Take a hike, eh?

This last day of the three-day holiday weekend saw Mr. & Mrs. Kaminoge and daughter embark on that rarest of family activities, going for a long walk in the hills. I enjoy hiking and walking, of course, and Amber also likes stretching her legs, but for my wife, using one's feet as a form of locomotion, especially climbing up things like stairs and slopes, is something usually to be avoided. So I was rather surprised this afternoon when Pamela suggested the three of us go for a walk. Which we did, for about 2½ hours in the former rural township of Shihkang 石岡.

Amber takes a whiff of an orange jasmine petal, or what the Chinese call Ch'ilihsiang 七里香, or "the flower that can be smelled from seven li away", a li being a traditional measurement for distance, equivalent to 500 meters (1640 feet) away.

Amber poses in front of "The Divine Tree of Five Blessings" 五福臨門神木. Supposedly formed by a camphor tree 樟树, a Taiwan acacia 台灣相思, a banyan 榕樹, a Chinese hackberry tree 朴樹 and a cedar 雪松, the tree is a local landmark in Shigang:

Mother and daughter make their descent from the big ass god tree:

In addition to spotting the usual butterflies, dragonflies and ants, Amber got a chance to eye some bees up close:

The rural idyll, done the Taiwanese way:

A last look at the scenery from the walking trail before the rain started coming down in buckets. Fortunately, we didn't have far to go from here to the car:

This night being the occasion of the Moon Festival 中秋節, after getting home this evening, I went up to the roof of our apartment building to have a look at the full moon. This is the best shot I could get with all the cloud cover:

What you can't see in the picture above are all the fireworks going off to the left of the moon, and the flashes of lightning in the sky to the right. What you can't hear is the sound of all the fireworks and firecrackers that are accompanying the competing light shows.

Getting hot 'n' humid in Sekikō 石岡

As the subject heading above says, it was pretty hot and humid today. That didn't stop me from hitting the trails, though I did choose an easy route this afternoon. Following lunch, I rode out on Fengshih Road 豊勢路 to the Shihchung Temple 石忠宮 in the town of Shihkang:

The walking trail begins to the side of the temple. It's an easy stroll up wooden steps, not much of a challenge even in the humidity, but pleasant nonetheless. It doesn't take long to pass by the various fruit orchards before reaching the top, though there are a couple of spots along the way to stop and admire the view:

Taiwan and I don't always see eye to eye on many matters, but one thing we do share in common is an interest in things Japanese, as these carp streamers こいのぼり can attest:

The trail eventually comes to one of Shihkang's tourist "attractions", the "Divine Tree of Five Blessings". On weekends, this poor tree is literally overrun with unsupervised children crawling all over it, but today it was alone and therefore unmolested. Here's an old photo of the tree I took on a previous walk along the same trail:

From the tree, the path starts to work its way downhill, eventually reaching a rushing stream, where I watched, enviously, while some local kids had fun in the water:

A short walk along the waterway leads to another of Shihkang's artificial "sights", the Lover's Bridge. Having no cultural or historical significance whatsoever, it was built a few years ago to give people a reason to stop on the road running between Fengyuan 豐原 and Tungshih 東勢. Later, an overpass was constructed over Fengshih Road, linking the bridge to the Tungfeng biking route. This means on weekends the entire area is a veritable cacophony, the result of karaoke 卡拉OK machines, mini-race cars, food stands, souvenir stalls etc., in competition for the leisure time New Taiwan dollar 新台幣. This afternoon, however, all was quiet on the tourism front:

Ah, Taiwan - from Monday to Friday, it's the respectable Dr. Henry Jekyll, but on Saturdays and Sundays the country's sightseeing spots are transformed into the sinister Mr. Hyde.

It's a dog life

I got up early this morning to go for a walk in Shihgang (Shihkang) 石岡, and afterward I decided never again. The first part of the walk, from the Shihjhong Temple up to the "Divine Tree of Five Blessings" was relaxing enough, with nice views of the valley below, though it was hardly strenuous. It was the route back to the temple, along a specially-paved walking path, that was most unpleasant. The bane of walkers in Taiwan is dogs, and I had to run a gauntlet of chained and unchained, snarling, barking canines. Though I am a cat person, I have nothing against man's best friend, and I like playing with happy dogs as much as the next person. What I don't like is having to deal with aggressive beasts when I'm minding my own business. I was forced to aim a kick at one brazen beagle who came charging out at me from a fruit orchard. The most annoying part is the majority of these mutts are cowards. Oh sure, when they're chained up, they put on a brave show of "scaring" me away. The unchained ones wait until I walk past, then try to snap at my heels, only to run away when I turn around to face them (not unlike some people I've encountered in Taiwan!). If the local authorities have gone to the trouble and expense of laying out a walking course through a rural neighborhood, they could also try to persuade the locals to do a better job of keeping their dogs in check (and on leashes). Having gone through this a couple of times now on this particular walk, I've come to the conclusion that the rewards are not enough to justify the stress, and so I won't bother coming this way again.

On the ride back home, I stopped to take a photograph of a Japanese-era granary, or the "Rice Husking Barn of Shi-Kon-Shiang Farmers' Association", according to the sign in front. There seemed to be some confusion about dates, or a possible break in the space-time continuum, as it stated that the barn was "Established in 1942", yet "After Attacked by the big earthquake in 1935, the structure of the barn was reinforced". So in other words, it was repaired and strengthened seven years before it was built. The Chinese wording also included the same dates. Mysterious 不可解なあ...

Enjoying the holiday

As everyone in Taiwan knows, today was a national holiday, Peace Memorial Day 和平紀念日. It's a day meant to recall the 228 Incident 二・二八事件, but seeing as how it appears Ma Ying-jeou (Ba Eikyū) 馬英九 is headed to victory in next month's presidential election, I have a feeling this holiday won't be around on the calendar for much longer.

But in the meantime, a holiday is a day off, and seeing as the weather today wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be, I decided to take my daughter out this afternoon to get some fresh air and sunshine. We drove out to the Shihchung (Shihjhong) Temple 石忠宮 in nearby Shihkang (Shihgang) 石岡, where there is a walking trail leading up to "The divine tree of 'five blessings'" 五福臨門神木 (see here and here). Being only 2 years old, Amber set the pace, so naturally we didn't get anywhere near the tree, but she enjoyed making frequent stops on the way up in order to play with rocks and sticks, pick up leaves and listen to the birds in the trees above. She also gave her old man a good workout, as her highness figured it was much easier to be carried up the steps by her father, as opposed to climbing them one by one with her short legs. We got as far as the first branch in the trail, which led off a little bit downhill to what appeared to be a private home that had been converted into a Taiwanese version of a cheap 旅館, complete with futon 布団 laid out on wooden floors. Amber was more interested in the small zoo there, which had some hogs ブタ, rabbits ウサギ and emus エミュー on display. The highlight for her was the Formosan Rock-Monkey being walked about on a leash by a young boy. One day, when Amber is old enough, we'll have a talk about the morality of keeping animals penned up in small enclosures for the pleasure of gawking day-trippers, but for now it's enough to see her taking in some of the wonders of this world.

Colder Trails

"Oh well. It felt good to be out in the sun again, and I definitely plan on returning to this area one weekday morning after the holidays to explore those 4.7 kilometers in greater detail."

And that day turned out to be less than 48 hours later, as I left home this morning at 8am in 9C (48F) weather to ride my scooter the 20 minutes or so to the Shihchung Kung (Shihjhong Gong) temple 石忠宮 in Shihkang (Shihgang) 石岡. As this was the first day back to work for most people following the Lunar New Year 旧正月 break (myself included, but not until the afternoon), I had the trails pretty much to myself, though the temple itself was surprisingly busy in the early morning. Even if the meteorological conditions were not as nice as on Sunday, the relatively clean air meant the views were just as good. I followed the walking trail up again to the "The divine tree of 'five blessings'" 五福臨門神木, only this time, instead of turning back round, I headed down another path that led to yet another what's-the-big-deal "tourist site". The formula is simple: build a wooden bridge that looks vaguely nostalgic, give it a romantic-sounding name like "Ch'ingjen Much'iao (Cingren Muciao)" ("Lover's Bridge" in English), add some rustic elements like a water wheel, throw in vendors, KTV's カラオケ and games for kids, then sit back and watch the punters pour in on the weekends. Voila! Instant sightseeing spot! No surprise, however, that hardly anybody was there on a chilly weekday morning.

And that, my friends, is what really matters on these morning sojourns.

Exploring New Trails

Yesterday was bitterly cold (by Taiwanese standards), so it was a pleasant surprise that today turned out to be relatively nice. The temperature was warmer, the wind had died down and, miracle of miracles, the sun came out! With nothing special planned for this day anyway, and not wanting to let this rare break in the bad weather go to waste, I set out to explore two local trails I had been wanting to check out for a while.

