Morning Hike in Tak'eng (Dakeng) 大坑の朝のハイキング

I met up with Micheal this morning for a short hike in Takeng. We had a leisurely walk for a couple of hours, starting out on a short but steep road leading to a temple dedicated to Kuanyin (Guanyin), the Buddhist goddess of mercy (and of breakfasting hikers, judging by all the people there at 9 in the morning). From there, we walked up the No. 6 Trail, checked the progress of a new leisure spot being developed that promises fantastic views of the city of T'aichung (Taijhong) 台中, then took a narrow mountain road back down to ground level, passing several traditional-type homes on the way. The weather was on the hazy side, but at least the temperature was cool. Next time we'll have to tackle one of the more challenging routes in the Takeng area.

写真を見てください：

Back in the States, I could never imagine someone parking their car next to a religious icon. 観音様の隣で駐車した車

A temple in the distant haze. 遠い所にあった寺

マイケル

 

Old Taiwanese houses. 台湾の伝統的な家

Life goes on

The apartment seems a little emptier now that Chiou-chiou is gone. Amber has been looking for him, but at her age (21 months) she's too young to fully grasp what has taken place (good thing, too, because death is one topic I know I'm going to have to address with her someday, one of several future discussions I'm not looking forward to). We'll probably get a new cat after we get back from the States at the beginning of December, as I would like Amber to grow up around animals, especially felines.

This morning I took advantage of the sunshine to visit the Tak'eng (Dakeng) 大坑 area, and do a couple of hours of walking along the trails there. I don't know if it was a case of belated awareness brought on by the death of a beloved pet, but it just seemed there were more signs of life than usual in Takeng today.

R.I.P. Chiou-chiou

It is with great sadness that I must report that our beloved Chinchilla, Chiou-chiou 球ちゃん, has passed away. He apparently died in his sleep last night at the vet's. I'm not sure of his exact age, but the best guess is that he was close to 15 years old, so he was able to live a relatively long life. Poor Chiou-chiou never had an easy time of things in life - being a pure breed was no doubt one of the reasons he had so many health problems. He suffered from urinary tract problems as well as colitis 大腸炎, and during the last year of his life he lost his sight as well. Yet Chiou-chiou remained a friendly, loving animal throughout it all. He was even able to experience life in another country, having accompanied us to Yokkaichi 四日市 in Japan.

You were a good boy, Chiou-chiou. Thank you for the days.

In the news ニュース

It seems Japan and Taiwan have a problem with eels ウナギ, according to this article from Friday's Daily Yomiuri, "Taiwan plans eel fry export ban". Eel is a popular dish in Japan, and is traditionally eaten on the day of the summer solstice 夏至 as it is thought to provide stamina with the onset of the hot, humid summer. What I didn't know was that Japan relies on Taiwan for 10-20% for its imports of eel fry ウナギの稚魚. The fry are then raised on farms in Japan, and sold as domestic eel.

The problem is that, beginning next month, Taiwan's Economic Affairs Ministry will impose an embargo on eel fry exports to Japan, in an effort to stem the decline in local eel stocks. Combined with a European Union 欧州連合 decision in June to reduce eel catch, it's probably inevitable that the price of eel in Japan will rise. The ongoing crisis in marine resources is going to have a great impact on the eating habits of the Japanese, who now produce less than 40% of their caloric food intake domestically.

On a different matter, the Japan Times had a strange article entitled "Fukuda could resolve issue over Yasukuni by visiting". As is often the case with articles written by Japanese commentators and academics, the logic takes a tortuous route at times. However, there are a couple of relevant points concerning Taiwan:

"Since the Tiananmen incident, China has been trying to direct people's primary concerns from the democracy movement to patriotism, putting particular emphasis on avenging national humiliation in the past century, symbolized by the loss of Taiwan. That policy has been a resounding success. As a result, anti-Japanese feelings have become so strong a national passion that the Chinese government cannot control it. When it takes the form of mass demonstrations, there would be the possibility that it will become tied to complaints prevailing among the Chinese population and turn into a large antigovernment movement."

The constant threats made by Beijing against Taiwan are more often than not aimed squarely at the domestic audience. What better way to divert the attention of the people away from calls for more democracy than by appealing to their baser nationalistic instincts?

And this:

"Another reason why I believe that a chance has emerged to resolve the Yasukuni problem is the precedent set by former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's recent visit to Japan. The result was that Lee achieved a visit to Japan without any political constraints imposed on him. And China's protests have not had any carry-over impact on subsequent Japan-China relations."

As this paragraph shows, despite some ridiculous opinion pieces that appeared a while back in the JT on the "dangers" of letting Lee Tung-hui 李登輝 visit Japan and Yasukuni Shrine 靖国神社, in the end...nothing changed. There's a lesson here, but it's doubtful most people learned it yet.

International Art Street 国際街・芸術街

Today was a national holiday in Taiwan. Called "Double Ten Day" 中華民国国慶日, it celebrates the events leading to the establishment of the Republic of China (you can read about it here). There are parades and fireworks in T'aipei (Taibei) 台北, but in a small city like Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原, it's just another holiday. In our case, we drove into T'aichung (Taijhong) 台中 in order to visit International Art Street 国際街・芸術街.

