travel in taiwan (no.50, 2012 3/4)

No. 50, 2012

The Official Bimonthly English Magazine of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau.Website: ht tp://taiwan. net .t w Advertisement

/

Illustrator Page TsouCafés and Teashops in Taipei“Bombing the Dragon” in MiaoliMusic 4 Fun Tourist Factory

THE BEST BIKE ROUTESKaohsiung City

NATURAL TREASURES Birding in the Southwest

Quick TripTo YilAn

3 4

FOOD JOURNEYGukeng Coffee

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Welcome to Taiwan!

Dear Traveler,

Welcome to Taiwan in the spring! With the warming sun comes a growing thirst for travel adventure, which we satisfy with one of our most geographically expansive issues in quite some time, taking you on trips of great variation to an impressive number of regions.

In our Feature section we f irst visit the northeast’s Yilan County. Our goal is to show you how easy it is to take one- and two-day trips from Taipei by focusing on the well-known Jiaoxi hot-springs area. We end the section with an introduction of short guided bus tours to four different regions around the island.

Back in Taipei, we take you on a whirlwind tour of the city ’s unique cafés and teashops and then move out again, down the island’s west side. We stop in at a tourism factory in Taoyuan County for a unique music experience; tourist factories have become ever more popular and numerous in recent years, and this one reveals to you what makes pianos tick. It’s then on to the small city of Miaoli in hilly Miaoli County, where during the annual Bombing the Dragon festival dancing dragons prowl temple plazas and streets, absorbing f irecracker hits in bewildering number. This is a good thing, for the more “bomb” blasts the greater the good fortune created.

We stay in the hills, further down-island, in our article on tasty Gukeng coffee. Gukeng Township, in Yunlin County, is one of Taiwan’s few coffee-growing areas, and the pretty plantations are dotted with comfy, big-view cafés. Making a trip here even more precious is the fact that local tourist demand is so high that it’s a rare experience indeed to f ind Gukeng coffee sold outside the area.

The Southwest Coast National Scenic Area is a prime destination for birdwatchers, with the star attraction the protected Black-faced Spoonbill, a migratory species that comes here in large numbers. In this part of Taiwan you’ll also be able to tick numerous other lovely avian inhabitants off your spotter’s list.

We end up in the big city of Kaohsiung in the far south for another popular form of outdoor recreation, bicycling. The city’s pleasant bike-trail network takes you from seaside to lakeside, with a sparkling array of scenic attractions, natural and people-created, along the way.

I hope we have placed enough on your plate to satisfy your travel appetite. Have fun and enjoy your time in Taiwan!

Janice Seh-Jen Lai

Director GeneralTourism Bureau, MOTC, R.O.C.

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台灣觀光雙月刊

Travel in Taiwan BimonthlyMarch/April, 2012 Tourism Bureau, MOTCFirst published in Jan./Feb., 2004ISSN: 18177964 GPN: 2009305475 Price: NT$200www.tit.com.tw/vision/index.htm

Copyright © 2012 Tourism Bureau. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without written permission is prohibited.

PUBLISHER Janice Seh-Jen LaiEdItIng ConSULtantS David W. J. Hsieh, Wayne Hsi-Lin LiuPUBLISHIng oRganIzatIonTaiwan Tourism Bureau, Ministry ofTransportation and CommunicationsContaCtInternational Division, Taiwan Tourism Bureau Add: 9F, 290 Zhongxiao E. Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei, 10694, TaiwanTel: 886-2-2717-3737 Fax: 886-2-2771-7036E-mail: [email protected]: http://taiwan.net.tw

CONTENTS MAR ~ APR 2012

10

Where you can pick up a copy of Travel in Taiwan abroadOffices of the Tourism Bureau in Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Frankfurt; Taiwan Representative Offices; Overseas Offices of the Ministry of Economic Affairs; Overseas Offices of the Central News Agency; onboard China Airlines, EVA Air and other selected international airways; selected travel agencies in Asia, North America, and Europe; and other organizations

onLineRead the online version of Travel in Taiwan at www.zinio.com . Log in and search for "Travel in Taiwan". Or visit www.tit.com.tw/vision/index.htm

in TaiWanTourism Bureau Visitor Center; Tourism Bureau; Taiwan Visitors Association; foreign representative offices in Taiwan, Tourism Bureau service counters at Taiwan Taoyuan Int’l Airport and Kaohsiung Int’l Airport, major tourist hotels; Taipei World Trade Center; VIP lounges of international airlines; major tourist spots in Taipei; visitor centers of cities and counties around Taiwan; offices of national scenic area administrations; public libraries

Lanyang Museum, one of the new landmarks of Yilan County. (Photo: Shih Ming-cheng)

This magazine is printed on FSC certified paper. Any product with the FSC logo on it comes from a forest that has been responsibly maintained and harvested in a sustainable manner.

38PRodUCER Vision Int

,l Publ. Co., Ltd.

addRESS Rm. 5, 10F, 2 Fuxing N. Rd., Taipei, 104 Taiwan tel: 886-2-2711-5403 Fax: 886-2-2721-2790

E-mail: [email protected] ManagER Wendy L. C. Yen dEPUty gEnERaL ManagER Frank K. YenEdItoR In CHIEf Johannes Twellmann EngLISH EdItoRS Rick Charette, Richard Saunders dIRECtoR of PLannIng & EdItIng dEPt Joe LeeManagIng EdItoR Sunny Su EdItoRS Ming-Jing Yin, Vivian Liu, Gemma ChengContRIBUtoRS Rick Charette, Owain Mckimm, Steven Crook, Jennifer Turek, Joe Henley, Kurt WeidnerPHotogRaPHERS Sunny Su, Maggie Song, Bobby Wu aRt dIRECtoR Sting Chen dESIgnERS Ivy Chen, Maggie Song, Karen Pan, Eve ChiangadMInIStRatIvE dEPt Hui-chun Tsai, Nai-jen Liu, Xiou Mieng Jiang advERtISIng HotLInE + 886-2-2721-5412

MagazInE IS SoLd at:1. Wu-Nan Culture Plaza, 600, Junfu 7th Rd., Beitun District,

Taichung City 40642 Tel: 886-4-2437-8010 http://www.wunanbooks.com.tw/

2. National Bookstore, 2F, 59, Lane 76, Ruiguang Rd., Neihu District, Taipei City 10485 Tel: 886-2-2796-3638#223

http://www.govbooks.com.tw/

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Travel in Taiwan 3

TOUriSM8 Events & Activities in National

Scenic Areas

TOUriSM FaCTOrieS47 Music 4 Fun

— Taking a Closer Look at the Inner Parts of a Musical Instrument

FeSTival42 Bombing the Dragon in Miaoli

— Hakka Spring Festival

THe BeST BiKinG rOUTeS26 From Lakeside to Seaside — Cycling through Kaohsiung

3226

22

feaTure10 Quick Trip to Yilan — Main Pastoral Greens & Ocean Blues – Yilan County; Connected to Taipei, But a

World Apart — Buy Gifts from Land and Sea – Things to Buy on a Trip to Yilan — Stay The Lap of Luxury, in the Lap of Mother Nature

18 Bus Tours — Five Great Bus Tour Options – How to Explore Taiwan Conveniently if Time is Limited

1 Publisher’s Note 4 News & Events around Taiwan 6 Concerts, Exhibitions, and Happenings

35 Where Is This?46 Festivals and Events

arT50 Page Tsou: Past and Present

— A Taiwanese Artist Pursues His True Passion

enJOYMenT32 A Tasty Tour of Taipei Treats — Visiting Unique Cafés and

Teashops in the City

FOOD JOUrneY22 Fresh Nutty Flavors — Tasting Taiwan’s Very Own Coffee

at Gukeng

naTUral TreaSUreS38 Winter Time is Birding Time!

— In Search of the Black-Faced Spoonbill and other Water Birds

MY PHOTO TOUr36 Little Friends on Tour — Taking Toy Figures on a Trip to Shilin

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The Guo Family Estate in

Taipei’s Neihu District, home

of the first Neihu Village

mayor during the 1895~1945

Japanese colonial era, has

recently been opened to

the public after extensive

renovations (free entry;

open Tue~Sun 10am~noon,

2pm~5pm; follow signs

starting at Lane 267 of Wende

Rd.). Built in 1919, the old

building features Baroque-style embellishments, red brick, washed terrazzo, earthen

sculptures, and colored decorative tile.

Guo Family Estate in NeihuMRT

History

In late January this year, the main hall of the Chiang Kai-shek Shilin

Residence in Taipei was opened to the public, almost fully lifting the

veil of mystery long surrounding this building. Visitors interested in the

life of the late President, notably tour groups from mainland China, are

drawn to the facility. The first floor and the garden area, open to the

public since early 2011, have so far attracted

250,000 visitors. The residence is a 10-min.

walk from MRT Shilin Station.

Another former Chiang Kai-shek residence,

Grass Mountain Chateau in Yangmingshan

National Park, was reopened at the end of

2011. It had suffered extensive damage in a

2007 fire.

Shilin Residence Main Hall Open to Visitors

On weekends and holidays bicycles are

permitted on the Taipei Metro (MRT)

system, and the number of stations

allowing bicycle access to the system has

recently been increased to 67 (90% of all

stations; easily identified by bicycle icons

on MRT route maps). Single-journey tickets

for cyclists (with one bike) are priced

NT$80 and can be bought at the service

counters inside stations allowing access.

Folding bikes folded into compact form can

be carried on the metro system any day of

the week, without special charge.

Bicycles on Taipei Metro

Taipei MRT

TransAsia Airways, a Taiwanese airline, now sells tickets for domestic flights through

7-Eleven’s ibon platform. The airline serves all major airports in Taiwan and also offers

flights to mainland China and other destinations in the region.

Airlines

Public Transport

History

Domestic-Flight Tickets at 7-Eleven

Formosa Boulevard Station and Central Park Station, part of Kaohsiung’s KMRT metro system,

were recently listed (in second and fourth place) among the most beautiful subway stops

in the world by the BootsnAll website (www.

bootsnall.com). Formosa Boulevard Station is a

major tourist attraction because of its “Dome of

Light,” a huge colored-glass installation created

by Italian artist Narcissus Quagliata, which tells

the story of life. Designed by British architect

Richard Rogers, the Central Park Station surprises

with a spacious entrance area featuring grass-covered slopes and yellow windmills shaped

liked sunflowers on the outside of the escalators, along with cascading water in the

middle. Learn more about Kaohsiung’s MRT system at www.krtco.com.tw.

Two Kaohsiung Subway Stops among World’s Most Beautiful

EWS & EVENTS AROUND TAIWAN

Travel in Taiwan 4

TRAVEL NEWS&FESTIVAL-2.indd 8 2012/2/24 6:16:32 PM

The new downloadable travel guide Taiwan for Culture Vultures ,

written by long-time Taiwan resident Steven Crook, is aimed at

visitors intrigued by Taiwan's fascinating blend of cutting-edge

modernity and centuries-old tradition. The guide (available

for iPhones and iPads at appshopper.com/travel/taiwan-for-culture-vultures ) features 95 places of interest, including

museums, temples, churches, parks, and other landmarks.

There's plenty for those who want to learn about and appreciate

traditional arts and crafts.

The guide is a handy travel

companion with in-depth

descriptions of each site,

clear instructions on how to

reach each location by car or

public transportation, and

convenient links taking you to

background information.

Bookstores

Visiting both of these premier tourist destinations in central Taiwan has now become even

more convenient for travelers relying on public transport. Scenic Sun Moon Lake and Xitou,

the latter known for its lush bamboo groves, have been connected to Taichung by separate

Taiwan Tourist Shuttle routes (more info at www.taiwantrip.com.tw) for some time now,

but until recently there was no public-bus connection between the two. This has changed,

and there are now six bus services each day between the areas. One-way tickets are priced

NT$80; buses need 90 minutes for the 60km trip, stopping on the way at Zhushan, Jiji, and

Shuili. For schedules, contact Yuanlin (www.ylbus.com.tw) or Nantou (www.ntbus.com.tw)

bus companies.

According to entertainment website

Flavorwire.com, a small bookstore

in Taipei’s east district is among

the world’s 20 most beautiful. VVG

Something (13, Alley 40, Lane 181,

Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd.), located in

a small alley, has the feel of a living

room, with old wooden furniture,

art objects, and antiques filling the

space. A wide range of coffee-table

books is placed on a large table in

the center of the shop, waiting to be

browsed.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!We, the producers of Travel in Taiwan, wish to improve our magazine

with each issue and give you the best possible help when planning –

or carrying out – your next trip to Taiwan. Tell us what you think by

filling out our short online questionnaire at www.tit.com.tw/survey/

travelintaiwan.html. Senders of the first ten completed questionnaires for

each issue will receive three free issues of Travel in Taiwan. Thank you in

advance for your feedback.

Taipei Bookstore Recognized for Beauty

Sun Moon Lake and Xitou Bus Connection

Public Transport

Travel Guide

Taiwan for Culture Vultures A tourist walking on a board-walk near a body of water. She’s getting her camera ready to capture some stunning moun-tain and lake scenery. Can you guess where she is? Hint: This is one of the most popular tour-ist destinations in Taiwan. Find the answer on page 35.

Travel in Taiwan 5

TRAVEL NEWS&FESTIVAL-2.indd 9 2012/2/24 6:16:37 PM

If you like animation, you don’t want to miss this

show, an exhibition that reveals how animation

has had a major impact on global culture over the

last 150 years. Shown are over 170 works from

the animated film industry, including iconic clips

as well as lesser-known films. Also on display

are puppets, stage sets, storyboard drawings,

wire-frame visualizations, and background

images. Watch Me Move explores the relationship between animation and

film and offers timely insight into the genre as a cultural phenomenon.

Watch Me Move: The Animation Show 百年動畫展

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial HallJan. 19 ~ May 6

Many a visitor to Taiwan will use the Taiwan

railway system to get around the island. It is

convenient and clean, efficient and reliable

and, most of the time, on time. If you want to

learn more about the history of the system, this

exhibition will show you how things were in the

1970s, when Taiwan’s economic miracle moved

into full swing, with the railways playing a major

facilitating role. On

display are some

60 photos of steam

trains, along with

period models of

trains, locomotives,

and railway

stations, including

the last remaining

roundhouse in use

in central Taiwan’s

Changhua City.

