Factory Fodder

Highlights of our zhōu​mò:

Amber had a modeling session on Saturday that lasted into the afternoon. That evening, my wife decided we not only had to have steak, but that we had to eat it at the Taichung Steak House, the place to go...if you like dining on an industrial scale. The dining room was huge, and close to capacity, which unsurprisingly ruled out having any sort of quiet meal. And while there was a wide of variety of foods to choose from, all of it tasted bland - institutionalized cuisine in a giant canteen. Avoid it.

Fortunately for me, a bottle of White Beer, courtesy of the North Taiwan Brewing company, was waiting patiently for my return home. Craft beers, especially local ones, aren't easy to find in this country, so if you should come across a bottle such as this one, don't avoid it:

Early in the afternoon on Sunday: First, it was lunch at the Taichung Fish Market, not to be confused with the fish market located next to the port in Wú​qī 梧棲. No, this Taichung Fish Market can be found next to the No. 1 Freeway in the city itself. The last time we went there was a few years ago, not long after it had first opened, and unsurprisingly the people there were packed in like sardines. This time, things were much quieter, so much so that many of the stalls in the center of the building have been replaced by a giant vegetarian restaurant...in the heart of a fish market. At least the seafood here was much better than what we had last night at the steak house, though even here I couldn't escape from the Taiwanese tendency to serve sushi 寿司 and sashimi 刺身 that is still half-frozen. For Amber, today was her first time to enjoy a Ramune ラムネ:

Mid-Sunday afternoon: Following lunch, we drove to Wù​fēng 霧峰, intent on "stepping back into history at (a) landmark Taiwan mansion" (as an article from last November in The Seattle Times described it). In other words, we were planning on visiting the Lin Family Mansion and Garden. Judging by the tone of that last sentence, you would be correct in assuming that things didn't quite go as planned. For some unknown reason, the mansion was shut. A sign posted at the side of the complex indicated that only people who were part of certain groups were allowed to tour the buildings, so we had to content ourselves with the outside of what was once the mansion of a powerful family in the Wù​fēng area:

My wife keeps knocking, but she can't get in

Camera in hand, Pamela took an interest in the details of the exteriors:

While the mansion may have been off-limits this afternoon, the gardens were open to all. Now a part of Míngtái High School  明台高中, touring the grounds meant the afternoon wasn't a waste of time after all:

The view from above a tomb. I'm sure the students of Míngtái High love studying next to a grave

Mother and daughter pose on a stage set in an artificial pond. Connected by bridge is a small house where members of the Lin family would apparently watch dances being performed.

This house across the street from the high school was apparently not part of the Lin Family complex. In other words, I was trespassing on private property when I took this picture.

Later that afternoon: We returned to Fēng​yuán 豐原 from Wù​fēng, but my wife wasn't ready to go home just yet. Taking a right onto Nányáng​ Road 南陽路, we found ourselves climbing Route 88, which took us to the other side of the mountain, and through villages we had never heard of, before eventually ending up in Shí​gāng 石岡. 

Following dinner and some shopping, it was 7:00 by the time we got home. If you can figure out how to get into the mansion, I'm sure the Lin complex would make for a very interesting excursion. Wikipedia has an informative article on the mansion and garden. Maybe next time I might actually do some research before heading out.

Monkey Business in Wufeng

Just over a month ago, I checked out some of the walking trails in the Wufeng Ch'ingt'ung Lin Hiking Trail 霧峰青桐林步道 area, located in Wufeng 霧峰, naturally. At that time the Terminator in me said that I would be back, and it was right, for this afternoon I paid a return visit to the area. This time I started out on a trail that looked easy at first, being a paved walkway that gently wound its way uphill. From time to time there were breaks in the tree cover that provided some views of the nearby mountains:

At one point, a spur trail broke off to right. I followed this up through the forest expecting to find a panoramic view from the top, but all that greeted me was a small stone marker engraved with the characters  三等三角點, denoting some kind of triangulation point, and a cluster of ribbons strung up by various hiking clubs:

It was after returning to the main trail that things became interesting. First, the path itself started narrowing while becoming progressively rougher, until I found myself following what seemed like a dry stream bed. There were plenty of ribbons along the way denoting the path to enlightenment, but it was obvious it had been a few days since the last hiker had come along, for I was constantly having to break up spider webs that had been strung across the trail. At one point I surprised a group of pheasants, which quickly run uphill to find safety, but the best animal encounter was soon to come: a troop of Formosan Macaques 台灣獼猴, which was busy foraging for food in the trees. The monkeys were wary, but made no attempt to run away. I spent a long time listening to them, for they were well-hidden in and among the branches, with only the occasional glimpse coming when they moved from one spot to another. Which makes for a pretty good excuse for my not getting any decent photos, and only these poor-quality videos:

After communing with the macaques, I continued along the trail, which reached a point that required the use of ropes to haul myself up:

At the top of this section, the trail joined up with the main route, which had I walked on my previous visit. However, off to my left I noticed the outlines of another path which was in somewhat rougher condition, and which seemed to run parallel to the regular trail. I opted for the "hidden" route, which turned out to be a section of trail that had been damaged by heavy rain in one section, which probably explained why when I reached the end and joined up with the main route, I had to cross over yellow crime-scene tape meant to keep hikers out! 

Covered in sweat and cobwebs, I returned to my parked scooter. Although I hadn't done much actual climbing on this day, I thoroughly enjoyed "roughing it" this afternoon, although I owe a number of spiders a lot of apologies for what I had done to their nests. The signboard by my scooter showed the routes I took this afternoon:

The red box indicating "You are here" (obvious even if you don't Chinese) was where I parked the bike. The red line is the route I started out on, with the short spur trail colored in yellow. The broken parts of the red line are where the route got rough (and where I saw the monkeys), while the first blue line (the one on the left) indicates the now-closed trail that I took to get back.

And, no, I didn't run into any giant rabbits while I was out there.

 

Things to do in Wufeng when you're dead

Like hiking. A few weeks, Amber, Pamela and I visited the Wufeng Ch'ingt'ung Lin Hiking Trail 霧峰青桐林步道, located in the former township of Wufeng 霧峰, of course. I posted about our trip here. At that time, we were only able to walk a small part of the trails in the area, owing to the fact that we arrived there somewhat late in the afternoon, and that my wife isn't used to walking and my daughter can only go as far as her pre-elementary school legs can carry her. So following my morning classes today, I took the family car and made the 90-minute drive into the hills of Wufeng to see what more the trails had to offer. 

What was on offer were some clearly laid out and well-maintained paths that didn't offer much of a challenge...until I wandered off-track, not once, but twice. Though the trail was well-signposted in most places, the maps were difficult to figure out (with north pointing somewhere other than north, as is often the case with trail maps in Taiwan) and...oh, did I mention something just now about the route being well-marked? It was until I reached one key junction, where I followed the arrow leading downhill, expecting it to close the loop I was planning to walk. Instead, I found myself following a path that grew narrower and steeper until the use of ropes was required. At that point, it became obvious that I had gone the wrong way, so I turned around and headed back uphill to the junction. There, I followed another arrow pointing in a different direction. This trail took me up one ridge to a large rest area, then down and up another ridge, before continuing along a rapidly shrinking path. There were some pretty good views of the surrounding hillsides, but it was obvious I was heading the wrong way again. Returning to the original junction, I finally found the path I needed, which was unmarked, of course.

If all this sounds like an exercise in frustration, it wasn't. The errant paths described above were fun to walk, and beg further exploration, which I intend on doing. In all, I spent nearly 2½ hours traversing the trails in this part of Wufeng, working up a decent sweat and relishing the fact that most of the time I had the mountain to myself. I'll be back.

My apologies for the quality of some of the following photos. Lighting conditions were less-than-ideal in many places on the trails:

Check here for directions on how to get to the Wufeng Qingtong Lin Hiking Trail.

Trails, dude

My little one checks out the scenery at the start of the Wufeng Ch'ingt'ung Lin Hiking Trail 霧峰青桐林步道. The Kaminoge family visited the area in the late afternoon today to check the trails, or as much of one trail as we could before things started to get dark. The mountain scenery there was much more striking than that in the more accessible Tak'eng 大坑 area, so I'm planning on making the long scooter ride out to Wufeng on one of these upcoming Tuesday afternoons, and give myself more time to explore the trails.

Mother and daughter pause on the walk up from the parking lot. You can't see them in the photo, but Pamela and Amber were standing amid a thick cluster of buzzing dragonflies. We also saw a lot of butterflies today, as well as crickets, earthworms and even monkeys moving around in distant treetops.

Amber having fun jumping up and down on a short rope bridge. This was the point where we turned back before it got too dark.

A Japanese restaurant on Highway 3 國道三號. Kaiseki ryōri 懐石料理 is a traditional style of Japanese cuisine featuring many small dishes.

Rainy Sunday 雨の日曜日

Tonight as I sat down at the computer to upload some photos and update the blog, it was sounding like a war zone outside. Taiwanese don't need many excuses to set off firecrackers and shoot off fireworks, and this weekend is the Lantern Festival 元宵節/元宵. Amber got an early start last night 

 

and tonight we went up to the roof of our apartment building to watch all the pyrotechnics going on around us. But instead of going into T'aichung (Taijhong) たいちゅう 台中 to witness the celebrations, we spent a quiet afternoon in the Taichung County town of Wufeng (Wufong) 霧峰.

Upon arriving in Wufeng, we stopped for a quick lunch of goosemeat ガチョウ肉 over rice, beef noodles, a side dish of pork and ginger しょうが焼き and a bowl of oyster soupカキスープ.

As the rain had started coming down just as we were finishing lunch, we decided an indoor activity would be preferable, so we drove over to the 921 Earthquake Museum. This museum commemorates the Chi-Chi (Jiji) Earthquake 集集大地震, which struck central Taiwan on September 21, 1999, and resulted in the deaths of 2415 people. I actually arrived in Taiwan about three weeks after the quake, so I was fortunate in not having to experience the terror that Pamela, Steve and many other people I know had to go through that night (but I did feel a lot of the aftershocks).

The museum is located on the grounds of Kuangfu (Guangfu) High School, which was directly on the fault line and suffered extensive damage. Pictures of the school's running track which was uplifted as a result of the tremor are some of the most well-known images of the 921 quake.

The museum has preserved the track

The 921 museum is located in a quiet section of Wufeng, in a neighborhood of old homes, and surrounded by forested hills. Here's a picture of Amber outside the museum, and a photo of a cemetery 墓地 behind the parking lot.

The rain had let up somewhat, so after the museum we went to the grounds of the Taiwan Provincial Consultative Commission. Because in theory the government of the Republic of China is the government of the whole of China, it is only temporarily residing on the island of Taiwan, and Taiwan is a merely a province of China. That was the theory, according to the Kuomintang, the Chinese Nationalist Party, which ruled Taiwan from 1949 (the end of the Chinese Civil War) to 2000 (when they lost the presidential election to Chen Shui-bian of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party). The reality, of course, is that Taiwan is a de facto sovereign state, and most people now identify themselves as "Taiwanese" instead of "Chinese". But while the KMT was in power, it maintained a separate provincial government to maintain the illusion that Taiwan was a just a province, and not a state. What this government did is a mystery, and it was basically abolished in 1998. Today, the attractive grounds in Wufeng make for a nice morning or afternoon stroll.

Like with many other relics of the KMT's rule, there's a statue of Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石 in front of the provincial government building. While the KMT and DPP argue over the legacy of Chiang's rule, the local birds seemed to have passed their own judgement.