Walking the cycling trail in Nisui 二水のサイクリングコースを散歩していた

As it turned out, the Kuomintang's (Guomindang) 中国国民党 victory in yesterday's legislative elections was even bigger than expected - the KMT came away with 81 of the 113 seats. Could this herald the first step in the march toward the creation of a Taiwan Special Administrative Region 台湾特別行政区? God, let's hope not.

I'm not a believer in omens, but it somehow seemed appropriate that the warm, sunny weather we had been having up until yesterday, became overcast, with rain at times, from this morning. Nevertheless, the Kaminoge family pressed ahead with our plan to visit the small town of Erhshui (Ershuei) 二水, in the southeastern corner of Changhua (Jhanghua) County 彰化県. Both "The Rough Guide to Taiwan" and "Lonely Planet Taiwan" recommend Erhshui as a destination due to its cycling course, and its position as the starting point for the scenic Chichi (Jiji) Line 集集線 branch railway. Our original plan was to have taken a train from Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原 to Erhshui, and then rent some kind of tandem bike to use on the bicycle trail. In the end, however, logistical problems (namely, finding a parking spot in downtown Fengyuan for the day, and carrying a stroller on and off a train) led us to drive to Erhshui, and then walk a portion of the bikeway, rather than rent something that could be dangerous for Amber to ride on.

We began by parking our car near Erhshui Station. Following lunch in town, we walked to the start of the sightseeing bicycle route, passing a small train museum along the way.

The route is very easy to follow, and is well-signposted in English. However, it wasn't quite as beautiful as I had imagined it to be, judging by what I had read in both Taiwan guidebooks. The scenery did start to improve, though, the further on we walked. The trail parallels the train tracks for virtually its entire length, and trains were constantly going by at close range. Unfortunately, both my camera and my fingers were too slow to get any really good shots.

Pamela isn't much into walking or rainy weather, so she soon decided to retreat back to the car, leaving me to push Amber along in her stroller. Our daughter, on the other hand, really seemed to enjoy all the scenery.

And the scenery did pick up as we moved along. There were fields of cosmos コスモス and rapeseed アブラナ, and a number of well-preserved traditional houses. Still, I think the views are probably better appreciated from the seat of a moving bicycle than from a slow-moving gait.

The natural scenery was also nice. Amber was especially interested in some of the local insect life.

In the end, Amber and I walked/strolled for about 2 hours, going past the next stop on the Chichi Line, Yuanch'uan (Yuancyuan) 源泉 Station, and almost to the end of the route. It was getting late, however, and rather than walk all the way back to Erhshui, I called Pamela and asked her to pick us up at Yuanchuan. From there, we drove back home to Fengyuan.

Election Day 選挙の日

It's election day in Taiwan. Voting was held between 8am and 4pm for seats in the newly-revamped legislature 立法府, and ballot counting is already underway as I write this. My wife did her civic duty this afternoon at a local elementary school 小学校 in Shenkang (Shengang) 神岡, while my daughter and I took a walk through the school grounds. Today's online edition of the Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売 has an article on the elections depressingly entitled "Pro-China party leading Taiwan poll/Opposition Kuomintang may gain single-party majority in Saturday's election". The story begins by saying:

"Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party 中国国民党...has maintained a lead over the ruling Democratic Progressive Party 民主進歩党 in the run-up to Saturday's legislative election, raising the possibility it could scoop a single-party majority in the 113-seat parliament. The poll is viewed as an indication of the mood of the electorate just ahead of the island's presidential election scheduled for March. By criticizing the government's economic policy missteps and corruption, the KMT (Kuomintang/Guomindang) tapped into voter discontent with DPP President Chen Shui-bian's (Chin Suihen) 陳水扁 eight-year rule. The DPP is facing a tough campaign even in its traditional strongholds in the southern part of the island."

The article also provides an explanation of the new look in this round of balloting:

"For this election, (Taiwan) has introduced a system that combines single-seat constituencies with proportional representation, with the number of seats to be contested almost halved to 113 from the previous 225. The DPP set its victory or defeat bar at 45 seats, a number that represents about half of the 89 seats won by the party in the previous legislative election in 2004. However, some observers expect the party will not even reach 40 seats."

