Daily Life

TAIWAN FUN 22 24

Taiwan Fun on the Tropic of Cancer — A Summertime Festival Celebrating Taiwan’s Distinctive Regional Characteristics You Will Get Wet! — Rafting the Xiuguluan River in Eastern Taiwan

24

HIKING

28 Mt. Beidawu

— The Southernmost Big Mountain of Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range

SPLENDID FESTIVALS 30

Celebrating a Bountiful Millet Crop — Amis Tribe Harvest Festival in Hualien and Taitung

MUSIC TOURS 32

“The Most Joyous Thing in the World Is Music!”

— A Dose of Tradition at the Amis Folk Center

BACKPACK BUS TRIP 36

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52

Giant Buddha, Old Temples, and Glass Art — Taking the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Bus to Lugang

TOP TEN TOURIST TOWNS 40

Town of Trade — A Discovery Tour of Daxi in Taoyuan County

FOOD JOURNEY 44

Jade Purse Lychees — A Fruit with Tender Flesh and a Subtle Sweet and Sour Taste

SPECIAL REPORT 50

The New Taiwan — International Upscale Shopping Destination

52 « Taiwan’s Young and Thriving Ding Mu Ju Scene — Local “Repertory Theater” Takes Off

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Travel in Taiwan

TAIWAN TOURISM EVENTS

Whenever

you visit Taiwan, make sure to check out what festivals or activities are currently happening. There are exciting and entertaining events organized by local and central governments and private organizers throughout the year. These events present a great chance to learn more about local culture, engage in sports activities, explore the natural environment, sample delicious foods or just lean back and listen to music or watch a fireworks display. Following is a small selection of happenings this summer.

Getting Close to Local Culture, Nature, and People

Jun.

Sep.

Tern-Watching Tour, Matsu ( 馬祖賞鷗季 )

Locations: Beigan Island and other Matsu areas ( 馬祖北竿等地 ) Tel: (0836) 25630 Website: www.matsu-nsa.gov.tw While the islands of Matsu, close to the coast of mainland China, seem to be far away from the main island of Taiwan, they are in fact just a one-hour flight away. A trip to these rugged islands is highly recommended; awaiting you is enchanting scenery, old quaint villages, and a rich ecological environment. Birders especially love Matsu for the latter, because here you have the chance to spot a wide variety of sea birds, many living on small protected islands.

The June-to-August period is the best time to see these birds. Take a bird-watching boat cruise to get a close-up view of these beautiful and graceful creatures and also take in the marvelous views of Matsu’s rocky islands.

Sep.

4

4

Jul.

7

Aug.

15

Toucheng Cianggu Grappling with the Ghosts ( 頭城搶孤民俗文化活動 )

Yilan International Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival ( 宜蘭國際童玩節 )

Location: Wen Xiao Yi Culture Center/ Intersection of Kailan E. Rd. and Sec. 3, Toubin Rd. in Toucheng Township ( 文小一文化園區 / 頭城鎮開蘭東 路與頭濱路三段交叉口 )

Locations: Dongshan Water Park, Yilan County ( 宜蘭縣冬山河親水公園 ) Tel: (02) 2499-1115 Website: child.ilantravel.com.tw (Chinese)

Although the name of this competition says “grappling with the ghosts,” it is more about grappling with greasy poles. Once a year teams of local lads compete against each other, trying to climb up poles approximately 70 to 80 feet in height, which are coated with a thick layer of beef tallow to make the task as difficult as possible. Each team tries to reach the top first and grab the winner's flag. The competition is staged at Wushi Harbor in Yilan County on the east coast of Taiwan on the final day of the 7th lunar month (in Taiwan known as “Ghost Month,” a time when lost souls from the netherworld are allowed to come back to the world of the living).

Held every summer, this festival always attracts families and water-lovers in great number to Dongshan Water Park. The organizers creatively combine the various water-play facilities and music, and there are performances by numerous music and dance groups from around the world as well as distinctive exhibitions. As the promoters say, it’s hard not to have fun during the Yilan International Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival.

Travel in Taiwan

JULY~SEPTEMBER

July Hohaiyan Rock Festival ( 新北市貢寮國際海洋音樂祭 )

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July

14

Location: Fulong Beach, Gongliao District, New Taipei City ( 新北市貢寮區福隆海水浴場 ) Website: tour.tpc.gov.tw/2013hohaiyan The Hohaiyan Rock Festival is one of the major music festivals of the year in Taiwan and draws thousands of revelers to the sandy beach of Fulong on the Northeast Coast. The stage is built right on the beach, allowing visitors to listen to the music while sitting in the sand or playing in the ocean. Numerous bands from Taiwan and abroad will entertain the crowd over this five-day happening. Admission is free. While in Fulong, also make sure to check out the scenic coast. Rent a bike right at the railway station to visit places like the Old Caoling Railway Tunnel, the lighthouses of Sandiao Cape and Bitou Cape, the sandstone rocks of Longdong, and the strange rock formations at Nanya.

You can also take a bus on the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle’s Gold Fulong Route that starts at Ruifang Railway Station and passes Jiufen, Jinguashi, Shuinandong, Bitou Cape, and Longdong before reaching Fulong.

Aug.

7

Sep.

5

Keelung Ghost Festival ( 雞籠中元祭 )

Location: Laodagong Temple ( 老大公廟 ) and other places in Keelung Tel: (02) 2422-4170 The 7th lunar month (August 7 ~ September 4 in 2013) is known in Taiwan as Ghost Month.

During this month the lost souls of the deceased are allowed to come back to the world of the living, and they are greeted by the people with elaborate offerings at temples and a wide variety of traditional-style entertainment. Probably the best place to witness these activities is the harbor city of Keelung northeast of Taipei. The offerings and sacrifices for the ghosts (commonly named “good brethren” in Chinese) have been staged in Keelung for more than 150 years. The highlight of the festival is the release of water lanterns of various shapes, for example ships, houses, and temples.

They are first paraded around the city on floats, with each of the floats having a plaque with the name of the family which has provided the lantern. Released into the sea the lanterns are believed to be guiding lights for water ghosts, showing them the way to the offerings on land.

Taiwan Culinary Activities ( 臺灣美食系列活動 )

June

11

Aug.

11

Taiwan is often called a culinary paradise and, indeed, many a tourist visits the island with the objective of feasting on local delicacies that are not available elsewhere. The annual Taiwan Culinary Exhibition has been staged for 23 years, each year highlighting different local culinary achievements and giving visitors many opportunities to see and taste for themselves what’s cooking in Taiwan – literally. This year, the organizers have decided to change the format of this annual event and instead of staging a culinary exhibition at just one location as in previous years, there will be activities around the island. As part of these activities, local cuisine will be highlighted in all of Taiwan’s national scenic areas, culinary contests will be held where hotels and restaurants compete against each other, the best restaurants around the island catering to tourist groups will be introduced, and an online vote will be held where the public can choose their favorite night markets.

For more info, visit www.tcff.com.tw/2013tcff (Chinese).

Travel in Taiwan

5

WHAT'S UP

News & Events around Taiwan

City Guide

New Addition to International Spotlight, Northern Region

Public Art

Jimmy’s Plaza in Yilan

Fans of local illustrator Jimmy Liao ( 廖福彬 ), widely known in Taiwan simply as Jimmy ( 幾米 ), will be delighted to hear that characters from his well-known cartoon-like illustrations have now also been transformed into life-sized sculptures. A recently established small park in the city of Yilan, close to Yilan Railway Station, features such cute sculptures as travelers on their way to/from the station, two children waiting at a bus stop, normalsize and oversized suitcases, and a reindeer suspended in mid-air. Though small, the park is a fine oasis in the city for taking snapshots.

Hotels

New Hotel on Kaohsiung’s Qijin Island In Young is a new hotel, located on Qijin, the long, narrow island that shelters Kaohsiung Harbor from the sea and is a popular destination for visitors to the city. The hotel occupies the third f loor of the futuristic Qihou Tourist Market building, which has an outer shell made of steel resembling fish bones. The seaside beach is just across the street, and other major local points of interest as well as the pier for ferries to central Kaohsiung are close by. The hotel has 70 rooms, all designed in vivid colors, with those facing west offering excellent views of the sea. Rates start at NT$3,960 for a standard double room. For more info, visit www.inyounghotel.com.tw.

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Travel in Taiwan

In recent years, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau has been highlighting selected city districts and county townships around Taiwan as part of its International Spotlight initiative (http://theme.taiwan.net.tw/ intlspotlight/index.html). In Taipei, four areas have been covered so far: Da’an, Greater Beitou, Dadaocheng, and (the latest addition) Greater Chenzhong. The bureau has commissioned the culturalpromotion group South Village to present the Taipei area and the group has done a great job of producing books and providing information on its website (http://eng.tteacafe.tw) in English, Chinese, and Japanese. Greater Chenzhong is roughly the area south of Taipei Railway Station, which includes the North Gate, Zhongshan Hall, and the shopping/entertainment district of Ximending. Pick up copies of the area guidebooks available, with info about shops, restaurants, historic sites, and other places of interest, at South Village (10, Lane 80, Shida Rd., Taipei City).

Hotels

Just Sleep NTU near National Taiwan University National Taiwan University in Taipei is Taiwan’s most prestigious university. Right on the southern boundary of the campus is the recently opened Just Sleep NTU, an affordable business hotel that is part of the FIH Regent Group. The location is very convenient, and not only for guests who want to visit the university. The Taipei Metro Gongguan Station is two minutes away by foot, and across the street is the popular Gongguan commercial district, home to many eateries and small shops. Right beside the subway entrance is also one of the bikerental stations of the city’s growing YouBike system, allowing you to ride around town on two wheels and return your bike at any of the system’s stations (there are currently more than 60). The hotel, which has a chic interior design, has 76 rooms and suites, provides complimentary Internet access, and offers 5-star hotel quality. More about the hotel at www.justsleep.com.tw/NTU/en/index.

Communication

iTaiwan WiFi – Free WiFi Internet Access Worried about not being able to get online with your mobile devices while traveling in Taiwan? Worry no longer. The iTaiwan WiFi service offers you free access to the web at more than 4,400 hotspots around the island. A simple process gets you started: Present your passport at a Travel Service Center located at any major airport, train station, or metro station in Taiwan, and give the service personnel your e-mail address. The personnel will apply for an account number for you, which you can then use to access the Internet at any major indoor public area with a WiFi hotspot, free of charge! For more information about iTaiwan, visit https://itaiwan.gov.tw/en.

Accommodation

Taipei Youth Hostel on Top of Traditional Market Backpackers visiting Taipei have a new choice for affordable accommodation. The second f loor of the Shuanglian Market building has recently been remodeled, and now houses the CU Hotel, part of the hotel chain Toong Mao Resorts & Hotels (www.toongmao.com.tw).

The hotel has a total of 87 rooms, of which 22 are youth hostel bunk-bed rooms (NT$600 a night; guests need to use the communal bathroom on the f loor). The other 66 rooms are more business-hotel style, with their own bathrooms, and at around NT$2,000, incl. breakfast, are still very affordable. All guestrooms are basic, but modern and clean, and ideal for travelers who don’t want to spend too much money on accommodation nor too much time in their hotel. To get a taste of daily life in an old neighborhood of Taipei and perhaps grab a traditional Taiwanese breakfast, guests can just go downstairs and browse the day market on the first f loor of the building. The hotel is located on Minsheng W. Rd. about five minutes by foot from MRT Shuanglian Station on the Tamsui Line.

Scenery

Oyster Shell Island Reopened One of the main attractions of the Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area in southwestern Taiwan has now been reopened for visitors. Damaged by Typhoon Tembin last August, Oyster Shell Island, a tiny island sitting in the lagoon that takes up a large part of the scenic area, is now accessible by boat once again.

The island was created from discarded oyster shells, and is home to a restaurant serving fried oysters. For more info, visit www.dbnsa.gov.tw.

Travel in Taiwan

E-Magazine App Travel in Taiwan is also available as an e-magazine edition in the Apple Newsstand. iPad users can now enjoy more content, and a convenient interactive reading experience. The e-magazine contains more images than the print version, some of which can be shown in full-screen mode, and also has multimedia content such as audio and video clips. The user-friendly interface allows for convenient navigation through the magazine. Download the magazine free of cost from the app store and read it on you mobile device wherever you go!

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

7

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.

July 20 ~ September 22 Huashan 1914 Creative Park

Rebuilding the Tongan Ships 再現同安船 This is a documentary that brings back to life the times when sailing vessels roamed the seas off the coast of China. Based on old documents in the collection of the National Palace Museum, the so-called Tongan ships that were common during the imperial era were recreated. The film also shows battle scenes between pirates and the Qing imperial f leet; both used the Tongan ships, which were the quintessential Chinese sailing vessel before the arrival of steamships. The film consists of three parts: The first presents the story behind the rise of the Tongan ships, the second describes how the ships were re-created, and the third shows the main structures of the ship using 3D visualization technology.

July 30 ~ August 4 National Theater

China National Peking Opera Company: Man Jiang Hong 中國國家京劇院：滿江紅

July 27 ~ August 4 National Theater

Taipei International Choral Festival 台北國際合唱音樂節 The Taipei International Choral Festival (TICF) is a prestigious choral carnival with an extensive and ambitious program held by the Taipei Philharmonic Foundation at the end of July each year.

Outstanding choirs from around the world, as well as premier local artists, gather in Taipei to perform in front of fans of choral music. Among the choirs invited this year are the Eva Quartet (Bulgaria), Children and Young Women's Chorus of the China National Symphony (mainland China), Kammerchor Stuttgart (Germany), Voces 8 (UK), and Pust (Norway).

May 25 ~ August 25 Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Flora – The Dazzling World: Permanent Collection of TFAM 花花：世界 北美館典藏作品展 This exhibition showcases figurative representations of f lowers in realistic photography, lyrical ink paintings, and symbolic oil paintings. It also presents works showing the diversity of the universe, including colorful scenery, leisurely landscapes, and snapshots of life. It concludes with a selection of abstract forms derived from free expression and ideas. Like secret codes, the works afford viewers ample room for free interpretation.

The China National Peking Opera Company is one of the national performance-arts ensembles directly affiliated with the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China. The company was founded in January 1955, and has since its establishment developed some of the most outstanding performing artists in various schools of Peking Opera, as well as notable dramatists, directors, composers, and stage artists, becoming one of the strongest ensembles in the field. Over the past fifty years, the company has produced and performed more than 600 traditional or new dramas, exploring different subjects and genres. Man Jiang Hong (“The River Is All Red”) tells the story of Yue Fei, a patriotic poet during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127~1279) who is regarded as a symbol of loyalty in Chinese culture. Man Jiang Hong is also the name of a famous poem by Yue Fei written after he was captured by invading forces, expressing his love for his country and his anger at the invasion. Due to a false accusation, the poet was executed at the age of 39.

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Travel in Taiwan

July 27 Taipei International Convention Center

Ishigawa Sayuri Taipei Concert 石川小百合台北演唱會 Ishikawa Sayuri is one of the most popular singers of enka , a popular music genre developed after WW II that stylistically resembles traditional Japanese folk music.

