This week's teaser: Can name the trail!?

This week's teaser is yet another one of Taiwan's gorgeous trails.  Can you guess which one it is?

This week's hints:

1)  This trail has been used since the Qing Dynasty era.
2)  It spans across forest, mountains, and grasslands.
3)  The current trail exists in three sections that flow into one another.

A Market of Alleys, Jiufen, Taiwan

Jiufen 九份

View from Jiufen at night

This mountain top market town is well known for its small, winding alleys, delicious local Taiwanese snacks, and beautiful views from which to sip afternoon tea.  The early morning (around 6am) or early evening (after 6pm) is the best time to go if you want to avoid the heavy crowds and the powerful scorching sun.

Jiufen was founded during the Qing Dynasty with 9 families (the name literally means 9 parts) who always requested 9 shipments of goods from town (one for each family).  This village was mostly left alone until the Japanese colonial period when gold was found in 1893 in the surrounding mountains and caused a massive influx of gold seekers.  During WWII, the Japanese opened a POW camp in the village that housed foreign military officers from around the world.  After WWII, however, Jiufen was mostly forgotten and was left abandoned by the Japanese when they departed the island.

A movie called A City of Sadness, released in 1989, used Jiufen as its backdrop to chronical the 228 incident and rekindled an interest in the village.  The 1990s saw a dramatic increase in tourism due to the charming persona portrayed in A City of Sadness, and when the movie Spirited Away also modeled its setting on Jiufen in 2001, tourism again increased even further!  The result of this publicity has been a rush of tourism to the town, and during the weekend there are so many people it is almost impossible to move down the small streets.  It's reminiscent of being in a sardine can.  Not at all pleasant.  In fact, because of an increase in tourism from Mainland China, even weekdays are super-packed with tourists.

For this reason, Jenny and I decided to arrive in Jiufen in the evening around 9pm.  Because most shops are closed at this time, it was wonderfully eerie to walk around the silent and mostly dark alleys, lit only by the traditional red lanterns and the twinkling of nearby towns.  It was a really surreal experience I would highly recommend- the town might be lively during the day, but it is absolutely beautiful and other-worldly at night; right out of Spirited Away.  We even spent some time at one of the tourist look-outs, staring out into the vast ocean and all of the twinkling lights of the surrounding mountains.  Gorgeous.

After a good night's sleep at our old school- Old Taiwan hotel, we got up extra early to wander the streets as the shops began preparing for the day.  We watched snack shops begin to prep their food; we watch rice dumplings being made (tangyuan 湯圓), small cakes, steamed buns, etc.  It was like watching the town come to life as the sun rose- and without the crowds!  Although there we definitely more people wandering the streets in the early hours of the morning, it was still a pleasant experience to meander among the traditional shops and handful of tourists.

Warm tangyuan (above) is not as photogenic as iced, but is every bit as delicious!

By about 8-9am, however, the bus loads of tourists had arrived, and it quickly became difficult to walk down the streets.  In fact, it became downright unpleasant almost immediately, so Jenny and I ducked out of the crowds and into a tangyuan shop we took mental note of several hours earlier.  There I grabbed a spot by the window while Jenny ordered for us, and we nibbled on our freshly made tangyuan (Jenny had one over shaved ice; I had one hot) and various toppings while enjoying the beautiful view overlooking the mountain's edge and the ocean.

Stray cats of Jiufen need your help!  Please consider donating while you're there!

After our mid-morning snack, we made our way back to the bus depot at the edge of town and took a bus down to Ruifang train station.  Normally we would have just taken the bus straight back to Keelung, but the seats were broken and sliding around at every pothole, so we got off early and treated ourselves to Jenny's favorite thing: TRAINS!  We were able to use our yo-yo cards so we were able to scoot on a little faster (no waiting in line to buy a ticket!) and snag seats in the first car.  Best decision we ever made- we were able to watch the conductor direct the train and watch the changing scenery out of the front and sides of the train; every little kids' dream.

If you have the time, I would recommend taking the train at Ruifang in at least one direction- it's a really fun experience.  If it's not an option, the bus is great too- you get to watch the scenery unfold in front of you as you make the twists and turns around the mountain roads.  Either way, I strongly recommend visiting Jiufen in the early morning or late evening if you don't like being a sardine; Jiufen has incredibly narrow roads (no vehicles allowed- they're that narrow) and with thousands of tourists, it gets cramped very quickly!