Impressions of Taiwan Railway in 1970s 鐵道印象‧1970s 影像特展

National Taiwan Museum

Jan. 17 ~ Apr. 15

Taiwan has a diverse cultural scene, with art venues ranging from international-caliber concert halls and theaters to makeshift stages on temple plazas. Among Taiwan’s museums is the world-famous National Palace Museum as well as many smaller museums dedicated to different art forms and aspects of Taiwanese culture. Here is a brief selection of upcoming happenings. For more information, please visit the websites of the listed venues.

oncerts,

Exhibitions, and

Happenings

AMeiZING World Tour Live 張惠妹AMeiZING世界巡迴演唱會

Taipei ArenaMar. 30 ~ Apr. 7

Though she has, in recent years,

somehow paced herself a bit, appearing

less often on stage and in public than a

decade ago, 39-year-old Zhang Hui-mei

(“A-Mei”) is still, for many, Taiwan's

undisputed mando-pop queen, with

challengers to her throne few and far

between. Proving wrong all those who

think she is ready for retirement, A-Mei

kicked off her AMeiZING World Tour

earlier this year with stops in Singapore

and Atlantic City. Next up is Taipei, with

seven concerts scheduled and tickets

in high demand. Her fans can’t wait to see her back on stage, where the

energetic and passionate singing star always gives her all.

Two of the world’s greatest museums, the National Palace Museum in Taipei

and the Louvre Museum in Paris, have teamed up to bring to Taiwan works

by Western artists on the theme of ancient Greek mythology. A hundred

prized pieces from the Louvre Museum, as well as from six other premier

institutions in France, are being shown, including ancient Greek pottery, a

wall fresco from ancient

Pompeii, and precious

paintings and sculptures

from the sixteenth to

nineteenth centuries

created by masters such

as François Boucher,

Jacques-Louis David,

Jean-Auguste-Dominique

Ingres, and Antonio

Canova. For more info, visit

http://mediasphere.tw.

Western Mythology and Legends – A Special Exhibition from the Louvre Museum 西方神話與傳說—羅浮宮珍藏展

National Palace MuseumJan. 10 ~ Mar. 25

Travel in Taiwan 6

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In 1926, well-known Taiwanese painter Chen Cheng-po

(1895-1947) was the first artist from Taiwan to have a

painting (Streets of Chiayi) featured in Japan's prestigious

Imperial Art Exhibition. Chen was a pioneer of modern

art in Taiwan, and he devoted his life to education and

the development of human culture in his homeland.

After graduating from the Western Painting Department

of the Tokyo Art School, he took teaching positions at

the Shanghai Art School and Changming School of Art in

China, and began to integrate classic Chinese styles into

his work in an effort to discover a new way to express the

essence of the East. The main works on display in this

exhibition are from Chen Cheng-po's Shanghai teaching

period, including paintings of figures, nudes, and scenery,

as well as valuable ink-painting gifts given by his friends

along with related documents among which are works

being presented to the public for the first time.

Journey through Jiangnan: A Pivotal Moment in Chen Cheng-po's Artistic Quest行過江南—陳澄波藝術探索歷程

Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Feb. 18 ~ May 13

Taipei

Taipei Zhongshan Hall （台北中山堂）

Add: 98, Yanping S. Rd., Taipei City( 台北市延平南路 9 8 號 )

Tel: (02) 2381-3137www.csh.taipei.gov.twNearest MRT Station: Ximen

Taipei International Convention Center （台北國際會議中心）

Add: 1, Xinyi Rd., Sec.5, Taipei City( 台北市信義路五段 1 號 )

Tel: (02) 2725-5200, ext. 3517, 3518 www.ticc.com.twNearest MRT Station: Taipei City Hall

National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall （國立中正紀念堂）

Add: 21 Zhongshan S. Rd., Taipei City( 台北市中山南路 21 號 )　　

Tel: (02) 2343-1100~3www.cksmh.gov.twNearest MRT Station: CKS Memorial Hall

National Concert Hall （國家音樂聽）National Theater （國家戲劇院）

Add: 21-1 Zhongshan S. Rd., Taipei City( 台北市中山南路 21-1 號 )

Tel: (02) 3393-9888www.ntch.edu.twNearest MRT Station: CKS Memorial Hall

National Museum of History （國立歷史博物館）

Add: 49 Nanhai Rd., Taipei City( 台北市南海路 4 9 號 )

Tel: (02) 2361-0270www.nmh.gov.tw Nearest MRT Station: CKS Memorial Hall

National Palace Museum （國立故宮博物院）

Add: 221 Zhishan Rd., Sec. 2, Taipei City( 台北市至善路 2 段 2 21 號 )

Tel: (02) 2881-2021www.npm.gov.twNearest MRT Station: Shilin

National Taiwan Museum （國立臺灣博物館）

Add: 2 Xiangyang Rd., Taipei City( 台北市襄陽路二號 )

Tel: (02) 2382-2566www.ntm.gov.twNearest MRT Station: NTU Hospital

Novel Hall （新舞臺）

Add: 3 Songshou Rd., Taipei City( 台北市松壽路 3 號 )

Tel: (02) 2722-4302www.novelhall.org.twNearest MRT Station: Taipei City Hall

National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall （國立國父紀念館）

Add: 505 Ren-ai Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City( 台北市仁愛路四段 5 0 5 號 )

Tel: (02) 2758-8008www.yatsen.gov.tw/englishNearest MRT Station: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

Taipei Arena （台北小巨蛋）

Add: 2 Nanjing E. Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City( 台北市南京東路 4 段 2 號 )

Tel: (02) 2577-3500www.taipeiarena.com.twNearest MRT Station: Nanjing E. Rd.

Taipei Fine Arts Museum （台北市立美術館）

Add: 181 Zhongshan N. Rd., Sec. 3, Taipei City( 台北市中山北路 3 段 181 號 )

Tel: (02) 2595-7656www.tfam.museum Nearest MRT Station: Yuanshan

Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei （台北當代藝術館）

Add: 39 Chang-an W. Rd., Taipei City( 台北市長安西路 39 號 )

Tel: (02) 2552-3720www.mocataipei.org.twNearest MRT Station: Zhongshan

National Taiwan Science Education Center （台灣科學教育館）

Add: 189 Shishang Rd., Taipei City (台北市士商路 189號 )Tel: (02) 6610-1234www.ntsec.gov.twNearest MRT Station: Shilin

National Taiwan University Sports Center （台大綜合體育館）

Add: 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei City (臺北市羅斯福路四段一號 )Tel: (02) 3366-5959Website: ntusportscenter.ntu.edu.tw

TaichungTaichung Zhongshan Hall （台中中山堂）

Add: 98 Xueshi Rd., Taichung City( 台中市學士路 9 8 號 )

Tel: (04) 2230-3100www.tccgc.gov.tw

National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts （國立台灣美術館）

Add: 2 Wuquan W. Rd., Sec. 1, Taichung City( 台中市五權西路一段 2 號 )

Tel: (04) 2372-3552www.ntmofa.gov.tw

TainanTainan City Cultural Center （台南市立文化中心）

Add: 332 Zhonghua E. Rd., Sec. 3, Tainan City( 台南市中華東路 3 段 332 號 )

Tel: (06) 269-2864www.tmcc.gov.tw

KaohsiungKaohsiung City Chungcheng Cultural Center （高雄市立中正文化中心）

Add: 67 Wufu 1st Rd., Kaohsiung City( 高雄市五福一路 67 號 )

Tel: (07) 222-5136 ext. 8908, 8909, 8910www.khcc.gov.tw (Chinese only)Nearest KMRT Station: Cultural Center

Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts （高雄市立美術館）

Add: 80 Meishuguan Rd., Kaohsiung City( 高雄市美術館路 8 0 號 )

Tel: (07) 555-0331www.kmfa.gov.tw Nearest KMRT Station: Aozihdi Station

Kaohsiung Museum of History（高雄市立歷史博物館）

Add: 272 Zhongzheng 4th Rd., Kaohsiung City( 高雄市中正四路 27 2 號 )

Tel: (07) 531-2560http://163.32.121.205/Nearest KMRT Station: City Council

National Concert Hall

Featuring 45 artworks created by 24 artists and several

production teams, this exhibition expresses the dynamic

processes now being used to rethink Australia’s identity

and its place in the Asia-Pacific region. This is an unusual

cross-section showcase of media, art forms, and processes,

including found objects sitting next to hand-made

sculptures, documentary video next to abstract moving

images, and paintings next to

interactive installations. In

the richly illustrated catalogue

created for the exhibition, 22

prominent art critics introduce

the historical and cultural

contexts within which the

artists have evolved their

practices.

Feb. 11 ~ Apr. 15

Wonderland: New Contemporary Art from Australia 魔境-澳洲當代新藝術展

Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei

Venues

Travel in Taiwan 7

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TOURISM

Travel in Taiwan 8

Taiwan has so much variation that you can look at it as an island made up of

many smaller “islands” of natural and cultural uniqueness, a mosaic in which each local destination is unlike all the others, each a small world unto its own. And to this mosaic is added the distinctiveness of Taiwan’s many smaller offshore islands as well.

Great news for the traveler is that a good deal of this land is contained within national parks and national scenic areas (“NSAs”) which, of course, are each a world apart from all the others though not so far as the crow f lies, considering Taiwan’s overall size. The Tourism Bureau administers the 13 NSAs, and the administration of each creates a special menu of events each year that best captures the unique personality of that area.

Some highl ight an NSA’s one-of-a-kind character ist ics while joining in on nat ional or internat ional happenings, such as Ta iwan’s Lantern Fest ival celebrat ions, New

Year ’s Eve par t ies (Tr i-Mounta in NSA, Sun Moon Lake NSA), and “f irst sunr ise of the year” celebrat ions (Northeast & Yilan Coast NSA, which has a concer t, and East Coast NSA). Others are NSA-specif ic and could be staged nowhere else in the world, such as the Blue Fin Tuna Cultural Fest ival in Dapeng Bay NSA or the br il l iant Al ishan Sunr ise Impression Concer t in high-mounta in Al ishan NSA.

Here are just a few of the many events organized by NSAs:

The Taiwan Hot Spring & Fine-Cuisine Carnival runs from October through January, celebrating the blessing of Taiwan with scores of hot-spring locations and the local passion for mineral-spring bathing and good food. Hot-spring resorts, restaurants, and other related businesses in NSAs and other areas present a wide range of special offers, including stay-and-dine offers, special theme menus focused on local produce, organized tours to places of interest, and much more. P

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Special Events: What’s On in Taiwan’s National Scenic Areas By Rick Charette

p08-09 TOURISM.indd 8 2012/2/23 5:29:15 PM

Travel in Taiwan 9

NATIONAL SCENIC AREAS

Each September, the 10,000 People Sun Moon Lake Traverse takes place in the central mountains (Sun Moon Lake NSA), at one of the prettiest lakes you’ ll ever come across – or swim across – surrounded by mountain peaks. There are in fact more than 10,000 swimmers, and this is the only time when swimming is allowed here. This is a cross-lake “tour” rather than a competition, slow swimming is the rule, and swimmers from around the world participate.

There can be few more soothing experiences than listening to live music on a wide sandy beach, accompanied by the rhythm of lapping, or crashing, ocean waves, silky sun setting in the distance, endless sea before you. The North Coast Ocean Music Festival happens on two days in July (North Coast & Guanyinshan NSA), with one evening and one bay dedicated to classical music, another day and another bay dedicated to rock ‘n’ roll.

The Alishan Firef ly Season – Stepping Out with Alishan’s Firef lies runs from the end of March through June (Alishan NSA). Alishan is famous for its alpine forest railway and scenic sunrises, and for its beautiful and pristine natural environment. A key symbol of its rich ecology is the many f iref lies l ighting up the night; 25 of Taiwan’s 56 species are

found here. In early summer, nature lovers can choose from a variety of nature tours, including trips to major f iref ly areas, combined with exploration of the local Tsou tribe culture and accommodation in local homestays.

About 400,000 people come to the bustling port of Donggang in south Taiwan each year for the Blue Fin Tuna Cultural Festival, which begins in early May and ends in late June (Dapeng Bay NSA). Donggang, south of Kaohsiung City, is the heart of Taiwan’s bluef in tuna-f ishing industry. Northern Bluef in Tuna gather off Taiwan’s southern tip around the end of May to spawn, and are at their fattest; Taiwan’s catch is the world’s largest. This festival introduces Donggang’s “three culinary treasures,” bluef in tuna, sakura shrimp, and escolar (oilf ish) roe, along with local scenic tourist attractions, with special bicycle outings and excursions to Little Liuqiu, a tiny coral island.

As you can see, there is something for all personalities. What kind of traveler are you? For more information about Taiwan’s NSAs, visit info.taiwan.net.tw/NSA2006/0717/index.html (click on the name of an NSA on the map to be redirected to that NSA’s off icial website).

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In Taipei on business or other travel, got an extra day or more to explore, want out of the city to see what else Taiwan has to offer, too busy to handle everything yourself, and looking for an attractive and interesting place to get to and back from quick? Travel in Taiwan has the answer: Visit Yilan County! By Rick Charette

Pastoral Greens & Ocean BluesYilan County; Connected to Taipei, But a World Apart

FEATURE

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Lanyang Museum

YILAN

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Pavilion at Wufengqi Falls

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Here’s what I would do if I were you. First, go to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau website

(www.taiwan.net.tw) to get the basics on Yilan. You’ ll learn it is not far southeast of Taipei, and is roughly triangular in shape, with mountain massifs framing the Yilan/Lanyang Plain on two sides and the Pacif ic pushing against the third. The county is small, 63km wide and 74km long. It was long relatively isolated from Taipei, reached in modern times by a roundabout rail journey or by a two-hour-plus motor-vehicle drive over rugged mountains or along rugged, zigzagging coast. Today the drive is just 40 minutes, thanks to Freeway No. 5, which shoots right through the mountains. Its 2006 opening has brought a tourist boom. The county remains quite bucolic, relying heavily on farming, f ishing, and tourism, has few conurbations, and little heavy industry.

Let’s assume you want somebody else to handle everything for you: planning, driving, insurance, even providing a guide. Click on “Travel Suggestions” on the Tourism Bureau’s main website page (English version) and then on “Tour Bus.” This will lead you to the “Taiwan Tour Bus” site (www.taiwantourbus.com). The Tourism Bureau works with local travel f irms to develop package tours to all Taiwan hotspots, including single-day and multi-day outings to Yilan; you get picked up in Taipei and dropped off af ter. Note that the f irms are also will ing to tailor packages when possible.

Perhaps you’d l ike a l ittle more independence of movement? Can do. We suggest the Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi

as your base, for a number of reasons: It’s in a lovely sylvan setting, it’s in the famed Jiaoxi hot-springs area and is a f irst-class hot-spring resort, it’s in north Yilan near numerous tourist sites I’d l ike to recommend, it offers guided tours to (or transport to/from) these and other sites, and you’ ll get picked up at Jiaoxi’s railway station or inter-city bus station (or stations in Yilan City, your choice). To f ind out how to take a train or inter-city bus, click “Getting Around” on the Tourism Bureau main page. (For details on the hotel, see our “Feature – Stay” article on page 16.)

Recently Travel in Taiwan conducted a two-day Jiaoxi/Hotel Royal dry-run visit with your needs in mind. What follows are highlight spots we think you’d most l ike.

Nature Explorations

We set off from the hotel lobby at 7am for a guided walk to nearby Wufengqi Falls, higher up in the quickly narrowing valley. The trip takes about 2 hours. There are actually three cascading waterfalls, the tallest and uppermost 42m high (closed for safety reasons at time of writing). A walkway with some English signage follows the waterway, dotted with picturesque Chinese-style pavilions. There’s lots of bird l ife, and this day we spotted numerous brill iant Formosan blue magpies.

Just down-valley from the hotel is the dead-end access road to Paoma (Running Horse) Historic Trail, a branch of a Qing Dynasty Yilan-Wulai-Taipei-Tamsui pioneer trail.

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Yilan’s Lanyang Plain with Turtle Island in the background

Whisky tasting at King Car Whisky Distillery Lanyang Museum

King Car Whisky Distillery

Lanyang Museum

Please drink responsibly

YILAN

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The “Running Horse” refers to Japanese-era mounted-off icer patrols. The 1.5km paved road moves up the massif face above Jiaoxi and Yilan Plain; locals take daily walks here, enjoying the great views. They’re even better along the easy-grade trail, which f irst moves into the massif along a steep valley and then makes its way to the massif ’s top and riveting panoramas. Give yourself 3 hours, including the access road.

A boat tour to iconic Guishan (Turtle Mountain) Island from Wushi Harbor is a unique experience. The harbor is by majestic Lanyang Museum, which we’ll visit later on. The eco-preserve island is known for its volcanic activities, and there are military and f ishing-village ruins. If you are lucky you can also enjoy whale/dolphin-watching during the trip to or from the island. You must apply one week ahead; your travel f irm or hotel can help (for the Chinese form, visit kueishan.necoast-nsa.gov.tw).

Cultural Attractions

The young Lanyang Museum (www.lym.gov.tw) is one of my favorite museums in Taiwan, housed in one of my favorite works of architecture on the island. The structure seems to shoot out of the ground just l ike the area’s great natural sculptures of stratif ied rock. Inside, the open-

Yilan County remains quite bucolic, relying heavil y on farming, f ishing, and tourism, has few conurbations, and little heavy industr y

concept f loors are staggered, cascading l ike the tiered-rock formations of the coast. The museum explores the heart of Yilan’s people, tell ing the story of its indigenous peoples, pioneers, and modern-day inhabitants, the local geology, farming and f ishing traditions, and the biology of local land and sea.

Twenty-some minutes south of Jiaoxi, at the base of the mountains that overlook the town, is the King Car Whisky Distillery (www.kavalanwhisk y.

com), where the KAVALAN series is craf ted. The grounds here are green, expansive, and immaculate. English guided tours are available, with a 50/50 chance they’ ll be led by the lovely, knowledgeable Joanie Tseng, from the distillery ’s global P.R. team, who studied in England. You start with informative English signboards, view the giant vats, see the whiskies aging in thousands of Jack Daniel’s bourbon casks and oloroso sherry casks, and f inish at the elegant King Car Whisky Castle sampling the line.

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Dining at Formosa Pearl restaurant

Temple Mouth Seafood Restaurant dish

Fish BBQ at Formosa Pearl Sashimi platter prepared by Formosa Pearl

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Culinary Journeys

Most of Yilan’s high-end, luxurious dining spots are in its hotels, but Formosa Pearl (www.f ormosapearl.com) is changing things. The dream-made-true of Lin Wen-juan and her husband, the two-story wood-theme restaurant is set in the middle of the plain amidst rice paddies. The trappings are museum-quality exquisite, almost everything antique, including many of your utensils. The specialty is seasonal-catch seafood, the menu changing every few months. My favorite selection is the sashimi platter, featuring all-local marine delicacies, some unavailable in Taipei.

The Zen Garden Fusion Cuisine restaurant at Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi, with its broad mountain view and sunken Japanese garden, is run by chef

Joe Huang, who grew up just a short walk away and loves being back in Yilan. He’s taking the restaurant toward fully organic, everything Yilan-sourced, working with local farmers and buying himself at local ports. His fusion creations are imaginative – and delicious – and the sushi bar is source of a wonderful sensory tour.

Taiwan folk love driving to the coast and eating at seaside port-town seafood restaurants. These are of ten very simply decorated; the key is ingredient freshness, your soon-to-be food swimming in tanks at the entrance. You choose. There are good places at busy, colorful Wushi Harbor, beside the Lanyang Museum, but on this trip we tried the Temple Mouth Seafood Restaurant, on the coastal highway about 10 minutes

The trappings are museum-qualit y exquisite, almost ever ything antique, including many of your utensils. The specialt y is seasonal-catch sea food

Guishan Island 龜山島

Joanie Tseng 曾鐘誼

Joe Huang 黃欽洲

Lin Wen-juan 林彣娟

Paoma Historic Trail 跑馬古道

Wufengqi Falls 五峰旗瀑布

Wushi Harbor 烏石港

ENGLISH & CHINESE

FORMOSA PEARL (掌上明珠)Add: 102, Sec. 2, Dafu Rd., Meicheng Village, Zhuangwei Township, Yilan County (宜蘭縣壯圍鄉美城村大福路二段102號)Tel: (03) 930-8988 Website: www.formosapearl.com

KING CAR WHISKY DISTILLERY (金車威士忌酒廠)Add: 326, Sec. 2, Yuanshan Rd., Yuanshan Township, Yilan County (宜蘭縣員山鄉員山路2段326號)Tel: (03) 922-9000 Website: www.kavalanwhisky.com

LANYANG MUSEUM (蘭陽博物館)Add: 750, Sec. 3, Qingyun Rd., Toucheng Township, Yilan County (宜蘭縣頭城鎮青雲路三段750號)Tel: (03) 977-9700 Website: www.lym.gov.tw

TEMPLE MOUTH SEAFOOD RESTAURANT (廟口海產小吃)Add: 212, Sec. 5, Binhai Rd., Daxi Borough, Toucheng Township, Yilan County (宜蘭縣頭城鎮大溪里濱海路五段212號) (At 123.7km mark on Provincial Highway No. 2) Tel: (03) 978-2038

north of the harbor, af ter three separate word-of-mouth recommendations. These people were right; the food is hearty and tasty, the f loor-to-ceiling back-wall glass giving pastel-blue views of breakers below and Guishan Island beyond. My favorite dish? The meaty crab in miso soup with beancurd.

Though I’ve just placed many an information morsel on your Yilan-travel plate, I’ve lef t far, far more in the kitchen; forest recreation areas, recreational farms, cultural parks, historical sites, eco-preserves, religious sites and celebrations.... Browse through the Tourism Bureau website to learn more.

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When thinking of unique gift and souvenir items that best capture the Yilan County character, think of the precious gems from field and blue waters that nature has be-stowed. By Rick Charette

Gifts from Land and SeaThings to Buy on a Trip to Yilan

Please drink responsibly

BUY

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These gems take many forms. Let’s start with upscale expressions. The gift shop at the 5-star

Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi stocks only the best of the best from Yilan’s artists and artisans. Many of the hotel’s international guests reveal that the favorite line is hand-crafted jewelry made with local coral, followed by a colorful glass-art line made with local materials, featuring dragons, lions, and other classic Chinese f igures. Also popular are two ceramic-art lines made with Yilan clay: one a whimsical series of small seated Buddhas, the other f ish-shaped platter and cup sets. Next in line are artisanal samples of local produce in attractive packaging, including Yilan-produced teas and a modern version of the traditional millet wine of the local indigenous peoples. The cloudy wine is silky delicious, with a pleasing hint of sweetness.

The young King Car KAVALAN Whisky Distillery is in Yilan specif ically because of the clean waters and other pristine natural elements. The KAVALAN line has won many top international honors in recent years, in Scotland, the U.S., and England. These whiskies are sold only in Taiwan (though a major international push is coming), making them rare and much appreciated gif ts for spirits lovers. I happen to be a great whisky enthusiast (“too great,” says my wife), and if I

must suggest just one offering it is Solist, f inished in oloroso sherry casks, dark and wonderfully textured (walnut, spices, almond, vanilla). Note that the distillery's gif t shop/tasting center supplies convenient sampler sets.

All of Taiwan’s local areas have their mingchan or “famous products.” Yilan’s are unusually numerous, the majority edible. Large tourist-oriented shops simply titled mingchan

in Chinese are easily found, and usually come in clusters. You’ ll

f ind a cluster in downtown Jiaoxi on Sec. 4, Jiaoxi Rd., in

f ront of Jiaoxi Railway Station, and others in f ront of Yilan

City ’s railway station and inter-city bus stations. Among the most famous of the famous products, brightly packaged for gif t presentation, all made with the quality produce that the Yilan earth and saltwater provides: ox-tongue crisps, preserved kumquats, dried pig l iver, dry and salty smoked duck, Sanxing spring onion, and “the world’s thinnest cake,“ called the Yilan cake.

Among Yilan’s famous products are ox-tongue crisps, preserved kumquats, dried

pig liver, dry and salty smoked duck, Sanxing spring onion, and Yilan cake

mingchan 名產

Sanxing 三星

Yilan cake 宜蘭餅

ENGLISH & CHINESE

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If you’ve decided to spend a little time in Yilan County, especially north Yilan, there are numerous accommodation choices offering you luxury and style, hot-spring bathing and fine cuisine, and much more. Among your best options are the Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi and the Evergreen Resort Hotel. By Rick Charette

The Lap of Luxury, in the Lap of Mother Nature

First, if you’re the type who spends a lot of time inside the hotel, luxurious Royal Chiao

Hsi has everything needed to keep you happy and purring contentedly. Second, if you’re the type who spends maximum time outside exploring, the management lays the entire county at your feet, doing everything but holding your hand.

The Royal Chiao Hsi, just outside the hot-springs town of Jiaoxi and its cluster of hot-spring hotels, is the area’s only 5-star facil ity. It sits at the mouth of a narrow, steep-sided valley that leads to the Wufengqi Falls, a key county attraction. The mouth is above the Lanyang Plain, not level with it, providing inspiring bird’s-eye views of plain, coast, and far-off Guishan (Turtle Mountain) Island from the high-ceil inged, glass-wall View Western Restaurant, east-side rooms, and various outdoor pools.

The exterior has a modern, art deco theme, but the rooms and many other facil ities at this hot-spring resort have a decided Japanese minimalist look. Traditional Japanese yukata bathrobe attire is provided, and many guests move about the hotel in this comfortable clothing, even at meals, the hotel having a cozy hidden-away-from-the-world feel.

There are many international travelers; on my last visit about 5% were

Westerners, almost all moving about in their Japanese costumes.

Each room has a stone mineral-bath tub, looking out over valley or plain, and the Japanese-theme indoor/outdoor spa complex set out before the View restaurant is tiered, l ike a cascading waterfall. There’s a full range of exercise and game facil ities, and a regular schedule of classes for DIY craf ts and other fun – some of my crew on my last visit attended a yoga

Royal Chiao Hsi lays the entire county at your feet, doing

everything but holding your hand

Outdoor pool at Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi

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Japanese-style service Tatami room with mountain view Modern-design lobby

Rooftop spa and swimming pool complex at Evergreen Resort Hotel (Jiaosi)

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session at 10pm while I was in the reception area watching the regular 9pm cultural-arts show, that night featuring Bei jing opera. Next day I played a round of “golf” at the hotel’s mini-course, a Japanese-invented version with fairways and holes with croquet-type mallets used. Tons of fun.

If you’re intent on getting out and exploring Yilan’s other treasures, the hotel offers guided walks to nearby Wufengqi Falls, arranges half/full-day tours, and will drive you to any location in Yilan County, picking you up af ter (including, of course, all the attractions visited in our main Feature article). Note as well that the Jiaoxi Golf Course is nearby.

Another fine accommodation choice is the Evergreen Resort Hotel (Jiaosi).

While the boutique-style Royal Chiao Hsi seeks to blend in with its green environs, the Evergreen, in the town’s heart, is a large, bold statement of grandeur, towering above all else save for its close-in mountain backdrop. The rooms are Japanese, Western, or a mix of both, and all have stone hot-spring tubs. Get a room on a higher f loor to ensure unobstructed views of the mountain line behind and/or the plain and sea before.

By far this hotel’s best feature, in my view, is the sprawling rooftop spa and swimming pool complex, where you might well

decide to spend entire days. It’s almost as big as a soccer pitch, and is open-concept though there is a glass dividing wall in the middle and half is covered from rain and sun, with all pools within sight of each other save for the isolated men’s and women’s nude-bathing hot-spring pools in the sauna complex. Don’t miss the colorful, soothing herbal, persimmon, and orchid bathing pools. In the middle of the roof is a chic, comfortable open-fronted wood-theme bar that is fully stocked with Western brand names and has sports on a big mounted screen. Heaven, you’ll feel, at just-below mountaintop height.

Apart from the two hotels described above, there are many more excellent accommodation options in Yilan County. For a complete list, visit eng.taiwan.net.tw and check under “Accommodation.”

HOTEL ROYAL CHIAO HSI (礁溪老爺大酒店)Add: 69, Wufeng Rd., Dazhong Village, Jiaoxi Township, Yilan County (宜蘭縣礁溪鄉大忠村五峰路69號)Tel: (03) 988-6288Website: www.hrjhotel.com.tw

EVERGREEN RESORT HOTEL (JIAOSI) (長榮鳳凰酒店(礁溪))Add: 77, Jiankang Rd., Jiaoxi Township, Yilan County (宜蘭縣礁溪鄉健康路77號)Tel: (03) 910-0988Website: www.evergreen-hotels.com

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If you’re on the island and looking to get out of the city and explore a l ittle, taking advantage of that free day

or two, just about every tourist spot in the land is quickly accessible to you. Your answer is the Taiwan Tour Bus service (www.taiwantourbus.com.tw), run by bus-tour outf its vetted by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau. The f irms handle everything, including insurance. Here’s a selected English-language tour sampler for you, with Taipei your launch point and pickup/drop-off at major hotels and public facil ities such as Taipei Railway Station.

North – WulaiA prime attraction for many

foreign visitors is the cultures of Taiwan’s many indigenous peoples. Wulai, 30 minutes south of central Taipei, is the northernmost settlement of the Atayal, Taiwan’s northernmost tribe. Situated in a deep gorge, it is also a hot-spring resort.

On this half-day tour, offered each af ternoon by two f irms, you take a ride on an old logging-industry mini-railway, see soaring Wulai Waterfall, and take in indigenous-culture displays and a song-and-dance performance.

Northeast – Jiufen and JinguashiThere are both half-day

and full-day tours to these two picturesque former mining towns clinging to high slopes off the coast, not far southeast of Keelung City. Jiufen’s heyday was the 1890s~1930s, and today its quaint, of ten steep streets are populated with tourist-oriented food-sellers, eateries, and teahouses. Jinguashi’s Gold Ecological Park is a history buff ’s delight, where you can visit old Japanese-built heritage buildings and enjoy a mine-tunnel experience. This was also site of the infamous WW II Kinkaseki POW camp, where Allied soldiers were forced to work the mines.

Northeast Coast

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Five Great Bus Tour OptionsHow to Explore Taiwan Conveniently if Time Is Limited

Jiufen

Taiwan may not be one of the biggest places found on your world map, but knowledgeable long-term foreign residents enthuse about the tremendous variation of its natural and people-created environments. By Rick Charette

Wulai

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Central – Sun Moon LakeTaiwan’s vetted bus-tour enterprises offer so many options that not

all are listed on the Taiwan Tour Bus website. What you do is go to their individual websites. For example, the main website lists a one-day outing to famed Sun Moon Lake in the central mountains, with Taichung City

pickup, but go to the Edison Travel Service website (www.edison.com.tw) and you’ll see that all tours are in English, and it has a two-day Taipei-launch Sun Moon Lake excursion. You stay overnight at a lakeside hotel, visit such iconic attractions as imposing Wenwu Temple and Ci’en Pagoda, and ride the long, thrilling cable-car “ropeway” to nearby Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village.

East – Taroko GorgeThe Taiwan Tour Bus website l ists

a number of single-day excursions to fabulous Taroko Gorge, Taiwan’s premier natural wonder. All the usual travel-writing superlatives – “magnif icent,” “awe-inspiring,” “incredible” – are fully justif ied in describing this marvel, where 250-mill ion-year-old marble-rich walls at times soar up a thousand feet along the main (lower) gorge, which stretches 19km. For the Taipei-launch tours you are f lown to Hualien City, take a bus to/from the gorge, and come back via a picturesque coast-and-valley train ride, with bus drop-off. In the gorge, you visit such dramatic sites as the Eternal Spring Shrine, Swallow Grotto, and Tunnel of Nine Turns.

South – Kenting and KaohsiungSunny Kenting National Park, sometimes characterized as Taiwan’s

California/Big Sur, takes in much of the island’s south-tip peninsula. Kaohsiung, a history-rich harbor metropolis, is Taiwan’s second largest

city. The Taiwan Tour Bus website offers a number of single-day Kenting tours starting on the peninsula (no English guide); on Edison’s site you’ ll f ind a two-day Taipei-launch tour, during which you ride the island’s impressive High Speed Rail. Trip highlights include Kenting’s world-class biodiversity and the f irst-rate National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium.

A f inal note of advice: If possible, avoid weekend/holiday travel, when all tourist sites are markedly busier.

Love River in Kaohsiung

Taroko Gorge

Sun Moon Lake

Taroko Gorge

Kaohsiung

Sun Moon Lake

Wulai

BUS TOURS

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Atayal Tribe 泰雅族

Ci'en Pagoda 慈恩塔

Eternal Spring Shrine 長春祠

Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village 九族文化村

Gold Ecological Park 黃金博物園區

Jinguashi 金瓜石

Jiufen 九份

Kenting National Park 墾丁國家公園

National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium 國立海洋生物博物館

Sun Moon Lake 日月潭

Swallow Grotto 燕子口

Taroko Gorge 太魯閣峽谷

Tunnel of Nine Turns 九曲洞

Wenwu Temple 文武廟

Wulai 烏來

Wulai Waterfall 烏來瀑布

ENGLISH & CHINESE

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FOOD JOURNEY

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Cof fee farmer and cof fee shop owner L iu Qing-song

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Tasting Taiwan’s Very Own Coffee at Gukeng

Taiwan is a country known for its world-class teas. Few people outside the country, however, are aware that coffee is cultivated here too, albeit on a much smaller scale. If you want to learn f irst-hand about home-grown coffee while sipping a cup or two, your best bet is the township of Gukeng in southern Taiwan. By Owain Mckimm

Fresh NuttyFlav rs

The sun has set over the Huashan area in Gukeng Township, and the coffee shops dotting the

winding mountain road are l it up with neon signs and fairy l ights. It is a cool January evening in the hills of southern Taiwan, and we are at the Red Cherry High Quality Café, owned by coffee expert Dai Jun-ming, sitting outside listening to the grind and crackle of one of his small roasting machines. It has been a long day, with more cups of coffee than I’d usually drink in a week, but the smell of roasting beans emanating from the roaster has something deep and alchemic about it, making me think just one more cup might be a good idea, even if it means not sleeping for a few days.

Gukeng coffee is known for its smooth, mild taste, low acidity, and a l ightness which allows for a fresh nutty f lavor to emerge. The beans grown here are of the Arabica variety and, according to one farmer we had spoken to earlier in the day, have characteristics similar to Brazil ian and Kenyan coffee. Dai explains, though, that the amount of roasting also noticeably affects the f lavor. Af ter a few minutes in the roaster the coffee beans start to audibly “pop,” and Dai says that at this point he can accurately judge the quality and characteristics of the beans (he has won international awards for his roasting skills), and knows just how much more roasting is needed for optimum f lavor.

Coffee trees were f irst planted in Gukeng in the early 1930s by the Japanese, who ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, and before long around 600 hectares were dedicated to growing coffee, with most of the produce being sold as a luxury item in Japan.

In the latter half of the last century, however, the coffee trade in Gukeng waned. Coffee was just too expensive for the local market, and the international one proved too competitive for the shrinking number of coffee farmers.

“Just before the year 2000, there were only about three coffee shops sell ing coffee in Huashan and only one in Hebaoshan, Gukeng’s other main coffee-growing area,” says Dai. “In 2003 we had the f irst ever Taiwan International Coffee Festival here, but few knew about it. The next year, though, the organizers stepped up their advertising

campaign, and a commercial for Mr. Brown Coffee (a popular Taiwan canned-coffee brand) was also shot here. Af ter that things just exploded.” The 2004 coffee festival earned the township f ive times more money than the f irst, and by 2008 the number of visitors attending the festival had quadrupled. Though the number f luctuates, Dai estimates that there are now over 90 coffee shops in Huashan alone, though not all of them grow their own coffee beans.

COFFEE

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Coffee cherries have very little flesh, and though sweet to the taste, the flesh only provides a brief diversion before hitting the sizable coffee bean

l IST


Earlier in the day we had visited Liu Qing-song, the owner of Key Café, who has

1.4 hectares of cof fee growing on the slope below his cof fee shop. We sat on Liu’s veranda overlooking the Yunlin County plains – a view that, when night falls, is quite spectacular – and enjoyed a cup of his f reshly roasted cof fee. Liu was a tea farmer for 17 years before trading his tea bushes for cof fee trees in 1999.

“When I was a child, there was no real candy for us to eat around here, so we would go and steal cof fee cherries and eat them because they ’re so sweet, and there were cof fee trees everywhere,” Liu said. “We’d take the beans and dry them in the sun, wait until our parents went to work and then roast them in a big cooking pot on the stove. We’d crush the beans with a millstone, and put the grounds in a teapot, add some sugar, then drink the cof fee out of a r ice bowl.” Liu said the reason he switched f rom tea growing to cof fee growing was because of these early childhood memories. Af ter our cof fee, Liu took us down to visit his plantation.

“In Taiwan, cof fee grows best at altitudes between 400m and 1300m,” he said. “In Gukeng we are lucky that the cl imate is very similar to Jamaica’s Blue Mountain area, where their famous cof fee is grown. The one dif ference is that our soil doesn’t have the same volcanic composition as theirs does, and so our cof fee tends to be less chocolaty.” Liu harvests his cof fee between December and March. The higher the altitude, the later the cof fee cherries tend to r ipen; Liu’s plantation is at an altitude of 700m, but on a farm only 300m below his the harvesting starts around September.

“The trees start to f lower around February, and continue f lowering until about May,” he explained. Af ter pollination, the coffee cherry takes 6-8 months to grow, fatten and ripen. On the day of our visit, Liu’s coffee trees had a mixture of green, unripe cherries and ripe ones of a deep red. He picked a red one for us to taste. Coffee cherries have very little f lesh, and though sweet to the taste, the f lesh only provides a brief diversion before hitting the sizable coffee bean. Because of the staggered nature of the f lowering the cherries ripen at different times, so they must be picked painstakingly by hand. Af ter picking, the beans are squeezed out of the cherry and put into a tub to ferment overnight. This breaks down the slippery pulp that still cl ings to the beans. Af ter fermentation they are washed and then dried in the sun for a week – though it can sometimes take up to half a month depending on the weather. When the water content of the beans has dropped to around 12% they are put through a machine to remove the dry outer layer of parchment. Liu can identif y just how much moisture is in a bean by judging its color – a skill that he assured me comes with experience. The beans are then ready to be roasted.

Liu explained that even though Gukeng coffee is famous in Taiwan, you’ ll be hard pressed to f ind it sold anywhere other than the local coffee shops. This is because most of the land in Gukeng is used to plant more prof itable betel-nut trees. Many farmers even plant betel-nut trees on coffee-growing land to protect the sun-shy coffee trees from direct sunlight. Liu estimates that there’s only around 80 hectares of coffee-growing land in all of Gukeng Township (out of an island-wide total of around 1,000 hectares). Furthermore, Taiwanese coffee counts for less than a tenth of all coffee drunk in Taiwan, and Gukeng’s for only a fraction of that.

The smell of roasting beans emanating f rom the roaster has something deep and alchemic about it

FOOD JOURNEY

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GETTING THERE: From Taipei, take a train to the town of Douliu, then transfer to a Taisi Bus Co. bus headed for Shiqiao and get off at Huashan bus stop. There are only two buses each day, one at 7:30am and one at 3pm. Alternatively, get a taxi at Douliu (about NT$400 from Douliu to Huashan; drivers usually charge NT$2,000 for a half day).If you drive yourself, take National Highway No. 1 to Yunlin System In-terchange, then take Provincial Highway No. 78 east and exit at Gukeng Interchange, getting on Provincial Highway No. 3 and then changing to County Highway No. 210 to Huashan.

After visiting Liu we stopped for lunch at the Sun and Moonshine Café, where the owner, Lai Song-zhi,

suggested that we try his coffee hotpot – a Gukeng twist on the popular Taiwanese dish. For the broth he mixes espresso with soy sauce, sugar, and cornf lower, adds water and a few freshly roasted coffee beans, f ills your pot with the mixture, provides you with a heat source, vegetables and meat, and away you go. He also suggested we add some of his Gukeng coffee liqueur, which gave the dish an additional kick – as if the amount of caffeine already in it wasn’t suff icient!

In the evening, as we ref lect on the day’s events at the Red Cherry High Quality Café, we suddenly realize the hour is late. Some of the coffee shops here stay open until 2am to allow visitors to feast on the night views, but for us there’s a long drive back to Taipei ahead. Happily, however, after a full day sampling the best of Gukeng coffee we won’t have to worry about falling asleep at the wheel!

SUN & MOONSHINE CAFÉ (山妍慕夏莊園咖啡)Add: 55-1, Huashan Village, Gukeng Township, Yunlin County (雲林縣古坑鄉華山村55-1號) Tel: (05) 590-0111

KEY CAFÉ (重點咖啡)Add: 1, Huashan Village, Gukeng Township, Yunlin County (雲林縣古坑鄉華山村1號) Tel: (05) 590-0130

RED CHERRY HIGH QUALITY CAFÉ (紅果精品咖啡)Add: 35-2, Huashan Village, Gukeng Township, Yunlin County (雲林縣古坑鄉華山村35-2號) Tel: (05) 590-1799

WEIYENA COMPOUND RESTAURANT (維野納複合式餐飲)Add: No1-6, Taoyuan Rd, Huashan Village, Gukeng Township, Yunlin County (雲林縣古坑鄉華山桃源路1-6號) Tel: (05) 590-0203

Dai Jun-ming 戴圳明

Gukeng Township 古坑鄉

Douliu 斗六

Hebaoshan 荷苞山

Huashan 華山

ENGLISH & CHINESE

Lai Song-zhi 賴松志

Liu Qing-song 劉慶松

Shiqiao 石橋

Taisi Bus Co. 台西客運

COFFEE

Travel in Taiwan 25

Cof fee exper t Dai Jun-ming


From Lakeside to Seaside

Cycling through Kaohsiung

Taiwan’s second-largest city prides itself of being a cycler-friendly metropolis. An extensive network of dedicated bikeways and a wide variety of attractions along these paths make Kaohsiung a place worth exploring on two wheels. By Steven Crook

From Lakeside to Seaside

Cycling through Kaohsiung

Taiwan’s second-largest city prides itself on being a cycler-friendly metropolis. An extensive network of dedicated bikeways and a wide variety of attractions along these paths make Kaohsiung a place worth exploring on two wheels. By Steven Crook

Bikeway along Love River

THE BEST BIKE ROUTES

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KAOHSIUNG

Travel in Taiwan27


The cleaning-and-greening of Kaohsiung has been one of Taiwan's great success stories of

the past 20 years. Formerly a bastion of steel-making, shipbuilding, and other heavy industries, this city has leapt up the livability rankings thanks to sterling environmental protection efforts and major investments in public transportation, sporting, and recreational facilities.

Cycling from one side of the urban core to the other no longer means enduring exhaust fumes and inconsiderate drivers. Thanks to an ever-growing network of bike trails (501km as of late 2011), pedal-power has become the best way to explore a city which, for all its skyscrapers and malls, has preserved a good amount of its fascinating past.

Following the merger of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County in late 2010, the municipality now stretches all the way from the ocean to the southern slopes of Yushan (Jade Mountain), Taiwan's highest mountain. Some districts of greater Kaohsiung – rural Meinong, for example – are worthwhile cycling destinations in their own right. However, for this article Travel in Taiwan will stay in the urban core and tackle some of the routes described on the city government's informative and multilingual website Kaohsiung Travel Online (htt p://khh.travel /en/theme/Bike.aspx).

Starting from Lotus Lake in Zuoying District, we pedaled southward along Love River, all

the way to the True Love Ferry Pier – a distance of 31.2km – and then on to the Former British Consular Residence, a 132-year-old landmark that overlooks the mouth of Kaohsiung's busy harbor. The bicycles we used were rented from a station along Kaohsiung City Government's C-Bike network (www.c-bike.com.tw).

Lotus Lake has been drawing tourists for decades, and arriving on a typical winter morning – which in south Taiwan means gentle sunshine and comfortable temperatures – it wasn't hard to see why. This 42-hectare body of water is perfectly complemented by nearby hills, but it's the surrounding religious architecture which makes it truly special. If a criticism can be made, it's that there aren't many lotuses in Lotus Lake!

Af ter renting our bikes at the rental station on the eastern shore, we headed to the lake’s northern end to visit the Confucius Temple. It's said to be the largest Confucian shrine in Taiwan, and if you have a particular interest in the sage and his disciples, you'll learn a lot from the information panels here.

Heading south along the western shore, we made Yuandi Temple our next stop. But instead of going inside, we headed out along the nearby pier toward Lotus Lake's most striking landmark, a 22m-high statue of the Lord of the North Lake's . He's believed to take a special interest in the well-being of butchers, sailors, and children, and to keep his followers safe from f ire.


Travel in Taiwan28

Entrance of Dragon Pagoda

Travel in Taiwan28

Bikeway at Lotus Lake

Pier-2 Art Center


In the modest shrine directly beneath the base, we found the snake and turtle icons which symbolize the god's faithful servants. The former is especially l ifelike; it's sometimes mistaken by foreign visitors for a l iving serpent, perhaps because it's kept in a glass case beside which worshipers leave real eggs as offerings.

Qiming Temple is just 400 meters away, and as I got close I was struck by how colorful it is, even by the ebullient standards of Taiwan's folk temples. Inside, a memorable statue of the general-become-god Guan Gong holds center stage. He's depicted with a dark red face, a full beard, and an unforgiving countenance. The pedestrian bridge here leads to the Spring and Autumn Pavilions and then on to Wuli Pavilion, the closest you can get to the middle of the lake without swimming or boarding a boat.

The lake's single most popular attraction is in its southwestern corner, near the wall and gate that are all that remains of the old prefectural capital of Fengshan. The seven-story Dragon and Tiger Pagodas are reached via a zigzag walkway, the sharp changes in direction intended to throw visiting evil spirits off track. The towers themselves are guarded by a huge blue-and-green dragon and crouching

tiger at the base. Buddhists believe that going in through the dragon’s throat and emerging via the tiger ’s mouth brings good luck; we did just that, before taking a quick look at Zhen Fushe, a long-closed Earth God shrine notable for its aged, delicate door-god paintings. The tiny temple, located at the intersection of Beizitou St. and Shengli Rd., is a national historic site.

Then it was along the southern shore of Lotus Lake and over the railway l ine on a br idge

built especially for cycl ists. Turning lef t on the other side would have brought us to the Protogenic Plants Garden. This park boasts an extensive collection of indigenous f lora and is a must-see for anyone interested in botany.

We turned r ight, fol lowed the ra ilway l ine, and then turned lef t onto X inzhuang 1st Rd. Af ter about 20 minutes follow ing this road and then Xinzhuangzi Rd., we turned r ight onto the bike path running beside Love R iver. The tree-shaded path here, along the northern sect ion of the r iver, leads through residential areas and a number of community parks. The scenery changes signif icantly f ur ther south, along the middle sect ion of the r iver, where you can f ind three dist inct ive sites.

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The seven-story Dragon and Tiger Pagodas are reached via a zigzag walkway, the sharp changes in direction intended to throw visiting evil spirits off track

KAOHSIUNG

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Dragon and Tiger PagodasLord of the North Pole

Public art at Love RiverGuangrong PierPublic art at Pier-2 Art Center

Guan Gong


The f irst of these, if you're coming from the north, is a park area called Heart of Love River, at the intersection of Bo’ai 1st and Tongmeng 2nd roads. This stirring conf luence of shining water and gleaming steel is an ecological-architectural attraction that's particularly impressive at night.

Less than 1km downstream, Kaohsiung Hakka Culture Park has a bil ingual museum and a theater; get a Chinese-speaker to call (07) 313-7878 for details on the daily shows. At the time of writing, the museum was closed for renovation, but it should reopen in mid-March. Do go inside if you can; expect to spend an hour poring over the fascinating collection of old-style agricultural tools, furniture, household utensils, and ritual items.

Anyone with an interest in industrial heritage will thrill at the sight of Zhongdu Tangrong Brick Kiln and its twin octagonal smokestacks. Between 1899 and 1992 this kiln produced up to three mill ion bricks and tiles per month. Located on the corner of Zhonghuaheng and Tongmeng 3rd roads, it's now an open-air museum open to the public.

Reaching the mouth of Love River, we turned west and began exploring

Hamasen, part of Yancheng District. Hamasen – the name is a Taiwanese version of the Japanese toponym – developed rapidly during the Japanese colonial era (1895~1945) because of its proximity to Kaohsiung's harbor. As a result of the city's center of gravity shifting to the north and east in recent decades, the neighborhood has retained much of its old character.

Several of Hamasen's disused warehouses have been put to new uses. One that used to store bananas before they were shipped to Japan is now a popular venue for wedding parties. Another now houses Pier-2 Art Center (pier-2.khcc.gov.tw), a space where artists create and display their works. Train buffs will l ike the new Takao Railway Museum (takao.railway.tw), located beside what used to be Kaohsiung Harbor Railway Station.

Xiziwan, on the coast just north of Kaohsiung Harbor, is dominated by a steep ridge that forms part of Shoushan, a small mountain crisscrossed by hiking trails and famous for its l ively troupes of Formosan Rock Macaques. Our f inal stop, the Former British Consular Residence (www.british-consulate.com.tw), is atop this ridge, and can be reached either by cycling around the small f ishing harbor on Kaohsiung Harbor ’s north side or taking the tunnel that leads to the main campus of National Sun Yat-sen University.

The off icial home of the British empire's diplomatic representative in south Taiwan between 1879 and 1897, the residence is a spacious single-story redbrick dwelling with superb views of the harbor and the Taiwan Strait. The restaurant/bar/coffee shop here is an excellent place to wind up any Kaohsiung tour, and af ter more than 35km of pedaling, we felt we deserved our refreshments.

Fortunately, we didn't have to go all the way back to Lotus Pond to give back the bicycles, as C-Bike bicycles can be returned to any of the 50 off icial rental points. All of

Love River Bikeway

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Sunset at Xiziwan


C-Bike bicycles can be returned to any of the 50 official rental points; all of these stations

are fully automated and function 24/7

Confucius Temple 孔廟

Dragon and Tiger Pagodas 龍虎塔

Earth God 土地公

Fengshan 鳳山

Former British Consular Residence 打狗英國領事館

Guan Gong 關公

Hamasen 哈瑪星

Heart of Love River 愛河之心

Kaohsiung Hakka Culture Park 高雄市新客家文化園

Lord of the North Pole 北極大帝

Lotus Lake 蓮池潭

Love River 愛河

Meinong 美濃

National Sun Yat-sen University 國立中山大學

Pier-2 Art Center 駁二藝術特區

Protogenic Plants Garden 原生植物園

Qiming Temple 啟明堂

Shoushan 壽山

Spring and Autumn Pavilions 春秋閣

Takao Railway Museum 打狗鐵道故事館

True Love Ferry Pier 真愛碼頭

Wuli Pavilion 五里亭

Xiziwan 西子灣

Yuandi Temple 元帝廟

Yancheng District 鹽埕區

Yushan 玉山

Zhen Fushe 鎮福社

Zhongdu Tangrong Brick Kiln 中都唐榮磚窯廠

Zuoying District 左營區

ENGLISH & CHINESE

HSR Zuoying Station

Confucius Temple

Dragon and Tiger PagodasProtogenic Plants Garden

Bike Rental Station

Bike Rental Station

KMRT Ecological District Station

Heart of Love River

Love River

Shoushan

Kaohsiung Hakka Culture Park

Zhongdu Tangrong Brick Kiln

True Love Ferry Pier

Pier-2 Art Center

Fisherman’s Wharf

Former British Consular

Residence

KMRT Sizihwan Station

Xiziwan

Kaohsiung Harbor

Qijin Island

Lotus Lake

Xinzhuang

1st Rd.Xinzhuangzi Rd.

Kaohsiung

these stations are fully automated and function 24/7. If you run into problems, there's a station with helpful staff at True Love Pier (open 10am-9pm daily).

The C-Bike system has other advantages, too. Twenty of the bike-hire stations are adjacent to KMRT stations; others are at museums, parks, and other locations frequented by tourists. The instructions are in both Chinese and English. You can pay by credit card or Kaohsiung I Pass Card; get one of the latter if you're going to be in town for a while, as they can also be used to pay for bus and KMRT rides. However you pay, the f irst hour is free; af ter that, each 30-minute period costs NT$20 if you're using a credit card, NT$10 if you've an I Pass Card.

The C-Bike website l ists rental-station locations and other details. The green-and-white bikes are suitable even for taller individuals (I am 181 cm, and found my ride quite comfortable once I'd adjusted the seat). The bikes come equipped with baskets, but no locks or helmets are provided.

If you want to rent a bike suitable for longer distances, rougher surfaces, or a larger body, try the Giant Bicycle Store at the western end of Qingnian 2nd Road, near the mouth of Love River; tel: (07) 241-3040, open 10am–9.30pm daily. Whether your approach to bicycling is slow and ever so easy or with a bit of sweat-inducing exercise in mind, you're bound to have a great time in Kaohsiung.

KAOHSIUNG

Travel in Taiwan31


Visiting Unique Cafés and Teashops in the City

Whatever you might be craving, it is never too far away in Taipei, a city of ultra-convenience. Each corner here presents novel sights, sounds, and smells, and the many one-of-a-kind cafés and teashops are an inte-gral part of experiencing the city. By Jennif er Turek

LE SALON (小茶栽堂)Add: 8, Lane 4,

Yongkang St., Taipei City (台北市永康街4巷8號)Tel: (02) 2395-1558

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Tea has always been an intrinsic element of Taiwan’s culture; teashops continue to be popular, although

the younger generation is passionate about coffee and cafés seem to have popped up on every block in recent years. As hot drinks are readily available just about anywhere you go in the city, perhaps your toughest choice is simply deciding where to fulfill your desires. If you are seeking to sample some fine tea from the island’s mountain areas or the best in imported coffees, indulge in decadent desserts, and enjoy quality light meals that are inexpensive, look no further than the numerous establishments serving tea and coffee.

Located in the heart of Taipei, down a narrow lane in a thriving tourist area centered on Yongkang Street, is the young Le Salon, a unique shop of understated décor bursting with French-style desserts and chic Italian chocolates complemented with naturally grown Taiwan teas.

One of the many warm and friendly servers, strikingly dressed in all-black attire, immediately presents you with a dainty ceramic cup of steaming tea to sample while you are browsing the floor-to-ceiling menu of the forty to fifty varieties available.

The individually bagged teas are kept in long, black tin cans that are plain yet elegant, and that are distinctively labeled in every color of the rainbow. The Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP) honored Le Salon with its Good Design Award in

2010 for the strikingly delicate design of these cans. The cans are available for purchase, as are smaller containers of loose tea.

In addition, Le Salon offers resplendent gift boxes and earthenware teapot travel sets that make great souvenirs. The boxes have been designed by the owner of the tea shop, who has spent a lot of time studying the art of dessert-making in France. The shop's special lighting highlights cookies, cakes, quiches, chocolates, macaroons, and a shiny glass counter with rows of other delicious, mouthwatering items. The distinctive design of the Strawberry Queen (NT$180), specially made in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day, is most impressive, but every dessert looks so tasty it is hard to choose just one. Fortunately, a variety of combinations are available starting at NT$1,080 for two.

Le Salon has twelve tables on two narrow f loors. The rich, dark furniture and mauve purple walls, the latter free of art or other decorations, create a peaceful and classy minimalist ambiance. Fresh greenery covers one end of each room, while the other end features a bright window allowing leisurely viewing of the bustling lane out front.

The heavenly Gardenia

Oolong Tea Yogurt Ice

Cream and the Strawberry

Black Oolong Pastry and

Ginger Tea.

My favorites

ENJOYMENT.indd 32 2012/2/23 5:43:12 PM

O'Sweet, another centrally located establishment, is only a f ive-minute stroll f rom MRT

Zhongxiao Dunhua Station. In a pleasant, exciting shopping area, it opens in the late af ternoon. It is an inviting place to plunk down your bags and relax with some delicious food treats and a rejuvenating cup of hot coffee.

The shop has an extensive menu with an abundance of l ight snacks, including eight different tortilla options, twelve types of focaccia sandwich, waff les, and several salad choices. Along with a wide selection of coffees, teas, sorbets, and juices, there are classic desserts such as cheesecakes, brownies, and ice cream.

The one-of-a-kind Caketail (NT$220) is what makes O'Sweet stand out from the other cafés in the immediate area. In three easy steps, you can create your very own dessert, with endless possibil ities. Start by choosing one of six f lavors of chiffon cake, add three fruits from the plethora available, then select one sauce and one f lavor of ice cream to top it off. The selection process doesn't end there, however, as you choose either an elegant martini glass, a tall wine glass, or a sparkling champagne f lute to hold your masterpiece.

The one-of-a-kind Caketail is what makes O'Sweet stand out. In three easy steps,

you can create your very own dessert, with endless possibilities

The lively wait staff, clad in sparkling-white dress shirts with sleeves rolled up to their elbows, black vests, and fashionable fedoras, are patient and helpful during the decision-making process. Observing these artistes craf ting your visually enticing Caketail is almost as good as eating it. These master dessert-makers take care to keep the

intricately carved fruits from the cake and the sauce to ensure a f lawless appearance for your work of art.

Deciding on the ingredients for a Caketail can be almost impossible, but thankfully the shop makes things easier for you by creating set pieces that have become old favorites with regulars. One is the Hawaii Fall in Love, which contains vanilla chiffon cake, banana, pineapple, kiwi, strawberry, custard sauce, and vanilla ice cream. O'Sweet's newest creation is the Fairy Tale Paradise, with vanilla chiffon cake, strawberry jelly, panna cotta, melon, banana, vanilla ice cream, chocolate cookie, cotton candy, custard sauce, and cream.

O'Sweet's dining area has seating for 45 and a delightfully simple decor. Af ter three successful years, a new location will open this April in the Xinyi District, in the same building as the eslite bookstore.

