Fried on 'shrooms

I've been scanning the skies all day, but I still haven't seen any flying pigs. The weather forecast on TV says nothing about snowstorms in Hell. And yet something is different in this world. The China Post newspaper ran an editorial in today's edition that is, dare it be said, "even handed", "levelheaded", "insightful", nay even "rational". The piece in question, Makiyo case gives us no right to waiver in xenophobia fight, hasn't been posted on the newspaper's website yet (Update: click here), but here are some of its salient points:

(in reference to the group of taxi drivers who protested in front of the Japan Interchange Association 財団法人交流協会 demanding an apology for a "Japanese national beating up a Taiwanese person in his country")

What grounds did these drivers think they had for picketing the JIA? The next time a Taiwanese person commits a crime in Japan, should the Taiwanese authorities apologize? When a government commits an illegal or offensive act, governments and civic groups have the right to protest. But individual actions by individual citizens are just that. Protesting the Japanese government's handling of claims by former "comfort women" 慰安婦 is valid; connecting the Japanese representative office to the alleged assault perpetrator Takateru Tomoyori is not.

It's hard not to view the protest in front of the JIA as an expression of xenophobia. There were also hints of anti-Japanese sentiment on news sites, blogs or on social media sites where people made statements that strayed perilously close to racism; some comments crossed the line completely.

It should be remembered that hardly a week goes by in Taiwan without a news story about some alcohol-fueled dispute that turns violent. Our nation has plenty of thugs and gangsters as well as plenty of ignorant or even evil people. This is true across the world, in every country on the planet.

The editorial then notes that about 200 Japanese expatriates living in Taiwan have raised around NT100,000 ($3380) in a fundraising campaign for the taxi driver who was assaulted:

These Japanese people living in Taiwan are not connected to the offender in any way, and are not by virtue of being Japanese collectively guilty. But their generous actions should help demonstrate that there are kind individuals in every society, just as the alleged attacker's senseless violence demonstrates that there are uncivilized people in every society.

Whenever racism or xenophobia rears its ugly head it must be confronted and denounced. The fact cannot be overstated: the actions of Takateru Tomoyori have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he is Japanese.

Wow. What is happening at The China Post? Has its editorial board finally realized that we are in the 21st century, that the Sino-Japanese War 中國抗日戰爭 has been over for 77 years and that Taiwan is part of a worldwide community and not merely an extension of Greater China 大中華地區? Or is the editorial an aberration, with the paper returning to business as usual in future editions? We'll have to wait and see.

This commentary should, in theory, persuade my female fan club (consisting of exactly one member) that xenophobia in Taiwan is not the sole possession of a group of Democratic Progressive Party 民主進步黨 supporters living in the southern part of the island (of whom she labels as "hicks" in a misunderstanding of the meaning of the word in its American context). I doubt it will have much of an effect, however.

Which brings to us to mushrooms. This afternoon, as usual, I headed to the hills of Dà​kēng 大坑 to do some walking. This time, though, I took a different way from my usual routes. Approaching the area from the rear (via Zhōng​xīng 中興), I parked my scooter at the No. 5 trailhead. However, instead of taking that path, I walked up an access road that eventually joined the staircase that runs along the top of the ridge. The sky wasn't as clear as it was yesterday, but the Central Mountain Range 中央山脈 could still be seen in the distance:

I walked along the ridgetop until the path reached the junction where it meets the No. 3 Trail. However, instead of taking a right and descending the No. 3, I took a left, which led to a paved road that wound its way downhill in the direction of Xīn​shè 新社. After a few minutes, the path passed by the Celestial Holy Mother 天上聖母 Temple, which offered more views of the mountains on the other side:

In all the years I've been tramping around these hills, the main hall of the temple has remained the only part of the complex with any ornamentation. The rest of the temple buildings continue on in a rough concrete state of limbo, hinting perhaps of difficulties in raising funds to complete construction. In any event, the lighting for taking pictures was much better from the rear than it was from the front:

Continuing down the lane, I passed by a number of buildings covered in black wrappings. Xīn​shè is noted locally its mushrooms, and the dark conditions are ideal for their cultivation:

Eventually, the lane came to the main road, with the choice of turning right for the hot spring town of Gǔguān 谷關, or going left and heading back in the direction of Taichung 台中, Fēng​yuán 豐原 and Dōng​shì 東勢. As if there were any choice in the matter. Before turning I passed by some cherry trees in early bloom 櫻花:

The road leading back toward Taichung was surprisingly busy for a non-holiday Tuesday afternoon...surprising, that is, until I remembered that today is Valentine's Day. Sure enough, there were a lot of young couples out for a drive (as well as other things that shall be left unmentioned). The road was lined with mushroom vendors selling their, ahem, suggestive food items:

In the end, I gave in to temptation, and bought a packet of fried mushrooms for NT50 ($1.70) from a small roadside eatery to munch on during the walk back to my parked scooter:

And that was how I spent my Valentine's Day - alone in the mountains. But don't feel sorry for me - my daughter this evening presented me with a lovely handmade card that read "For Amber's favorite Daddy", which is definitely the best gift any father could want on Feb. 14.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Further clarification

Today's Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ has the Kyōdō News 共同通信社 account on the apparent end to the case of the tragic murders of two Taiwanese students last week:

A 30-year-old Taiwanese man wanted on suspicion of fatally stabbing two female students from Taiwan at their apartment in Tōkyō's 東京 Taitō Ward 台東区 on Thursday has committed suicide in Nagoya 名古屋, police said Monday.

Chang Chih-yang 張志揚, who had been missing since Thursday, slashed his throat with a knife while being taken in for questioning by police, Tōkyō police said.

Questions are being asked as to why the police failed to search and handcuff Chang before taking him into custody, but for all intents and purposes, his death brings this terrible episode to its sad conclusion.

Today was a glorious one weather-wise, which only added to the disappointment I felt when I discovered I wouldn't be able to get in one final hike before our departure to the U.S. this Friday. I had intended on doing a loop along Trails 5, 2 and 3 by approaching from the Zhongxingling 中興嶺 area, a ridge located behind the Dakeng 大坑 mountain region. To my bitter surprise, however, the narrow lane leading to the No. 5 trailhead was pretty much impassable due to some road surfacing work. Instead of the chance of trying out a new hiking/walking route, I had to content myself with riding my scooter around the top of the ridge. At least the scenery made up for some of the frustration I was feeling.

The mountain in the background is the one traversed by Dakeng trails 1-5.

Looking down on the mushroom farms of Xinshe 新社

The Central Mountain Range  中央山脈 looks large in the background

A road sign pointed the way to a "Radio Station", so I duly followed. The signs outside indicated the complex belonged to Chunghwa Telecom 中華電信, but the camouflaged antenna suggested something else. I wasn't sure about the legality of taking pictures of the site. If it is illegal to have done so, I'll save the government the time and trouble of tracking me down - it was me. I did it.

The power of pork - a new, expensive-looking and unused pedestrian bridge spanning a dry riverbed, in an expansive area filled with vacant lots and roads with little vehicle traffic.

On the back roads of Dakeng

This afternoon I took a ride on my scooter past the mountains of Dà​kēng​ 大坑 and into the hamlets of Chūng​hsīng​lǐng​ 中興嶺 and Hsīn​shè 新社​. While exploring, I found two back roads leading up to rear of the hiking trails - one that takes you right to the start of the 5-1 spur trail, and the other to the spot where the No. 3 joins the ridgetop No. 5 Trail. These new (to me) routes would certainly save a lot of hiking time, but as I relish the challenge of climbing up from the bottom (call me a traditionalist), I'll stay with the longer trails that I know best.

It's surprising how close the city of Tái​chūng 臺中​ is to the mountains. In less than 40 minutes of riding from Tūng​shān​ Road 東山路, I'd left the urban area far behind, and found myself facing the central mountains. On weekends, this area can be busy with Sunday drivers, but on this Tuesday afternoon I had the roads to myself most of time. It wasn't too difficult to figure out what the main cash crop (and tourist lure) was up there:

Despite being relatively far from the ocean, there was a surprising number of boats, and boat-related "objects", to be seen:

In addition to farms (leisure and otherwise), there were spas, restaurants and cafes, "homestays" (mín​sù​ 民宿), campgrounds, plum blossom viewing spots and military bases. I probably shouldn't have mentioned the last, but oh well...