Enka, with its focus on sentimental ballads, has had a strong inf luence on music in Taiwan, which was a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945. Ishikawa (born in 1958) grew up during the enka heyday, and at age 14 she entered and won her first of many singing contests. She has also participated more than 30 times in the annual NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, a popular music show broadcast on New Year’s Eve. During her successful career she has released 11 albums and over 100 singles.

June 8 ~ September 25 National Museum of History

Joan Miró: Women, Birds, Stars 米羅特展 - 女人 • 小鳥 • 星星 This exhibition presents some 86 artworks by Joan Miró (1893~1983), one of the greatest modern Spanish artists. It reveals Miró’s mature style of the ’60s and ’70s, when women, birds, and stars became the major motifs of his artistic expression. In a career spanning almost a century, Miró's vision and energy were vividly ref lected in a highly personal visual language inspired by the forms and colors he observed in nature. All of his artworks present aspects of a cosmic panorama, synthesized into a personal system of codes representing a microcosm of the artist's interior world.

August 16 ~ 17 National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center (Main Plaza)

2013 Summer Jazz Outdoor Party 夏日爵士戶外派對 In the Summer Jazz Outdoor Party 2013, “Drum King of Taiwan” Rich Huang, who has been frequently invited to perform music of various forms and genres, will collaborate with expert jazz musicians to present a new rendition of '70s and '80s classics. Talented jazz singer Shih Ying-ying and her band of accomplished jazz musicians will present the beauty and diversity of jazz music. On the second day of this outdoor event, Gary Chaw × Sensation will show its astonishing live skills, expressing the voice within human souls through jazz music.

Venues 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) 2381-3137 www.csh.taipei.gov.tw Nearest 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.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) 2343-1100~3 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 4 9 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 2 21 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 路二號 )

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 5 0 5 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 3 9 號 )

Tel: (02) 2552-3720 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 2nd Rd., Taipei City ( 台北市經貿二路 1 號 )

Tel: (02) 2725-5200 Nearest MRT Station: Nangang Exhibition Hall

Douglas Lapraik & Co. Building （得忌利士洋行）

Add: 316 Zhongzheng Rd., Tamsui District, New Taipei City ( 新北市淡水區中正路 316 號 ) Tel: (02) 2629-9522 Website: www.tshs.ntpc.gov.tw Nearest MRT Station: Tamsui

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 Website: www.kdmofa.tnua.edu.tw Nearest 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) 2372-3552 www.ntmofa.gov.tw

Tainan Tainan 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) 269-2864 www.tmcc.gov.tw

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung 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) 555-0331 www.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) 531-2560 http://163.32.121.205/ Nearest KMRT Station: City Council

Travel in Taiwan

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FEATURE

The Penghu Pearls

Islands Close to Taiwan’s Heart, Yet a World Away

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Travel in Taiwan

PENGHU

More

Baisha Xiyu

Magong

Wang’an

Qimei

Penghu Main Island

Text: Rick Charette

Photos: Jen Guo-chen

The Penghu Islands will be whatever you wish them to be. What is it you desire? Beach-action and water-play tour? Island-hopping tour? History tour? Seafood and fishing tour? On these pages we’re off on a geology/ecology exploration adventure.

Chixi Rock Water fall on Xiyu Island

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FEATURE

“At last,”

I thought to myself as my plane swept past one after another lowlying island, low enough that I could clearly see captains at the helms of fishing boats chugging in and out of the small harbors. I was finally about to set foot on the pristine Penghu Islands, after two aborted trips over the past 15 years. From my window I could also clearly see they fully deserved the commonly-used description “like pearls scattered in the sea.”

The tide was out, and we inspected the many types of small crabs and other inter-tidal marine life

Located off Taiwan proper’s southwest coast, close enough that while your plane descends or climbs you clearly see the archipelago out the windows on one side and the settlements and high-mountain backdrop of Taiwan out the other, Penghu has become a popular tourist destination over the past two decades, in large part because of systematic tourism-infrastructure investment since the Penghu National Scenic Area’s establishment in the early 1990s.

The islands

are very much a world unto themselves, with a geology and culture wholly different from the Taiwan mainland. Characterized by small fishing ports and farm plots, the latter with earthhugging crops such as peanuts, melons, and gourds because of the strong northern winter winds that blow down the Taiwan Strait, there are few towns, and just one “city,” Magong, population 56,000-plus. You’ll see coral reefs along the shorelines, fine coralsand beaches, low walls of coral protecting crops, and countless old residences with coral used as a primary building material.

These many ingredients make this place a well-nigh perfect getaway from busy places.

You’ll also see basalt columns, by the thousands. What is a basalt column, you ask? Read on and you shall be enlightened, for the primary purpose of my trip was to explore Penghu’s geology and ecology, with a little time reserved, of course, for good summertime fun-for-the-sake-of-fun, good food (see our accompanying Stay/Eat/Buy article), and a bit of history exploration.

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Travel in Taiwan

Beach b efore Guoye Sunrise Obser vator y

Wall of a t ypical traditional house in Penghu

Day 1 Kuibishan Geopark Guanyin Pavilion

Magong Xiying Rainbow Bridge

Guoye Sunrise Observatory

I was

part of a group of four friends, on a threeday trip. Days 1 and 2 were to be spent traveling the sleepy roads of the three bridge-connected main islands, Penghu, Baisha, and Xiyu, in the quintessential local manner – by scooter. Day 3 would begin with a ferry ride to one of the many outlying islands, Wang’an, where we’d travel the sleepy roads in, yes, the same quintessential local manner. We’d return to Magong by ferry, then fly out back to Taipei.

the plaza before it – the “village mayor,” said one local – and I was fascinated by a blue lorry that stopped here and at other village points. This was the “village store,” the locals reported, sounding its arrival via mounted loudspeakers, canopied truck bed piled high with racks themselves piled high with spices, cleaners, and myriad other household necessities. My European buddies said these are still common enough in rural Europe, but I, a North American, had never before heard of or seen such a thing.

Within 15 minutes of sitting down at the Magong Airport car/scooter rental counter, we were breezing down open road. A reminder: Penghu has limited tree cover, so good sunblock is a must.

Our next stop was Kuibishan Geopark, in Penghu’s northeast corner. A long coraland-rock pathway, exposed at low tide, leads to a small island, where we had our first close-up inspection of the archipelago’s famed basalt columns. Almost all of its scores of islands have basalt-column bases, created between 17 and 8 million years ago when lava shot through seabed faults as the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates fought for dominance (the fight continues today, though things are quiet here). As the lava blasted up through seawater and air it was super-cooled, quickly drying and cracking into columns.

Our first day’s destinations were all on Penghu island, the largest of the archipelago. Our first stop was Guoye Sunrise Observatory, on Penghu’s easternmost edge. The tide was out, and we inspected the many types of small crabs and other inter-tidal marine life. While inspecting the unusually colorful Daoist temple in the sleepy village behind, we were watched intently by a large rooster in

Kuibishan Geopark

E xploring the rock s in Kuibishan’s tidal zone

PENGHU

Penghu Ocean Fireworks Festival In the evening of Day One, a Monday, we headed to Magong’s harbor area by two wellknown tourist attractions, Xiying Rainbow Bridge and Guanyin Pavilion, for a grand fireworks-fest, standing amidst hundreds of locals and tourists from mainland Taiwan and abroad. The Penghu Ocean Fireworks Festival is staged each summer, with spectacular fireworks shows over harbor and bridge every Monday and Thursday night, preceded by stage shows featuring Taiwan pop music. These events have been incorporated into this year’s first-ever national-scope Taiwan Fun on the Tropic of Cancer summerfest campaign, with extra events added (see article on page 22).

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FEATURE

Tongliang Great Banyan Baisha Xiyu Chixi Rock Waterfall

Daguoye Columnar Basalt Secret Three Stone Walls

Magong Guoye Sunrise Observatory

Fenggui Blowholes Shanshui Beach

Day 2

I cannot

say we got up bright and early, for though it was indeed exceedingly early, bright it was not. We headed out in pitchblack darkness to catch one of the famed sunrises at Guoye Sunrise Observatory, and were not disappointed. It was ethereal. Though it is said that on clear days you can see the mountains of Taiwan, on this day we were not obliged.

After a needed nap, we motored over to Shanshui Beach, near Penghu island’s southernmost tip. The popular golden-sand, turquoise-water beach stretches hundreds of meters, and is very wide. Vacationers come to sunbathe, swim, surf, and windsurf, and there is good snorkeling off the south end. The sand is piled high in a long dune that makes the beach invisible from the village behind and protects it from tidal surges. The village sports numerous guesthouses and eateries, including a burger joint.

Shanshui Beach

At the Fenggui Blowholes

It was then a quick drive over to the Fenggui Blowholes, in the island’s southwest corner. The pounding sea has carved trenches and boreholes in the basalt-column cliffs here, and when the waves are surging they roar into the caves and blow out the cliff-top openings, which you can stand right beside (careful!). Fenggui means “wind cabinets,” and the rushing water and air create impacts like thunderclaps. The trick, local villagers told us, is to come when there are winds from the south/southwest, when nature’s pounding is at its strongest.

Yellow cat tle are a common sight in Penghu

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Travel in Taiwan

From here we drove north, to Baisha island, to see its best-known scenic attraction, the Tongliang Great Banyan. It stands in little Tongliang fishing village, which faces the inland sea formed by Penghu’s three main islands, before centuries-old Bao’an Temple. Over 300 years old, this is Penghu’s oldest and largest tree. Its branches stretch out in all directions, creating a huge foliage canopy. There is an amazing 95 aerial feet, and unless you look closely it’s almost impossible to tell they’re all from a single trunk.

PENGHU

At Chixi Rock Water fall on Xiyu Island

We watched the sun set sitting atop the “rock waterfall” cliff, enjoying a serene end to a day of beauty and inspiration

Secret T hree Stone Walls

Insp ec ting some cac tus

We spent the rest of our day inspecting some of the main islands’ most impressive basalt-column formations, the Daguoye Columnar Basalt, Secret Three Stone Walls, and Chixi Rock Waterfall, located close to each other in Xiyu’s mid-section. The first faces the inland sea, with a sweeping view toward Magong far across the water. The second features a set of three column-walled dead-end canyons that have been dug out of the island’s farmland-dotted plateau. The third is on the west side, before an abandoned coast-side fish farm busy with marine life, including sea cucumbers, eels, and crabs. We watched the sun set sitting atop the “rock waterfall” cliff, enjoying a serene end to a day of beauty and inspiration.

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FEATURE

Tiantai Hill offers wonderful kaleidoscopic views over Wang’an and its numerous nearby islands

Day 3

In the

morning we took the regular Magong-Wang’an ferry, making our way south 50 minutes through a romantic fog that obligingly dispersed as we docked. Wang’an is Penghu’s fourth-largest island; low in the south, it rises to 53 meters (Tiantai Hill) in the north. We headed out on the two-wheeled motorized steeds we’d rented from one of the multiple pier-facing outlets, zooming along the island’s easygrade loop road.

Green tur tle

Beach near the Yuanyang Caves

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First up was the Green Turtle Tourism and Conservation Center, which fronts one of the island’s protected beaches where sea turtles come to lay their eggs (note that there are organized in-season viewings, with limited spaces). Its exterior is in the stylized shape of a turtle, and inside are displays on Penghu’s marine ecology, with English provided. There’s an English introductory video, and English-speaking guides can be booked. The highlight is a small aquarium that is a temporary home for turtles undergoing rehabilitation after being found sick or injured.

A military history buff, I found our next stop, the Yuanyang Caves, irresistible. The secluded cove and valley has numerous caves, many now collapsed, dug by forced local labor in WW II to hide Japanese suicide boats. You can also view the stone foundations of barracks, a cookhouse, hidden gun emplacements, and other structures. I couldn’t help but think how lonely a posting this must have been, soldiers endlessly scanning the horizon for death-promising excitement that never came, the Allied juggernaut bypassing these particular tiny specks of real estate.

PENGHU

Magong Tongpan Islet

Cac tus fruit at a stand in Zhongshe Tiantai Hill

Yuanyang Caves

Zhongshe Wang’an

Green Turtle Tourism and Conservation Center

Getting There & Getting Around Old houses in Zhongshe

Soaring Tiantai Hill – well, it looks mighty in comparison to the flat land and flat sea surrounding it – offers wonderful kaleidoscopic views over Wang’an and its numerous nearby islands. The hill has a tall basalt-column foundation, with a dramatically exposed seaside section viewable to adventurous types willing to tackle the sometimes steep 15-minute walk from the hilltop. Off to the west you can see miniscule Huayu, Penghu’s westernmost island, which a local tour-group guide told me is inhabited and has both a police station and a one-room school.

Our final Wang’an stop was Zhongshe, an old fishing village of narrow alleys and densely clustered heritage residences, almost all stone/coral-built. The majority are still inhabited, and many have been returned to their original state to attract tourists.

The refurbished homes of the rich of former days are easy to identify – white stucco covers the walls to reflect the intense sun, and they are decorated with beautiful glazed ceramic tiles featuring individual paintings.

On our ferry ride back, 10 minutes out of Magong our captain slowed down off Tongpan Islet, one of Penghu’s most iconic sights. Almost completely encircled by 20-meter-high basalt-column cliffs, as I admired its harmony and beauty I thought to myself that this was the perfect exclamation point to a wonderful trip. The columns, in fact, reminded me of thousands of exclamation points. In less than an hour I was on a plane and well on my home, busy Taipei, happy and content.

There are regular flights and ferry runs between Penghu and Taiwan proper, regular ferry services between Penghu’s islands, and car/ scooter rental facilities at various locations.

Your best source for details is the Penghu National Scenic Area website (www.penghu-nsa.gov.tw).

English and Chinese Baisha 白沙 Chixi Rock Waterfall 池西岩瀑 Daguoye Columnar Basalt 大菓葉柱狀玄武岩 Fenggui Blowholes 風櫃洞 Green Turtle Tourism and Conservation Center 綠蠵龜觀光保育中心 Guanyin Pavilion 觀音亭 Guoye Sunrise Observatory 菓葉觀日樓 Huayu 花嶼 Kuibishan Geopark 奎壁山地質公園 Magong 馬公 Magong Airport 馬公航空站 Penghu Islands 澎湖群島 Penghu Ocean Fireworks Festival 澎湖海上花火節 Penghu National Scenic Area 澎湖國家風景區 Secret Three Stone Walls 秘密三石壁 Shanshui Beach 山水沙灘 Taiwan Fun on the Tropic of Cancer 臺灣夏至 235 Taiwan Strait 台灣海峽 Tiantai Hill 天台山 Tongliang Great Banyan 通樑古榕 Tongpan Islet 桶盤嶼 Wang'an 望安 Xiying Rainbow Bridge 西瀛虹橋 Xiyu 西嶼 Yuanyang Caves 鴛鴦窟 Zhongshe 中社

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FEATURE

Your Penghu Islands Adventure Where to Sleep, Where to Eat, What to Buy

Text: Rick Charette

Photos: Jen Guo-chen

It always helps to get a little guidance from someone who has been there before when you’re off to explore an unfamiliar destination. I humbly offer you some Penghu suggestions, all personally vetted.

Where to Stay

Longmen House is a rustic renovated heritage home in the fishing village of Longmen, on the coast in the southeast corner of Penghu Island. The traditional single-story, three-sided courtyard residence, built in 1922, was where the father of the bright and friendly manager and co-owner, Xiao Mi (“Little Rice”), grew up. The guest rooms, though simple, have air-conditioning and cable TV, and there is Wi-Fi throughout. Since the rooms of yesteryear were built small, when people were physically smaller, a row of comfortable shower/bathrooms has been built along the outer wall, a walk of just a few seconds from the rooms. Extremely quiet day and night, this is a fine place to wind down quickly from just-escaped city living.

(Rooms start at NT$1,500; no credit cards accepted.)

The Mermaid Hill Villa is an inn with a whimsical personality located on the large saltwater bay on the small city of Magong’s rural south side. Tiered in the shape of a lookout-style tower where one might watch for mermaids coming to shore, the bright and airy rooms are reached via exposed spiral stairs and a winding, breeze-channeling corridor along the outside of the building. There is a pronounced marine theme, and room doors are the steel hatch doors found on ships and subs. Each room has a grand view over the bay, and guests can explore the intertidal zone right down below. There is a breezy café-style dining area on the main floor, and an unusual lifesaver-shaped swimming pool that is half inside the dining area, half outside the building.

(Rooms start at NT$2,500.)

The owner, Well Hsu, hailing from Taichung City, also operates two other quality inns in the same area, which he also designed himself. The Riad Garden Boutique Hotel has a luxuriously colorful Moroccan theme, and there are views of the aforementioned bay from all rooms above the main floor. The VIP2 room on the top (third) floor is extra-special, with a canopied jaccuzzi on a spacious outside deck from which superb views of bay, night-time Magong, and starry skies are to be had – for just NT$5,200 a night on weekdays, a steal. The Greek Frontier Villa, with a Greek island white-stucco theme, is in the middle of the small, sleepy village fronting Shanshui Beach.

(Riad Garden rooms start at NT$3,000, Greek Frontier Villa rooms at NT$2,000.)

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STAY/BUY/EAT

Penghu Main Island Magong

Huxi

F. Chao Xi Lu

Magong E. Cauliflower

A. Longmen House C. Riad Garden Boutique Hotel

Mermaid Hill V illa

B. Mermaid Hill Villa

D. Greek Frontier Villa

Where to Stay

Where to Eat

A. Longmen House

E. Cauliflower

B. Mermaid Hill Villa

F. Chao Xi Lu

C. Riad Garden Boutique Hotel D. Greek Frontier Villa

Longmen House

Extremely quiet day and night, Longmen House is a fine place to wind down quickly from justescaped city living

Caulif lower

Traditional Penghu cuisine

Where to Eat

One place you should go out of your way to make time for is the restaurant Cauliflower, in Magong. Step into the old red-brick residence it is housed in and you find yourself in a time warp – it has been “renovated” largely through the introduction of all sorts of old collectibles found throughout Penghu by the owner, Mr. Chen You-xin, an avid memorabilia collector. To me, most attractive were the scores of delicately artful porcelain tiles, an old-time household decorative element, that Chen has systematically sourced from old abandoned courtyard homes. Now rare, each is valued at NT$10,000-plus.

The food served is the classic Penghu dishes that Chen’s mother placed on the table in his youth. He named the restaurant after the dish ingredient he considers most iconic, small white cauliflowers sun-dried in summer to be eaten in the cool winter months.

Served with a simple soya-based sauce, their chewiness approaches meatiness. Other dishes I also especially liked were the tiny octopus served with cured-pork strips, fried sweet-potato pancakes, and pickled melon.

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19

FEATURE Chao Xi Lu is in the rural north side of Magong, just off the coast. The building’s façade rises like a steeple – look up and you’ll see a stylized cross. The ancestors of the owner, Lu Yong-xiang, were converted to Christianity in the late 1800s by Penghu’s first Western missionary. The main-floor restaurant (there are homestay rooms on the second/third floors), which brims with vintage Penghu collectibles, features Penghu “old-time flavors.” I especially liked the seafood and seafood-ingredient dishes, notably the Penghu abalone, cooked in the shell with glutinous rice and the original salty juices, and the noodles with green onion and oysters, the local oysters delicious, plump, and plenty.

You have not truly “done” Penghu unless you have sat down at a shaved-ice stand with a serving of cactus ice. The islands have six types of cactus, the one supplying an edible fruit introduced by the Dutch around 1645 when they controlled the island of Taiwan. The fruit has a nice sour/lightly sweet balance. A standard bowl starts with a heaping bed of shaved ice; a scoop of cactus ice cream is added atop, then surrounded by cactus-fruit slices smothered in cactus-f lavored syrup also f lavored with cane sugar. Trust me, there’s good reason why this treat has become a Penghu icon. You’ll find many shaved-ice stands along Magong’s Zhongzheng Road, always busy with tourists.

Abalone and noodles at Chao Xi Lu

You have not truly “done” Penghu unless you have sat down at a shaved-ice stand with a serving of cactus ice

What to Buy

Processed, packaged local-specialty snack treats are by far the most popular Penghu souvenir purchases. Brown-sugar cakes reign supreme, and also iconic are the salted biscuits, peanut brittle – not as hard or sweet as the Western variety – and winter-melon cakes. The brown-sugar cakes are made with muscovado sugar, a type of minimally processed cane sugar. They were long ago introduced to Penghu by Japanese immigrants from Okinawa. Locals originally used them in ancestor worship, Taiwan mainlanders gradually became aware of them, interest grew, and local bakeries began satisfying the demand.

There are numerous mingchan or “famous products” shops on Zhongzheng and Sanmin roads, two of Magong’s key tourist arteries.

Brown-sugar cake Longmen House ( 龍門舊社 ) Add: 95, Longmen Village, Huxi Township, Penghu County ( 澎湖縣湖西鄉龍門村 95 號 ) Tel: 0956-345-655 / (06) 992-2930, 926-0065 Website: www.wretch.cc/blog/mimiandbb (Chinese) Mermaid Hill Villa ( 人魚之丘民宿 ) Add: 130, Jimuwu Borough, Magong City, Penghu County ( 澎湖縣馬公市雞母塢里 130 號 ) Tel: 0931-887-733 / (06) 921-5000 Website: http://penghu.in (also the website for Riad Garden Boutique Hotel and Greek Frontier Villa) English and Chinese cactus ice 仙人掌冰 Chen You-xin 陳又新 Greek Frontier Villa 希臘邊境 Villa

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Cauliflower ( 花菜干傳統式飲食堂 ) Add: 4-2, Dongwen Borough, Magong City, Penghu County ( 澎湖縣馬公市東文里 4 之 2 號 ) Tel: (06) 921-6245 / 0952-416-711 Chao Xi Lu ( 朝昔盧懷舊餐廳 ) Add: 200, Anzhai Borough, Magong City, Penghu County ( 澎湖縣馬公市安宅里 200 號 ) Tel: (06) 921-0750 Website: www.chaoxilu.com.tw

Lu Yong-xiang 呂永祥 mingchan 名產 Riad Garden Boutique Hotel 北非花園旅店

salted biscuits 鹹餅 winter-melon cakes 冬瓜餅 Xiao Mi 小咪

Back

TAIWAN FUN

Taiwan Fun of

on theTropic

Cancer

Text: Rick Charette

A Summertime Festival Celebrating Taiwan's Distinctive Regional Characteristics Photos: Vision Int'l, Penghu NSA and East Rift Valley NSA

The Tropic of Cancer runs right through Taiwan, cutting across the centralsouth of the main island and through the Penghu archipelago, which floats in the Taiwan Strait to the west of Taiwan proper. What this means is that this is a land of continual pleasing warmth, a fact of significance for tourists from lands of cooler climes, and the Tourism Bureau is inviting travelers to come get to know Taiwan on a personal basis with the first-ever Taiwan Fun on the Tropic of Cancer summerfest campaign this year.

The

festival, which was formally launched with its first activity on June 1 and will finally draw to a close long after summer at the end of October, makes the line itself a tourist attraction. The tropic crosses through Hualien County, Nantou County, Chiayi County and City, Yunlin County, and Penghu County, along the way traversing attractive coastal areas, flatlands, hills, high mountains, a rift valley, and small, pretty islands.

A long, well-rounded series of special events is showcasing the unique features and strengths of each locality – the distinctive scenery, foods, handicrafts, products, and leisure/recreation activities. Many of the local summertime “Tropic of Cancer” specialty foods being showcased were chosen in an online public vote held in May. Among the favorite regional delicacies nominated are smoked f lying fish, cactus ice cream, mango ice, cold noodles, aiyu jelly, herbal jelly, dairy products of the town of Ruisui, watermelon, sour plum soup, and carambola juice. These are available for you to try at all the major festival events.

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Among the highly varied array of activities which have already taken place this year, a highlight was the “Thousand People Link-Up” staged on June 21, the day of the summer solstice, with 1,000 people lining up and holding hands to symbolize the Tropic of Cancer. This took place at Dongshi Harbor in Chiayi County, in Taiwan’s southwest.

Another highlight event, showcasing the incredible beauty of Taiwan’s pristine, rugged east coast, was the “2013 Xiuguluan River Rafting Triathlon” staged on June 23, the official “Rafting Season Launch.” The event featured road running, cycling and, instead of the usual swimming section, whitewater rafting. This river, an extremely popular location for rafting, has a course that runs from the bucolic East Rift Valley through the soaring Coastal Mountain Range. The river spills abruptly into the bright-blue Pacific where the mountains just as abruptly spill into it. Make your way to the town of Ruisui during rafting season to enjoy the tremendous natural setting, participate in the many peripheral activities, and get in some thrilling rafting yourself. For more on this, read this issue’s accompanying article on rafting and the Xiuguluan.

TROPIC OF CANCER

Other

festival draws include DIY sea canoeing and windsurfing experience activities in Penghu until August 31, triathlons on both August 31 and September 1, and a beach carnival from August 3 through October 30 with Mid-Autumn Festival activities, eco-friendly sand-sculpture contests, concerts, fireworks shows, old-time Penghu fishermen net-trawling experiences, and sampan-rowing experiences. There is butterfly watching, eco-appreciation, games playing, DIY activities, and live performances in the Guanziling hot-spring resort area (in Siraya National Scenic Area) until August 25, and in the evening of August 3 there are unusual God of Fire ceremonies; the Guanziling God of Fire is Japanese, not Chinese, for it was the Japanese who opened up the hot-spring area in the early 1900s, and local businesses continue the tradition of asking the god to keep the fires burning below and the hot-spring waters flowing above.

There will be a bicycle challenge in bike-friendly Alishan National Scenic Area on September 29 and, in the East Rift Valley National Scenic Area, Hualien Soaring Season activities will run until September 1, featuring tethered rides in hot-air

balloons, ultralight aircraft, paragliding, hang gliding, and mini-theme-park electric trains.

You can get full details on the entire range of activities going on in the different regions, all the local summertime specialty foods chosen in the aforementioned online poll, and on other related subjects by visiting the official website: www.taiwan235n.tw (at time of writing Chinese only). Note that the Tourism Bureau has worked with the local authorities in each area to design recommended tour itineraries taking in major tourist attractions in each area, as well as exclusive travel packages.

English and Chinese Dongshi Harbor 東石港 Hualien Soaring Season 花蓮翱翔季活動 Guanziling 關子嶺 Rafting Season Launch 泛舟季起跑 Thousand People Link-Up 千人牽手活動 2013 Xiuguluan River Rafting Triathlon 2013 秀姑巒溪泛舟鐵人三項

TAIWAN FUN R e a dy to ra f t

S a fe t y b r ie f i n g

Li feg u a r d

A l l a boa r d

You Will

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Get

RAFTING

If you have visions of being tossed about like a wine cork in angry sea swells, don't worry

Tr ic k y sec t ion

Rafting the Xiuguluan River in Eastern Taiwan Text: Joe Henley

Photos: Sunny Su

The Xiuguluan River offers a chance for thrill-seekers and nature buffs to get the adrenaline pumping and take in sights that will linger in their memory for a lifetime.

If

you are an outdoor enthusiast, Taiwan has a multitude of activities that will prov ide an excel lent workout and al low you to meet and mingle with fellow-minded travelers while experiencing the stunning natural beauty of the country. Rock climbing, hiking, paragliding, river tracing, mountain biking – the list goes on. If you've never tried whitewater rafting before, the Xiuguluan R ive r i n s o u t he r n Hu a l ie n C o u n t y o n Taiwan’s east coast might well be the perfect spot for your initiation to the sport.

Most whitewater-rafting outfitters offer a pickup service from the railway station in the town of Ruisui, the launch-point for rafting trips (the train ride from Taipei to Ruisui takes about 4 hours), taking you to one of the local homestays (B&B) or hotels. There are around eight such outf itters r unning Xiuguluan outings, with the largest being the Hsiang Sun Rafting Company. Boasting a f leet of 400 boats and a staff of over 40 lifeguards certified to the highest national standards in Taiwan, Hsiang Sun has been in business on the Xiuguluan since 1983.

That was just after owner Lin Yong-le came to the area while on leave from his national military service and fell so head-over-heels in love with the scenery that he decided to stay and introduce others to the quiet majesty of the East Rift Valley and Coastal Mountain Range that the river cuts a path through.

Today, his company takes as many as 2,000 tourists per day down the river towards the Pacific along a 21.5-kilometer stretch of the approximately 100-kilometer-long stream.

The tours last about four hours, including a stop for lunch halfway along at the Qimei Rest A rea, a nd e nd nea r t he br ig ht-red Changhong (Rainbow) Bridge close to the coast. There are 20 sets of rapids along the route providing intermittent shots of action.

Here's an idea of what you can expect on your river journey.

Before

you head out to run the rapids, you have to be outfitted with the proper safety equipment, namely a life jacket and a helmet. During the hot summer months, a long-sleeved shirt and long pants

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25

TAIWAN FUN

“Yea h!!!”

are also advisable, or lots of sunscreen. A pair of crocs or hard-soled shoes should also be worn, as the river bottom is rocky and sandals or flip flops could be lost should you fall in. Outfitters usually have shoes for rent should you not wish to soak your own, and you will get wet – it's a virtual guarantee, even if you don't wind up going for a swim. You'll also need a paddle – there are no free rides on this trip (though guides in motorized boats will frequently give you a nudge out of harm's way should your boat get stuck, or if everyone needs a bit of a break from paddling).

After this, there is a short briefing on what to do should someone fall into the drink (pull them out by the shoulder harnesses of their life jacket), and on proper paddling technique. Finally, there is a short video presentation (should you go with Hsiang Sun) introducing visitors to the river and the surrounding region.