The KMT, smelling blood, has:

"...intensified its campaign in the central and southern parts of the island, where the so-called Taiwan natives, who commonly vote for the DPP, hold a majority, in an attempt to win the 57 seats needed to achieve a single-party majority."

In all likelihood, the KMT will gain an overwhelming majority in the new-look legislature, and the momentum may carry its presidential candidate, Ma Ying-jeou (Ba Eikyū) 馬英九, to victory in the presidential polls in March. If the voters of Taiwan want to put in power an authoritarian party with strong ties to gangsters 暴力団 that will work to end Taiwan's existence as an independent political entity, that's their business, and they can live with the consequences of their collective decision. However, at the first sign of a rollback in Taiwan's hard-earned democracy, and/or its deliverance into the clutches of the Chinese government (as long as the latter remains an authoritarian one-party dictatorship), I will take my family and get the hell out of Dodge.

Looking on the bright side of things, though, I did have the day off from work because of the election. In addition to going out to vote, we also stopped off at my in-laws' 姻せき home, where I took my daughter Amber to play at a nearby park. Here are some photographs I took while we were outside today:

I'm in love with this (what I'm guessing is an) old Japanese-era 日本統治時代 building. It sits on the property of a large supermarket called Mega that shut its doors a few months ago, so the fate of this building is probably doomed. I wish I could somehow raise the money to buy the structure and the land it sits on, and then restore it to its former glory, but unless I get lucky and win the lottery, that ain't gonna happen.

Amber sees what my Los Angeles Angels cap looks like on her grandmother おばあさん, and enjoys herself on a slide 滑り台 in the park.

I wrote about this building a long time ago, and received one of those cowardly anonymous comments that those who are not as confident in their views as they believe themselves to be like to leave on other people's blogs. In this case, it's a local outpost of Soka Gakkai International 創価学会. Back in October 2006 there was only one SG flag flying from the rooftop. Now there are about 11. It seems that both the political party and so-called "Buddhist" group I've really grown to despise over the years are unfortunately flourishing in Taiwan.

Finally, though, some good news. We have found a cat!

Pamela brought him home yesterday from a veterinarian 獣医 in T'aichung (Taijhong) 台中. He's six months old, and by coincidence, his birthday is the same date as our wedding anniversary. He's still feeling nervous about his new surroundings, and Amber has been a little too enthusiastic about the newest member of our family, but I'm sure he will quickly adjust. One thing we haven't settled on yet is his name. Pamela is calling him "Happy", from the Mandarin 中国語 words "Heip'i (Heipi)" 黒皮, or "Black skin". I, on the other hand, want to name him "Neko", which is the Japanese word for "cat" 猫. Amber, meanwhile, has been calling him "Cleo", because in her eyes, he looks like one of my parents' cats. Any suggestions are welcome!

Taiwan's Shinkansen in the news 台湾の新幹線

It's been one year since Taiwan's high speed rail network began operating, and the Daily Yomiuri has an article today on the milestone:

"The Taiwan High Speed Rail train, which started operating Jan. 5, 2007, connects Taipei 台北 in the north to Kaohsiung 高雄 in the south, and by the end of last year passenger numbers had exceeded 15.55 million."

Taiwan's venture into bullet trains has attracted some attention in Japan as this is the first time that Japan's shinkansen technology has been put into use outside the country (Japan also has its fair share of trainspotters). The article points out both the successes:

"...contrary to critics' expectations, there have been no major safety errors over the last year."

and the failures:

"...on a financial level, business is bad. Passenger numbers are about half the 110,000 to 120,000 customers needed each day to generate a profit. Potential patrons complain that the train's stations are too far from the city center and that fares are too high."