The first one was a set of stone steps leading down from the bus stop in front of the Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原 golf course. I parked my scooter at the bottom of the hill in Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Park 中正公園, and walked up to the start of the steps. Going down the trail, there were decent views of Fengyuan off to the side, but none of the photos I took really turned out very well, due to poor lighting conditions (and perhaps an unskilled photographer). The trail came out in a typical drab neighborhood of concrete and corrugated tin houses. Actually, there was one attractive Japanese-era 日本統治時代 wooden home on the street, but as someone was standing directly in front of it as I was walking by, I didn't feel like drawing any more attention to myself than I was already doing by stopping to take a photo. It was a boring walk back to my scooter, and I doubt I'll bother with this route again anytime soon.

I got the idea for the second place I visited from Michael Turton's December 23, 2007, entry on his blog The View from Taiwan, entitled "Adventures in the Borderlands". On that day, Michael and a friend of his rode out to a temple located in Shihkang (Shihgang) 石岡, and explored a walking trail next to it. I knew where the temple, called Shihchung Kung (Shihjhong Gong) 石忠宮, was located, but I wasn't aware there were hiking trails in the area, so after leaving Chung-cheng Park, I headed straight for the temple and found the start of the trail Michael went on. According to a map at the foot of the wooden steps leading up past the temple, there is a network of trails to walk on, totaling 4.7 kilometers (2.9 miles) in length.

The trail wasn't much of a challenge, but the views looking out over Shihkang, and towards Tungshih (Dongshih) 東勢 were great, and got better the higher the trail rose. Along the route were several viewing platforms 展望台. Much sooner than I expected, the top was reached at what the Taichung County Tourist Guide calls "The divine tree of 'five blessings'" 五福臨門神木:

"Formed by a camphor tree クスノキ, a Taiwan acacia アカシア, a banyan ガジュマル, a Chinese hackberry tree and a cedar ヒマラヤスギ属, the unique big 'tree' was given its well-known name, 'five blessings' by former president Jing Guo Jiang (Shō Keisoku) 蒋経国."

It came as something of a letdown, because I had driven here once several years ago with Pamela, and I can tell you it's one of those non-sights all too common in Taiwan. With the introduction of the five-day workweek a few years ago, and the resulting leisure industry boom, a number of these waste-of-time tourist traps have been pitched at a population with more free time on its hands, and desperate for places to visit as a result. Throw the Lunar New Year 旧正月 holiday into the mix, and you've got even more people than usual out to see the tree and walk the trails (along with vendors and karaoke カラオケ). Without sticking around long, I headed back down towards the temple and my parked scooter.

Oh well. It felt good to be out in the sun again, and I definitely plan on returning to this area one weekday morning after the holidays to explore those 4.7 kilometers in greater detail.

Dam it!

There is a bicycle trail that runs through Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原, connecting the city with Houli 后里 at one end, and with Tungshih (Dongshih) 東勢 at the other. For a long time I've wanted to check it out, but I've been waiting until Amber was old enough to go with us. Now that she's 18 months old, I figured the time was right, and as Sunday was relatively cool in the late afternoon, I thought there was no better time to go, so we set off after 4 in search of a place that rents bikes. Finding such an establishment was no problem, as in true Taiwanese fashion it seems there is little regulatory control over such businesses (or at least permits are generously granted). Getting the right bicycle, on the other hand, was a big problem. It turned out that the three-wheelers we were hoping to rent (the kind where dad sits in front and does all the work, while mom and baby get to relax in the backseat and enjoy the ride) are not allowed out on the trails on weekends, due to the higher density of bike traffic. It's a rule that actually makes sense, but as the only alternative was a tandem bike with a child's seat in between, we decided to wait until Amber gets much bigger before going out on the trails with her.

So with nothing else to do on a late Sunday afternoon, we drove over to the neighboring township of Shihkang (Shihgang) 石岡. The only thing Shihkang is noted for is a small dam, which was badly damaged in the Sept. 21, 1999 Chichi (Jiji) Earthquake 集集大地震. At the time it looked like this. It has since been repaired, of course, and today looks like this:

 

石岡ダム

The area around the dam has been converted into a park, and it's possible to walk across the structure to the other side, which we did. On the way, I took a picture of this bird, which was looking for fish.

At the end of the dam, on the opposite side from where we parked, a section of the damaged span has been preserved. I'm glad this has been done, as these things shouldn't be forgotten. I was also happy that Amber was enjoying herself, which after all is the only thing that matters on these weekend outings.