O'SWEET (元甜)Add: 45, Lane 51, Sec. 1, Da'an Rd.,

Taipei City (台北市大安路

1段51巷45號)Tel: (02) 8771-7812

COFFEE & TEA

Travel in Taiwan 33

Warm, sweet apple tea and my very own Caketail masterpiece.

My favorites


The Tomato Chili Bagel, with a variety

of homemade cream cheeses, and the

sweet, warm Mulberry tea.

My favorites

With Taipei 101 towering above, Good Cho's, located in the middle of what formerly was one of the

numerous military dependents’ communities built in Taipei af ter the Chinese Civil War (and saved from demolition), is constantly packed with patrons and has been so ever since its opening just over one year ago. The place has acquired an exceptional reputation, and is especially popular with local artists.

This warm, family-style café, with a décor in which wood is prominent, has indoor seating for nearly 100 guests; yet not one set of tables and chairs is the same, giving the room a very homey feeling. There is an open-concept kitchen and prep area, allowing visitors to view staff at work. Many customers come specif ically to watch how Good Cho’s popular bagels are prepared. For those on the move, bagels to go are offered.

Good Cho's creates bagels in ten to twelve f lavors each day, such as red bean, mulberry, and banana chocolate, ranging from NT$30 to NT$60 each. Freshly made cream cheese is available in a variety of tastes, starting at NT$20

per serving. All ingredients used, except the f lour, are from Taiwan, with the delicious fruits purchased directly from farmers around the island.

There are also bagel sandwiches, crisp salads, homemade sweets, fresh yogurts, cookies, scones, coffees, teas, juices, and beers. The bagel menu changes daily, so be sure to drop in more than once. Note, however, that Good Cho’s is so popular it is a good idea to make reservations a few weeks in advance if possible if you want to guarantee yourself a table.

Planning a full day or a lazy af ternoon around a visit to Good Cho's is an excellent idea, as there is no shortage of things to do in the surrounding area. There are plenty of books and magazines to read at the café, along with the entertainment of observing the artsy Taipei scene and the crowds of faithful regulars.

Good Cho's features furniture and f ittings made from recycled materials. It also has a guitar shop with handmade instruments as well as a display area with continually changing art exhibits.

GOOD CHO'S (好丘)Add: 54 Songqin St.,

Taipei City (台北市松勤街54號)

Tel: (02) 2758-2607Website:

www.streetvoice.com/goodchos

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WHAT’S GOING ON?

This is the answer to the question on page 5. Did you guess right? Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan is a truly photogenic place, and walking along the shore is just one of many ways to take in its charming beauty. You can also circle the lake by bike or bus, go on a boat cruise, or see the lake f rom high above when taking the Sun Moon Lake Ropeway cable car. More about Sun Moon Lake at www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

35

Sun Moon Lake

WHERE IS THIS?

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At the rose garden of CKS Shilin Residence

Riding the Taipei Metro

"Everybody in line, the train is co

ming!"

"What now?"

on Tour

Little

Friends

Taking Toy Figures on a Trip to Shilin

MY PHOTO TOUR

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p36-37 PHOTO TOUR-2.indd 36 2012/2/23 5:48:39 PM

CKS Shilin Residence is a great place for a relaxing

day-outing

Encounter with stinky tofu at Shilin Night Market

Exploring a park of many mysteries

"Where to go next?"

"Smells so nice!"

"Say CHEESE!"

It might sound like a silly idea, taking your kids’ toy f igures or your own

(if you are young or young at heart) on a trip and using them, instead of

human travel companions, as your photo models. But surprise, surprise, it’s a lot

of fun and presents you with numerous photographic challenges. The best thing

about this approach is the unique ground-level perspectives you can achieve and

the visual effect of surroundings suddenly appearing really big when the little

f igures are placed in “real-world” situations.

On a chilly and rainy February day, Travel in Taiwan took a bunch of very

tiny, mid-sized, and larger toy f igures on a tour of Shilin District in Taipei, and

shot photos at the CKS Shilin Residence park, which is known for its wide range

of beautiful f lowers, MRT stations in the district, and the Shilin Night Market.

The small fellows seemed to enjoy it, and so did we.

Travel in Taiwan 37

TOY FIGURES

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In Search of the Black-Faced Spoonbill an

d other Water Birds

The rare Black-faced Spoonbill is the darling of Taiwan’s birding community, and spotting this lovely bird during

its winter stay on the island is an eco-tour highlight for many nature lovers each year. By Steven Crook

Bird-wa tch ing a t the southwest coas t

Blac k-faced Spoonbill

Taiwan, first-time v isitors are sure to notice as soon as they leave the airport, is

crowded with buildings and people. But what they may not real ize is that the island also has a vast and var ied bird population. Spend time in any city park and you’ ll spot f locks of Eurasian Tree Sparrows. Throughout the rural lowlands, L ight-vented Bulbuls are a common sight.

A l ist compiled in 2011 by the Chinese Wild Bird Federation (www.bird.org.tw), Taiwan’s leading birding group, gives a clear picture of the country ’s av ian treasures. If vagrants (birds who’ve lost their way, or been blown of f course by typhoons) and exotics accidentally introduced are counted, a total of 589 species were spotted in Taiwan and its outly ing islands. By compar ison, the

number for South Korea, three times the size of Taiwan, is 492. Moreover, Taiwan’s total includes 22 species which are endemic, meaning they can be found nowhere else on Earth, as well as 61 endemic sub-species. South Korea has no endemics.

Many of Taiwan’s most attractive birds are temporary residents that follow the East Asian-Australasian Flyway to the island. Flyways are the routes taken by birds as they migrate when the seasons change. As winter approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, mill ions of birds head south f rom Russia, Alaska, Korea, and Japan in search of warmer weather and more plentiful food. Some go as far as New Zealand; others f ind Taiwan to their l iking, and stay on the island for the duration of the cool season.

Wint e r T ime Is Birding T ime !

NATURAL TREASURES

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One bird that falls into the second category is the Black-faced Spoonbill. Even though it’s

a migrant, it has become one of Taiwan’s star avians. This is due in part to its handsome appearance and the endearing way in which it feeds, sweeping its over-sized beak through swallow water in search of small f ish and

other tasty morsels.

There’s another reason why the people of Taiwan have taken such a great interest in this bird. It’s an endangered species, there being only around 2,000 Black-faced Spoonbills in the world. Each year, between mid-September and May, around three-quarters of the global population hunkers down in Taiwan’s Southwest Coast National Scenic Area (SWCNSA; www.swcoast-nsa.gov.tw).

Eager to see spoonbills and other feathered beauties, Travel in Taiwan set off one recent winter ’s morning for the scenic area. Our f irst stop was Aogu Wetland Forest Park in the northwestern corner of Chiayi County.

An area of reclaimed land intended for agriculture, parts of Aogu became swampy as long ago as the 1970s, while others were recently afforested. This combination of wet and dry land is an ideal habitat for water birds and the crabs, shrimp, and other creatures they feed on.

The park, which was established in 2009, covers 664 hectares. Bil ingual signs and maps help f irst-time visitors f ind their way around.

Some 228 bird species have been recorded in Aogu, with winter and early spring being the best time of year for “l isting” – adding species to the l ist every serious birder keeps of all the avian species he has identif ied with absolute certainty during his l ifetime.

The Black-faced Spoonbill has become one of Taiwan’s star avians, due in part to its handsome appearance and the endearing way in which it feeds

We headed straight to the Northern Levee Wetland. There, in less than two hours, we notched up more than 20 species,

including three of Taiwan’s f ive egret species, a Great Cormorant, at least one Black Coot, several Spotbill Ducks, Green-winged Teals, Northern Shovellers, more than one Northern Pintail, and a solitary Sacred Ibis.

A personal highlight occurred while we were crouched behind a blind (the park has many such screens, designed so humans can view birds without scaring them off), when a Kentish Plover dashed daintily across the mud just a few meters from where we were hiding.

We could appreciate the plover and many other birds with nothing more than the naked eye. But to make the most of Aogu’s wildlife, you’ ll need decent binoculars or, even better, a spotting scope (a tripod-mounted telescope offering greater magnif ication). To reach the birdwatching sites mentioned in this article you’ ll also need your own wheels, or someone able to both drive and guide you around.

Our guides – a SWCNSA staffer and one of the scenic area’s most knowledgeable volunteers – went on to point out two impressive sights. One was a cluster of 100 or so Western Curlews. These large, mottled gray-brown waders are notable for long, thin beaks which curve downward. Further away, a band of Pied Avocets huddled together, all facing away from the wind. Also waders, they have dove-shaped black-and-white bodies and bills which turn up.

We then spotted a single Black-faced Spoonbill, which I took as a good omen for the rest of the day. The fact that in the end we saw just one of these birds in Aogu was explained a few days later, when I read in the newspaper that only a small proportion of the 1,399 Black-faced Spoonbills counted in Taiwan on Christmas Eve 2011 were in Chiayi County. The vast majority were in Tainan, which is where we were heading later in the day.

BIRDS

Travel in Taiwan 39

BIRDS


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The town of Budai in Chiayi County’s southwest is synonymous with seafood. On weekends thousands

of outsiders come here to buy or eat f ish, oysters, and other delectables pulled from the ocean. It’s also a good place for birdwatching, if you know where to go.

Our guides drove us through a f lat landscape of abandoned salt pans and f ish farms near Budai’s junior high school, explaining that Common Mynas are year-round residents, while Saunders’s Gulls are frequent wintertime visitors.

We saw a few Black-faced Spoonbills, but far more arresting was the dense crowd of Black-winged Stilts. I tried to count them, and reckoned there were around 300. In the past I’d seen plenty of these pink-legged birds in fallow rice f ields near my home, but never in such numbers.

Birdwatching and eating seafood aren’t the only reasons to spend time on Taiwan’s southwestern coast. Until just a few years ago, the region’s abundant sunshine was used to produce salt, and the SWCNSA has preserved remnants of this old-time industry.

At Jingzaijiao, a windswept hamlet in Tainan’s Beimen District just off Provincial Highway No. 61 (a north-south expressway that’s also handy for reaching just about any part of the scenic area), we toured the 190-year-old tile-bottomed evaporation ponds. A team of artists was hard at

work sculpting salt into the shape of a dragon in honor of the Year of the Dragon, which began on January 23, 2012. The ponds are still used to produce small quantities of salt for educational purposes, and an information board explains the process in detail.

Then it was back in the van to resume our search for spoonbills. We had saved the most promising

location for last. Tainan’s Qigu District, l ike Jingzai jiao and Budai, has been shaped by the salt-making and aquaculture industries. Plans to develop heavy industry in the 1990s met with f ierce opposition when the likely impact on the district’s water-bird population became known, and in 1998 the Black-faced Spoonbill Conservation Association (www.b f sa.org.tw) was established.

In recent years eco-tourism has taken off, and the 300-hectare Black-faced Spoonbill Reserve is now one of the focal points of Taijiang National Park (www.t jnp.gov.tw), Taiwan’s newest national park. If you don’t know much about the birds, I recommend spending at least half an hour reading about them at the Black-faced Spoonbill Ecology Exhibition Hall (closed Mondays; admission free; tel: (06) 788-1180), which you’ ll pass as you approach the reserve from the main road. A sign at the entrance displays the number of spoonbills seen in the reserve that day (289 on the day we visited).

Thousands of m ig ra tory b i rds s p end th e

winter in Ta iwan

A Grea t Cormorant

A personal highlight occurred when a Kentish Plover dashed daintily across the mud just a few

meters from where we were hiding

NATURAL TREASURES

Travel in Taiwan 40


Inside the hall there’s an abundance of information. You’ ll learn how Black-faced Spoonbills differ from the world’s f ive other spoonbill species, and how they change physically as they mature. Surprisingly, they start out with black feathers and brown bills. Some don’t become fully white until their sixth year. During the breeding season, both male and female spoonbills sport golden feathers on their breasts. They neither swim nor dive, because the webbing on their feet is too small.

The mounted spoonbills you’ ll see inside aren’t models. Whenever researchers come across a dead bird, they study it carefully to determine the cause of death. A few then benef it from the skills of a taxidermist and enjoy a second life, as it were, inside the exhibition hall.

A short drive seaward brought us to the f irst birdwatching platform. During spoonbill season,

national park volunteers are usually on hand to help visitors spot the spoonbills, which may be a kilometer or two away in the middle of the lagoon. With their help, we got our spotting scopes correctly positioned and could see what we’d come for: a f lock of Black-faced Spoonbills, huddled together, waiting for night to fall so they could begin feeding. The image was indistinct due to the distance, and a l ittle blurry because sharp winds shook the scope.

Aogu Wetland Forest Park 鰲鼓溼地森林園區

Beimen District 北門區

Black-faced Spoonbill Conservation Association 黑面琵鷺保育學會

Black-faced Spoonbill Ecology Exhibition Hall 黑面琵鷺生態展示館

Black-faced Spoonbill Reserve 黑面琵鷺保護區

Budai 布袋

Chinese Wild Bird Federation 中華鳥會

Jingzaijiao 井仔腳

Northern Levee Wetland 北堤濕地

Qigu District 七股區

Southwest Coast National Scenic Area 雲嘉南濱海國家風景區

Taijiang National Park 台江國家公園

ENGLISH & CHINESE

Good equi pmen t is k ey to a

fun bird-wa tch ing out ing

Kent ish Plover

On the one hand I felt satisf ied – Mission Accomplished! On the other, I could now understand why birders return to the same spot again and again, even when the weather is unfavorable, just so they can get a better look at a particular species. Over the past few years I’ve dabbled in birdwatching, and know why so many people become hooked on this healthy, inexpensive, and utterly relaxing hobby. In fact, I’m already planning my next tr ip to the west coast, binoculars and f ield guide book in hand.

Hukou Wetlands

Aogu Wetlands

Budai Visitor Center

Western Coastal Expressway

Haomeil iao Nature Reserve

Jingzai jiao Tile-paved Salt Fields

Black-faced Spoonbill Reserve

Tai jiang National Park

Southwest Coast NSA Admin.

Black-faced Spoonbill Ecology Exhibition Hall

Taiwan Straits61

BIRDS

Travel in Taiwan 41


The Miaoli Bombing the Dragon Festival

The large-headed dragon came toward me, dancing, prancing, and writhing,

tilted its head in inspection this side and that, fluttered its tremendous eyelids

as if making a final statement – and blew up. By Rick Charette

Travel in Taiwan 42

FESTIVAL

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No, I the spectator was not the one who was “bombed,” as in not seeing

straight. It was the dragon that had been literally “bombed” with f irecrackers, during the 2012 Miaoli Bombing the Dragon festival (www.miaoli2012bombingthedragon.com; Chinese).