I would like to ride the shinkansen one of these days, but as the story indicates, the stations are not very convenient. The closest bullet train stop to Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原, for example, is in the small town of Wujih (Wurih) 烏日, outside the T'aichung (Taijhong) 台中 city limits. For us to go to T'aipei (Taibei), we would first have to take a train south to Wujih from Fengyuan, then transfer to a high-speed train for the trip north. There are shinkansen stations in Japan that are located out in the boonies, but for the most part, the connections by regular train and bus from such stops into the cities is smooth. This is most likely due to the fact that the bullet trains are part of the overall Japan Railways Group (JR). In Taiwan, the regular train service and the high speed rail are operated by separate companies in competition with each other: the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) 台湾鉄路管理局 for the former, and Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) 台湾高速鉄道 the latter. There is also the possibility that Taiwan just may be too compact for a shinkansen system to be profitable. Only time will tell.

Walking the Houfeng (Houfong) Bikeway 后豊サイクリングコース

Things have warmed up again after last week's cold snap. This, plus the continuing clear weather, and the fact that Amber has resumed her Monday water familiarization classes, led me to get out of the apartment this afternoon and go for a walk before my evening classes. Instead of heading to the familiar trails of Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Park 中正公園, I opted to go for a stroll along the Houfeng Bikeway. Last October, Amber, Pamela and I rented a bicycle (if you could call it that!), and rode the 9-kilometer (5.6-mile) round-trip route in about 90 minutes http://kaminoge.livejournal.com/50023.html. Today, on foot, it took me about 2 hours to go from Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原 to Houli 后里, and back to Fengyuan again. I was surprised at the number of cyclists out on a Monday afternoon, but it felt good to be out in the sunshine.

The start of the route is clearly signposted in English.

The "Iron Bridge Over Da-Jia Greek". I tried to make sense of the English wording on the sign, but you could say it was all Greek to me (rim shot).

Walking through Tunnel No. 9 wasn't as bad as I had expected. The lighting was decent, and I had the foresight to bring a flashlight along. It took about 20 minutes to walk from the tunnel entrance (just past the bridge) to the other end in Houli. Inside the tunnel are several pictures related to the train line that used to operate on this route. A couple of the displays had been taken from Japanese-language publications, and still had the Japanese captions beneath the photographs:

The wording under the photo on top reads セメント注入の準備（第九號隧道）or "Semento chūnyū no jumbi (Daikyūgō suidō)", which means "Preparation for cement injection (No. 9 Tunnel)", while the Japanese under the picture on the bottom says 抗門コンクリート施工中の第九號隧道北口 or "Kōmon konkuriito sekōchū no daikyūgō suidō kitaguchi", which can be translated into English as something like "Anti-gate concrete operations being carried out at the north entrance to the No. 9 Tunnel".

Emerging on the Houli side, I walked to the end of the trail. After a fruitless attempt at photographing trains going by on the newer west coast rail line, I retraced my steps back to Fengyuan, passing through the tunnel again, and crossing over the "Da-Jia Greek" via the iron bridge.

A paper mill 製糸工場 in the distant haze.

After returning to my scooter, I headed for home. On the way, I paused to take a couple of pictures of this Taoist temple 道観 called Taming Kung (Daming Gong) 大明宮. The only thing of note about this temple is that my mother-in-law 義理の母 often helps out here on auspicious days.

A walk through Miaotung (Miaodong) 廟東で歩いていた

Miaodong video 1

Miaodong video 2

I took these videos a few months ago, but only now just got around to posting them on my page at Veoh. Miaotung is a narrow street adjacent to Fengyuan's (Fongyuan) 豊原 main Matsu (Mazu) 媽祖 temple, and is full of small food stands. On weekday evenings and weekends, the street can be packed with people (Miaotung is probably Fengyuan's one and only claim to fame among the Taiwanese populace). The film quality isn't that good, and the images are shaky at times (I was holding the digital camera in the palm of my hand in a feeble attempt at surreptitious filming), but they do give you an idea of how crowded and noisy things can get in a small Taiwanese city (and this was taken before the evening dinner rush).

Happy New Year from the T'anyashen (Tanyashen) Bikeway 潭雅神サイクリングコース (or Walking Part 2)

あけましておめでとうございます。

I'm normally busy on Thursday mornings, but the student I usually teach during that time was occupied this week. So I used the unexpected free time that I had (not to mention the clear skies and relatively warmer temperatures today) to complete my walk of the Tanyashen Bikeway.