Jiufen Street: 7am vs 9am

Getting there: From Taipei, there are regular local buses (1062- Keelung bus) that run out to Jiufen from Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station.  The ticket is about $100nt (cheaper if you have a rechargeable yo-yo card), and the trip takes about 60 minutes.

From Keelung, we took a bus bound for Jiufen outside of Keelung train station for about $45nt (cheaper with yo-yo card!) and it took about 40 minutes.

From Ruifang Train station (with cool old-school trains), take the TRA train from Taipei to Ruifang (make sure it's not going directly to Keelung as it will skip this stop!) and then get on a bus going up to Jiufen.  This bus ride will be about 15-20 minutes as Ruiang station is just at the bottom of the mountain, ticket costs between $15-21nt; weekends are cheaper!

The FuMao Nightmare: PRC Trade Agreements gone awry, Taipei and the HK connection

Since the demonstrations in HK have continued at a steady pace, I am reminded of similar protests that happened here in Taiwan in Taipei earlier in the year.  There are many common themes: a strong student presence, mixed support, politicians actively ignoring local voices, hired thugs roughing up protesters, clean and conscientious protesters, etc.

The 服貿 or trade agreements in Taipei sparked huge controversy here in Taiwan for two main reasons.  The first was that the government itself did not pass the agreements using the proper legal process, instead pushing them though in what some people called a backdoor deal.  This upset many people because Taiwanese people tend to hold democracy near and dear to their hearts: true democracy only came to Taiwan after Martial Law ended in the 1980s, so it is relatively new and fiercely guarded.  Unfortunately, even after the protests, the government ignored proper protocol, instead insisting that their passage of the bill was totally legitimate.

The second major issue for Taiwanese people, particularly students, was that the trade agreements were considered fundamentally unfair to Taiwanese businesses because it was an unbalanced agreement heavily favoring Mainland China (PRC, or Beijing).  Beijing stipulated that they could essentially flood the Taiwanese electronic markets, media markets, and leisure markets with their own companies, needing a fraction of the money to start up a business as Taiwanese would need for a start up in the Mainland.  Another issue with the agreement was that while Beijing mandated that they be allowed to set up shop anywhere on the island of Taiwan, Taiwanese businesses were restricted to certain small areas.

Beyond these two major points, protesters had a number of other concerns, culminating in the student takeover of the legislative yuan building, one of the buildings where bills are voted on.  Basically, the students moved into this building with the sole purpose of stopping any more legislation from being passed without proper protocol.  Despite the illegal occupation, students in the building only broke a single window in order to get into the building, and orchestrated an efficient system of delivering food and drinks to demonstrators and then removing the waste without damaging any further property.  Like the HK protesters, Taiwanese protesters maintained a very clean and orderly space, ensuring that despite not allowing government officials into the building, there was not any rogue behavior.

Protesting continued outside and ended up sprawling around the governmental district in Taipei, with people camping out and shouting slogans outside of the entrance to one of the main governmental buildings each time a politician entered or left.  In the midst of these protests, one of the local politicians nick-named 'White Wolf' decided to unleash his thugs on the protesters.  The result was the slashing of several demonstrators, one of whom nearly lost several fingers in the attack.  Like HK, despite knowing who attacked the protesters, the police stood by and did nothing, neither to the thugs nor the politician that send them.

Asia seems to have a special kind of process when it comes to protests- one that usually involves thugs sent by politicians.

In Taiwan, the protests ended after nearly a month of demonstrations with the government promising to look into the improper operations.  However, in reality, as with most governments, they did nothing and simply continued to ignore the problem, fully passing the trade agreements.

It is not unusual for governments to ignore the will of the people (have a look at the Occupy Movement in the US), and it is likely that Hong Kong will face similar non-results to its current protests.  However, given the current state of the world, isn't it about time world governments start more seriously listening to the people they're supposed to represent?

Teaser 2: Relaxation along the banks of Sun Moon Lake, Nantou, Taiwan

日月潭： Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake at Sunrise

Sun moon lake is near and dear to my heart because I went to school just a few minutes away at National Chinan University or NCNU (國立暨南國際大學).  Although the area around the lake has become more and more developed in recent years and has definitely lost its wild beauty, the bike paths around the lake are a great way to take in the natural beauty without damaging the environment.  There are plenty of bike rentals around town, so I recommend picking one up and then busting a move out of town- town is where the buses, traffic, and smog are, and who needs that?

Wishes hung on the rail of a temple, Sun Moon Lake

Once on a bike and out of the tourist center of the city, the air will instantly improve and so will the views.  Taking the bike path along the lake's edge will yield gorgeous views of not just the massive lake, but also the surrounding mountains, brilliant green all year round.  In fact, much of the mountains surrounding the lake are farms- and the area is famous for its black teas (from Yuchi 魚池) and many kinds of mushrooms.  Once done with the biking, I highly recommend heading into town to the Agricultural Association's shop and buying some mushroom chips- they're absolutely delicious (last time I went, we bought 10 bags of them, meaning to give them to friends and family... but Jenny and I ended up eating ALL of them!  That's how good they are!).

View from the temple at one of the ferry's stops

Another fun lake-exploring activity, if you have the time, is taking one of the ferries across the lake to one of its numerous stops on the far side of the lake.  These stops have their own interesting sights, such as temples, and come complete with the usual tourist shops.  A ride on one of these ferries will give you a unique view of the lake and take you to more out of the way spots in less time, but it comes at the expense of your nose, since the boats run mostly on smokey diesel gas and there's a fee (which I can't remember!).  To take one of these boats, just head down to the lake-front area and follow the stairs down to the dock, here there will be tons of boats waiting to pack on the tourists.  It is also possible to buy a ticket before you head down, but in my experience it's better to head directly to the dock.

Although I haven't been yet, one of the biggest draws to Sun Moon Lake is the cable car on the far end.  Everyone I've spoken to has said it's absolutely amazing, and you can get some pretty great pictures, especially if you can get yourself on during/near sunset.  For an awesome look at the cable car trip, have a look at this youtube video that chronicles the journey up and over the mountain and into the Aboriginal Cultural Village.

Yearly lake swim with floaties!

One final note on Sun Moon Lake is that it is illegal to enter the water for any reason.  The purpose of this law is to protect Aboriginal fishing rights on the lake, and prevent the water from becoming polluted (think of all the sunscreen that would end up in the lake!  Yuck!).  So, if you visit, please don't try to throw yourself into the water!

There is only one day a year that swimming is allowed on the lake, and you must register to take part in the cross-lake swim.  Usually the swim is held on the first weekend of September, but because you don't necessarily need to know how to swim to take part (floaties are mandatory), it isn't the most pleasant experience and it's not unusual for at least one person to die (this doesn't necessarily have to do with the person's swimming ability as it's common for people to get kicked in the face by oblivious swimmers!).  If you're planning to enroll, try to get the DL on when most swimmers head out, and try to go at the tail end of a shift, otherwise you could find yourself kicked and prodded by non-swimmers!

All in all, Sun Moon Lake is absolutely gorgeous, and if you have the time I definitely recommend heading out there for a day trip (if not longer).  It's just an hour away by bus from Taichung (there are direct buses from Taichung City/台中 and its HSR station), and with the high speed train (HSR) it's pretty convenient even if you're coming up from Kaohsiung or down from Taipei.  I highly recommend a trip to the lake, but maybe not a trip to participate in the annual swim- it's just too congested with human traffic for my taste!

Teaser 2- Name the Location

Hi everyone,


The next post coming up will discuss the beautiful place photographed below.  Can you guess where it is?

The three hints for this week are:

1) It's a lake in Taiwan.
2) The area is famous for its mushrooms.
3) There is a regular ferry service across the lake to various stops, including one with a large temple.



Check back over the weekend to find out the answer and get some interesting facts about this awesomely fabulous place.

The Deception of Hengchun's Marine Biology Museum

At first glance, the title might seem slightly contrivable, but hear me out.  Part of our hatred of the Marine Biology Museum comes from a lack of research on our part; in Chinese, the name of the museum is 國立海洋生物博物館 or the National Museum of Marine Biology.  This gives the impression of an actual museum, and what came to mind for us is something reminiscent of a regular science museum, such as the ones in Kaohsiung and Taichung.  This, of course, was a lack of research on our part.

The official English name of 國立海洋生物博物館 includes the term 'aquarium,' which brings the connotation of a marine zoo, where animals are cramped in small spaces and forced to perform ridiculous tricks.  For a full explanation of why we both feel very strongly about not supporting zoos (terrestrial or marine), have a look at this eloquent article about zoos in general, this article specifically about aquariums, or have a look at the trailer for Black Fish, a documentary that takes a long, hard look at the unethical practices of aquariums (namely that they kidnap wild animals out of the wild and stuff them into tiny tanks).

This said, given that we only saw the Chinese name and took the word of various friends and locals about its entertainment value, we absolutely take responsibility for the decision to visit.  However, we maintain that the Chinese name does not really portray the kind of place the aquarium truly is; and had we known, we most certainly would have spent our money elsewhere.

A brief review of the 國立海洋生物博物館 (National Marine Biology Museum and Aquarium) follows:
The museum portion of the facility is mediocre at best, and is not very informational.  Needless to say, we were pretty disappointed- there were only a couple of exhibits in the museum that you can walk through and only one I thought was worth seeing.  The aquarium portion was traumatizing:  Children running around screaming and banging on glass while parents totally ignored them, and Beluga whales in tiny pens circling (this video is too large to post here, please follow the link to see the beluga) in what can only be described as high-stress behavior.

The other tanks weren't much better- very small and jammed packed with fish, eels, and other marine life.  Although the design and layout itself is interesting- you can walk through the tanks via glass-encased walkways, the size of the tanks and the stress behaviors visible from all angles make the aquarium a really uncomfortable experience.

I would strongly recommend skipping this aquarium- if you want to see marine life, rent snorkeling gear and go out for a few hours with a group or on your own; you'll see everything in the aquarium and more, but without participating in the socially justified harming/kidnaping of wildlife.  If possible- I would highly recommend scuba diving to see even more kinds of marine life.  Either way, the aquarium did nothing for me and provides nothing that isn't easier and more amazing when seen (very easily, I might add) in person.  The fact that a ticket is nearly 500nt means that it's about the same price to rent gear and go snorkeling, so there's not much reason to visit the aquarium.

*I have decided to put up some of the videos I took while there, in the hopes that people will decide viewing these videos are enough and won't be inclined to go.

Taiwan's Southern Tip: Hengchun, Kenting, and Eluanbi

This weekend Jenny and I went South to Hengchun to do an Advanced Open Water Course with Dive Village and our favorite instructor, Steve.  Jenny will likely post another entry on her course, but I was unfortunately not able to complete the dives required because I couldn't equalize due to allergies (despite daily meds and even emergency extra meds!).

Anyway, despite the fact that I was not able to dive, Jenny and I were able to bike around an see a bit more of the southern tip and even rented scooters to get around a bit more quickly!  I think we both forgot just how beautiful Taiwan's natural landscapes are, especially on the east coast of the island, where there are gorgeous cliff-and-ocean views for miles.

Our whirlwind scoot trip started with a stop at one of the electric scooter shops in town, where we were first quoted a price of 800nt for a 24 hour rental.  Because the shop was on the main street and right across from the bus station, Jenny thought it best to shop around for a better price.  After asking at a couple of places that were sold out of electric scooters, we finally found a shop tucked away on the old street behind 7-11.  The shop owner quoted us a 600nt price, which seemed like a better deal, though the scooters were not shiny and new like at the other shop.  Still, we're not sold on paying so much more just for a shiny finish, so we went with the secondary shop after a brief test-drive.

The process was simple- we paid the fee and filled out a short form with our names and contact info, and then they took a photo-copy of my ARC (Taiwanese residence permit).  Because it's an electric scooter and cannot exceed 55 kmph, Taiwan doesn't require the drivers/renters to be licensed.  Once the paperwork was done, we left our bikes at the back of the rental shop, went out to inspect the scooters, and hopped on and headed back to 哈Cheese hotel to get a good night's sleep for our early morning ride.

Despite a plan to start out trip before dawn to see the sunrise over Taiwan's east coast, we were just too tired to get up that early.  It was about 6:45 before we finally got up, and 7:15 by the time we had gotten all of our things together and got out the door.  It turns out that this was for the best, because it took us nearly an hour to get to Kenting, which should have really taken 20 minutes.  The reason for this, we found out, was that one of our scooters was rented to us was low on battery!  Luckily, we called the owner of the shop and he rushed down to us with fresh batteries; and after just 30 minutes (and a local breakfast of peanut butter toast and soy milk!), we had fresh batteries and were on our way.

Our first planned stop was to the Eluanbi Lighthouse and park area at the tip of the island.  Here, we realized that 90% of the "attractions" listed on the map were, in fact... either not there at all or highly exaggerated.  For example, the map said there was a prehistoric village, but the only thing physically in that location was a marker with the history of the site.  In fact, there was nothing there!  We still haven't really figured out what we were supposed to be looking at; perhaps it was the rockface opposite the sign (small picture on the right, above).

