Anping

Anping, a few miles west of downtown Tainan near the coast has a couple of reconstructed forts, a few old temples, and the supposedly oldest street on the island, built by the Dutch and chock full of vendors and people. In my book, it is a fully-fledged tourist trap. However, the day we were there, there was an exciting procession which I have never seen in China. I am still unclear of the exact occasion. I do not know the nouns or verbs in Chinese describing the happenings. I am not even sure whether I can pick them out in a multiple choice test.

What I am sure is that the Catholics have been here. Coming from Carnival in South America last year, this procession might as be Carnival, though the fireworks and firecrackers make it distinctly Chinese. Several years ago, at the Kunchi Festival in Nagasaki, Japan, we learned that the Japanese tradition of carrying idols was borrowed from the Dutch. [And by the way, Tibetan Buddhism also appropriated rituals from the Catholics.] The Portuguese, Spaniards, and Dutch had all been on the island of Taiwan to leave their indelible marks.

The processioners were young and old, man and woman, from far and near, and organized by their temples. I did not discern any governmental or commercial patronage. Though they started at six in the morning, as hot and tired they must have been by the afternoon, everyone still looked engaged. On the other hand, the atheist in me cannot help wondering whether the young people are being brain washed. After a couple of weeks here, I am beginning to think that their religion is not sacred, but matter of fact. It is like eating food. One grows up eating Taiwanese/Chinese food, does Taiwanese/Chinese religion. One can try other food, eat other food occasionally, or switch to prefer another food completely. No big deal. For those young people, the procession might as well be soccer. They have to practice, learn about teamwork, travel out of town....

Yongping Street, the oldest street in Taiwan, reminded us of St George Street in St. Augustine, Florida; in fact, the two cities are very similar in their tourist appeal: old street with food and souvenirs, waterfront, early European settlement, old fort; and are in John's opinion "touristy in a fun way".


Entrance to one of the historic forts; the so-called Eternal Golden Castle.


Anping waterfront.


Traditional Chinese Lion Dance.


Traditional Temple Guardian whirls around.


Hip-Hop dance stylings from this guardian.


Some idols/gods are carried in sedan chairs with flexible bamboo poles so they an be continually bounced up and down.


The drums help keep up the energy level and drive away evil spirits.


Firecrackers!! make this group flinch.


Anping is developing a network of bike paths and one can rent bikes there, including electric tandems.

Tainan

For the longest time Tainan was the largest population center of the island. And as expected, with its has many many historic temples and forts, Tainan attracts tourists as Kyoto and Florence do. Initially we had the same feeling for Tainan as we did for Kyoto and Florence; that is, ho-hum. But it grew on us. We liked taking the tourist bus outside the city for some variety, attending seeing a presidential election rally in person, eating vegetarian hotpots, and chasing down historic architecture.

Sun-Ling spotting the endangered Black-faced Spoonbill (BFSB) in Cigu.


Cigu salt pans.


Oyster farming.


Temple in the An-nan District.


The Water Fairy Temple is surrounded by a market.


A fortune teller at the City God temple.


Huge outdoor election rally preceding the Jan 14th elections; complete with rock bands, flags, giant video screens, rousing speeches, and bus loads of senior citizens.


One veggie hot pot for John and another for Sun-Ling.


The historic Fire Brigade building.

Dadongshan Moutain

When we got up in the morning, the weather looked ominous, dense fog and drizzle. Our destination for today was Dadongshan Mountain (at 1976m, only the 60th highest peak on the island); 4km on the road to trail head, 5km loop up and down the moutain, elavation gain 600m. We decided to press ahead with our full foul weather gear packed.

After a hearty Chinese breakfast, we purchased our lunch at the 7-Eleven. Ten yards later we spotted a dog looking like as if he was coming with us. Could it be?!

As soon as we got above the village, we got a glimpse of the "sea of clouds" that is pervasive in Alishan. It was easy enough to follow the paths and roads to the trail head; and from there, the trail is very well signed. Thirty minutes later we arrived at the turnoff to the "moon cove," a highlight, to find the trail closed, probably due to a landslide. At this point, the rain also seemed to have picked up. With our dog faithfully at our side, we started to ascend steadily in the cloud.

As expected our summit was in the same cloud, but there was a huge covered pavilion and platform. We decided to wait a while and put on all our gear to keep warm. After about half an hour, the rain started again after almost subsiding. I was cold and despondent. We gave up waiting and started to descend, with our dog in tow.