I began by riding my scooter direct to the old Shenkang (Shengang) 神岡 train station, a 15-minute drive from my apartment. After parking the scooter, I began by walking towards T'antzu (Tanzih) 潭子, and the temple where I turned back on my previous walk on this trail. It felt good to be out in the crisp, winter morning air.

Along the way, I passed by a new-looking house that seemed to hark back to Japanese colonial-era architectural styles, and a small enclosure that contained a sleeping pig and two ostriches ガチョウ. I also walked under the tracks to Taiwan's High Speed Rail 台湾高速鉄道 , the local version of the Shinkansen 新幹線. Several trains passed by in both directions during the 2 hours I was out walking this morning. It took only 15 minutes to reach the temple, whereupon I then turned around and headed back to Shenkang. From there, I started the walk towards the end of Tanyashen Bikeway, the old rail station in Taya (Daya) 大雅, 3.6 kilometers (2.2 miles) from Shenkang .

There were a few cyclists and walkers out on the trail in the middle of the morning, but the road was empty most of the time. The rapeseed アブラナ fields were a pleasant site, especially with all the butterflies flitting about.

At one point in the town of Taya, the bikeway crosses a busy street and then enters an old neighborhood. Here, bicycles have to share the narrow road with cars, scooters and residents. Fortunately, things were very quiet this morning, with the exception of the air force jets coming in for landings overhead. The noise was deafening. I tried to get some pictures of the low-flying planes, but my camera was just too slow. On the other hand, I did get a shot of a cat that wasn't going anywhere fast, just sunning itself on the seat of a scooter. Cats have been a bone of contention recently in the Kaminoge household. Ever since our old friend Chiou-chiou passed away last November, I have been wanting to get a new cat. In fact, I was hoping we could find one as soon as we got back from the States, but one month after our return, we are still a feline-less home. I had a line a couple of weeks ago on what I thought was an adorable black kitten with white paws, but my wife put the kibosh on that at the last minute, saying she wanted an all-black cat. I suspect superstition was involved, as cats and dogs with black bodies and white feet are considered unlucky in Taiwan, but Pamela denies that was the reason for her rejection of the kitten. In any event, she who must be obeyed has decided that we must wait until after the Lunar New Year 旧正月 before getting another cat.

Eventually I reached the terminus of the bike path. Here, a section of the old track has been left in place. On the platform marking the site of the old Taya station, someone was drying something that appeared to be daikon ダイコン, though I couldn't be too sure. I guess some people take "public property" literally.

 

On the way back to Shenkang and my scooter, I made a brief detour to walk through an adjacent cemetery. Some bemused obasans rode by, campaigning for a local Democratic Progressive Party 民主進歩党 candidate.

Back at the old Shenkang station, I managed to get a picture of a bullet train speeding by (look closely and you can see it), before getting on my scooter and going home. I can now scratch another bike trail off my list of routes to explore on foot.

Catching Up with Steve in Tanshi

This last Sunday of 2007 turned out to be bright, but chilly. Winter, it seems, has finally arrived (as I write this, the thermometer in our bedroom reads 12 degrees centigrade, or 54 F. This might not sound very cold, but Taiwanese apartments are all concrete and tile.) I spent a few hours in the late morning and early afternoon catching up with Steve, who despite living not far away in T'aichung (Taijhong) 台中, is someone I don't get to see as often as I should. I met up with him in front a McDonald's in Taichung, and drove from there to T'antzu (Tanjih) 潭子, a rural town of about 100,000 people (!) sandwiched between Taichung and Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原. Our plan was to see the sights of Tantzu while catching up on recent developments in our respective lives, but it quickly became apparent that there isn't a helluva lot to see there, and as things turned out, the only spot we visited was a temple, the T'anshui (Tanshuei) Pavilion 潭水亭. Dating from 1801 (though the buildings are of more recent vintage), it's fairly representative of what you find in Taiwan, and not worth making any special efforts to see. Afterwards, we returned to Taichung (via a quick stop at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium 臺中市洲際棒球場). It was far from an exciting day, but it was still great to see an old friend again.

 

(Upcoming legislative elections explain the campaign truck parked out front)