The hills of Taiko are alive with the sound of strawberries

Tù​chuān​ 杜鵑, or what an online Chinese-English dictionary translates as "Indian Azalea"

The above-pictured flower could be seen this afternoon at Fǎ​yúnch'án​ssù 法雲禪寺, a Zen 禅 temple (English name: Fayun Monastery) located ​​in the hills overlooking the town of Tà​hú 大湖​ in Miáo​lì​ County 苗栗縣. Though the drive up to ​​Dahu from our home was mostly through a thick layer of ugly haze, by the time we reached Fayunchan Temple, the skies had cleared up somewhat:

The temple was built during the Japanese colonial period 台灣日治時期, and the exterior of the reconstructed main hall retains the original Japanese-style Buddhist temple architecture:

Also dating from the Japanese period is this monument below, erected to commemorate the "opening up" of the area by the Japanese:

After taking in the view and soaking up the history, we drove down the hill and into Tà​hú, where we partook of my daughter's favorite outdoor activity, picking strawberries (again - see last week's blog entry):

Amber is so crazy about the edible fruit of this flowering plant that, upon reflection, it would've been more accurate to have named her Ichigo Caomei at the time she was born.

In order to cash in on the hordes of weekend visitors coming to pick 草莓, a Strawberry Culture Museum 草莓文化館 has been established in the town:

The actual "museum" section was surprisingly informative, and the English captions were generally well-presented. My wife was annoyed to discover that it was none other than the Japanese who first introduced strawberries into T'ái​wān 台灣, but let's face it - studying the Japanese colonial period is like watching the "What have the Romans ever done for us?" scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian.

Educational displays aside, the main purpose of the strawberry museum is to sell strawberries, with the gift shop probably resembling what Amber's idea of heaven looks like. Here being Taiwana​, the buildings are surrounded by a market pushing all manner of snacks and drinks, many with a strawberry theme, such as strawberry sausages, strawberry tarts and strawberry wine, though, sadly, no strawberry beer. For my wife, the throngs that had descended upon the complex were an integral part of the eating and shopping experience, adding that much-needed touch of jè​nao​ 熱鬧 ("bustling with noise and excitement / lively") that had been lacking back at the zen temple (there was irony at play in her outlook on these things, but I just couldn't make the effort to point it out to her). For me, I found relief in the view of the surrounding countryside from the museum's rooftop "sky garden"...until the fireworks started going off, that is.

Pamela ended up buying a couple of bottles of strawberry vinegar, plus a jar of strawberry jam for Amber (and, of course, there was the box of strawberries that we had picked earlier). Somehow, our lunch and dinner in Dahu​ didn't involve any strawberries, as we ate instead at Hakka restaurants 客家菜. It took only about an hour to drive back to Fēng​yuán​ 豐原 - fortunately, there was hardly any traffic on the road going back, which was quite a contrast with last weekend's outing. Considering the close proximity of Tà​hú and its other attractions, such as hiking and hot springs, I wouldn't mind spending a weekend there sometime soon.

BTW, Amber took some photos in Dahu which can be seen on her blog.