T he n it 's t i me to he ad for t he boat s waiting on the riverbank. Each fits 8-10 people, so if you come with a large group you don't have to wor r y about bei ng separated. After another quick briefing on river safety, everyone launches out onto t he ref resh i ng ly cool water. At

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this point, working out a nice paddling rhythm becomes key; you’ll see boats f illed with f irst-timers swaying to the right and left as rafters try to work out a nice, even pace.

The

first set of rapids. Time for trial by fire, or water in this case. If you have visions of being tossed about like a wine cork in angry sea swells, however, don't worry. The Xiuguluan is perfectly safe for beginners. The rapids are just swift enough to provide a thrill, yet not so fast as to put anyone in jeopardy, so long as everyone follows the safety instructions. Though people do fall into the water from time to time, they merely float along on their backs until someone from their boat, or another boat, can pull them back in. And the lifeguards in their motorized craft are always there, with an all-encompassing knowledge of the river's every twist and turn. They know their stuff, and how to keep everyone safe at all times, often anticipating when a boat might get stuck on a rock jutting out or trapped along a riverside embankment before anyone in the boat realizes what may be about to happen. With speed and precision they guide their craft over to any troubled vessel and push it to safety.

Towering cliffs give way to flattened grazing land for water buffalo, while birds of prey glide on the mountain breezes overhead At times, they even attach a rope to the boat and pull for a while, providing a break from all that hard work.

These breaks provide an ideal chance to t a ke i n t he s u r r ou nd i n g sce ne r y, and t here is much to see. Numerous unusual rock formations, named for their similarity to animals such as pigs, swans, or monkeys, stand watch over the flowing water. It's possible to see actual monkeys lou n g i n g i n t he t r e e s, to o. W h ite limestone, k nown as K ing's Rock for its use in making seats for the Japanese emperor during the Japanese colonial period, stands out in stark contrast to the darker marbled stone along the banks of this mighty stream. Towering cliffs give way to f lattened grazing land for water buffalo, while birds of prey glide on the mountain breezes overhead. And if that isn't enough to hold your attention, there are other distractions as well.

RAFTING

Whitewater

rafting on the Xiuguluan could easily be billed as “whitewater rafting plus massive water fight.”

All boats come equipped with bailing canisters, which are quickly implemented as instruments of all-out water warfare, along with paddles, cupped hands, and anything else rafters can use to give one another a thorough soaking. It's all in good fun, and when the heat is beating down on you, a bit of a splash is quite welcome. Just remember to leave the expensive smartphone and any nonwaterproof electronics, along with cash and any other valuables that might suffer from water damage, back at the guesthouse/hotel.

Xiuguluan River Rafting Center ( 秀姑巒溪泛舟中心 ) Add: 215, Sec. 3, Zhongshan Rd., Ruisui Township, Hualien County ( 花蓮縣瑞穗鄉中山路三段 215 號 ) Tel: (03) 887-5400 Contact info about rafting outfitters at: http://goo.gl/aJEnm

Rafting on the Xiuguluan is a safe, year-round activity for just about everyone, with the sole exceptions being pregnant women and those with a serious heart condition. Beyond that, young and old can take a trip down the river feeling secure, as there are special boats available for children and the elderly that are virtually impossible to tip over. Expeditions generally leave every half hour, though the most common start times are 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m., and 11 a.m., with the latest departures at about 2:30 in the afternoon. It's advised that tourists call at least a day or two in advance to reserve a spot; prices vary from NT$700 to NT$1,200 per person, depending on the type of boat you would like to book (these are Hsiang Sun Rafting Company’s prices; those for other operators may vary).

With Hsiang Sun, English and Spanish tours are also available. The best time to go is between April and October.

More info about Eastern Taiwan at: East Rift Valley National Scenic Area: www.eastcoast-nsa.gov.tw East Coast National Scenic Area: www.eastcoast-nsa.gov.tw

So, if you'd like to inject a bit of adrenaline into your Taiwan trip, head for Ruisui on the east coast, and take your own unforgettable journey down the picturesque Xiuguluan.

INFO

Hsiang Sun Rafting Company ( 向上泛舟公司 ) Add: 97, Dagangkou, Gangkou Village, Fengbin Township, Hualien County ( 花蓮縣豊濱鄉港口村大港口 97 號 ) Tel: (03) 878-1166 Website: www.hsiangsun.com.tw (Chinese only)

English and Chinese Changhong Bridge 長虹橋 Coastal Mountain Range 海岸山脈 East Rift Valley 花東縱谷 Lin Yong-Le 林永樂 Qimei Rest Area 奇美休息站 Ruisui 瑞穗 Xiuguluan River 秀姑巒溪

G e t t i n g we t

R a f t i n g on t he X iu g u lu a n.

G reat F u n!!!

Travel in Taiwan

27

HIKING

Mt. Beidawu The Southernmost Big Mountain of Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range Text & Photos: Stuart Dawson

Mt. Beidawu (3,092m) is the southernmost of “Taiwan’s top one hundred peaks” (98 peaks above 3,000 meters and two slightly below).

It is a prominent mountain, standing at the southern tip of the Central Mountain Range, and offers commanding views in every direction.

The fairly relentless climbing made us glad of the shade provided by the forest.

After about four hours, we finally came to a crest of a hill from which some fabulous views were enjoyed

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MT. BEIDAWU

In

the past Mt. Beidawu could be tackled with a good two-day hike, but an enormous landslide caused by Typhoon Morakot in 2009 cut off access to the original trailhead. Determined hikers can still do the hike in two pretty tough days, but three days gives you time to enjoy it at a more relaxed pace.

Getting to the trailhead takes a bit of time. On a recent two-day trip, we first had to drive to the small indigenous village of Taiwu on Pingtung County Road No. 106. There’s a police station in the village where hikers need to apply for a mountain-entry permit. It’s a simple process that only takes around 20 minutes, and ensures that the authorities know you’re up there.

After driving to the new trailhead, we geared up and began walking. It’s a very steep climb, and even though we were hiking in winter we got very hot very quickly. The flora on the first section of the hike is typical of northern Taiwan’s lower elevations, with lots of large ferns and rice-paper trees. It was interesting to see it change to tall pines and red cedars as we climbed higher and higher.

The fairly relentless climbing made us glad of the shade provided by the forest. After about four hours, we finally came to a crest of a hill from which some fabulous views towards the west coast were enjoyed, and after a quick rest we pressed on to the Cypress Valley Cabin (4.2km from the trailhead), where we would spend the night.

The cabin is set in an idyllic spot. Around it are terraced areas for camping, with large red cedars for shade. We learned from a signboard that the area had once been the site of a Paiwan tribe village, and that the cabin was originally a school for children. The villagers have all long since left the area and moved down the mountain, and I could not help but think about how tough it must have been living in such an isolated spot.

After dinner, we headed back to the crest we’d passed earlier, to take in the sunset. We

could easily have spent hours there looking at and photographing the stars; but we needed to make an early start the next day, and so we headed back to the cabin earlier than desired.

Having

decided to do the hike in two days, we needed to be up at 3 am to make sure we had enough time to reach the summit, hike back down, and drive off the mountain before it got dark. A handy tip for cabin stays is to always have earplugs with you. This night was no exception, with some snoring by other hikers that was so loud it could easily have been mistaken for the growling of the Formosan Black Bear!

After a tortuous night’s sleep, we wearily arose and began the climb to the peak. Hiking in the dark can be quite exciting, but care must be taken on a trail like the one on Beidawu. There are some big falls along the way, and stretches with fixed ropes help hikers to negotiate these sections. After a few hours we arrived at the Ruins of Dawu (8km from the trailhead), where there is a small Japanese shrine. During the 18951945 Japanese colonial period the Japanese built a shrine right on the summit, but the people of the Paiwan tribe protested, and after the shrine had been struck by lightning several times it was moved to its current location in 1931.

The sun still wasn’t up when we arrived at the shrine, and we were so tired of hiking in the dark that we considered waiting there for more light.

The cold was soon pressing in on us, however, and we continued on, walking the ridge line.

A beautiful orange glow began to appear on the horizon, and we thought we were going to be regaled with an exceptional sunrise; but just as we arrived at the peak (9km from the trailhead), the clouds that had been below us for the whole hike rose up and blocked our view. Still, it had been an exciting hike, and well worth the effort to reach the peak.

Practical Info

English and Chinese

The Cypress Valley Cabin can be booked via the website of the Forestry Bureau (http://recreation. forest.gov.tw/askformonhouse/AskForMainB.aspx; Chinese). If you can’t get a space in the cabin, take a tent along and camp.

Central Mountain Range 中央山脈 Cypress Valley Cabin 檜谷山莊 Paiwan tribe 排灣族 Ruins of Dawu 大武遺址 Taiwu 泰武 Mt. Beidawu 北大武山 Taiwan's top one hundred peaks 台灣百岳

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SPLENDID FESTIVALS

Celebrating a Bountiful Millet Crop Amis Tribe Harvest Festival in Hualien and Taitung

Once a year the Amis tribe, in vivid fashion, celebrates the annual harvest. The harvest festival’s events, staged in many indigenous villages of Hualien and Taitung, are characterized by singing, dancing, and feasting on indigenous specialties.

Text: Cheryl Robbins

Photos: Jen Guo-Chen

There

are currently 14 officially recognized indigenous tribes in Taiwan. Among them, the largest is the Amis. According to statistics published on the Council of Indigenous Peoples website (www.apc.gov.tw), the population of this tribe is nearly 190,000, mainly distributed in Hualien and Taitung counties in eastern Taiwan.

Similar to many of Taiwan’s other indigenous tribes, millet was once a staple grain of the Amis, and many rites and ceremonies were held in association with milletgrowing activities. For example, after the millet was harvested the crop was placed in granaries for storage, and following this the Harvest Festival was held. The festival is a celebration of the year’s harvest and an opportunity to express gratitude to tribal ancestors for their blessings and protection. It also marks the start of a new year. The celebrations traditionally lasted for more than a week, but since in modern times it is difficult for those working outside villages to leave their jobs and return home for such a long period, the length of the festival has been reduced to between one and seven days, with the average being three to five days.

M emb er s of th e Amis trib e in traditional at tire

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Harvest Festival events take place in the individual Amis villages. The first of these events is staged around the middle of July, in Taitung, and the last is staged in Hualien at the end of August or early September. The exact dates and duration of the festival are decided by the elders in each of the villages.

HUALIEN Group dancing during the annual har vest festival of the Amis Trib e

There

are many parts to the Harvest Festival ceremonies. Just before the start of the ceremonies, the young males of the tribe may spend the night along a river catching fish in preparation for the festival’s banquet. After they return, there is singing and dancing to welcome and entertain the ancestral spirits.

Traditionally, it was the duty of the males of the tribe to welcome the ancestral spirits, and of the females to end the festivities and give the ancestral spirits a grand sendoff. However, in modern times such gender restrictions have been lifted. Usually the dancing is done in a circle, with dancers holding hands and following a specific pattern of steps.

Onlookers are often invited to join in, and for this reason this event has become popular among tourists.

The Harvest Festival is a good opportunity to observe an important cultural characteristic of this tribe, which is its age organization. Males of the tribe are divided into groups according to age, and each group has distinct responsibilities. In certain villages, coming-of-age rites are sometimes carried out for the young males during the festival.

The Harvest Festival is a celebration of the year’s harvest and an opportunity to express gratitude to tribal ancestors for their blessings and protection

The Harvest Festival is an important social event. Residents of each of the villages participate in various games and competitions. It is also a chance for younger members to search for potential marriage partners. During the dancing, the males wear a brightly decorated bag

over the shoulder, which is referred to as a lover’s bag. It is so called because single women of the village can show their preference for a suitor by placing a betel nut in this bag. A young man shows that this interest is mutual by accepting the gift.

Amis

villages can vary greatly in size. In some of the larger villages for which Harvest Festival activities are well publicized, tourists sometimes outnumber the locals. In smaller villages, the activities may be on a smaller scale, but visitors will more likely experience the cultural aspects of the festival. The websites of the township administrative offices in Hualien and Taitung counties are usually the best place to find dates and contact information for each village. However, this information is usually available only in Chinese. It is a good idea to call ahead to find out which activities are open to tourists, and when and where they will take place.

In addition to the activities held in individual villages, the Hualien County government also stages an indigenous cultural festival. This year the event will take place from July 12 to 14 at the Meilun Track and Field Stadium, located at No. 40, Minquan Road in Hualien City ( 美崙田徑場花蓮縣花蓮市民權路 40 號 ). Indigenous people from around Hualien and other parts of Taiwan dress in traditional clothing and participate in the myriad activities staged during this large-scale Harvest Festival. For more information, call (03) 822-5123.

English and Chinese Amis tribe 阿美族 Harvest Festival 豐年祭

▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼

Indigenous sp ecialties

MUSIC TOURS

“The Most Joyous Thing in the World s

Text: Joe Henley

Photos: Sunny Su

Ask the average person on the street in Taiwan about the country's indigenous music, and you might hear the names of pop stars such as A-mei, Landy Wen, or Chang Chen-yue mentioned. Even if you've never set foot in Taiwan, chances are you're already at least a little familiar with Taiwanese indigenous music.

This

is thanks to Enigma's 1994 hit song Return to Innocence, which was used as the theme for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games. The song features an Amis tribal chant, entitled the Jubilant Drinking Song, sung by the husband and wife team of Difang and Igay. But there is far more to Taiwan's indigenous music than radio hits and pop-music crossover. Research suggests that the native peoples of Taiwan have been living here for around 8,000 years. Though some of the musical traditions of the country’s 14 recognized tribes that have developed over that long stretch of time are in danger of disappearing, there are many individuals working to bring them back to prominence.

The largest tribe in Taiwan is the Amis. The tribe’s territory extends from the area around the east coast city of Hualien down along the coast and along the narrow valley between the Central Mountain Range and the Coastal Mountain Range to the Hengchun Peninsula in the far south.

The Amis have their own language, an Austronesian dialect, and have traditionally been a matriarchal society, with the women holding sway over family affairs and children adopting the surname of their mother rather than that of their father.

When it comes to music, the Amis are known for their polyphonic vocals, similar to those employed in the music of Taiwan’s Bunun, Paiwan, Rukai, and Tsou peoples, in which two simultaneous lines of melody dance and interact with one another during the course of a song. The Amis also have many traditional instruments, numbering around 40; according to research, this is more instruments than any other tribe. The skills in making these instruments, born of experimentation with different forest materials in the time when hunting parties would spend long periods of time away from settlements, were passed down from generation to generation.

In the modern era, however, with Han Chinese immigration starting in the 1600s, followed by the 1895-1945 Japanese colonial occupation era during which indigenous culture was suppressed, the knowledge pertaining to these instruments began to disappear. Today, at the Amis Folk Center in Duli Village, Taitung County, an Amis man named Sawtoy is working to revive the Playing a nose ancient art of Amis musical-instrument making. f lute

TAITUNG

The Amis are known for their polyphonic vocals in which two simultaneous lines of melody dance and interact with one another during the course of a song

The

Various traditional music instruments of the Amis tribe created by the K akeng Troupe, including f lutes and and string instruments

Amis Folk Center is a place where one and all are invited to learn about all aspects of Amis culture and experience traditional ways. There is no entrance fee, but visitors are encouraged to make a donation of any amount they feel comfortable with in order to keep the center going. Among other activities, guests can take part in bow and arrow shooting, and if the weather is good take a ride on a giant swing traditionally used in Amis marriage ceremonies. At the top of the swing's arc you can see to the Pacific, a short drive away from Duli Village. But the true highlight is witnessing a performance by the Kakeng Troupe, a group of Amis performers well versed in their people's old-time songs, instruments, and dance. The kakeng, meaning “bamboo bell,” is actually a percussion instrument – nothing more than a simple bamboo tube, really – which is struck with a flat paddle. Kakeng were traditionally used to signify good news, and played when a man left his parents' home to move in with his new bride's family following marriage.