The scenery was striking in several places, but unfortunately the haziness of this afternoon prevented the views from being as magnificent as they could (and should) have been:

My time was limited this afternoon, and there were plenty of interesting-looking side roads to explore, so no doubt I'll be back.

Speaking of being back, in central Tái​chūng (hey, it's all one big city now!), I took these photos of action Japanese:

A factory making miso 味噌, the traditional Japanese seasoning.

This odd poster on the wall of a gas station is from the city's Hsī​t'ún​​ District 西屯區 officials, urging the citizens to keep the area clean. For some strange reason, they give the Japanese pronunciations of several characters, presumably as part of a catchy slogan, though with a couple of errors: 清掃 should be "seisou" (""seisō"), while the reading of 教養 is "kyoyo" ("kyōyō").

 

 

(Above) The English promises a world of ecstasy, but the Japanese merely welcomes you to come in and shop; (Below) It's strong! It's new! It's now selling!

It isn't just language that's employed to make a store or business appear cooler. Sometimes place names are utilized, as in the example above. Omotesandō 表参道 is an upscale shopping district in Tōkyō 東京.

Trapped like a tourist

If there is one thing that Taiwanese are good at, it's setting traps for tourists. The formula is simple but deadly: first, create an attraction free of charge to bring in the hordes, then lure them into a web of food stands, souvenir stalls and carnival rides. Once ensnared, the helpless victims are slowly nickel-and-dimed to death, with wallets slowly being emptied as stomachs are filled with snack foods and sweetened drinks, and children are plied with toys and games. And all this is set to a soundtrack produced by thousands of people all milling about in the same shared space. If this sounds like your idea of an enjoyable Sunday outing, you'll love Taiwan. As for a cynical curmudgeon like myself, even I have to admit it can be fun...at times.

Today's tourist trap trip was to the "Floral Sea", the best way I can translate from the Mandarin "haihua" 花海, in the town of Hsinshe 新社. This was the same ocean of flowers that I had seen from my lofty perch in the mountains of Tak'eng back on Tuesday (you see the photograph here). At the time, I congratulated myself for not having gone there the previous weekend, when the crowds would have been thick, but today I wasn't laughing. My wife wanted to see the flowers, the weather was perfect (still warm for the end of November - you can't complain about sub-tropical climates), and so we battled the traffic for close to an hour before finally reaching a parking lot close to the entrance. Once inside, it was a long walk through the different flower fields to where the food action was (the real reason Pamela, and many of her compatriots, wanted to go there today!). The colors from the various sections of sunflowers, cosmos, begonias and many others were certainly pleasing to the eye:

My daughter took a few pictures, which have been posted on her blog. For a child's-eye perspective on the world of flora, go here or click on the "Amber's Photo Journal" link over on the right-side of this page.

I also made a short panorama from the middle of the flower fields. The mountains that can be seen in the distance at the end of the clip are the ones I often go hiking in on Tuesdays.

Even amid the flowers, there were people selling balloons, ice cream and soap for blowing bubbles. Amber's cheaply-made, but not cheaply-priced, Dora the Explorer balloon didn't last very long, but she didn't seem to mind. It was fun while it lasted:

At the end of the fields were the stalls - lots and lots of them, selling all manner of foods and drinks, plus farm produce and toys and trinkets for the kiddies. There were also carnival rides, and Amber enjoyed a spin on a merry-go-round before we sat down for lunch. But food was the main draw for the throngs walking about. Hsinshe's culinary claim to fame is deep fried mushrooms, which draw thousands to the area on weekends. They're very tasty - unfortunately the same couldn't be said for the greasy noodles I had as well:

Amber came away from the stall area the proud possessor of a traditional toy known called a "chuch'an", or "bamboo cicada" 竹蟬. When twirled around, it mimics the sound of a cicada, as Amber demonstrates:

After lunch, we walked around some more, with plenty of photo ops to be taken advantage of among the flowers, and in a nearby hay field, before returning to the car:

Unsurprisingly, traffic was slow on the drive back to Fengyuan 豐原, so we stopped in Shihkang 石岡 to visit a rice husking barn that dates from 1942. There wasn't much to see inside apart from some old hullers, but it was free, and with the exception of a very quiet cafe adjacent to the wooden building, devoid of any commercial activity. No wonder there were only a handful of visitors.