This is a traditional Hakka festival that happens in the small, predominantly Hakka city of Miaoli, in hilly Miaoli County. The Hakka are one of Taiwan’s key minorities. The festival, one of the 12 most important Hakka events of the year, is centered on the annual Lantern Festival, which takes place on the 15th day of the f irst lunar month. The city government took over and expanded the festival over a decade ago, and this year it ran nine days, f inishing February 8. I made it to the city for three of four key dates, the four focused on these showcase events: the Dragon Eye-Dotting Ceremony/Dragon Dance Competition, Folk Parade Night, Bombing the Dragon Night, and Dragon Incineration Ceremony.

Day One for me, January 31, was Dragon Eye-Dotting Ceremony/Dragon

Dance Competition day. This is a morning/af ternoon spectacle held before Yuqing Temple. To start, almost 20 long, serpentine dragons were stretched out, in l ine, f ill ing the plaza, troupe members beside, thousands of buzzing spectators packing the perimeter. As things proceeded, I was continually approached by helpful support personnel, anxious that the visiting foreigner understood what was happening.

“Dragon masters will now dot the eyes to bring them to life, making them divine,” a friendly tourism off icial told me. “This invites the gods to come dwell within. If lef t unpainted, evil spirits can easily enter. The ‘paint’ used is blood taken from a rooster ’s crown (as this was said, it happened on the main stage). Red is the Chinese culture’s most auspicious color. The blood is mixed with cinnabar and rice wine.”

As eyes were dotted the dragons’ heads and bodies began to twitch and shake. They were now alive. As my new friend explained that “The masters will now paint the body dots, each granted an auspicious name such as ‘gathering wealth’ and ‘source of fortune,’” it all happened, at high-decibel level so all could hear.

Travel in Taiwan 43

MIAOLII


The competition then began, teams showing their skills one by one over three hours, with a number exhibiting quite extraordinary imagination and acrobatic skill. As I watched, a policeman approached and, smiling, volunteered that “Other places have dancing dragons, but only in Miaoli do we bomb them. We Hakka believe the more vigorous the dance and the more hits the dragon takes, the greater the luck and prosperity in the coming year for those who get close. In fact, we believe this festival protects the whole county. Notice the dragons’ joints – each has an auspicious number, with 9, 11, and 15 the luckiest. And the fabric covering the Miaoli-bamboo frame is always some combination of red, green, blue, silver, and gold, representing nature’s f ive elements.”

At competition’s end, the three winners paraded separately around the plaza, stepping over huge piles of f irecrackers, troupe members sometimes disappearing completely in the blasts. This was not true “bombing,” for the dragons had to be preserved for the festival’s other big days. I later got to talk to the leader of the winning team, an engaging young fellow named Qiu Jun-yuan.

“All troupes today were from Miaoli City,” he said. “We start practicing in earnest about a month ahead, a few hours daily if possible. Most troupes are associated with temples, and are l ike boys’ clubs, the temples encouraging healthy recreation. Our troupe is private, with a private benefactor. Usually an old-time troupe member will be a part-time teacher, for free. You have to be young because the work is so hard, and sometimes we’re on streets and in businesses for hours. Today we won NT$30,000, and by winning we’ ll get more and higher commissions in the coming days from big businesses and other groups, to perform privately, because this proves our dragon is most divine and powerful. We’ ll also get more commissions elsewhere in the region, mostly in Hakka areas.”

My Day Two and Day Three were consecutive, Folk Parade Night and Bombing the Dragon Night, on Feb. 4 and

5, respectively, two days before the Lantern Festival and on Lantern Festival Eve. On Folk Parade Night a “f irecracker dragon” slithering over 2km through the streets was lit to kick things off, then a “real” dragon over 130 meters long paraded the city, joined by drum troupes, lion troupes, marching bands… and the dragon-dance troupes, the dragons dipping in and out of buildings, occupants giving troupes red envelopes containing cash in thanks for their blessings. At designated spots the dragons gathered and were bombed, f irecrackers in stupendous number stuffed into their mouths and around their heads.

The venue for Bombing the Dragon Night was Riverside Park. This is a monster pyrotechnics-focused party, its

highlights a f ireworks show, more dragon bombings, a dragon f loat with the dragon itself a dazzling pyrotechnics platform, and a grand stage show featuring pop and folk-art performances.

The last night, Feb. 8, offered the Dragon Incineration Ceremony before Wu Wenchang Temple. There were more dragon bombings, naturally, then teams thanked their dragons, lay them atop great piles of spirit money, piled more atop, and sent the dragons back to the heavens in holy infernos.

Beyond all the colorful fun described above, there are numerous other attractions as well, among them DIY dragon-creation sessions, Hakka food fairs and product bazaars, and an exhibit on the Bombing the Dragon phenomenon.

On both my Day Two and Three I bumped into another new Miaoli f riend, a local professor, who like the

others was thrilled to know that foreigners know of and are interested in the festival and Hakka life, and spent time explaining things to me. “There are many things to know,” he said. “For example, the Chinese dragon lives in the skies, so the f irecracker blasts represent l ightning, their sound thunder, the smoke clouds. When incinerated, the smoke curling upwards represents the curling dragon returning heavenwards. And did you know (I didn’t), that our dragon-bombing tradition only really took off 50 years ago? A local fabric mill owned by today’s Shin Kong Group invited troupes in, locked the gates, and pummelled them for luck. Af ter that, more and more big businesses joined in.”

If you were looking for proof of the Miaoli dragons’ powers, look no further. Shin Kong has since become one of Taiwan’s most powerful enterprises. See you next year.

Searching the Warmth of Home

when Far Away

Crossing borders, crossing cultures, in far-off places

A quiet oasis in a busy city

Brings the comfort and peace of home

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Bombing the Dragon Night 旁火龍之夜

Dragon Eye-Dotting Ceremony/ Dragon Dance Competition 祥龍點睛/舞龍競賽

Folk Parade Night 民俗踩街

Hakka People 客家人

Dragon Incineration Ceremony 化龍返天

Miaoli Bombing the Dragon 苗栗旁火龍

Qiu Jun-yuan 邱俊源

Riverside Park 河濱公園

Shin Kong Group 新光集團

Wu Wenchang Temple 五文昌廟

Yuqing Temple 玉清宮

ENGLISH & CHINESE

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Searching the Warmth of Home

when Far Away

Crossing borders, crossing cultures, in far-off places

A quiet oasis in a busy city

Brings the comfort and peace of home

MIAOLI


UPCOMINGFestivals and Events from March to May

For more information on upcoming festivals and events, visit the website of the Tourism Bureau at http://eng.taiwan.net.tw and click on “Festivals” or call the 24-hour toll-free Travel Information Hotline at 0800-011765.

Until APR 30Dajia Mazu International Festival大甲媽祖國際觀光文化節

Location: Greater Taichung Area (大台中地區 )Tel: (04) 2676-3522Website: www.dajiamazu.org.tw

APR ~ MAYHakka Tung Blossom Festival客家桐花季Locations: Hilly areas of Northern, Central, and Eastern TaiwanTel: (02) 8789-4567 ext. 743Website: http://tung.hakka.gov.tw

MAR 23 ~ APR 29Zhuzihu Calla-Lily Festival竹子湖海芋季Location: Zhuzihu, Yangmingshan (陽明山竹子湖 )Tel: (02) 2720-8889 ext. 6586Website: www.ymsnp.gov.tw

MAR 31 ~ MAY 20Yilan Green Expo宜蘭縣綠博會Location: Wulaokeng Area (武荖坑風景區 ); 75 Wulaokeng Rd., Su'ao Township, Yilan County(宜蘭縣蘇澳鎮武荖坑路 75號 )Tel: (03) 987-2403Website: www.e-land.gov.tw

Until MAR 18Yangmingshan Flower Festival陽明山花季 Location: Yangming Park (陽明公園 ); 26, Sec. 2, Hushan Rd., Taipei City (台北市湖山路 2段 26號 )Tel: (02) 2861-6533, 2861-3388Website: 2012yms.com.tw

MAR 7 ~ JUN 20Baosheng Cultural Festival大龍峒保生文化祭 Location: Bao'an Temple (61, Hami St., Taipei City/臺北市哈密街 61號 )Tel: (02) 2595-1676Website: www.baoan.org.tw

APR 4 ~ APR 8Spring Scream春天吶喊Location: South Point Campground, Eluanbi, Kenting National Park(墾丁國家公園鵝鑾鼻最南點露營區 )Tel: (04) 2298-5258Website: www.springscream.com

APR 16 ~ MAY 24Penghu Fireworks Festival澎湖海上花火節Location: Xiying Rainbow Bridge & Guanyin Pavilion, Magong City, Penghu County (澎湖縣馬公市觀音亭西瀛虹橋 )Tel: (06) 921-6521Website: www.penghu.gov.tw

Travel in Taiwan 46

p46 CALENDAR.indd 46 2012/2/24 4:25:06 PM

If you come across a new upright piano in Taiwan it has, with almost 100% certainty, been assembled in a certain

factory that is a 40-minute drive southwest of Taipei City. Since the only other producer of pianos in Taiwan, Yamaha, closed its local business in 2009, Tong Ho Musical Wooden Works Co., Ltd. has been the sole domestic company supplying musicians with pianos that are not imported. Keeping the production line running over the past two decades has been quite a challenge, with sales numbers declining ever since the “golden 1980s” when Tong Ho sold up to 700 pianos a month. The present number is about 150. In an attempt to stimulate business and create an additional source of income, f ive years ago the then 40-year-old company decided to open the plant up for visitors. After a year of preparations, the doors of the Music 4 Fun Tong Ho Music Experience Museum were swung open.

The factory/museum is located just 15 minutes by foot from Daxi’s Old Street, the town’s main tourist draw. Even before entering through the main gate, the sound of piano music

emanating from loudspeakers f ills the air, setting the tone for a highly educational tour that is all about pianos and music.

“Opening the doors of the factory for visitors,” explains Chen Wei-hong, the plant’s manager and vice-director, “is an attempt to create an interest in music in general, and the piano in particular, among the younger generation. Children are nowadays more interested in playing video games than learning a musical instrument, and it is therefore important to introduce them to music at an early age. Only with this interest established will we be able to sell more pianos in the future”.

It is therefore not surprising that the tourist factory is primarily geared toward entertaining visiting families and school classes, with the f irst mainly coming on weekends and the latter during the week. Visitors who do not belong to one of these groups are nevertheless welcome too, and everyone who’s interested in music will f ind a tour of the plant highly interesting, and perhaps even eye-opening.

A piano factory in Taoyuan County’s Daxi Township is among the growing number of tourist factories around Taiwan, and now allows visitors to learn about piano production and the mechanics that make the instrument work. Travel in Taiwan made the short trip from Taipei to f ind out more. By Kurt Weidner

Music 4 Fun

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TOURISM FACTORIES

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Music 4 Fun offers half-day and full-day tours (NT$200 and NT$400, respectively). On our visit we opted for the half-day tour, which includes a session on DIY assembly of musical instruments, a tour of two exhibit rooms where you learn a great deal about the piano, a visit to a hall housing simple devices for creating sound (or better, noise) built with recycled waste materials, and a tour of the factory ’s assembly.

The DIY session is especially geared to kids. You are shown how to put together a harmonica by

screwing the different parts together with tiny screws, and you learn how the different parts of a recorder are put together. The most interesting part about the harmonica assembly is learning how the reed plate at the core of the instrument works – sound is created by blowing wind into the holes to make the reeds vibrate.

The DIY session is conducted on the f irst f loor. Af terwards, we went up to the display hall on the second f loor. If you have ever wondered what a piano looks like on the inside and how the sound is created, you’ ll f ind all the answers here. The pianos and piano components arranged around the two large rooms here have been dissected in every possible way to let you see inside and help you comprehend the surprisingly complicated mechanics.

In the f irst room, you will learn that spruce from Alaska is used for the soundboard, how the keyboard is glued

together, how the hammers hit the strings, what material the hammers are made of, what’s happening inside the piano when pressing the pedals, and much more. The second room has displays of piano peripherals, including humidity sensors, a device that turns a piano into an electrical instrument (allowing musicians to play on at night without disturbing their neighbors), and a fancy system that slows down the fall of the “fall” (the keyboard cover).

Filled in with all the details about the piano, visitors – especially the younger ones – are delighted with the next part of the factory tour. In the “Environmental Music Area,” located inside a hall opposite the exhibition building, you can make sound to your heart’s content on simple devices

made with recycled trash by factory workers. The title “Music Area” is a bit misleading, because if you visit this hall at the same time as a 30-strong

class of elementary students, the “music” created by hammering on metal surfaces and plastic buckets is more

like an assault on your ears, the piano music from the aforementioned outside loudspeakers completely drowned out.

Have fun, and don’t say you weren’t warned.

The last part of the tour – and in our view the best – is the visit to the assembly hall, where you’ ll see 20~30 pianos being assembled by a dozen workers. Following a designated path through the hall, you look right over the shoulders of the workers, watching how they put together keys and hammers, strings and boards, pedals and covers. At one end of the hall you witness how the sound for each piano is f ine-tuned before the instrument is shipped out.

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Piano Display Hall Environmental Music Area

TOURISM FACTORIES

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Other Places of Interest in the Area

The town of Daxi is best known for it’s Old Street (Heping Road), l ined with old shophouses, many sporting Baroque-style facades, an indication of the town’s thriving commerce in times gone by. There are numerous shops and eateries here, where you can sample local specialties such as dried beancurd and rice cooked in bamboo tubes.

At the western end of town is the small Zhongzheng Park, from which you enjoy great views over the Dahan River. A path below the park, by the river, leads to the photogenic river-spanning Daxi Bridge. A nice place to enjoy a cup of coffee while taking in the river views is the terrace at Daxi Artist Villa, housed in what was once a summer retreat of late President Chiang Kai-shek.

For more about tourist factories around Taiwan, visit taiwanplace21.org/en/index.htm.

Dahan River 大漢溪

Daxi 大溪

Daxi Artist Villa 大溪藝文之家

Daxi Bridge 大溪橋

Heping Road 和平路

Old Street 老街

Tong Ho Musical Wooden 東和樂器木業股份有限公司

Works Co., Ltd. Zhongzheng Park 中正公園

ENGLISH & CHINESE

HOW TO GET THERE:Self-drive: National Highway No. 3 (Second Northern Free-way) to Daxi Interchange → Yuanlin Rd. (員林路), Jieshou Rd. (介壽路), Wuling Bridge (武嶺橋) to Daxi (大溪) → Xinyi Rd. (信義路) to factoryPublic transport: Take a train to Taoyuan City and take a Taoyuan Bus Co. (桃源客運) bus to town of Daxi from there. The factory is within walking distance from central Daxi.

