Preventing idiots from approaching the churning surf as a typhoon nears
Curse you, o weather gods! Although it looks as if Typhoon Maria (see here and here) will not make landfall in Taiwan, it's effects were being felt in Hualien 花蓮, even though the weather was sunny for almost the entire day today. We had planned on going whale-watching on this Tuesday, but the boats understandably decided to remain in port, a wise decision considering the high waves we could see crashing against the breakwaters from the upper floors of our hotel. Following breakfast, Amber and I walked over to Hualien's cement factory-lined coast to have a look at the turbulent water, albeit from a safe distance:
The fact that my toes were beginning to burn during the short time we were out in the sun also convinced us that this would not be a good day to stroll through the city, as was our initial plan. Instead, we relied on the air-conditioned comfort of our rental Nissan to make our way around, a wise decision considering the 35°C (95°F) heat and sweat-generating humidity that prevailed until after sunset. While northern Taiwan was hit by high winds and rain, those of us here in Hualien broiled.
Leaving the Chateau de Chine Hualien 花蓮翰品酒店. According to the hotel's website, the inspiration for the building's exterior comes from the art style of Piet Mondrian. That may be the case, but whoever designed the uniforms for the staff must have done so after binge-watching old Partridge Family episodes:
Our first stop in trying to fill in the itinerary gaps created by canceled whale-watching excursions was the Pine Garden 松園別館 compound, a former World War II command post built by the Imperial Japanese Navy 大日本帝国海軍 in 1942. The site was chosen for its height advantage, as the mouth of the Meilun River and Hualien Harbor can be seen, along with an unobstructed view over the Pacific:
The graceful building was also where kamikaze pilots 神風 spent their last nights partaking in "gentleman's sake" (according to the pamphlet provided with the admission ticket) before leaving the following day on their final missions:
Around thirty Ryukyu Pine trees dot the property:
The upper floor of the main building is now used for art exhibitions and literary gatherings:
The nearby Little Wooden House is the only wooden structure from the original complex, and was used as a meeting room for officers. Supposedly the highest-ranking officer committed suicide there in the aftermath of Japan's surrender. Amber was more interested in the giant Rhinoceros beetle resting on one of the screens:
From the Pine Garden, we drove about three kilometers north of Hualien to Qixingtan 七星潭, a stretch of waterfront providing fine views of the high cliffs further up the coast. Swimming is prohibited due to the rough surf, but today access to the beach was denied due to the typhoon located somewhere out to the sea, which was really churning up the water:
The southern end of Qixingtan is normally a hive of activity, but the beach closure meant almost all of the seafood restaurants were shuttered as well, so we drove back into Hualien in search of a place to eat lunch. Along the way we stopped off at the local Martyrs' Shrine 忠烈祠 (every city in Taiwan seems to have one), but the main building was closed off:
We eventually found a parking space in the downtown area and set off to find a place to eat. Many establishments in Taiwan, however, close after 1:30 or 2:00 for an afternoon siesta, but we managed to find an air conditioned-cafe that was open (and busy). Lunch for me was pork bibimbap:
Afterward, we walked close to the seaside to watch the waves continue to crash against the concrete breakwaters:
The calmer view in the other direction:
One of the few places worth checking out in the central part of the city is the Hualien Railway Culture Park 花蓮鐵道文化園區, a restored railway depot that was originally built in 1932:
The depot had its own detention cells:
It wouldn't be Taiwan without a massive banyan tree somewhere on the premises:
The heat and humidity eventually forced us back to the car, in which we then drove to a department store in order to bask in the air conditioning, while leisurely checking out the local branches of Muji 良品計画, Eslite Books 誠品書店 and H&M, before sitting down to kill more time at Mister Donut in the basement food court. My daughter did all the ordering - I've been using the excuse of my limited Mandarin skills to take advantage of Amber's native fluency in the language and let her handle much of the daily communication requirements with restaurant workers, hotel staff and retail store employees. The result has been my daughter shedding a lot of her natural shyness and learning to interact with adults:
For dinner this evening, we headed over to the Dongdamen Night Market 東大門夜市 to pick up some deep-fried goodies. It would've been nice to have eaten everything there as the temperature was starting to fall, a cool breeze from blowing in from the sea and the predicted rainfall hadn't started. However, a major concert was about to begin, judging from the huge temporary stage erected in front of the night market, the presence of TV station vans and the fact that the immediate streets had been blocked to vehicular traffic by the local police. Based on past experience in Taiwan, I knew that shortly the surrounding streets would soon likely be choked with parked cars and pedestrians, so we got our food to go and returned to the hotel to eat in our room:
Hualien seems like a pleasant-enough city, but other than serving as a launching pad for visits to Taroko Gorge 太魯閣, there isn't a whole lot to see and do here. Tomorrow we're heading south (hopefully away from Typhoon Maria) along the Route 9 inland highway to Taitung 台東, the other large city on Taiwan's east coast. Everything weather permitting, of course.
To be continued...
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