After Eluanbi, we tried to pick up the pace, because it was already around 9:00 and we had to check out of our hotel by 11:00.  Unfortunately, this meant we didn't get to take all of the pictures we would have liked, because we just didn't have time to stop for every cool thing on the side of the road. That said, we're planning to go back in the next few weeks just so we can do the same round the tip trip and actually take our time to take as many photos as we like!

As we rounded the tip on Route 26, the east coast began to reveal some pretty amazing cliffs, sands, and turquoise blue water.  The weather during this time of the year (October-March) is usually breezy and clear, so it is particularly good weather to take photos in- all you can see is beautiful blue skies and little fluffy white clouds!  In one particularly beautiful location, the ocean seems to go on for miles and it leaves you feeling both peaceful and energized.  Taiwan's east coast has by far some of the world's most impressive landscapes!  To give you a taste, have a look at the panoramic photo I took:

This section of road on Route 26 has numerous stops for tourists to get out, stretch their legs, and take photos of the natural beauty.  Some of these seem to be more like tourist traps, but despite the bus loads of people, the landscape stands up to the hoards and maintains its stunning views.  Have a look at the photos I took at one particularly popular spot called Long Pan Park and pay close attention to the last photo to get an idea of just how many people show up- even on a Tuesday morning!

Further down the road on Route 22, there are large open grassy fields, and in some areas, there are even cows monching lazily out in the sun.  Because of time, I wasn't able to stop and get photos of the cows, but I hope that next time we'll be able to get some good ones of their cute faces gnomming on fresh grass.  I'll definitely post them when I've got them!  Cows are so cute :D

The final stretch of our trip was across the bottom of the island along Route 22.  This road is equally beautiful for much of the time, and winds through the Ping Dong countryside alongside farm lands and meandering creeks.  It's a beautiful drive, and I highly recommend it if you're in the Hengchun/Kenting area.  If you're on an electric scooter, the ride with minimal stops takes about 2-3 hours, if you're on a regular scooter (not recommended) it takes about 2 hours with minimal stops.  Not a huge time commitment, but the views are absolutely astounding as long as the weather is good!

The Gecko

There is a Gecko in our house.

But not just any Gecko.  He is...



SUPERGECKO!!!!




Seriously, this Gecko is by far the loudest gecko I have ever had the pleasure to meet, and I've met a lot of geckos.  You see, I spent many moons in Latin America where my room was often shared by possibly hundreds of these guys waddling around, ever stuck to the walls and ceilings.  All of these, by the way, were totally silent... so when I was minding my own business writing my thesis last week and suddenly heard the world's loudest chirping noise coming from somewhere behind the fridge, I was a little surprised.

At first, I thought it was probably just an insect that had made its way in through our open living room's balcony door.  Large insects often get in this way and Souffie usually delights in chasing them back out again.  While in Guatemala, I had the very unpleasant experience of spending the night with a cicada that was so loud not only was it impossible to sleep, but I also ended up with a major headache!  So, given my experience, I naturally thought our guest was a lost insect.

But then we saw him.


Waddling across our wall.  Waddling like a fat, spoiled Beagle baby.


Jenny has been trying to convince me for a week that it was, in fact, a gecko.  But, I had reservations because the kinds of geckos I've lived with have never made a sound... but now, we have proof!  It is Gecko.  He sings me the song of his people from about 5pm to 5am... and we spend a lot of time enjoying each others' company, mostly when I'm trying to write my thesis.

Last night, he finally came out into the open and we were able to get a picture of him:

I keep referring to him as male, which might seem odd, but from what I've read, geckos, and particularly male geckos, are most vocal when they are protecting their territory or calling for a mate.  I'm hoping that he's just setting his boundaries... because if he's calling Ms Gecko, we're going to need a nursery!!

If you want to check out some pretty cool videos about geckos, I've compiled a list; they're pretty awesome animals, not least because they eat mosquitoes and other pests... they also chirp,  have no eyelids and have to lick their eyes to keep them moist and clean, and can stick to almost any surface.  Have a look for yourself:

Pets 101: Geckos
Snakebytes: Leopard Geckos
BBC: Space Age Reptile
Russian Space Geckos: John Oliver