Hi, how are you? or should that be "How high are you?"

There are several attractive Japanese-era 台灣日治時期railway station buildings still in existence along the Coastal Line 海線. Tatu Station 大肚車站 isn't one of them.

From today's Japan Today ("Taiwan busts massive drug smuggling ring", AFP):

"Taiwan has busted one of its biggest drug smuggling rings in recent years, which police said Monday was responsible for transporting $70 million worth of narcotics to Japan and other countries.

A total of nine suspects have been arrested, including the suspected leader of the ring, 40-year-old Fan Chu-lin, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said.

'This is definitely one of the largest smuggling rings to be uncovered in many years,' bureau official Yang Ming-chang told AFP.

Over a 10-year period, the group allegedly smuggled hundreds of kilograms of ecstasy and amphetamines from Hong Kong and China to Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

It also smuggled large amounts of marijuana from Thailand and Holland into Taiwan.

According to preliminary estimates, the drugs smuggled by the group over the ten-year period totalled at least NT$2 billion ($69.4 million/￥5.3 billion), Yang said.

If convicted, Fan could face a minimum 20 years in jail under Taiwanese law."

If I didn't know any better, I would say that some of these drugs have been finding their way into the systems of some of the writers at Compass Magazine. How else to explain their visions of a beautiful, cosmopolitan Greater Taichung as anything other than chemically-induced hallucinations? Certainly the T'aichung 台中 depicted in the pages of the free monthly bears little resemblance to the ugly, parochial Taichung that I encounter on an almost-daily basis. Still, the publication serves a purpose, and from time to time I check out some the places they recommend visiting. This afternoon was one of those times.

Based on what I read in this article from the July edition, I took the train from Fengyuan Station 豐原車站, through some typically ugly suburban scenery, to the above-mentioned Dadu. From the tiny concrete box that serves a station (or, as Compass puts it, "A little station with the mingled scent of rice and books"), it was a short walk to the Huanghsi Tutorial Academy 磺溪書院:

From the Compass article:

"Built in 1888, it has been dedicated to developing local education. This Minnan 閩南-style building has elegant red-brick roof tiles and splendid 'dove-tailed' eaves, which are classic building design elements from the Ch'ing 清 dynasty. Although this is an academy, there is a Wen Ch'ang Temple worshipping Wen Ch'ang Tichün 文昌帝君 (God of Culture and Literature) here, which explains visits by many students praying for good results before big exams."

It is, admittedly, an attractive building, with a nice blend of wood and red brick:

The Wen Chang Temple, housing an image of the Culture and Literature deity:

Inside the temple, there are bundles of paper money left by students as offerings. The paper that the bundles are wrapped in are photocopies of the students' ID cards that they need to present at the time of their all-important school entrance exams:

The academy is very pleasant to look at, but nonetheless ranks as a minor sightseeing attraction. It would only be worth visiting if a.) you happened to be in the area, and had some time on your hands; or b.) like me, you've exhausted Taichung's already limited number of attractions.

The other thing that Compass recommends to do in the area is to ride along the bikeway that begins just across the road from the academy. I didn't have a bike with me, but I did the next best thing, which was to walk along part of it. Compass again:

"Along the way you can enjoy scenery of vast green rice fields and, sometimes, passing trains on the coastal railway."

True, there were vast green rice fields...:

...and at least one train passed by while I was out there:

However, in typical Compass fashion, the writer fails to mention that, in addition to rice fields and trains, you can also enjoy small, noisy factories, electricity pylons and a filthy-looking canal. Perhaps the trail is better done on a bike, but standing in the middle of nowhere, it was hard to see what the attraction was.

The verdict on Dadu Station and its surroundings? I most definitely didn't "discover how charming it is as you forget about the restraints of time and forge new connections with local culture and the rich past" (you know who again), but it wasn't a bad way to kill a couple of hours in the afternoon (and big kid that I am, I always like to ride on trains). The area map on the wall inside the train station listed a hiking trail that I didn't know about, so I might pay a visit to this area again in the near future to check that out. As for Compass Magazine, I'll keep reading it (hey, it's free), but with a big salt shaker on hand.

Trailblazing

Same planet, different worlds:

A female expat blogger posts on how wonderful (Western) women have it in Taiwan compared to some other places, while the BBC ascribes Taiwan's unbelievably low birth rate to the problems local women face in a traditional society. You make the call.

Compass Magazine. Sometimes the brown-nosing editors, who are so adept at making silk purses out of sows' ears, will include a truly useful article on things to do in the T'aichung 台中 area, such as this one, which led me to check out the Nanliao Chuk'eng Old Path 南寮竹坑古道 this afternoon. OK, so the "vast oceans of grass" didn't really "seem to reach out to the heavens", and the directions for getting there weren't very helpful (my wife actually showed me the way a couple of weeks ago). Still, I wouldn't have known about this trail if it hadn't been for the magazine, so I thank the good folks at Compass for the informative article, and I hope to read more of the same in future issues. Less sycophancy, more information please!

The Nanliao Zhukeng Old Path consists of four short trails (a main trail, plus an A, B and C - I walked them all today with the exception of the short B spur) which form a loop that takes a couple of hours to complete at an easy gait. The path here is hardly a "hike", but it does make for a nice stroll, and if the weather is good (like it was this afternoon), the views out to sea aren't bad. I started at the Nanliao Village end, where the route first makes its way past a cemetery:

Though it's right in the middle of Ghost Month 中元節, things were pretty dead here (rim shot), so I kept moving along on the main path. Down in the ravine to my left was Trail C, which I used on the return leg of my walk. This picture was taken looking down on a rest area by an old well (dating from 1746), which can't be seen in the upper-left corner:

Continuing down (and past a mountain that supposedly resembled a carp, though I missed the association at the time, and thus didn't take a good picture of it. Next time, I promise), the views out to sea were pretty good. If you don't mind the occasional power station, that is:

Trail A branches off from the main route, and leads to a lookout point. Here's another view of the power station, this time with the No. 3 Freeway 國道三號 in the foreground:

This is about as pretty as it gets on the heavily built-up, industrialized west coast of Taiwan, folks.

The main trail ends at a parking lot in Chuk'eng, right under the freeway:

It had taken me almost an hour to reach the end, though I did take my time, took a lot of pictures, and stopped to use my binoculars. From the parking lot, it was a short walk over to the start of Trail C, located at the bottom of the above-mentioned ravine. The grassland scenery brought to mind images of the American Midwest. For some reason, I also kept thinking of Roy Rogers and Apple Valley:

According to the sign in front, this is a Sacred Fig, the same kind of tree the Buddha was sitting under when he had his "A ha!" moment:

Trail C ends in front of a wealthy family's ancestral temple, closed to the public...:

...but just a short walk back to my faithful scooter. A bus was also parked nearby. The very devout (or extremely superstitious) driver had enlisted the divine help of the deities Doraemon ドラえもん and Nobita-kun 野比のび太 in order to keep himself, and his passengers, safe from malevolent demons, such as the one visible in the reflection on the windshield:

The Nanliao Zhukeng Old Path turned out to be an enjoyable couple of hours of walking. Hardly demanding, yes, but it would probably make for a good outing with the family. If you go on a sunny day such as today, be sure to apply the sunscreen, as there is very little shade along the route. I don't mind being brown, but you know how our Taiwanese relations and associates feel about these things.

Happy trails to you:

Compass points the way

It isn't often that Compass Magazine ("Making silk purses out of sows' ears") actually gets something right, but this article on T'aiyuan Station 太原車站 from the October issue is fairly spot on. While I don't share the anonymous government hack's admiration for the station's exterior architecture, and I had to settle for a can of Mr. Brown instead of the promised NT40 ($1.30/¥110) cup of coffee, it was fun to sit in the cafe area and watch the trains go by (and under). The shop also makes for an interesting browse, and if I hadn't already spent a lot of cash showing my friends around central and southern Taiwan this past week (not to mention the horror I received this afternoon at the travel agency when I learned just how much it's going to cost the three of us to fly back home during the next Chinese New Year 春節 holiday), I might have bought a few things. No doubt I'll make the mistake of bringing Amber here (probably by train) in the very near future.

Shūdōfu in the news 臭豆腐

Why Compass Magazine continues to annoy me, even though it's free - in its January issue, there is an article on the hot spring resort of Kukuan (Guguan) 谷関, the opening paragraph of which states that:

"In the early 1900s, the Heiji Emperor was sight-seeing around Taiwan, visiting the island from Japan. When he came across the hot springs in Guguan, he hopped right in and sat for quite a while. After he returned to his home country, the emperor quickly fathered a son. Many people attributed this luck to the Guguan hot springs and the emperor's story spread like wildfire."

First of all, it's MEIJI 明治天皇 (Mutsuhito 睦仁), not "Heiji". And second of all, the story is just that, a story. Had the writer bothered to do a little research, they would have learned that the last of Emperor Meiji's 15 children was a daughter (not a son), who was born in 1897. Meiji's successor, Emperor Taishō 大正天皇 (Yoshihito 嘉仁) was scheduled to visit Taiwan in 1912 while he was still Crown Prince, but the trip was canceled when Meiji died. If I was able to find this out after just a few minutes of checking on Wikipedia and Google, then why couldn't have Compass' writer?

There's also a short article in the magazine about the experiences of a Japanese translator during the Asian Championship baseball tournament in T'aichung (Taijhong) 台中 a couple of months ago. It's all in English, except for the poor woman's name, which is written only in Chinese characters - 丸尾啓太. I went to the WWWJDIC website, and came up with "Maruo Keita". Again, if I could do it...

No wonder Compass is given away free of charge.

In a change of pace from the recent depressing news, the Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売 has an article today on Taiwan’s notorious Ch’outoufu (Choudoufu) 臭豆腐, aka “Stinky Tofu” (“The sweet stink of success”).

The story introduces us to Peng Tian-rong, a stinky tofu seller in Hsinchuang (Sinjhuang) 新荘, a city in T’aipei (Taibei) County 台北県. Business is good, but:

“…the distinctive odor of his chodoufu has seen him fall afoul of the authorities, who have ordered him to pay a fine of 100,000 New Taiwan dollars (about 350,000 yen) for polluting the air. The fine, equivalent to two months' wages for an ordinary worker, is the first ever imposed on chodoufu deemed too stinky. But Peng remains unbowed. The flap over the chodoufu he makes with a special recipe that gives his curd its pungent punch has brought in more customers than ever, all keen for a taste, and a whiff, of his law-breaking delicacy. Chodoufu's smell is similar to that of fermented nattō 納豆 soybeans, but is stronger because it is fried before being served. It is a popular snack in southern China and Taiwan that, the locals say, is best washed down with a beer.”

I can say from personal experience that stinky tofu does have a distinct “aroma” to it. Not everyone in Taiwan, it seems, appreciates the bouquet:

“In Taiwan, this smell is part and parcel of bustling entertainment districts, and steamed chodoufu is often served at banquets…But while customers were lapping up (Peng’s) chodoufu, the neighbors were less enamored with the constant stench pervading their premises, and their nostrils. They complained to the environment bureau of the Taipei (county) government, which last autumn determined that Peng's eateries were polluting the air and fined him. The bureau, which is tasked with dealing with foul odors emanating from factories, used a ‘scientific’ device to measure the offensive odor and declared that the stench exceeded acceptable levels.”

The article’s author, Toshinao Ishii, decides to sample some of the stinky tofu, despite his stated dislike for the smell:

“I gingerly put a piece in my mouth. The chodoufu gave off an aroma and had a light sweetness, but steam with an (indescribable) smell spread through my mouth, a flavor chodoufu lovers cannot resist.”

This is a very Japanese way of saying he couldn’t stand it. The article concludes thusly:

“(Peng’s) fine has become a badge of honor that is drawing more customers, some of them traveling from afar to sample his wares. Some businessmen have sensed an opportunity to cash in on the stink by selling air freshener to chodoufu vendors, saying authorities might crack down on restaurants selling the curd. But not everything has come up smelling like roses for Peng. Strangers, he said, often ask him if he has stepped in some dog droppings because of the way he smells.”

Stinky tofu is one of my wife’s favorite dishes, but it’s an acquired taste that I have been unable to obtain even after being in Taiwan for several years. I find it impossible to ignore the stench while trying to force it down my gullet. And what a stench it is! Just the other week at one of my workplaces, a staff member brought in a 臭豆腐弁当, and the smell permeated almost the entire floor of the building.

On a more serious note, the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ ran an editorial today on Saturday's elections for the Taiwanese legislature ("Taiwan votes for change"). The column starts out by looking at things optimistically:

"The results could be good for Taiwan if all parties recognize the message in this ballot and adjust their policies accordingly. If, however, it is seen as just another swing in the political pendulum and another excuse for settling scores, then the KMT (Kuomintang/Guomindang) 中国国民党 will face the very same humiliation the next time it goes to the polls."

The editorial then analyzes why the Democratic Progressive Party 民主進歩党, under the chairmanship of President Chen Shui-bian (Chin Suihen) 陳水扁 took such a drubbing:

"The elections are in many ways a referendum on Mr. Chen's administration...The KMT campaign focused on the island's economic troubles, arguing that Mr. Chen's agenda aggravated Taiwan's ills — erecting barriers to trade with (China) was thought to be particularly damaging — and diverted government attention from matters of real significance to voters. The DPP was also hurt by several corruption scandals that involved members of Mr. Chen's family, and undermined the party's longtime claim that it was clean, unlike the KMT."

Next, the article looks toward the upcoming presidential elections:

"The question now is whether the DPP candidate in the March ballot, Mr. Frank Hsieh (Sha Chōtei) 謝長廷, can correct the party's image and tack back toward the center by the vote. Hardliners worried that Mr. Hsieh was not a true believer and tried to lock in their pro-independence platform to ensure that Mr. Hsieh would not be able to move back to the center. Last weekend's vote suggests staying the course would be political suicide but ideologues prefer purity to victory and are ready to give other reasons for the DPP shellacking in the poll."

And one of those reasons seems to be my homeland:

"One ready scapegoat is the United States. Pro-independence activists denounce U.S. President George W. Bush ジョージ・Ｗ．ブッシュ as ready to do China's bidding to ensure Beijing's support on other international issues, such as the denuclearization talks with North Korea or dealing with Iran. Washington's failure to back Taiwan's independence agenda is seen as a failure of will and a readiness to sell out an ally. In short they argue, Mr. Chen, the DPP and Taiwan as a whole have been the victims of U.S. perfidy."

The JT's editorial staff, however, is buying none of this:

"Many Taiwanese were unnerved by the negative U.S. reaction to Mr. Chen and his agenda. The downturn in relations between the island and its most important backer turned many voters against the DPP. But Mr. Chen only has himself to blame. He has pushed his pro-independence program knowing full well that it was alienating his biggest supporter. The backlash has now alienated voters as well."

The editorial concludes by saying:

"While the KMT was expected to best the DPP, the size of the victory was a surprise and represents a repudiation of the party...Indeed, the most important lesson from this election is the need to focus on governing, not politics. Had Mr. Chen made good on promises to improve the lives of Taiwanese and not been distracted by the virulence of politics as usual in Taipei, he would have left a far more positive legacy — for Taiwan and his party. Last weekend's vote is a warning to all of Taiwan's politicians to put their people first."

Even with a new, revamped legislature, I don't think this is going to happen anytime soon.