The Moon Festival

We're in the midst of a three-day weekend, thanks to the lunar Moon Festival holiday 中秋節 falling on a Monday this year, and the Kaminoge family returned home several hours ago from an overnight trip up north. We left early in the afternoon on Saturday, and eventually made our way to Nanliao 南寮. With the exception of Kaohsiung 高雄, all the major and minor cities on Taiwan's west coast are well inland, away from the ocean. The city of Hsinchu 新竹 is no exception. Though a part of the city, Nanliao seems like a distant world from the hustle and bustle of downtown Hsinchu. The city's tourism officials have only recently woken up to the possibilities lying along the shore just a short drive from the city center, with a 17-kilometer (10.6 miles) long cycling course having been laid out along the coast. Our first stop was at a beach not far from the Nanliao port:

Things were a little bit windy...

...but the water was warm:

After looking for shells and harassing crabs, we drove to Nanliao port, where many kites were being flown in the late afternoon sky:

Amber commandeered the camera, and took several pictures...

...including some self-portraits:

My daughter is turning into quite the confident photog. You can see several more of her pictures on her photo blog.

Being at a fishing port, dinner was inevitably seafood. Here is Amber pointing to some future dishes inside the market building:

By the time we were finished with dinner, the sun had gone down, and darkness had descended upon the area. Our plan was to stay the night nearby, though we didn't have any reservations with any hotels. Not a problem, however, as we drove into the center of Hsinchu. It wasn't too long before my wife started following a sign for the Wego Motel, located just off of Chungcheng Road 中正路. Pulling up to the office, we were taken aback to discover that the cost for a night there was NT4000 ($140/¥10,650). The Wego is what is known as a "boutique motel". These are basically upmarket versions of the Japanese love hotel ラブホテル, and have taken off in popularity in recent years. Pamela has always wanted to stay in one, and seeing her chance, decided to damn the torpedoes price-wise, and go full speed ahead. I've been to love hotels in Japan and motels in Taiwan (high five!), but the Wego was the first multi-story kind for me - eight floors in total. Like a parking garage, we drove in ascending circles to our room on the third floor, where we parked the car in the garage there, and checked out our room and bath:

Admittedly, it wasn't exactly the kind of family motel I was used to back in the States, but Amber was thankfully too young to feel anything but excitement at the springy bed and large bath. And she must have been excited, because in the early morning hours she kicked me in her sleep and pushed out of the bed and onto the floor.

In the morning, we took the elevator to the top floor, and had breakfast with the fornicators, plus a family of four. Afterward, seeing as we didn't have to checkout until 11am, Pamela decided she wanted to get her NT4000-worth, so she and Amber took a bubble bath together. I used to opportunity to go for a walk in central Hsinchu. It didn't take long to find Peimen Street 北門街, one of Hsinchu's first commercial streets, lined with buildings dating from the Japanese period 台灣日治時期. Most of the shops were still closed, or just getting ready to open, as I walked down the street. Among the ones that I stopped to check out were this puppet shop...

and this establishment dealing in traditional Chinese medicine 中藥:

Near the end of the road was Ch'anghe Temple 長和宮, dating from 1742:

I went inside, and checked out the main hall...

...and a side shrine called Shuihsien Temple 水仙宮:

Back on Beimen Street, I followed the road to almost the end of the street, where several old homes were still standing, though some just barely. This house is called the Cheng Family Shrine 鄭氏家廟:

Returning the way I came on Beimen Street, I paid a brief call on Hsinchu's most famous temple, Ch'enghuang Temple 城隍廟, barely visible behind a ring of food stalls:

Another temple, another main hall:

Eventually, I made it back to the Wego Motel, where Amber and Pamela had finished their morning bubble bath. After checking out, we drove out of Hsinchu and traveled southeast, eventually reaching the "old town" of Peip'u 北埔. Taiwan is full of such historic places. Unfortunately, much of the history has been squeezed out in the name of tourism, leaving behind only an outer shell of restaurants and souvenir stores. Beimen Street in Hsinchu is still a living, breathing commercial road. Beipu, unfortunately, has been reconfigured to fit the needs of the tourist hordes. Still, when in Taiwan, do as the Taiwanese, so we took a stroll through the older section of the town:

Lunch was at a restaurant serving Hakka cuisine 客家菜 such as pant'iao fried noodles. This place wasn't my first choice - that had been reserved for the establishment next door which, according to my Bradt Taiwan guidebook, served "local beer". I took this to mean some kind of microbrew/craft beer, but to my disappointment, "local" meant Taiwan Beer 台灣啤酒. Taiwan's equivalent of Budweiser or Miller isn't worth waiting in line for, which is why we headed to this place:

Somewhat artificial it may be, there are still some interesting buildings in Beipu that were worth checking out, such as Tz'ut'ien Temple 慈天宮, a Hakka house of worship that was established in 1830:

The main hall of the temple:

In the streets surrounding the temple, there were old buildings that had been turned into teahouses:

This building is an old meeting hall built around the same time as Citian Temple, called Chinkuangfu  金廣福:

Beipu''s most impressive structure is, ironically, a Japanese-style Western-influenced building. Here is Amber posing with her newly-purchased dolphin balloon in front of the 1940's A-Hsin Chiang Residence 姜阿新宅:

A typical weekend scene in one of Taiwan's "atmospheric" streets of yore:

We soon bade the hordes of architectural enthusiasts farewell, and began the long, leisurely drive Highway 3 台3線 to home. We made one stop along the way, at Emei Lake 峨眉湖. The lake itself is nothing special to look at, but overlooking the water was this statue of the Maitreya Buddha 彌勒大佛:

At 72 meters (236 feet), this statue, along with the colossal Maitreya Monastery 聖地建築, were impossible to miss, despite being closed off to public access.

Tomorrow being a public holiday, I have one more day to sleep in (Daddy says "please", Amber) before returning to work on Tuesday. I haven't decided what to do yet, but whatever it turns out to be, I hope it will be relaxing.

Follow the lights

Recently, one of the roads near my apartment buildings has seen a long string of red lanterns strung up along one side of it. Out of curiosity this evening on my way home from work, I followed the lights to see where they led. After passing through a brightly lit arch...

...I followed the lanterns (now lining both sides of the street) to this brightly-illuminated temple located near the No. 1 Freeway 中山高速公路:

It seems every twenty years, certain Taoist temples 宮觀 will hold festivals to celebrate...something.

Not seeing the (warning) light, apparently, is the Japanese government, according to this translated article from the Yomiuri Shimbun 読売新聞 ("Taiwan to make factory complex for small, midsize Japan firms", Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売):

"Taiwan has decided to develop its first industrial complex exclusively for small and midsize Japanese companies in a bid to learn from their technical strengths, according to sources.

Interpreters will be stationed at the complex, and local authorities will allow Japanese businesses to complete administrative procedures at one place and develop a comfortable living environment for Japanese workers, the sources said.

Taiwan also will help Japanese companies hook up with local companies and advise them on new business opportunities.

Many Asian countries and regions are looking for ways to team up with Japanese companies to improve the competitiveness of their own firms.

These opportunities will make it easier for many Japanese small and midsize firms, which are currently being buffeted by the super-strong yen and electricity shortages, to venture into overseas markets. However, it also could accelerate the hollowing-out of domestic industries, according to observers.

Christina Liu, who heads Taiwan's Council for Economic Planning and Development 經濟建設委員會, announced the decision about the industrial complex during a recent visit to Japan.

The complex's location has been decided, and the area will open as soon as roads and other infrastructure are completed.

At the end of August, Taiwan sent about 230 delegates from the public and private sectors to Tōkyō 東京 and Ōsaka 大阪 in a massive push to encourage Japanese companies to set up shop in the complex.

