Sakura Sakura, O Where Art Thou?

It won't be long before winter is officially over, and already things have started to warm up here in central Tái​wān​ 台湾. In tandem with the rising temperatures, the cherry flowers are starting to bloom, so we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and check out the cherry blossoms (Japanese: sakura サクラ; Chinese: yīng​huā​ 櫻花).

Big mistake. In Japan, the 桜 can be seen everywhere, but in T'ái​wān​, the best concentrations of blossoms are in the mountains. Take that fact into account, add in the sunshine and warmth, the middle day of a three-day weekend (Monday, Feb. 28, is a national holiday - 228 Peace Memorial Day 228和平紀念日), narrow mountain roads and the reality that there is only a finite number of things to see and do on this small island, and you've got the recipe for one, long frustrating traffic jam. Which is what we encountered this morning (and stretching into the beginning of the afternoon) in Túng​shì​h 東勢, as we attempted to see the blooming trees (British expletive pun intended). Sure, the cherry blossom season in Japan can result in mass concentrations of people, too. Ueno Park 上の恩賜公園 in Tōkyō 東京 turns into a circus when the flowers are at their park, while noted 花見 spots such as Yoshino 吉野 are swamped with visitors, but it is also quite possible to see beautiful pinks and whites without venturing far from your home - in Yokkaichi 四日市, for example, there was a winding river lined with cherry trees along both sides just a short bicycle ride from our apartment building, and it was never crowded. Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury where we live in Greater Tái​chúng​ 大臺中​. After an interminable length of time creeping along a narrow, winding lane, we made the decision to give up and turn around when we started seeing cars parking along the side of the road, and people getting out to walk to the leisure farm where all the cherry trees were (and with the park entrance still being some distance away). It just wouldn't have been worth the hassle (not the mention the prospect of the return traffic jam on the trip home later in the day), so we made our way back to central Túng​shì​h.

Amber eats lunch at a restaurant in downtown Túng​shì​h. At that point we would probably have still been stuck in traffic up on the mountain, and with rumbling stomachs further adding to our collective misery. With plenty of time left in the day following lunch, I suggested driving out to Tà​hú​ 大湖.

Central Chó​lán​ 卓蘭, where we stopped to buy some tea. A typical town involved in a typical daydream. All a friend can say is ain't it a shame...

Pamela suggested driving up to a Buddhist temple dating from the Japanese era 台灣日治時期 that offered a beautiful view of the plains below, but on the way there we encountered another long traffic jam. No problem, however. A quick U-turn, and in no time we were at a strawberry farm, filling up a basket with fresh strawberries. This was heaven for Amber, for 草莓 are her favorite fruit in the world, if not her favorite food.

Smiles aside, picking the right berries was serious business for my daughter.

Amber poses with the fruit of her labor. She's also holding a small carton of ice cream...strawberry, as if there was any doubt.

The view from outside the strawberry farm. It's hard to see in the photo, but if you look under the green and brown traffic signs, you can make out the tops of the long line of cars heading toward Dahu.

With one contented child in the backseat, we headed back to Fēng​yuán​ 豐原, stopping off along the way at a viewpoint overlooking the Lǐ​yú​ Reservoir 鯉魚潭水庫. It was crowded, of course.

The water level in the reservoir looked low. Are we in for a dry year this year?

Leaving the scenic viewpoint, we encountered...get ready for it...yet another traffic jam. As it was nearing 4 in the afternoon, a lot of folks were no doubt on their way home. Fortunately, when we turned off and headed in the direction of Sān​yì​ 三義, most of the other cars continued on in the other direction, and we made it back to Fēng​yuán​ without much fuss or bother. Despite the clogged arteries, we managed to enjoy ourselves. Amber got her strawberries, and I was pleased to discover that 7-Eleven has Samuel Adams Boston Lager in stock again! All in all, I shouldn't complain - those who drove up to Wǔ​líng​ Farm 武陵農場 today (Sunday) to see the cherry blossoms spent 7½ hours stuck in traffic! Perspective - what a concept.

The writing on the seal of Amber's orange juice cup says "Handmade pork cutlet sandwiches". Which is a rather odd thing to see in a hot pot/spaghetti restaurant.

From the Japan Today website:

ELPIDA RAISES $145 MILLION IN TAIWAN LISTING 

"Elpida Memory Inc エルピーダメモリ has raised 4.2 billion New Taiwan dollars ($145 million/¥11.5 billion) in a secondary listing on the Tái​wān Stock Exchange 臺灣證券交易所 as the Japanese memory chip maker seeks alliances amid fierce competition. The money will be used in Elpida’s development and production of cutting-edge 20- and 30-nanometer chips, said company president and CEO Yukio Sakamoto at a Tái​pěi​ 臺北 news conference. Elpida’s listing in the form of T'ái​wān Depositary Receipts comes amid closer ties with Taiwanese firms who are also facing tough competition from South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor. The market for DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, is expected to recover from a long slump in the April-June quarter, with demand for mobile chips expected to surge with the growing sales of tablet PCs and smartphones, Sakamoto said. Rexchip Electronics, a Taiwanese maker in which Elpida has a majority stake, will add mobile chips to its production lines in the second half this year, he said. He said Elpida’s output will also gain from its alliance with Tái​wān’s Powerchip Technology 力晶科技股份有限公司 , which has suspended its own marketing efforts to become a subcontractor for the Japanese maker. Elpida is seeking additional cooperation with other Taiwanese DRAM makers, Sakamoto said, but refused to give details. Amid a glut of DRAM supply following the 2008 global financial crisis, the Taiwanese government sought to consolidate its six DRAM makers into a new company working with either Elpida or U.S.-based Micron Technology. But the project fell apart."

Then there was this article in the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ ("ELEMENTARY ENGLISH: Asian, European peers have big head start but success unquestioned"), comparing the state of elementary school English education in Japan with those in several other questions, including Tái​wān​. The relevant sections are listed below:

"While all elementary schools in Japan are scheduled to start teaching English this April, other parts of Asia and Europe have been doing it for years. They are teaching English earlier, longer and with more advanced content. Some even have teachers who are specialists in teaching the language. According to the education ministry 文部科学省, South Korea began teaching English in elementary schools in 1997. China and Tái​wān​ started in 2001, and Germany and France followed suit in 2004 and 2005, respectively. What's more, students in those countries are learning it at a younger age — from third grade in China, South Korea, Tái​wān​ and Germany, and from first grade in France. Japan's English-language schedule will consist of a lesson a week, or 35 per year. According to the ministry, however, Tái​wān​ and Germany give two lessons a week, France gives 54 hours of lessons a year, South Korea gives two lessons a week for third- and fourth-graders, and three a week for fifth- and sixth-graders...The lessons in Japan will be 45 minutes long, compared with 40 minutes in Tái​wān...The curricula differ as well. In Japan, students will learn to listen and speak English through songs, games and self-introductions, among other activities. They will also engage in cultural exchange activities by meeting foreigners and attending cultural events, as well as do their ABCs...In Tái​wān, pupils are required to write down around 180 vocabulary words and to speak about 300...The ministry also said teachers in charge of English in China and some urban parts of Tái​wān are specialists, unlike in Japan. Japan does not require teachers to have a qualification in English proficiency, but one city in T'ái​wān requires its teachers to have scored at least 213 on the TOEFL, or Test of English as a Foreign Language."

On the road in Miaoli

My friend Thoth Harris (The Montreal Writers' Storm Sewer) had invited me on a couple of occasions to go riding with him in Miaoli 苗栗, where he has been living since coming back from Canada last spring. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take him up on his offer...until today, that is. It took about an hour on the scooter, riding from Fengyuan 豊原, through Houli 后里 and Sanyi (Sani) 三義, and finally to Miaoli, where I waited for Thoth at an observation tower by the side of Highway 13. The views toward the mountains and the city were great, which made it all the more stranger why such a pavilion had been erected along a busy road with no place for cars or motorcycles to park. TIT - This is Taiwan, I suppose!

Thoth took me through central Miaoli, which looks much the same as most small Taiwanese cities. One place that did stand out, though, was a Taoist-themed park adjacent to a large temple in the downtown area. Here, religious devotion was expressed through tacky/kitschy sculptures. The view from the top of the artificial mountain did reveal a good example of a still-functioning Japanese-era home.

From the park, we rode out of the city, and up to the Mingde (Mingte) Reservoir. This large man-made lake was very pleasant. It was unusual to find a quiet place with fresh air that wasn't overrun by hordes of visitors, and we spent some time on the road going around the reservoir and taking in the scenery. My guide for the day:

After checking out some of the sites around the lake, we set off on a long ride through the countryside, finally ending up in Nanjhuang (Nanchuang) 南庄. Rough Guide describes Nanjhuang as "a small, atmospheric Hakka 客家 village", which I'm sure it is...on a weekday. On this Sunday, however, the town was packed, especially on a small lane lined with food stands. I'd wager that up until five years ago or so, Nanjhuang was a quiet village, even on weekends, but it has since joined the growing list of "old towns" in Taiwan that are drowning in a sea of tour buses and tourists every Saturday, Sunday and national holiday. Still, even with the hordes, it was nice to see a lot of old Japanese-period wooden buildings in use, instead of the usual hideous concrete-and-tile blocks so prevalent all over this island. And the mountains stretching off into the distance were a magnificent sight.

It was getting on in the afternoon, so we rode back to Miaoli, and had a cup of coffee before I left for the ride back to Fengyuan. The trip home was dark and chilly, but uneventful, except for the one place where I failed to notice the motorcycle lane in time, and ended up on an elevated expressway. Fortunately, traffic was light, and besides, I'm a stupid foreigner, so what do I know? My thanks go out to Thoth for taking the trouble today to show me some of the sights around his neck of the woods.