MUSIC 4 FUN TONG HO MUSIC EXPERIENCE MUSEUM (MUSIC 4 FUN 東和音樂體驗館)Add: 226 Xinyi Rd., Daxi Township, Taoyuan County (桃園縣大溪鎮信義路226號) Tel: (03) 388-2215~7Website: www.music4fun.com.tw (Chinese)Fee: Half-day tour NT$200/pers., incl. DIY assembly of harmon-ica or recorder (40 min.) and tour of Piano Exhibition Area (40 min.), Environmental Music Area (40 min.), and factory’s assem-bly line (30 min.)Reservation by phone one week in advance necessary.

Daxi Old Street

PIANO

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It was slightly less than a decade ago that a jovial-looking, bespectacled, newly minted teacher stood

in front of a classroom of primary-school children. To the impressionable young kids he repeated the of t-heard mantra “follow your dreams,” only to realize that he was not truly following his own. Determined not to waste any more time on anything unrelated to his true passion, Page Tsou decided then and there to throw himself headlong into the art world. He has remained steadfast in his vision and true to his path ever since.

Tsou grew up in sprawl ing, suburban Taichung in central Ta iwan. The city is now regarded as one of the island’s ar t ist ic enclaves, but was not quite so cosmopol itan dur ing the artist ’s formative years. The son of a factory owner, Tsou early on found he enjoyed drawing, and he realized that if he was going to be noticed in school his right-brain talents were key.

Page Tsou: Past and PresentA Taiwanese Artist Pursues His True Passion

After returning from studies in London and winning awards for his illustrations, Taiwanese artist Page Tsou has be-come a recognized member of the local art scene. Among his acclaimed works is a series of unusual portraits depict-ing the back of the head. By Joe Henley

“If you were ver y naughty, or not a ver y good student, the teachers would always ignore you. That's how I felt,” he says, recall ing early academic missteps pr ior to receiv ing some recognition at his school af ter receiving an art award. “Once I won the award, everybody noticed me. That's why I started to insist on drawing.”

In junior high Tsou continued to hone his skills; there he was exposed to watercolor and traditional Chinese ink painting, which would later weigh in heavily as he developed his own unique style. His parents, however, may have inadvertently contributed another element that found its way into Tsou’s work by insisting that he embark on a more conventional and stable career path. At their behest, Tsou enrolled in National Chiayi University ’s Teachers College, where he also continued drawing and painting. It was there that the vintage tones so prevalent in Tsou’s work began to creep in, thanks to the rather retro surroundings that def ined the small countryside city of Chiayi at the time. Tsou,

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ever eager to f ind more sources of inspiration, seemed to zero in on it in the unlikeliest of places.

“Once, by chance, I picked up a wooden box for sof t drinks. It was very vintage, and I loved to collect this kind of stuff. This inf luenced my work a lot, especially the tones, the colors. I also started to collect some furniture from the f if ties and sixties. I really l ike the style of the sixties.”

Following his four years at the teachers college, Tsou indeed became a

teacher, but came up against the fact that the teaching of art was reserved for senior members of his school’s staff. He was instead put in charge of a regular class. Tsou soon felt the pressure of shaping the futures of young grade-school children who were just beginning to form their own personalities; he taught for one year, but realized it wasn’t for him.

“When you teach children, you always tell them, 'You should pursue your dream.' And you will think, what about yourself? Especially at that age – it's when many people talk about dreams. I was so young. I didn't want to give up my dream.”

After completing his compulsory term of military service, during which he had ample time to contemplate his future as he stood guard in front of his base in complete silence for hours on end, Tsou decided that in order to get proper training as an artist he would have to travel to one of the centers of the global art community – London. There, he began by getting a master ’s degree in graphic design from Kingston University, and discovered that the juxtaposition of past and present in London jived well with his aesthetic disposition towards blending old and new.

“London is a city that is very old and very modern – they mix very well. So I think I chose the right place to study,” he says of his early days in the English capital.

Time passed quickly in London for Tsou, and at the conclusion of his year of study there he

felt curiously unfulf illed. His new surroundings, once fresh and exciting, had begun to feel sl ightly cold and a bit too

Chips and Fishes is a series of drawings depicting, amongst other things, a school of f ish riding on one of

London’s famed double-decker buses

“London is a city that is very old and very modern – they mix very well. So I think I chose the right place to study”

familiar. Like any good artist, Tsou conveyed his emotions through his art; one of the pieces he created during this period was Chips and Fishes, a series of drawings depicting, amongst other things, a school of f ish riding on one of London’s famed double-decker buses. The colors leap straight out of the palette of the 1970s, and the satirical take on the sometimes alienating feel of big cities is impossible to miss.

However, Tsou wouldn’t let himself become consumed by invading feelings of melancholy and self-doubt. He knew that becoming an artist isn’t something one achieves in the course of a single school year. He decided to take one more shot at giving himself the right schooling, and entered another master ’s degree program, in illustration, at London’s Royal College of Art. He wished to return to his true childhood love of drawing, and began to enter and win competitions for the f irst time. Tsou was keenly aware that this would be vital for his success when he eventually returned to his homeland.

PAGE TSOU

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“I knew this was my last chance to face the future,” he says. “I worked very hard, and I knew one day I would come back (to Taiwan). People generally cannot understand if your work is good quality or bad quality – but they understand if you have won awards or not.”

When his two years at the Royal College of Art were up, Tsou embarked on a three-year stint as a freelance artist in London, and also staged his first solo exhibitions. Showing a flair for the original from the outset, his initial exhibition was put on in a barber shop, with his works adorning the ceiling and walls as the barbers and stylists working at the shop plied their trade clad in uniforms that were also of Tsou’s own design. For Tsou, it was a way of making his art more accessible, and becoming part of the community.

“I quite like street art,” Tsou comments. ”And I felt that if I had an exhibition in the barber shop it was more like I was going into the community. People are more relaxed and welcoming there, I felt. That environment made the right feeling about my work. That's why I staged my first solo show in a barber shop, not in a gallery. I felt it was more fun that way.”

Still, Tsou would eventually feel the pull of his native Taiwan calling him back, and he has

now been working in a studio in Taipei for just under a year.

Rather than struggling to redef ine himself af ter returning following six long years away, Tsou has hit the ground running, and is f inally enjoying the success that he spent so many years cultivating. His off ice is draped in prints by inf luential graphic designer and f ilmmaker Saul Bass, a movie poster for A Clockwork Orange, record covers from the likes of Pink Floyd, the Velvet Underground, and the Beatles, and old London street signs, and also features a decades-old typewriter and adding machine – all pointing to the love of vintage styles that is so readily apparent in his artwork. By day, the soothing strains of reggae music play on his stereo, and at night he switches over to smooth jazz.

Story of Snow White with a Taiwanese twist

Edison Travel Service specializes in Taiwan toursand offers cheaper hotel room rates and car rental services with drivers .Edison welcomes contact with other travelservices around the world.

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This is all part of fostering the right creative environment, a vital part of Tsou’s work process. His projects vary widely and are all about opening himself, and the viewers of his works, to new perspectives and possibilities. A perfect example is his project entitled The And 2010, a series of portraits focusing not on the face, but on the back of the head. Tsou explains his decision to take traditional portraits in a whole new direction.

“I don't care about the back of the head. I just care about why I had never noticed this before. I've drawn about 3,000 portraits, and I realized that in 20 years of drawing I've never drawn the back of the head. So I realized there must be something hiding there. I started to draw to f ind the answer.”

Taking an unexplored tack on a familiar subject is quite simply Tsou’s creative raison d’etre – a theme he revisits constantly. In his Disney illustrations, he took the story of Snow White and gave it a Taiwanese twist, putting the stereotypical conical farmer hats on the heads of the seven dwarves, who play traditional Taiwanese instruments, and also including red lanterns and some favorite local foods, all rendered in his distinctive vintage style.

Fans of Tsou now have even more to celebrate, as the f irst few months of 2012 have seen the tireless

artist release three different picture books, working with publishers both in Taiwan and abroad. He has also contributed original prints for display in the approximately 100 rooms of a soon-to-be-opened hotel geared toward young travelers in Taipei’s trendy Ximending district. It is all sweet vindication for a man, now 33, who summoned the conviction to map out his own route to success and recognition in the art world. Now, when he tells the younger generation of artists to follow their dreams, he can do so from a position of experience. His

message about the journey to becoming an artist, much like his methods and style, is simple yet profound.

“If you walk from Taipei to Taichung, it's far. But it's possible, as long as you are headed in the right direction. If your thinking is always positive, one day you will achieve your goal. You need to keep going.”

For more about Page Tsou, visit www.pagetsou.com.

Page Tsou 鄒駿昇

National Chiayi University 國立嘉義大學

Teachers College 師範學院

Ximending 西門町

ENGLISH & CHINESE

“I've drawn about 3,000 portraits, and I realized that in 20 years of drawing I've never drawn the back of the head.

So I realized there must be something hiding there”

Exhibition in a London barber shop

Edison Travel Service specializes in Taiwan toursand offers cheaper hotel room rates and car rental services with drivers .Edison welcomes contact with other travelservices around the world.

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Tel: 03.833.6686 Fax: 03.3.832.3569 www.azurehotel.com.tw

AZURE HOTEL花蓮藍天麗池飯店 Hualien 花蓮

No. of Rooms: 152Room Rates: Standard Single Room NT$ 6,000 Standard Double Room NT$ 6,700 Standard Triple Room NT$ 7,500 Standard Family Room NT$ 8,000 Standard Suite NT$ 9,000 Executive Single Room NT$ 8,000 Deluxe Single Room NT$ 7,000 Deluxe Double Room NT$ 7,200 Deluxe Family Room NT$ 9,000 Deluxe Suite NT$ 14,000 Chateau de Chine Suite NT$ 50,000

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Chinese, Japanese

RestauRaNts: Japanese, Chinese, Cantonese Dim Sum, Lounge Bar

sPecial featuRes:

Multi-functional meeting room, banquet hall, business center, wedding planning center, gym, free use of wired/wireless Internet, silent refrigerator, electronic safe, personal bathrobe/slippers, free cable TV, free use of laundry room, all-new TV-sets

43 Daren Rd., Yancheng District, Kaohsiung City8 0 3高雄市鹽埕區大仁路4 3號

Tel: 07.521.7388 Fax: 07.521.7068 kaohsiung.chateaudechine.com

CHATEAU DE CHINE HOTEL KAOHSIUNG翰品酒店高雄 Kaohsiung 高雄

No.23, Zhongzheng Rd., Sun Moon Lake, Yuchi Township, Nantou County 55546

5 5 5 4 6南投縣魚池鄉日月潭中正路2 3號

Tel: 049.285.6788 Fax: 049.285.6600www.fleurdechinehotel.com

No. of Rooms: 211Room Rates: Mountain View King Room NT$ 13,000~14,000 Mountain View Two Queen Room NT$ 13,000~14,000 Zen Mountain View Room NT$ 13,000~14,000 Lake View King Room NT$ 15,000~16,000 Lake View Two Queen Room NT$ 15,000~16,000 Washiki Lake View Room NT$ 15,000~16,000 Governor Lake View Suite NT$ 20,000~21,000 Royal Lake View Suite NT$ 25,000 Summit Lake View Suite NT$ 120,000 Penthouse Suite NT$ 150,000

(All rates are subject to 10% service charge)

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: Chinese, English, Japanese RestauRaNt:Chinese food, buffet, teppanyaki, afternoon tea, lobby lounge, rooftop restaurant

sPecial featuRes:Banquet and conference facil-ity, VIP lounge, boutique, wireless internet, e-butler, laundry service, room service, parking, SPA, hot-spring, play ground, swimming pool, gym, HSR transportation service, out circular concourse, trail hiking, etc.

FLEUR DE CHINE HOTEL雲品酒店 Sun Moon Lake 日月潭

No. of Rooms: 211Room Rates: Superior Single Room NT$ 4,800 Superior Twin (1 double bed) NT$ 5,800 Superior Twin (2 single beds) NT$ 6,000 Superior Triple NT$ 6,800 Superior Family (2 double beds) NT$ 7,600 Superior Family (4 single beds) NT$ 7,600 Chateau Deluxe Twin NT$ 7,000 Chateau Deluxe Family NT$ 8,600 Chateau Deluxe Suite NT$ 10,800 Chateau Executive Suite NT$ 20,000 (All rates are subject to 10% service charge)

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese

RestauRaNts: Western buffet-style, Chinese

sPecial featuRes:

Multifunctional banquet and meeting facilities, business center, male and female saunas, rental facilities for cars and bicycles, lounge bar, children’s games room, fitness center, chess room, outdoor swimming pool, green eco-pond, free transport to railway station and airport.

No.2, Yongxing Rd., Hualien City, Hualien County 970609 7 0 6 0花蓮市永興路2號

Tel: 03.823.5388 Fax: 03.822.1185 hualien.chateaudechine.com

CHATEAU DE CHINE HOTEL翰品酒店花蓮 Hualien 花蓮

No.3, Sec. 1, Chengde Rd., Taipei City 10351

1 0 3 5 1台北市承德路一段三號

Tel: 02.2181.9999 Fax: 02.2181.9988www.palaisdechinehotel.com

No. of Rooms: 286Room Rates: Superior Room NT$ 11,000 Deluxe Room NT$ 12,500 Family Twin Room NT$ 14,500 Executive Superior Room NT$ 15,000 Executive Deluxe Room NT$ 16,500 Junior Suite NT$ 18,000 Executive Suite NT$ 21,000 La Rose Suite NT$ 100,000 Charles V Suite NT$ 150,000(All rates are subject to 10% service charge)

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English,Chinese, Japanese RestauRaNts: La Rotisserie, Le Palais, Le Thé, Le BarsPecial featuRes:Gym, business center, ballroom and function rooms, VIP salon, wireless internet, gift shop, room service, E-butler service, airport transportation service, located in an area of the city with heritage sites and tourist attractions.

PALAIS DE CHINE HOTEL君品酒店 Taipei 台北

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Time to ShopShoppers love Taiwan. From the designer boutiques of Dunhua to the gadget stores of Computer Lane, the island’s full of great places to indulge your passion. And thanks to our proud tradition of craftsmanship you can also stock up on happy memories of your trip.

Paper lanterns painted by hand.Beautiful woodcarvings. Stunning glass art. There’s even a weekend jade market fi lled with ornate trinkets made from the mythical green stone. Or visit the charming Maokong Tea Gardens and give friends a taste of Taiwan’s magic.

www.taiwan.net.tw

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travel in taiwan (no.50, 2012 3/4)

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