As well as playing the kakeng, the Kakeng Troupe demonstrates the nose flute, which as the name suggests is played by blowing air out through the nose rather than the mouth. Because the flute has two tubes, one for each nostril, it produces a drone effect. The troupe’s performances end with a dance demonstration, with members of the audience invited up on stage to take part.

Should visitors wish to learn more, they can have a chat with troupe leader Sawtoy, a man with encyclopedic knowledge of Amis instruments. On a recent Travel in Taiwan visit to the folk center, Sawtoy, who teaches kids of any background, Amis or otherwise, how to make Amis instruments, hauled out his basket of wind, percussion, and wood instruments, along with his trusty carving knife, to give a demonstration of his skills. Most Amis instruments are based on two simple concepts.

The first is known as pdox ufang, which refers to the holes in the wooden instruments that air must pass through. The second, piciw ngawa, means “cut,” referring to work that must be done with a blade. To showcase these basic concepts, Sawtoy produced a fresh green stalk of hollow

Travel in Taiwan

33

MUSIC TOURS bamboo, carved a few holes in it in ascending size, cut a small slice from the end to create a hole through which air was to be blown, and proceeded to play The Star Spangled Banner, all in the span of just a few minutes.

He next pulled out a “bow piano,” so named for its resemblance to a hunting bow. Placing one end of the bow in his mouth, Sawtoy produced vibrating tones by humming a melody, while plucking the single string with his thumb to produce a simple backing effect. He also played a tipolo, or pan flute, which was once used somewhat like a telephone. Sawtoy demonstrated the tones a woman might have used to call her husband out tending a field, three short notes that seemed to sound like “Where are you?”, followed by the tones the man might use to answer, three different notes, meaning “I am here.” “It looks like nothing,” Sawtoy marveled, “but when you play it, it comes alive.”

Mak ing a bamboo musical instrument

We

then accompanied Sawtoy and the Kakeng Troupe to Chenggong, a nearby town, where the group performed for the students at a junior high school.

Sawtoy began with a song, bouncing back between an Amis chant and improvised lyrics in Mandarin Chinese, cracking jokes and getting the kids' attention. It wasn't long before he held them in the palm of his hand, pulling out instruments of all kinds to show how those are made and played. “The most joyous thing in the world is music,” he told the audience, before introducing the youngest members of the Kakeng Troupe, children ranging in age from seven to their late teens, who performed for their visibly impressed peers in the crowd. The youngest played a salingsingan, a simple shaker instrument used to keep the beat. Sawtoy then pulled his audience in even further, using nothing more than a fresh piece of bamboo. Cutting one end down to a transparent strip, he blew into the tube, causing the strip to vibrate and produce musical notes as he hummed the Pink Panther Theme by Henry Mancini, drawing a laugh from the students. The performers took obvious pride in their singing and dancing, and Sawtoy pointed out that the Kakeng Troupe was nominated for a Golden Melody Award, the Asian equivalent of a Grammy, in 2012. By the end of the presentation, the Kakeng Troupe had a room full of new fans and, more importantly, a group of hundreds with a new interest in traditional Amis song, dance, and musical instruments.

The Amis Folk Center is open seven days a week, with daily performances by the Kakeng Troupe. To get to the center, take a train to the city of Taitung and catch a Taiwan Tourist Shuttle East Coast Line bus (www.taiwantrip.com.tw/Besttour/Info/?id=40) from Taitung Railway Station. The bus trip takes about an hour. Formal classes in indigenous-instrument making are not yet available for tourists, but Sawtoy hopes to establish a music school in the future. Until then, let Sawtoy and the Kakeng Troupe be your guides to the rich world of Amis culture, and experience traditions thousands of years in the making.

INFO Amis Folk Center ( 阿美族民俗中心 ) Add: 25, Xincun Rd., Duli Village, Chenggong Township, Taitung County ( 台東縣成功鎮都歷村新村路 25 號 ) Tel: 0925-793-566 / 089-384-656

Stage p er formance by the K akeng Troup e

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English and Chinese A-mei 阿妹 Amis tribe 阿美族 Central Mountain Range 中央山脈 Chang Chen-yue 張震嶽 Chenggong 成功 Coastal Mountain Range 海岸山脈 Difang 郭英男

Duli Village 都歷村 Hengchun Peninsula 恆春半島 Igay 郭秀珠 Kakeng Troupe 旮亙樂團 Landy Wen 溫嵐 Sawtoy 少多宜

FUN WITH CHINESE

I'm walking ! ren

Let's go inside !

ru

I want out ! qiu

Man in the Box = Prisoner Illustration: Fred Cheng

When

learning Chinese characters one encounters quite a few that look similar to various others, and are therefore easy to mix up. Two of the easiest characters to learn and to mistake for each other are 人 (ren, person, people) and 入 (ru, to enter). The only differences between the two are that in the second character the stroke on the right-hand side is longer and is f latter at the top than that of the f irst character. 人 is an important part of many more complicated characters, very often appearing on the left side of these characters, in the altered form 亻. But in some characters the unaltered form appears as well – for example, in 囚 (qiu). Can you guess the meaning of this character just by looking at it? Think of a person in an enclosure; what might that signify?

The answer: a prisoner.

If you put two 人 together, you get 从 (cong), which means “to follow” and is the simplif ied way of writing the character 從 . If you put three 人 together, you get 众 (zhong), which means “a crowd” and is the simplified way of writing the character 衆 .

35 35 Travel Travel in Taiwan in Taiwan

BACKPACK BUS TRIP

Giant Buddha, Old Temples, & Glass Art Taking the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Bus to Lugang Text: Amanda Hsiao

Photos: Sunny Su, Fred Cheng

The bigger cities of Taiwan are filled with interesting sights to see, but I was ready for an adventure of a different kind. I was heading with two friends to Lugang (Lukang), an old town located in Changhua County on the western side of Taiwan near the Taiwan Strait.

I felt incredibly tiny standing between those lions, looking up at the benevolent figure

I

didn’t know much about Lugang before the trip, which only added to my excitement as we boarded a High Speed Rail train in Taipei. A quick one-hour ride later we arrived at Taichung’s Wuri Station.

At the station’s information desk we were pointed to the bus stop of the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle’s Lugang Line (bus No. 6936; for more info on the shuttle-bus service, visit www.taiwantrip.com.tw), where our bus was already waiting (Platform 5). We paid NT$34 each for a ticket to the Giant Buddha Scenic Area stop, then sat back to enjoy the scenery as the bus headed toward the first stop of our trip. (Note: There are different payment methods for the different routes of the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle network. For some services you can purchase day tickets allowing you to hop on and off buses unlimited times. For the Lugang Route, however, you can only buy single tickets from one stop to another.)

Giant Buddha of Changhua

CHANGHUA

First Stop

The Great Buddha Scenic Area

After hopping off the bus at the Great Buddha Scenic Area bus stop east of central Changhua City, we walked uphill to the scenic area. Admission is free, and upon passing through the main gate we were greeted by colorful pagodas and temples and a garden. Listening to the gentle noise made by the koi fish and the soft splash of a little waterfall, was the perfect way to relax and drift into a Zen frame of mind.

The Great Buddha, which I was soon to find out is the largest Buddha sculpture in Taiwan, sits facing two stone lions and gazing out at the panorama of the city before him. I felt incredibly tiny standing between those lions, looking up at the benevolent figure. To make my trip more interesting, my editor had given me a few special tasks to complete while visiting various places of interest. The first was to guess how many floors are inside the large statue. Sizing up the Buddha, I guessed nine, and headed inside to see how accurate my guess was.

The main floor houses a beautifully decorated temple with a myriad of candles lit in honor of the deity. Phoenixes soar above the altar, while elephants mark the entrance

Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus

HSRT Taichung Station 1.

Changhua (Great Buddha Scenic Area)

to the stairs to the higher levels inside the statue. After inspecting a curious electronic fortune-telling machine that uses a system of numbered sticks, we headed upstairs, where we found there are three more accessible floors, and two that are closed to the public.

So my original guess of nine floors was off by three. Each of the three public-access floors contains life-like dioramas depicting the life of the Buddha. Not knowing much about the history of Buddhism, I was grateful for the English translation provided, and lost myself in the stories.

A small photo exhibition in a building to the side of the statue was next on my list of things to see, and a helpful guide gave me an explanation of the photos that showed the Great Buddha's history, starting with its creation in the in the early 1960s, down to the present. With a few minutes to spare, we popped on over to the temple to the rear of the Buddha, where tribute is paid to a different deity on each floor. Visiting the shrines dedicated to the Buddha, Confucius, and Guan Gong (the Daoist God of War), I couldn't help but feel impressed at how one building housed so many different gods from so many different faiths. This is religious tolerance at its best, and I left feeling proud of Taiwan and its attitude of acceptance.

Lukang Old Street

Chang Bing ShowChwan Health Park

Brand`s Health Museum 5.

The Jin Yang Ribbon Culture Park 6.

Taiwan Glass Gallery 7.

4.

3.

2.

Holding the sword of Guan Gong, also known as the God of War

Second Stop

Temple near the Giant Buddha

Inside the Giant Buddha

Lugang Old Street

Back down the hill, we waited a short while for the next tourist-shuttle bus, and then were back on the road heading to our next stop, Lugang Old Street (bus fare: NT$87). Lugang is famous for its rich history and many surviving heritage structures. At one point in time, between the 1780s and 1840s, it had one of the busiest harbors in Taiwan. The town’s name literally means “deer harbor,” reference to the vast number of deerskins exported through it. Seeing some of the best-preserved historical buildings in Taiwan, it isn’t hard to picture what the town must have looked like back in those early times.

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BACKPACK BUS TRIP The second special task I had been given was to be tackled next: tasting Lugang's famous snack foods. The place we visited first was Yu Jen Jai, a pastry store that is one of the oldest in town. The outside of the shop resembles what it must have looked like back in 1877 when it opened. The inside was filled with eager customers. Caught up in the excitement, I picked up a few boxes of phoenix-eye cakes, the shop’s signature snack, winter melon cakes, green bean cakes, and kousu cookies, a flaky melt-in-yourmouth-cookie that immediately became my favorite.

My next task was to sample some foods at a number of food stands where items cost less than NT$30 per serving, so I had to put off my digging into my delicious cake and cookie treats for a while. I tried shaved ice, a traditional summer dessert, my favorite version being one with short rice noodles as topping.

Next up was a food challenge that put my horrible guessing skills to the test. I had to show how much I knew about the local traditional foods in Lugang. One of my friends blindfolded me with a scarf, then guided me to another stand a few steps away from the shaved-ice stand – to the amusement of the people nearby, I was later told. A bowl and fork were put in my hand, and my friend told me to first try the outer covering of the food presented to me. It was a chewy – or as the locals say, “QQ” – substance, which I consumed slowly, trying to place the curious taste and texture. Next came the filling, which was a bite of meat with a salty sauce. All my guesses proving inaccurate, I

was finally allowed to have a look. My snack was a Taiwanesestyle meatball covered in a soft, chewy shell made from rice flour and sweet-potato powder.

After this failed guessing attempt, we followed a cobbled path to a tea shop that serves up a traditional specialty drink.

I thought it was delicious, and learned that it was flour tea (miancha ), a specialty drink of the area, served cold in the summer and hot in the winter. The tea tasted even better with the snacks I had bought earlier. Next time I visit the tea shop in summer, however, I think I'll have to give the flour tea with ice cream a try!

Our next destination was famed Longshan Temple, one of the oldest temples in Taiwan. With helpful guidance from the locals, we arrived at the temple in only a few minutes. My next special task was to answer the question: How old is Longshan Temple? My guess was far off yet again, and I was surprised to realize it has been here for more than 230 years (an original, smaller structure was moved here from another Lugang location in 1786, and the complex thereafter expanded). I strolled around the temple, peering up at the old wooden beams of the roof, marveling at the fact that it was put together without using a single nail. Farther into the complex I came across a group of priests chanting, accompanied by the gong of cymbals, as a worship ceremony started. Too soon it was time to head out, however, to my next and last stop.

Lugang specialties, mmmm....

Assorted pastries

Soybean dessert

At Longshan Temple

Last Stop Rice noodle dish

Taiwanese-style meat ball

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Taiwan Glass Gallery

We took the bus (NT$28) into the wide open spaces surrounding Lugang, where we visited the Taiwan Glass Gallery. Once a factory, this is now a venue for glass-art exhibitions and glass-making activities. There are a variety of stalls, selling everything from souvenirs to little figurines of blown glass. Surrounded by the stalls is a demonstration area where visitors learn how glass is made, and there is a DIY area for children interested in taking home their own glass figurines.

CHANGHUA Not to be missed is the gallery’s Golden Tunnel. After taking off our shoes and donning a pair of gloves (so we could clean the mirrors, the attendant teased), we entered a hall of mirrors filled with gold- and blue-colored lights. I quickly understood the importance of the gloves as I felt my way through, marveling at the way the lights turned a tunnel into a forest of pathways. I even jumped a time or two when my own image seemed to pop out at me, or the floor appeared to disappear into an abyss. Leaving the tunnel was almost like returning to the real world after a trip through a fairyland – but there were still other wonders yet to see.

Next to the factory is Husheng Temple, the only glass temple in Taiwan, built to honor Mazu, Goddess of the Sea. It was made using 70,000 pieces of glass, and is a sight to behold, whether you are viewing it in all its shining glory during the

Husheng Temple was built to honor Mazu, Goddess of the Sea. It was made using 70,000 pieces of glass, and is a sight to behold

Inside the Golden Tunnel

Husheng Temple

day, or when lit up by its many colorful lights and lanterns at night. Gods, goddesses, and animal guardians made of glass protect the entranceway. Inside, a large dragon curves along the walls, and because of the large windows of glass you can't help but feel as if it is soaring above you and the pond you come to in the center of the temple. In the back is a statue of Mazu; she looks over her domain, standing in front of a 4,500 piece layered-glass sculpture of Mt. Jade, Taiwan’s highest peak.

After lingering awhile, losing track of time while taking in the many carvings and statues that filled the temple, it was time to board the bus and head back to the THSR Station (NT$130).

As the bus passed by a number of other factories-cum-museums, as well as the places we had visited earlier, I couldn't wait for the chance to come back, this time with my family, to show them the compelling attractions of Changhua and Lugang.