Here's how the street is described in my copy of the 地球の歩き方台湾 guide:

その名の通り、芸術的な雰囲気を持つセンスのいいストリート。おしゃれでかわいいカフェ、小物やアンティークの店がたくさんある。足に自信があれば、中華路を挟んで向かいにある学生街で歩いてみよう。安くておいしい屋台がたくさんある。路地にも店が点在し、付近には設計事務所なども多く台中芸術村となっている。

Or, roughly translated, it's a street that, true to its name, has a good, artistic atmosphere. There are many stylish and cute cafes, and shops selling accessories, antiques and so on. If you're up to it, try walking over to the student area across the road (the school in question is Tunghai/Donghai University 東海大学, and the road is Taichung Harbor Road 台中港路), where there are many cheap food stands selling tasty snacks. The alleyways, too, are dotted with shops, and the neighborhood, with its many design offices, is becoming Taichung's art village.

The description above is generally accurate. International Art Street is a pleasant area to walk around, though I wish it were a pedestrian-only zone, at least on Sundays and national holidays. Walking with Amber meant having to keep one eye on the constant stream of cars and scooters going by. And as the old saying goes, it's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Why do people sink their savings into buying small houses crammed together on narrow lanes that make it a nightmare to drive through, let alone to find a parking space for their cars?

Lunch. I got to take home the wooden cup on the left.

Orange Cat is a cafe that is crawling with...cats. There were at least a dozen when Pamela and I visited several years ago. We even brought our Chinchilla, Chiou-chiou 球ちゃん, with us at that time. Though we didn't go in today, it was reassuring to see the cafe is still in business. Unlike Japan (where cats have long been kept in homes for their mousing skills), cats have been feared and loathed in Chinese societies. Generally speaking, most Taiwanese dislike felines (probably another reason why I, a cat lover, feel more comfortable in Japan than Taiwan). For a society that prefers dogs, however, many people don't seem to know how to take good care of them, but that's a topic for another day.

And, as always, Amber thoroughly enjoyed being outside.

Bicycle riding from Toyohara to Kōri 后豊サイクリングコース

One thing I really wish I could have in Taiwan is a free weekday. There are many great places to visit on this island, but having only weekends free (or just Sundays and national holidays in my case) means having to plan when and where to go with care, in order to avoid the hordes who also have only the weekends and national holidays to themselves. An open weekday would mean being able to visit somewhere without having to put up with traffic jams, tour buses, souvenir and food vendors, karaoke カラオケ clubs and inflated prices for accommodation.

Having a free weekday morning is the next best thing, so today Pamela, Amber and I rented a bike and went on a 9-kilometer (5.6-mile), 95-minute round-trip ride from Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原 to Houli 后里 on the aptly-named Houfeng (Houfong) bicycle trail. With only a handful of cyclists out on the bike path, we enjoyed a very pleasant ride.

Our rented wheels for the morning. Obviously it was too small for my 6'3" (189.5 centimeter) frame, and I must have looked a silly sight with my knees sticking out far to the sides. But that's one of the nice things about ordinary weekdays - there aren't many people around to see how ridiculous you look!

The bike path stays away from busy roads, and goes some through typical Taiwanese countryside scenery - namely, small farms and factories. Along the way we passed by a modern, Japanese-style house - held in contempt by the Japanese (who long to have North American-type homes), but desired by the Taiwanese, most of whom live in ugly concrete boxes. All things are relative, I guess. We continued on the trail (which follows the course of an abandoned rail line), crossing over the Tachia (Dajia) River 大甲川 on an old railway bridge. On the other side was a long, dark tunnel that led to Houli.

Reaching the end of the trail in Houli, we parked the bike and stretched our legs for a bit. Houli is noted in the Taichung (Taijhong) 台中 area for its horse ranch, which I can say isn't worth the drive out. Notice the "KLG" sign and its obvious similarities to KFC ケンタッキーフライドチキン? Welcome to Taiwan, the island of liberal trademark protection laws!

 

On the way back to Fengyuan, the 6% gradient got to my 40 year-old knees, so Amber and Pamela took a stroll uphill while I pushed. Amber loves dogs, and always gets very excited when she sees one, like this friendly husky ハスキー.

Back into the tunnel again, which has displays built into nooks in the wall showing photographs of the railway in use. I presume the gentleman was both the builder of the railway, and Japanese to boot.

 

A last look back at the trail we had just ridden on, and then it was time to return the bicycle, and to let Amber make friends with the proprietress. For me, this was followed in turn by lunch, and then it was off to work in the afternoon.

There is a much longer bike trail that runs from Fengyuan to Tungshih (Dongshih) 東勢鎮, but we will probably wait until Amber is bigger before attempting the ride to Tōseichin. I would, however, like to return before that time to at least walk the different paths. After all, on a weekday I wouldn't need to worry about being run over by a cyclist.

In the aftermath of Typhoon Krosa 台風の余波

Typhoon Krosa has come and gone, but what a mess it has left in its wake! After being cooped up inside all weekend due to the big storm, I was looking forward to getting out this afternoon and doing some hiking in Chung-cheng (Jhong-jheng) Park 中正公園. But while the winds have died down, the rain has persisted, so instead I went out riding to check out some of the damage.

All over Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原, blown-down fences and snapped trees could be seen.

Chung-cheng Park was especially hard-hit.

Two large trees in front of a small lacquerware 塗り物 museum had been uprooted by the winds. The force of the tree on the right falling over tore up the boards of a wooden platform that had been built around it.

Proof beyond a doubt that we are alone in this world - the statue of dictator Chiang Kai-shek 蒋介石 wasn't damaged. So much for the wrath of God. At least the death toll from Krosa was low - 7 dead, according to this morning's China Post.