 

 

Taking the train to Byōritsu 苗栗へ電車に乗っている

One of the things I really enjoyed doing when I was living in Japan was riding the trains. Maybe it had to do with the fact that, growing up in California, I never had the chance to do so (Sacramento's サクラメント light rail ライトレール system went into operation after I had gone away to college at UC Davis カリフォルニア大学デービス校), but whatever the reason, I loved traveling around Japan by rail. Living in Taiwan, however, I don't get to take trains very often, as Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原 is small enough to get around on scooter, and we have the family car for longer excursions. But Amber seems to like trains, and recently I've decided she should have more opportunities to get on board them. So on this fine Sunday, we parked the car close to Fengyuan Station 豊原駅, and caught the 12:46pm local 普通, bound for the city of Miaoli 苗栗, 35 minutes away.

　

Our train as it was pulling into the station.

There weren't many passengers on the ride north to Miaoli, and Amber had a lot of fun looking out of the window. She got really excited when the train pulled into San'i (Sanyi) 三義. The opposite platform was crowded with people, many of whom began waving and smiling at Amber when they saw her looking at them through the window of our car. Our daughter must have felt like a queen!

Once in Miaoli, we looked around for a place to eat, but it wasn't easy. Usually, Taiwanese cities have very active downtown areas, but Miaoli's was dead on this Sunday. Pamela remarked that her hometown of Hsiluo (Siluo) 西螺 might be smaller, but is a lot more にぎやか than Miaoli. Eventually, we found a small hole-in-the-wall eatery that was open, and had lunch. This establishment was decorated in Snoopy スヌーピ pictures, a theme that wouldn't raise an eyebrow in Japan, which is full of unique cafes and small restaurants, the decor of which reflect the interests and passions of the owner. In Taiwan, however, such places are uncommon, at least in smaller towns and cities like Miaoli. The food was pretty standard local fare, but good.

The street pictured on the bottom is a section Miaoli's Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Road 中正路, near the train station, which should be the main drag in any Taiwanese city. Where's the traffic? Where are the people?

Following lunch, we walked over to the "Miao-lie Rolling Stock Exhibition" 鉄路博物館, a free, open-air train museum. Neither the Lonely Planet ロンリープラネット or Rough Guides books to Taiwan mention this place (let alone Miaoli), but I found out about it from my Japanese guidebook on Taiwan, 地球の歩き方台湾 ('05-'06 edition), which had this to say:

日本統治時代に使用されていた古い蒸気機関車や、最近まで使われていたディーゼル機関車にサトウキビや木村の運搬に活躍していた日本製の小型蒸気機関車など10台ほどが展示されている。

Which basically says that about 10 trains, including old steam locomotives from the Japanese colonial period, and more recent diesel trains that were used for such purposes as transporting sugar cane, are on display. I hadn't checked the guidebook closely, for it also said the museum was closed on weekends, but the gate wasn't locked, so the three of us went in for a look. Unless you're a trainspotter 鉄道ファン, or happen to live relatively close by (like we do), it's probably not worth the trip to Miaoli, but it's still an interesting museum nonetheless.

It was the middle of the afternoon by the time we returned to Miaoli Station, and we had a choice to make about the trip back to Fengyuan. I wanted to stick around for another hour in order to catch the 4:45pm local, but Pamela preferred we take the earlier 4:06 limited express ("Tzu-Ch'iang" or "Zih-Ciang" in Chinese, roughly equivalent to 特急 trains in Japan). I knew the express would be crowded, whereas we stood a good chance of sitting down on the local, but as Pamela pointed out, Fengyuan was the next stop after Miaoli on the Tzu-Chiang, so what was 28 minutes of relative discomfort? So we stood in line to buy tickets from the window, and herein lies one of two examples of how train service in Taiwan, though relatively efficient, lags behind that in Japan. Because most ticket vending machines don't accept notes (there were actually a couple of machines inside Miaoli Station that gave change for paper money, but hardly anyone was using them), it's often the case that you have to stand in a long line in order to buy tickets from a ticket window. You have to tell the worker your destination and how many tickets you need, hand over your money, then receive your tickets and change. It's much like the 緑の窓口 in Japan, except that you have to do it more often in Taiwan because there are more types of trains that require reserved seat tickets (though standing is allowed, of course).

The other complaint I have concerns time. Our train back to Fengyuan was 7 minutes late arriving in Miaoli, which is usual in Taiwan. I know that's no big deal compared to some parts of the world, but I got spoiled by Japanese trains, which are so punctual, you could almost set your watch to them. And as I feared, the Tzu-Chiang was standing-room only, but we were fortunate to stand right next to the door, which made it easy for Amber to sit down on the step, and to get off the train once we got to Fengyuan.

Some of the scenery along the route between Miaoli and Fengyuan.

Amber taking a breather on the floor, and the Tzu-Chiang getting ready to pull out of Fengyuan, on the way to its final destination 終点 in Kaohsiung (Gaosyong) 高雄.

Now to start planning where to go next...