Taiwan's effective corporate tax rate is only 17 percent, far less than Japan's about 40 percent. Wages in Taiwan are said to be about 30 percent of those in Japan, which also would help companies cut production costs.

In addition, Taiwan has signed an economic cooperation framework agreement--effectively a free trade agreement--with China. Expanding into Taiwan could be a stepping stone for Japanese companies hoping to enter China's gigantic market."

As I write this, the yen is trading at roughly ￥77.35 to the dollar. Under the postwar Bretton Woods system, the yen was pegged at ￥360 to $1. The first time I went to Japan, in the winter of 1989, the rate was 124. If Japan's policymakers can't find a way to mitigate the effects of the strong yen 円高, the loss of manufacturing jobs could very well be Taiwan's gain.

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.

Monkey businesss

The view from my daughter's room this morning. Before you get all gushy about the sight of the egrets in the rice fields, keep in mind that just out of the picture frame to the right there is a factory belonging to a biotechnology company.

Japan Today has noticed that Seedig Bale, the upcoming film about the Wushe Incident 霧社事件, the last major uprising against Japan's colonial rule of Taiwan, has been getting a lot of attention on this island ("Film on uprising against Japan gets rare honor in Taiwan"):

"Taiwanese director Wei Te-sheng 魏德聖 will lead scores of aboriginal actors to attend a gala premiere in T'aipei 台北 of his historical epic 'Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale' 賽德克‧巴萊.

The epic about a 1930 aboriginal uprising against Taiwan’s Japanese rulers is currently up for best feature film at the Venice Film Festival.

The Taipei  premiere will be held Sunday at a square facing the Presidential Office Building 總統府 in honor of the island’s first epic film production in decades.

Speaking to reporters in Venice, Wei said the film’s nomination shows 'arts and culture can have a greater power than politics.'

The comments are seen as a mild criticism over the Venice festival’s listing of the film as coming from Taiwan, China — a reference that makes the self-governed, democratic island seem like it comes under Beijing’s rule."

"Mild" is the operating word here. There is no logical reason at all for the film festival organizers to insist that Taiwan be identified as "Taiwan, China", or that only flags of nations with which Italy has diplomatic relations can be displayed in Venice. Unless, that is, you accept that caving in to Chinese pressure is a "logical" act. It would be great if Taiwan's stars (musicians, actors, filmmakers and so on) could stand together and speak with one voice in condemning these ridiculous demands from China, but their reactions are rarely strongly-worded, and many meekly compromise rather than risk Beijing's ire. It's understandable, of course, why they do so - Taiwan is a small country, with correspondingly small rewards, while China offers so much more, as the gateway to the Greater China market. Which is perhaps why Wei chose to complete his film about the Wushe Incident following the runaway success of Cape No. 7 海角七號. The latter movie dared to portray World War Two-era Japanese as sympathetic human beings and not imperialistic warmongers, and its release in China was first delayed, and then shown with some scenes censored. It wouldn't be surprising if Seediq Bale is much more warmly received by the Chinese authorities.

Here in Taiwan, the reactionary China Post newspaper 英文中國郵報 has certainly been looking forward to the film's release, and tonight's showing in the square opposite the building where President Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 of the Kuomintang 國民黨 works smacks of cynicism. A couple of years ago, when the KMT was the opposition party, a large banner of the Wushe Incident leader Mona Rudao was hung from the party headquarters building in Taipei. Though it is doubtful that Mona Rudao was fighting to liberate his people from Japanese rule in order to help "reunite" Taiwan with the Chinese "motherland", that hasn't stopped the Chinese Nationalists from trying to co-opt him in order to make themselves appear more "Taiwanese". Perhaps Wei's next film could be about aborigines struggling to preserve their culture in the face of post-1945 KMT Sinicization efforts.