Yu Jen Jai ( 玉珍齋 ) Add: 186, Minzu Rd., Lugang Township, Changhua County ( 彰化縣鹿港鎮民族路 168 號 ) Tel: (04) 2238-5356 Website: www.lukang.org (Chinese) Taiwan Glass Gallery ( 台灣玻璃館 ) Add: 30, Lugong S. 4th Rd., Lugang Township, Changhua County ( 彰化縣鹿港鎮鹿工南四路 30 號 ) Tel: (04) 781-1299 Website: www.timing jump.com.tw (Chinese) English and Chinese Great Buddha Scenic Area 大佛風景區 Longshan Temple 龍山寺 Lugang (Old Street) 鹿港 ( 老街 ) Golden Tunnel 黃金隧道 miancha 麵茶 Guan Gong 關公 phoenix-eye cakes 鳳眼糕 Husheng Temple 護聖宮 Mt. Jade 玉山 kousu cookies 口酥餅

TOP TEN TOURIST TOWNS

Town of Trade A Discovery Tour of Daxi in Taoyuan County

Lit tle Wulai Water fall

Baro que facades in Daxi

At Lit tle Wulai Water fall

DAXI

Text: Eric Bratt

Photos: Sunny Su, Vision Int’l, Twelli

Lining the banks of the Dahan River in Taoyuan County, Daxi boasts some of Taiwan’s most intriguing architecture. The town is also known for dried tofu, spinning tops, and the mausoleum of Chiang Kai-shek at nearby Cihu, where the late President had a summer residence.

At Cihu Memorial Statue Park

Travel in Taiwan Old cour t yard in Daxi

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TOP TEN TOURIST TOWNS

Han

Chinese immigrants from mainland China’s southern Fujian Province settled in Daxi, originally called Daguxian, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735~1796). Daxi’s golden era began 100 years later, near the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644~1912), when it became an important commercial center. In 1886, Taiwan governor Liu Ming-chuan established a government office in the town as he attempted to modernize the island. In 1920, during the Japanese colonial period (1895~1945), the Japanese changed the town’s name to Daxi and further developed its economy.

The houses along what is now known as Daxi Old Street (Heping Road and adjoining streets) were built during this period, and the town attracted merchants and traders from all around East Asia.

The economy flourished, and wealthy townsfolk erected homes and stores that combined elements of Japanese, Chinese, and Baroque architecture. The intricate stone carvings of animals, plants, deities, and scenes from everyday life that decorate the buildings of Daxi date to this era, and offer us a glimpse into the town’s unique cultural history. In these old streets, namely Heping Road, Zhongshan Road, and Zhongyang Road, you can discover and relive Daxi’s glory days.

Nestled between shops selling traditional handcrafted wooden spinning tops, for which Daxi is famous, the building at No. 48 Heping Road blends in with the other buildings featuring Baroque facades that line the road.

The English word “Kang” adorning the structure attracts the attention of passersby, and aroused my curiosity.

Entering the building but finding no one, I poked my head into the back courtyard and was pleasantly surprised to see red-brick walls enclosing the area.

As I wandered over the courtyard’s large ballast stones, a puzzled woman appeared and asked if I was lost. After I told her that I wanted to know the story behind the word “Kang,” she said that the word inscribed above the door denoted that a family named Kang once

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resided here. Seeing my puzzled face, my new friend patiently explained that kang is the Taiwanese pronunciation for the word jiang , meaning “river,” which is also a common family surname. Sensing my continuing curiosity, she explained the building’s history, Daxi’s place in Taiwan’s history, and the collective effort to preserve the town’s cultural heritage.

No. 48 Heping Road is a fine representative of the many well-preserved residential/commercial buildings that give Daxi its unique flavor. A typical structure will consist of three or four contiguous sections that lead away from the front of the structure. Each section consists of two buildings and two parallel walkways that surround an open courtyard. The residential quarters are incredibly peaceful, and seem to go on forever.

Vaguely similar to the architecturally impressive compounds in Pingyao in mainland China’s Shanxi Province, the heritage buildings of Daxi offered a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the commercial roads they line.

History of Daxi Located 35 kilometers southwest of Taipei, Daxi sits on the banks of the Dahan River. The site was first inhabited by the indigenous Atayal people. Daxi’s modern history began in the early 19th century, when it became an important trading town. Local merchants would package commodities, primarily tea and camphor, and send them downriver by boat to Taipei. The settlement was reconstructed by town planners during the Japanese era, and many Daxi residents incorporated elements of Baroque, Japanese, and Chinese architecture when rebuilding their homes. You can see evidence of this architectural amalgamation on the beautiful facades that adorn the shophouses in the Daxi Old Street area.

The heritage buildings of Daxi offered a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the commercial roads they line

With

my eyes glued to the red brick familiar from back home, I followed my guide as she explained the history of the Kang family business.

The family, she noted with her back to me as she rummaged through a large plastic box, was in the confectionary business.

Grinning, she finally pulled out a wooden mold used for traditional Chinese baked cakes. Impressed by the quality of a mold that was made more than 100 years ago, I quickly realized that the plastic storage bins here were full of treasures like this.

As I glanced over the boxes upon boxes that filled the building, my guide told me that she had only recently decided to get involved in the cultural preservation of Daxi. In recent years, she said, an increasing number of tourists from Japan and the West have been traveling to Daxi for its architecture, and the city’s residents are determined to get the preservation right. The Taiwan Tourism Bureau has taken note, too, and last year Daxi was declared one of Taiwan’s “Top Ten Tourist Towns” in an online public vote organized by the bureau, with weighting also given to expert opinion. From this writer’s perspective, this designation is fully deserved.

Thanking my guide and bidding farewell, I continued my stroll down Heping Road, stopping occasionally to admire the handcrafted goods and ornate furniture lining the road. Not looking to add anything to my (non-existent) furniture collection, however, I chose to enter a tofu shop. As a vegetarian, the fact that Daxi is famous for its dried tofu was another reason I had been excited about my trip. Huang Jian-tai, owner of the Huang Ri Xiang Tofu Shop, at No. 56 Heping Road, offered a brief introduction to his store and the various kinds of tofu that Daxi is famous for. Local specialties include dried tofu, marinated tofu, and

DAXI pickled tofu, all of which are available for purchase. And for dessert lovers, Daxi has dozens of stalls that offer some of the island’s freshest dou hua (tofu pudding).

Most surprising to me was that even though Mr. Huang has been in the tofu business for more than 30 years, he still eats tofu every day!

Noting

that it was already noon and that I still had two more sites to visit, I hopped on a Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Little Wulai Route bus and rode to the terminus at Little Wulai (45 minutes from Daxi; for info on how to get to Daxi, see “Getting there and around” below). The scenery at Little Wulai did indeed bring to mind the deep gorges and verdant forest surrounding Wulai, a small hot-spring town located roughly 25 kilometers south of Taipei. I walked up to the ticket booth of the Little Wulai Skybridge and bought my entrance ticket, which is NT$50 for adults. I walked down a short path and heard the thundering sound of rushing water, which grew louder and louder as I approached. Nearing the waterfall that is the primary attraction here, I glanced down and was surprised to see a glass floor below me. Although I don’t suffer from a fear of heights,

seeing the water cascading over hundreds of boulders below my feet was enough to make my stomach slightly queasy. Eager for more natural beauty, I explored some of the surrounding forest with a hike down one of the many trails in the Little Wulai area, then took the shuttle bus and made my way back to my third and final stop: the Cihu Mausoleum.

After a 40-minute bus trip to the Cihu Mausoleum, I toured the grounds of Chiang Kai-shek’s former summer residence. Unfortunately, I had arrived too late to view the mausoleum itself; however, there was enough time and sufficient light to spend a good half-hour examining the Chiang Kai-shek busts and statues that dot the Cihu Memorial Statue Park. As a result of changes in Taiwan’s political environment, statues from across the island were brought to Cihu starting in the year 2000. Nearly 200 statues are on display. With the sometimes stern and sometimes placid face(s) of Chiang Kai-shek looking down upon me, I spent the rest of my time enjoying the sunshine and the natural beauty of Cihu before catching a Cihu Route bus back to Zhongli and from there traveling back to Taipei by train.

Excerpts from an interview with Peng Mei-zhen, a spry 78-year-old Daxi native: Travel in Taiwan: Are you a Daxi native?

Peng Mei-zhen: I was born in Hsinchu during the period of Japanese rule, but moved to Guangdong (mainland China) with my brother when he joined the Japanese army. In Guangdong I attended Japanese school and learned both Japanese and Cantonese. After seven years I returned to Daxi, and married into a Daxi family that had been here for five generations.

Travel in Taiwan: What do you like most about Daxi?

Peng Mei-zhen: The water and the mountains are wonderful, and make me feel at peace. I think they have quite a lot to do with the longevity of people in Daxi.

Travel in Taiwan: Anything else that you would like to share?

Seeing the water cascading over hundreds of boulders below my feet was enough to make my stomach slightly queasy

Getting there and around Daxi is readily accessible from all parts of the island. The easiest way to reach Daxi from Taipei is to take a train from Taipei to Zhongli (40 minutes). A five-minute walk from Zhongli Railway Station will get you to Zhongli Bus Station, where you can take a Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Cihu Route bus to Daxi Old Street. There is a departure every half hour on weekends and holidays (on weekdays every hour), and the trip takes about an hour. Cihu Route day tickets cost NT$100 and allow travelers the opportunity to get off and explore all of the sites that the Cihu Route services, inlcuding Daxi Old Street, the mausoleums of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-Kuo. Be sure to pick up a map of the Daxi Old Street area and a Cihu Route map in Zhongli. If you want to visit Little Wulai, there is the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Little Wulai Route that starts at Taoyuan Railway Station and brings you to the scenic waterfall via Daxi and Cihu. At present the service is available only on weekends and holidays. Day tickets cost NT$100 and buses depart every hour. For more info on the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle service, visit www.taiwantrip.com.tw.

English and Chinese Cihu 慈湖 Cihu Mausoleum 慈湖陵寢 Cihu Memorial Statue Park 慈湖紀念雕塑公園 Daguxian 大姑陷 Dahan River 大漢溪 Daxi 大溪 Daxi Old Street 大溪老街 dou hua 豆花 dried tofu 豆干 Guangdong 廣東 Heping Road 和平路 Huang Jian-tai 黃建泰 Huang Ri Xiang Tofu Shop 黃日香豆干 jiang 江 Little Wulai (Skybridge) 小烏來 ( 天空步道 ) Liu Ming-chuan 劉銘傳 Peng Mei-zhen 彭美珍 Wulai 烏來 Zhongli 中壢 Zhongshan Road 中山路 Zhongyang Road 中央路

Peng Mei-zhen: I speak six languages: Taiwanese, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, and two dialects of Hakka.

Travel in Taiwan

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FOOD JOURNEY

Text & Photos: Rich Matheson

Extremely sweet and juicy, lychees are among the most delicious fruits cultivated in Taiwan. The best are produced in the tropical far south of the island.

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LYCHEES

We

are driving around Dashu, a rural district of Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan, looking for a lychee farm. Dashu is synonymous with lychees, so this should be an easy mission. There are in fact lychee farms everywhere – just not the particular one we are looking for. Thankfully, a grizzled farmer pulls up in the quintessential Taiwan farm vehicle, an 800cc 4WD blue truck. Mr. Huang Qing-shun hops out, good-naturedly berates us for being unable to find his farm, and leads us up a nondescript road in a neck of the Dashu area to his home.

Dashu is also home to Fo Guang Shan (www.fgs.org.tw/english), a large Buddhist monastery complex, and the even larger entertainment complex E-DA World (www. edaworld.com.tw), but in terms of fruitfarming fame, the lychee reigns. Often called the hometown of Yuhebao or Jade Purse lychee, Dashu borders the Gaoping River, the headwaters of which come from just south of Yushan (Mt. Jade). It is said that the high-quality water coupled with the good local soil is the reason this area’s lychees are so delicious. The first commercially cultivated lychee in Dashu was the Red Leaf lychee, which has now given way to the improved Dark Leaf lychee and Small Seed lychee, but it is the exquisite Jade Purse lychee – characterized by tender flesh and a subtle sweet and sour taste – that has brought Dashu its lychee reputation.

Farmer

Huang gives us a tour of his orchard, and for an older fellow he is surprisingly spry as we climb up a hill in the bright afternoon sun. The lychees hanging from

It is said that the high-quality water coupled with the good soil of Dashu is the reason this area’s lychees are so delicious Lychee farmer Huang Qing-shun

the trees surrounding us are all green; they have not ripened yet. Farmer Huang explains that they are about 40% ripe and the skin is still very thick, but when the fruit is ripe it will be thin and easy to peel. Lychees yellow in color are 50% ripe, and when they first turn red they are 90% percent ripe. The harvest is from late May to early June. As we walk through his farmland Huang picks the new leaves that have sprouted from old branches, saying that this will make the fruit sweeter because less of the trees’ nutrients will be expended growing the sprouts.

“Nevertheless, the more new leaves the better,” he explains, “for it indicates the trees are receiving lots of sun.”

We soon come upon a tree higher up the hillside laden with ripe red lychees – a Nanxi lychee tree. Although the Nanxi variety ripens earlier than the more popular Jade Purse, the fruit isn’t uniformly red; a ripe Nanxi lychee will only be red on the sunny side, and the seed is a good onefifth larger than that of a Jade Purse lychee.

Ninety to 100% of the fruit on a healthy lychee tree will be suitable to sell. Farmer Huang explains the reason for the high success rate: “The fruit are competitive; the stronger fruit will grow and ripen, while the weaker fruit will fall or be blown off the tree. The final selection is done by farmers; the trees are thoroughly checked for bad fruit, such as those split open, too small, or rotten, which are picked off by hand, giving the stronger fruit a better chance to ripen.”

The lychee is a strong tree, quite resistant to disease. I ask our host, “Do your trees ever get sick?” “Only stones don’t get sick,” he teases. Farmer humor, I suppose. A tree will

begin to produce fruit in its third year, and can continue to do so with good results for more than a hundred years. Most of Farmer Huang’s trees are around 15 years old.

In

a typical year the pruning begins in July, after the harvest, and continues until November, after which most of the time is spent fertilizing the trees until they blossom in February. In April farmers cull lychee blossoms, leaving only a third to fruit. Late March to early April is the lychee farmer’s most difficult period; constant attention must be paid to the health of the trees as they blossom and fruit, to ensure a good harvest.

“Lychee farming is like gambling on stocks; you never know what will happen, and circumstances are always out of your control,” says Huang, adding sardonically that, “the farmers take all the risk, while the middle man gets all the money.”

It’s tough work. Farmer Huang likens fruit farming to raising kids. “Do you let your kids go without a meal for a day?”

Without waiting for the obvious answer, he gruffly answers himself, saying “Lychee trees are the same,” at the same time revealing a tenderness not initially apparent.

A normal day of farming begins at four in the morning and lasts till nine in the evening.

During the harvest his team works from the wee morning hours to twelve noon, then after taking an hour off for lunch continues laboring until four. Huang employs harvest workers from Pingtung and Fengshan, close to Dashu. “It is getting harder to find good help,” he says. “Wages are increasing, and I have to supply transportation, food, and drink. Young people don’t want to do this kind of work, and these days it is not uncommon for my workers to be up to seventy years old!”

Lychees ready for pick ing

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FOOD JOURNEY

Choosing Lychees How does one choose a good lychee? According to Farmer Huang, color is not so important. The fruit on the sunny side of the tree will be redder, but not necessarily sweeter. For Jade Purse lychee, look for rough skin; when you peel it back the sweet, delicious fruit will be revealed. This is much like Farmer Huang’s own character – rough on the outside, tender within.

After

visiting Farmer Huang’s farm, we make a stop at the bakery that put Taiwan bread on the map, Wu Pao Chun Bakery. Attesting to its popularity, outside the shop we see a line of bread buyers that snakes down the street and around the corner. Apparently this is the norm for this renowned enterprise. The eponymous master baker won the prestigious “Masters de la Boulangerie” competition in 2010, which is held every four years in France, with his signature lychee rose bread.

The bakery’s manager, Smith Wang, explains the accomplishment. “It was the first time Taiwan competitors were entered. The vetting process was rigorous; the multiround competition spans several years, and involves traveling to France twice. In 2008, two years before the final competition, regional team competitions were held worldwide.

In Taiwan there were over a hundred competitors, of which only nine people – three teams of three – advanced to the following rounds in France. Wu Bao-chun ultimately triumphed over bakers from around the world to become the world champion.”

Har vesting lychees

Lychee har vest team

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LYCHEES On this day Wu Bao-chun is mentoring Xie Zhong-you, who is hoping to one day represent Taiwan in the finals in France. He takes the time to explain the process of making his award-winning bread. They begin with a special mixture of natural yeast and flour that gives the bread its unique taste. The process for making this natural yeast mixture, called laomian, is labor intensive and time consuming, and must be commenced well in advance.

The lychee and rose are marinated in lychee wine overnight, teasing out the exquisite lychee flavor.

Lychee and rose are marinated in lychee wine overnight, teasing out the exquisite lychee flavor

Xie claims Wu Bao-chun single-handedly raised baking standards in Taiwan from the traditional pastry-like sweet breads to world-class “artisan” bread. Wu Pao Chun uses local lychees in its bread in an attempt to promote local farm products and help local farmers.

Xie Zhong-yu informs us that “Taiwan lychees are good because Taiwan has plenty of sunshine,” and that “In France, the lychee is on a par with a jewel.”

Wu Pao Chun Bakery ( 吳寶春麥方店 ) Add: 19, Siwei 3rd Rd., Lingya District, Kaohsiung City ( 高雄市苓雅區四維三路 19 號 ) Tel: (07) 335-9593 Website: www.wupaochun.com (Chinese only) English and Chinese Dark Leaf lychee 黑葉荔枝 Dashu 大樹 E-Da World 義大世界 Fengshan 鳳山 Fo Guang Shan 佛光山 Gaoping River 高屏溪

Huang Qing-shun 黃慶順 laomian 老麵 Nanxi lychee 南西荔枝 Pingtung 屏東 Red Leaf lychee 紅葉荔枝 Small Seed lychee 細籽荔枝

Wu Bao-chun 吳寶春 Xie Zhong-you 謝忠祐 Yuhebao (Jade Purse) lychee 玉荷包荔枝 Yushan (Mt. Jade) 玉山

Travel in Taiwan

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MEETING TOURISTS

SHILIN NIGHT MARKET

“It’s Very Exotic for Me” At Shilin Night Market, one of the most popular night markets in Taipei, Travel in Taiwan asked foreign tourists about their Taiwan dining experiences.

Travel in Taiwan: What is your impression of Taiwan so far?

Yannick from Le Havre, France

Swati: It’s our second day in Taipei, and we find it quite clean, neat, and orderly.

Travel in Taiwan: Which places have you been to, and where do you plan to go?

Travel in Taiwan: How do like Taiwanese food?

Yannick: It’s great, so much variety, you can always find something new. It’s very exotic for me.

Smitha: Longshan Temple, the Maokong tea plantations, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, National Palace Museum – and now here, Shilin Night Market.

Jörg: I might hike up Elephant Mountain for the great Taipei 101 views from there, and then maybe head to Tamsui on the north coast to catch the sunset, depending on the weather.

Travel in Taiwan: Do you have any favorite Taiwan dishes?

Travel in Taiwan: What are your thoughts about Taiwan’s food?

Yannick: I like jianjiao (fried dumplings). That’s my favorite.

And steamed buns, I like those.

Swati: We are vegetarians, so we don't try everything, but since we speak a little Chinese, it’s easy for us to explore the wide range of vegetarian dishes.

Travel in Taiwan: How is the “coffin bread” you are eating right now?

Yannick: Great. Savory meat inside, sweet stuff around it. I like the version with meat better than the one with pineapple.

Smitha: We studied Chinese in Chengdu, in China’s Sichuan Province, and loved the spicy food there. So yesterday we tried the local spicy mala hot pot – very good food.

Travel in Taiwan: How was the oyster omelet you just had?

Jörg: Nice. Oysters and eggs. Quite good, actually, and filling.

Travel in Taiwan: What do you think about Chinese medicinal foods?

Yannick: Not bad. The mutton stew with Chinese medicinal herbs is delicious. But that’s more for the colder months. BTW, I want to say I like Taiwan coffee too, Dongshan coffee especially.

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Swati and Smitha from Bangalore, India; Jörg from Berlin, Germany

SPECIAL REPORT

The New Taiwan I n t e r n at io n a l U p s ca l e S h o p pi n g D est i n at io n Text: Rick Charette

Photos: Vision In'tl

The Taipei of 20 years ago had no metro system. No high-speed rail service. No forest of grand and gleaming towers, each a distinctive architectural work of art, in the Xinyi Planning District, and no reputation as an upscale shopping destination with the international traveler.

This

has changed. Today it is common for overseas travelers to list the glittering array of upscale shopping venues as one of the attractions that has brought them to the city, along with such long-time leading lures as the National Palace Museum, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, centuries-old temples, night markets, and superb cuisine.

Upscale shopping has also become a draw elsewhere around the island, notably in the cities of Kaohsiung and Taichung.

Travel in Taiwan asked the co-chairs of the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei’s Luxury Goods Committee about this new element in the island’s growing international reputation for cosmopolitan sophistication.

Travel in Taiwan: What is the role of the Luxury Goods Committee?

ECCT: The Luxury Goods Committee meets to discuss marketing issues related to Taiwan's luxury goods market and the challenges arising from zoning regulations and counterfeiting, and regroups all European luxury brands, such as Bottega Veneta, Bulgari, Cartier, Celine, Chanel, Dior, Fendi, Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Prada.

Travel in Taiwan: What are Taiwan’s differences and advantages compared to regional competitors that have long enjoyed strong brand images for luxury shopping, such as Hong Kong and Macao?

ECCT: Taiwan has many advantages to offer. Since the recent opening of direct flights to/from mainland China, traveling to Taiwan has become easy and convenient. Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport has been upgraded, and Taipei’s Songshan Airport now has direct international connections to Shanghai’s

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Hongqiao, Tokyo’s Haneda, and Seoul’s Gimpo airports, making travel to Taiwan more comfortable. Taiwan thus offers close geographical proximity to many regional clients’ homes, such as mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japan, with many direct flights. It also offers very modern, upto-date, and diverse hotels, fine dining, shopping malls, and department stores.

The presence of many mega-flagship outlets creates a great shopping experience, and it offers the same product collection as in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, or New York, and it has large VIP rooms (for example, Christian Dior’s Taipei 101 flagship outlet is the biggest in the world).

Taiwan has very close cultural ties with mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japan, and most of its luxury-store sales associates can speak tourists’ languages (Chinese, Japanese, English). Its sales associates have a great sense of hospitality and service.

Various luxury-brand service surveys show Taiwanese service as the best in Asia.

This is a key advantage, especially with mainland Chinese tourists, who consider service as important as price positioning.

Last but not least, Taiwan offers not only shopping but the amazing heritage of the Chinese culture, great food, a cosmopolitan city lifestyle, and great scenery and outdoor activities, as well as fantastic hospitality from its inhabitants.

Travel in Taiwan: How do Taiwan’s prices for luxury goods compare to those in neighboring lands?

ECCT: Luxury shopping prices in Taiwan are on average 5% lower than in Hong Kong or Singapore, and around 20% to 30% lower than in China. Since travelers can have the VAT refunded, they are made even more attractive.

SHOPPING Travel in Taiwan: How does Taiwan’s luxury merchandise collection compare?

ECCT: Taiwan offers a very wide variety of brands and flagship outlets, thanks to its numerous department stores and malls. It has one of the highest concentrations of department stores in the world. Thanks to the large number of flagship stores, the merchandise offered is very diverse, up-to-date, and high-end. Indeed, thanks to the highend, demanding taste of local Taiwanese clientele, tourists also enjoy very highend product selection. This is particularly true, for example, for fine jewelry, watches, exotic handbags, and made-toorder luxury goods.

Travel in Taiwan: Which venues do you specially recommend for luxury shopping in Taiwan?

ECCT: Taipei’s and Taiwan’s luxury shopping has been booming recently

Thanks to the high-end, demanding taste of local Taiwanese clientele, tourists enjoy a very high-end product selection

to cater to the increasingly highquality tourism coming from mainland China and other neighboring locations such as Japan, Macao, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. Major shopping developments have been created, especially in Taipei.

The most prestigious area is Taipei’s famed Xinyi District, with Taipei 101 and its giant mall as the landmark destination, the various Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department stores (A4, A8, A9, A11), and the high-end mall Bellavita. More Xinyi projects will be coming up soon. In Taipei’s central area is the Sogo Department Store BR4 and the fashion-driven Breeze Center.

In Taichung, the Far Eastern Group has opened a new high-end mall, next to the existing Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store, and in Kaohsiung there are several key department stores, including the Hanshin, Hanshin Arena, and Dali department stores.

English and Chinese Bellavita 寶麗廣塲 Breeze Center 微風廣場 Dali Department Store 大立百貨 Hanshin Department Store 漢神百貨 Hanshin Arena Department Store 漢神巨蛋購物廣場 Shin Kong Mitsukoshi 新光三越 Sogo Department Store BR4 太平洋崇光百貨 BR4 Xinyi Planning District 信義計劃區 Taipei 101 台北 101

SPECIAL REPORT

Taiwan’s Young and Thriving Ding Mu Ju Scene Local “Repertory Theater” Takes Off Text: Rick Charette

Photos: Vision Int'l,

Taipei EYE, E-Da World, Ten Drum

The Ding Mu Ju experience has become quite popular in Taiwan over the past few years. Pick up your Chinese-English dictionary and you’ll be told that Ding Mu Ju is “repertory theater,” which in the Western theatrical tradition refers to a resident company in a fixed location presenting works from a repertoire of a limited number of productions, normally in alternation or rotation.

In

Taiwan, Ding Mu Ju is not quite thus, and perhaps the more direct translation “fixed title theater” is the better one. The term primarily denotes largescale productions, staged in long runs, that provide the entertainment spectacle needed to draw locals and tourists that might not normally go to a theater. We here introduce a number of leading “fixed title theater” venues, troupes, and productions, the latter either targeted specifically at international tourists or being very friendly to them.

At the Taipei EYE, in the heart of Taipei City, a special performance of traditional Beijing and other opera styles, puppetry, folk music, indigenous song and dance, and other traditional folk arts especially tailored for international tourists is staged, introducing numerous art forms in an exciting program each Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and

52

Travel in Taiwan

Saturday night. Introductions to the various forms and the specific works they are taken from are given, simultaneous translations are shown on either side of the stage, performers interact with the audience (in English) before and after shows and during intermissions, and visitors can go backstage to see how makeup is applied.

For more info, visit www.taipeieye.com.

NK101 Tea@Style is located in Taipei’s eastern outskirts, not far from MRT Kunyang Station. In a huge hall, presented as a large-scale teahouse, audiences enjoy fine tea while witnessing an extravaganza showcase of Taiwan’s finest performance-culture traditions. The show, Formosa Fantasy: The Amazing Night of Taiwan, is performed both on stage and amidst the audience, and has spectacle that will remind you of Cirque de Soleil creations. There are four parts – Part One

CULTURE

Qiaotou Sugar Refiner y

Dancing Diva

Ten Drum Percussion Troup e

creates the ambience of a colorful Taiwan temple fair, Part Two the color of a raucous Taiwan nightmarket, Part Three features a dazzling light, sound, dance, and song thriller with “Michael Jackson” as the star, and Part Four highlights Taiwan’s indigenous tribal culture, with Cirque de Soleil-type f lying acrobatics from the Chinese vaudeville-style acrobatic tradition added to the native song and dance.

For more info, visit www.nk101.com (only in Chinese).

The Qiaotou Sugar Refinery, in Kaohsiung’s rural north area, conveniently has its very own metro station. The popular heritage complex – the refinery was opened in 1901 by the Japanese – is today called the Qiaotou Creative Park, and has been transformed into a cultural-creative complex.

Among the many attractions is an artists-in-residence program, with resulting paintings shown in a café/gallery and colorful installation works dotting the sprawling grounds.

Dancing Diva is Taiwan’s first Broadway-style musical spectacle. It is aimed at the international tourist, with language support. The venue is the EDA Royal Theater, in E-Da World, a massive young shopping and entertainment complex in southern Kaohsiung City. The tale told is of a young woman who, with determination and hope, steadily improves her station in life after beginning as a pole dancer – before being betrayed by her agent. Through life’s trials comes happiness, however, for in this time of darkness she finds a confidante, and the seeds of romance, in the form of a one-legged man of pure heart who becomes her dance partner as she prepares for a “Taiwan’s Got Talent” breakthrough chance.

For more on Dancing Diva, visit www.dd888.com.tw; on the EDA Royal Theater, www.edaroyaltheater.com.tw; on EDA World, www.edaworld.com.tw (all sites only in Chinese).

The celebrated Taiwan performance troupe Ten Drum Art Percussion Group, renowned for thundering traditionalstyle drum performances that stimulate your senses at the primal level, is based here. The troupe has set up operations in a number of buildings, and late last year opened the Waterfall Power Chimney Theatre (the “chimney” refers to the giant on-site smokestack), in which it stages a drummingand-special-effects spectacular at 4 pm and 7:30 pm daily.

The show features the group’s iconic drumming and elements of Song Jiang Battle Array formations, a type of stylized martial-arts display traditionally performed by troupes at temple fairs, with a giant water curtain as background, a fireworks tower, 4D projection, f lying-performer formations, and a fantasy waterscape stage.

For more info, visit www.ten-hsieh.com.tw/cultrue/ciatou/main. html (only in Chinese).

English and Chinese Dancing Diva 台灣舞孃 fixed title theater/repertory theater 定目劇 Formosa Fantasy: The Amazing Night of Taiwan 藝想臺灣 - 美麗寶島夜 EDA Royal Theater 義大皇家劇院

EDA World 義大遊樂世界 NK101 Tea@ Style 南港 101 文創會館 Qiaotou Creative Park 橋頭文創園區 Qiaotou Sugar Refinery 橋頭糖廠 Song Jiang Battle Array 宋江陣

Taipei EYE 臺北戲棚 Ten Drum Art Percussion Group 十鼓擊樂團 Waterfall Power Chimney Theatre 水劇場

Travel in Taiwan

53

DAILY LIFE

the Big Tree

Popular Meeting Places for Small-Town People Photos: Maggie Song

rance he ent e s a t t re e t re t ig Tw o b k e n g O ld S t n of She

Because

of Taiwan’s hot weather during much of the year, locals do not spend as much time outside their homes in shady plazas like people in Mediterranean countries do, but in small towns and villages you often see (mostly elderly) people chatting with friends and neighbors in community parks and outside temples and markets. Especially popular spots are big, old trees providing shade and fresh air. Sometimes these locations are known simply as da shu xia (“under the big tree”).

The district of Shenkeng in New Taipei City has such a tree. It stands right in the middle of the road at the entrance to the area’s Old Street, which is lined with shops and restaurants selling beancurd specialties and all kinds of souvenirs. Several businesses close to the tree even have the “big tree” as part of there name. The old red-brick houses along the Old Street have recently been renovated, giving the streetscape a distinctive old-time feel.

To get to Shenkeng, take the MRT Wenhu Line to Muzha Station and transfer to buses 666, 660, or the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Muzha-Pingxi line.

Stink y tofu

54

Streetside vendor named “Under the Big Tree”

Travel in Taiwan

Shenkeng Old Street

COSMOS HOTEL TAIPEI

Hotels of Taiwan

台北天成大飯店

Taipei 台 北

GLORIA PRINCE HOTEL TAIPEI

HOTEL ÉCLAT

華 泰 王子大 飯 店

怡亨酒店

Taipei 台 北

Taipei 台 北

Visitors to Taiwan have a wide range of choice when it comes to accommodation. From fivestar 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

No. of Rooms: 226 Room Rates:

Superior Single Room NT$ 4,000

and hospitality are always of the

E xecutive Deluxe Room Superior Twin Room

Family Triple Room

Deluxe Triple Room

Family Quad Room Deluxe Family Room

Deluxe Suite

Cosmos Suite

highest standards. The room rates

Japanese, English, Cantonese

in the following list have been

Restaurants: Cantonese Dimsum,

hotels of Taiwan — small and big, expensive and affordable — have in common is that serve

checked for each hotel, but are subject to change without notice.

Room rates at the hotels apply.

NT$ 4,500 NT$ 4,500 NT$ 4,800 NT$ 5,000 NT$ 5,500 NT$ 6,000 NT$ 7,600 NT$ 10,000

Desk Personnel Speak: Chinese,

Shanghai 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, Laundry

HOTEL SENSE 伸適商旅

No. of Rooms: 79 Room Rates:

Taipei 台 北

Superior Room NT$

Business Room NT$

Deluxe Room NT$ Executive Deluxe Room NT$

Executive Suite NT$

Sense Suite NT$ D esk Personnel Speak:

7,500 8,500 9,500 9,000 10,000 15,000

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 openair Sky Garden, parking tower, close to the MRT system near Zhongshan Elemen tary school MRT station and key commercial and entertainment districts.

No. of Rooms: 60

Room Rates: Deluxe / Single / Twin & Double NT$ 7,800~8,500

Suite NT$ 9,500~20,000

Room Rates:

Desk Personnel Speak: Chinese, English, Japanese

Tel: 02.2361.7856 Fa x: 02.2311.8921 Reser vation Hotline: 02.2311.8901 Reser vation Fa x: 02.2311.8902 E-mail: cosmos@cosmos-hotel.com.tw

www.cosmos-hotel.com.tw

Deluxe Room Grand Deluxe Room Premier Room Premier 9 Éclat Suite

NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$

12,000 12,500 13,000 15,000 35,000

(All rates are exclusive of 5% VAT and 10% service charge)

Desk Personnel Speak:

Restaurants: La Fontaine (Western), Chiou Hwa (Chinese)

English, Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, Cantonese,

Restaurants: Éclat Lounge, George Bar

Special Features: Coffee Shop, Fitness Center, Business Center, laundry service, meeting and banquet facilities, non-smoking floor, parking lot, airport transfer service

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 connectivity and in-room business facilities; variety of meeting rooms providing the ideal venue for professional meetings, corporate functions, and social gatherings.

369 Lin-sen (Linsen) N. Rd., Taipei City, 104 104台北市林森北路3 69號

370, Sec. 1, Dunhua S. Rd., Da-an District, Taipei City 106

Tel: 02.2581.8111 Fax: 02.2581.5811, 2568-2924

Tel: 02.2784.8888 Fax: 02.2784.7888 Res. Hotline: 02.2784.8118

www.gloriahotel.com

www.eclathotels.com

106 台北市敦化南路一段370號

MIRAMAR GARDEN TAIPEI

SAN WANT HOTEL TAIPEI

TAIPEI FULLERTON – FU-XING SOUTH

美麗信花園酒店

台北神旺大飯店

台北馥敦- 復南館

No. of Rooms: 203 Room Rates:

Deluxe Room

Business Room Executive Deluxe Room

Boss Suite

Premier Suite

Taipei 台 北

NT$ 8,000 NT$ 9,000 NT$ 10,000 NT$ 15,000 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

Taipei 台 北

No. of Rooms: 81 Room Rates:

No. of Rooms: 100

Single NT$ 6,000~ 8,800

Twin NT$ 6,800~ 9,600

Suite NT$ 8,000~ 36,800 D esk Personnel Speak:

English, Japanese, Chinese

Restaurants: French All Day Dining (French), Chao Ping Ji (Cantonese & Dim-Sum), Sumie Nouvelle Japonaise Cuisine (Japanese), Pozzo Bakery, Zorro Bar

Special Features: Two minutes walk from MRT ZhongXiao Dunhua Station. Business Center, Fitness Center, Conference Room, Banquet Room for 500 people, Free Parking for Room Guests, Free Broadband Internet Access in Guestrooms, In-Room Safe, Express/Dry Cleaning Service, Fine East and West Art Collections on Display

83 Civic Boulevard, Sec. 3, Taipei City, 104 477 , Linsen N. Rd., Zhongshan District, Taipei City 104

43, Chunghsiao (Zhongxiao) W. Rd., Sec. 1, Taipei City, 100 (MRT Taipei Main Station, Exit M3) 100台北市忠孝西路一段4 3號 (捷運台北車站M3號出口)

＊Hotel list in alphabetical order from Northern to Southern Taiwan.

No. of Rooms: 220

Room Rates:

Superior Room Executive Room Deluxe Room Junior Suite Fullerton Room VIP Suite Presidential Suite

Taipei 台 北

NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$

5,600 6,200 6,600 7,000 7,400 8,400 20,000

(above rates not including 10% service charge; for discount offers, please call hotel or visit our website)

Desk Personnel Speak:

English, Japanese, Chinese

Special Features: Close to Taipei 101 commercial area; 1 minute on foot to MRT Daan Station; free coffee and handmade cookies in lobby; free wireless Internet access; gym; sauna; business center; valet parking; complimentary Chinese/Western buffet breakfast; welcome fruit basket and mineral water.

41, Sec. 2, Fuxing S. Rd., Taipei City 106 (near junction with Xinyi Rd.)

104台北市市民大道三段8 3號

172 ZhongXiao East Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City, 106

Tel: 02.7743.1000 Fax: 02.7743.1100 E-mail: info@hotelsense.com.tw

Tel: 02.8772.8800 Fax: 02.8772.1010 E-mail: info@miramargarden.com.tw

106台北市忠孝東路四段172號

www.hotelsense.com.tw

Tel: 02.2772.2121 Fax: 02.2721.0302 E-mail: reservation@sanwant.com

Tel: 02.2703.1234 Fax: 02.2705.6161 E-mail: service2@taipeifullerton.com.tw

www.miramargarden.com.tw

www.sanwant.com

www.taipeifullerton.com.tw

10 6台10 4台北市中山區林 森 北 路 47 7號

1 0 6 台 北 市 復 興 南 路 2 段 4 1 號( 信 義 路 口 )

Travel in Taiwan

55

TAIPEI GALA HOTEL

Taipei 台 北

慶泰大飯店

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

186 Songjiang Rd., Taipei City,104 104台北市松江路18 6號 Exit 1 of MRT Xingtian Temple Station on the Luzhou Line.

THE GRAND HOTEL 圓山大飯店

REGENT TAIPEI 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

No. of Rooms: 538 Room Rates:

Superior Room Deluxe Room Junior Suite Corner Suite Residence Elite Suite

NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$

12,000 13,000 20,500 30,500 17,000 24,500

Restaurants: Western, Cantonese, Northern China Style Dumplings, tea house, coffee shop

Desk Personnel Speak:

Special Features: Grand Ballroom, conference rooms for 399 people, 10 breakout rooms, business center, fitness center, sauna, Olympic-size swimming pool, tennis courts, billiards

Szechuan & Cantonese Cuisine, Japanese Cuisine, Steak House & Teppanyaki, Lounge Bar, Buffet, Café

1 Chung Shan N. Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City, 10461 R.O.C

English, Japanese, Chinese

Restaurants:

Special Features: Executive business center, fitness center, sauna, rooftop swimming pool, SPA, ballroom and convention facilities, parking, laundry service, 24-hour room service, wireless Internet, airport transportation service

No.3, Ln.39, Sec.2, Zhongshan N. Rd., Taipei City, 104

Tel: 02.2541.5511 Fax: 02.2531.3831 Reservation Hotline: 02.2541.6888 E-mail: galahtl@ms18.hinet.net

Tel: 886.2.2886.8888 Fax: 886.2.2885.2885

Tel: 02.2523.8000 Fax: 02.2523.2828

www.galahotel.com.tw

www.grand-hotel.org

www.regenttaipei.com

ALISHAN HOUSE

台中港酒店

阿里山賓館

Taichung 台 中

No. of Rooms: 139

No. of Rooms: 200 Room Rates: Superior Single

Deluxe Single

Family Twin Corner Semi-Suite

Harbor Suite Executive Suite Presidential Suite

Chiayi 嘉 義

NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$

5,600 6,200 7,600 8,800 10,800 12,800 38,000

esk Personnel Speak: D

English, Japanese, Chinese

Restaurants: Gladden Restaurant, Fukumi-

Scenery Suite Room/Twin Room

Double Suite Fragrant Suite Room/Quad Room

Superior Suite

VIP Suite

Executive Suite Handicapped Suite(Free Space Room)

President Suite

104台北市中山北路二段39巷3號

CHATEAU DE CHINE HOTEL KAOHSIUNG 翰品酒店高雄

NT$ 6,600 NT$ 10,000 NT$ 12,000 NT$ 16,000 NT$ 16,000 NT$ 26,000 NT$ 26,000 NT$ 300,000

(Prices above not including 10% Service Charge)

General Manager: Mr. Jen-Shing Chen Desk Personnel Speak:

Standard Single Room Standard Double Room Standard Triple Room Standard Family Room Standard Suite Executive Single Room Deluxe Single Room Deluxe Double Room Deluxe Family Room Deluxe Suite Chateau de Chine Suite

Chinese, English, Japanese

English, Chinese, Japanese

Restaurants: Chinese, Café, Courtyard

Dim Sum, Lounge Bar

SEA SPA, Fortune Boutique Shop, Gym, Conference Room

Special Features:

Taichung Harbor Hotel will make you feel at home with its newest and complete facilities and a tranquil environment.

Broadband Internet access in guestrooms, business center, Souvenir Shop, Gazebo, 1950’s dance hall, foot massage

16 Sianglin Village, Alishan Township, Chiayi County, 605 388, Sec. 2, Dazhi Rd.,Wuqi District, Taichung City 435 4 35台中市梧棲區大智路二段38 8號

Tel: 04.2656.8888 Fax: 04.2656.8899

www.tchhotel.com

Travel in Taiwan

605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: service@alishanhouse.com.tw

www.alishanhouse.com.tw

Taipei 台 北

永安棧

No. of Rooms: 121 Room 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, Japanese Restaurants: Unwind Bar & Restaurant Special Features: Located in the heart of the energetic Ximending; 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.

(MRT Ximen Station, Exit 6) 108台北市中華路一段150號

Tel: 02.2331.3161 Fax: 02.2388.6216 Reservation Hotline: 02.2388.1889

www.westgatehotel.com.tw

KING’S TOWN HOTEL 京城大飯店

Kaohsiung 高雄

No. of Rooms: 150 NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$

6,000 6,700 7,500 8,000 9,000 8,000 7,000 7,200 9,000 14,000 50,000

Desk Personnel Speak:

Special Features:

nato Japanese Restaurant, Pier 88 Lounge Bar

Kaohsiung 高 雄

No. of Rooms: 152 Room Rates:

Room Rates:

TAIPEI WESTGATE HOTEL

No.150, Sec. 1, Zhonghua Rd., Wanhua Dist., Taipei City, 108

10 4 61台北市中山北 路 四段1號

TAICHUNG HARBOR HOTEL

56

Taipei 台 北

台北晶華酒店

Restaurants: Japanese, Chinese, Cantonese Special Features: Multi-functional meeting room, banquet hall, business center, wedding planning center, gym, free use of wired/wireless Internet, silent refrigerator, electronic safe, personal bathrobe/slippers, free cable TV, free use of laundry room, all-new TV-sets 43 Daren Rd., Yancheng District, Kaohsiung City 8 03高雄市鹽埕區大仁路4 3號

Tel: 07.521.7388 Fax: 07.521.7068

kaohsiung.chateaudechine.com

Room Rates:

Business Single Room NT$

Deluxe Single Room NT$

Business Twin Room NT$

Family Twin Room NT$

3,300 3,960 3,960 5,500

( Prices above including 10% Service Charge )

Desk Personnel Speak: Chinese, English, Japanese

Restaurants:Chinese and Western style food, delicious buffet, cold dishes, fruit, and salad bar Special Features:Business center, nonsmoking floors, wireless Internet access, 32” LCD TVs, newspaper, free parking, tourist map, currency exchange

362 Jiuru (Chiu Ju) 2nd Rd., Sanmin District, Kaohsiung City, 80745 (Faces the exit of rear railway station) 8 0 74 5 高 雄 市 三 民 區 九 如 二 路 3 6 2 號 Tel: 07.311.9906 Fax: 07.311.9591 E-mail: ksthotel@ms33.hinet.net

www.kingstown-hotel.com.tw

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Time to Shop Shoppers love Taiwan. From the designer boutiques of Dunhua to the gadget stores of Computer Lane, the island’s full of great places to indulge your passion.

And thanks to our proud tradition of craftsmanship you can also stock up on happy memories of your trip.

Paper lanterns painted by hand.

Beautiful woodcarvings. Stunning glass art. There’s even a weekend jade market filled with ornate trinkets made from the mythical green stone. Or visit the charming Maokong Tea Gardens and give friends a taste of Taiwan’s magic.

ISSN:18177964

GPN:2009305475

200 NTD

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