Twenty minutes later, through a clearing, as if a mirage, we had a glimpse of "sea of clouds" complete with islands! Feeling delirious, we started up run back up to summit. A minute later, reality hit -- it is a lot of work going uphill, besides, the higher elavations still looked to be in the clouds. We returned to the clearing to stare at the view some more. At this point we noticed that our dog was gone. He must have thought that our senses had left us when we went back uphill and abandoned us. We descended the rest of the way in mostly clouds, mists and rain.

When we got back to the village, I spotted our dog chained up and passed out. I asked the man splitting bamboo nearby. Yes, it is his dog. The dog's name is Fencihu, and he routinely guides visitors on walks. How did he know we were going for a walk? Or was he simply following our 7-Eleven purchases. I will never figure out those dogs.

Our hearty "included" Chinese breakfast at the Fenqihu Hotel.


Our dog for the day.


First view of the "sea of clouds" from just above Fenqihu. Railway station at right.


A despondent Sun-Ling as we start the rainy descent from Dadongshan summit.


Sea of clouds with islands.


And one of the many poinsettias growing wild around Fenqihu.


The map with Fenqihu at left and Dadongshan at right.

Fencihu-Ruili Old Trail

First full day in Alishan, we hiked the much hyped Fencihu-Ruili Old Trail, which had been used by villagers to get around for hundred of years. The trail goes 7.5km through lush bamboo and cedar forests; first quarter up, 2nd quarter flat, 2nd half down. Ruili being 300m lower than Fencihu, coming back was much more work. The trail is lovingly tended. It was a beautiful day. Being a Wednesday we did not come across any other hikers. We had views to some of the highest peaks (2000-3000m) on the island. My expectations were high to begin with and it turned out to be an even more wonderful hike.

The view West as we ascend out of Fenqihu.


View to the higher peaks of Alishan and Yushan.


Tashan.


Sun-Ling descends through the bamboo plantation.


Tea plantations near Ruili.


At the Ruili Trailhead - halfway done.


John in the bamboo on the steep ascent out of Ruili.


The sun came out as we hit Sunset Point and a long comfy bench inspired this upward view.


Sun-Ling descends the so-called Thief Trail into Fenqihu.


This map, with Ruili at top and Fencihu at bottom, was signposted at many spots on the trail.

To Alishan

Alishan is easily a top destination for Taiwan. Alishan National Scenic Area is a huge place. Most of the time Alishan means taking the historical scenic railway to the Alishan Forest Recreational Area (a fraction of the whole). As luck would have it, the railway is still under major repairs after six tourists were killed in a derailment last spring.

Balancing tourist traffic and transportation links, we decided to stay at the village of Fencihu (aka Fenqihu)in the Alishan National Area for three nights which gives us two whole days of hiking. Thus from Changhua, we took a one-hour train ride to arrive in Chiayi at 10:30. At the Chiayi Tourist Office, we confirmed that we would have to wait until 3pm for a bus that goes all the way to Fencihu. Hourly buses to Alishan Forest Recreational Area would only get us as far as Shizhou. We could walk the rest of way, 6km (google maps said 5.1km). There are no taxis at Shizhou, but we decided to charge ahead on the 11:10 bus to Shizhou, and hitch or walk to Fencihu.

The bus ride took 90 minutes. We got off, put on our backpacks, crossed the street and got on Rt 169 going north. The road is going uphill, but not steep. There were kilometer marks along the way every 500 meters. I had no problem walking with my pack. There were cars with ample capacity going by us, but decided not to hitch since walking with our packs did not seem like a chore. John did make us take two breaks. Soon after four kilometers we reached the lower part of the village. We looked at a couple of rooms at the Catholic Youth Center. The nice Swiss nun who showed us the rooms is almost more fluent in Mandarin than I. John could hardly hold back grinning watching the two us conversing in Chinese. Since they had no wi-fi, we decided to keep looking, so we ended up with a cozy room at the Fencihu Hotel, breakfast included.

All is well. We still had some daylight for a stroll around the village. Our map showed a Cedar Trail that loops around the village, much of it turned out to be boardwalks. I adore boardwalks. This may just be the nicest and most impressive of all boardwalks for me. We picked so well to come to Fencihu and I walked here with my pack!

Taking a break on the walk in to Fenqihu.


The Cedar Trail.


Sun-Ling enjoying the boardwalk (Cedar Trail).


Fenqihu at sunset looking much more picturesque than it actually is.