Meanwhile, here in the real world, the Kaminoge family spent the afternoon in T'aichung's 台中 Tak'eng 大坑 area, first to check out an "alternative" elementary school for Amber (she'll start first grade next year - more on that in future blog posts)...:

Amber on the school grounds

...and then to visit what the Mandarin signs called a "Monkey Area" 猴區. There, we saw a lot of Formosan Macaques 台灣獼猴 doing a lot of different things, such as drinking water...:

...checking themselves out in mirrors:

...grooming:

...eating:

...and swimming:

In short, there were a lot of macaques.

The great thing about the monkey area was that the macaques were not penned in. Instead, they are drawn to the area by free handouts of fruit, and we were fortunate in that we arrived there just in time for their evening feeding. Once they had had their fill, the monkeys returned to the forest. In fact, we were told that there were fewer monkeys than usual today, because many of the others were deep in the mountains gorging themselves on longans 龍眼, which are currently in season, and which Amber also loves. While it is questionable to bait the macaques with food in order to bring them into close contact with people, the operators of the monkey area do seem to be making a conscientious effort to prevent visitors from attempting to feed the macaques, and to keep the monkeys from getting too close to the tourists. The monkeys are free to roam their Dakeng homeland, and so far, at least, display little of the aggressiveness that the monkeys on Kaohsiung's 高雄 Ch'aishan 柴山 mountain are increasingly becoming infamous for.

My own little monkey certainly enjoyed herself today:

From a trilingual restaurant menu:

The Loud Side of the Moon

Despite the seemingly sour expression on my daughter's face, Amber found this "Water Flow Clock", located in front of the National Botanical Gardens 國立植物園 in T'aichung 台中 to be extremely fascinating. The two of us spent the afternoon playing Frisbee and catch on the grass there, with Amber using her bike to get around (hence the helmet).

The three biggest national holidays in Taiwan are the Chinese Lunar New Year 農曆新年; the Dragon Boat Festival 龍船節, held on the Fifth day of the Fifth lunar month; and the Moon Festival, aka the Mid-Autumn Festival中秋節, which falls on the Fifteenth day of the Eighth lunar month. This year, that date is on Monday, September 12, which means next weekend will be a three-day affair. However, it seems today many people have gotten a head start on the celebrations, despite the fact the moon in tonight's sky is still of the crescent variety. As I'm typing this, my apartment complex is holding a full-scale Moon Festival party outside our building, complete with barbecues, singing (karaoke 卡拉OK has to be the most unfortunate Japanese export), contests and, of course, noise. In Chinese culture generally, and in Taiwan specifically, nothing can ever be observed in a quiet manner. Next weekend is going to be much worse, however - all the firecrackers going off are going to make the landscape sound like a war zone, while all the barbecues will generate so much smoke that the moon will struggle to be seen. That is, if anyone ever bothers to look up at the sky during that time.

We passed by this temple procession on the way home this evening. Note the cloud of smoke being generated from exploding firecrackers.

I'm quite pleased with the way this photograph, taken from the roof of our apartment building after we got home, turned out.

Amber on the roof, checking out the party downstairs. And, no, that isn't a crucifix she's holding - it's an "airplane".

Random musings on a random Friday evening in Fengyuan

Even a typically ugly concrete-and-neon Taiwanese urban area such as Fengyuan 豐原 can sparkle for a few minutes in the twilight's last gleaming:

The local Pacific Department Store is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and nothing has been spared for the celebration. As I was walking by this evening, the street had been closed off, a stage had been erected and chairs had been set out for a free concert later in the evening:

And who was the big star lined up for the show? None other than Liu Ze Chen 劉子千. Who? The no-talent son of a well-known songwriter, whose video has become a local viral hit for all the wrong reasons. Yes, Fengyuan attracts all the stars'...offspring.

The writing is on the wall:

Your increased satisfaction fashion leader!

The Taiwanese people have been very generous donors in the wake of the triple disasters that affected Japan on March 11 東日本大震災, but the cynic in me suspects that the proceeds from the sale of this T-shirt won't be making their way up to the Tōhoku region 東北地方 anytime soon: