Travel in Taiwan (No.91 2019 1/2 )

2019

JAN & FEB

Taichung

Flora Expo AND OTHER FLOWER EVENTS AROUND TAIWAN

No.

91

SMALL TOWNS

SANYI / DALIN / NANZHUANG / FENGLIN

SCENIC ROUTES

THE NORTH COAST HIGHWAY

ISLAND FOODS HOT-SPRING CUISINE

Android

iOS

Advertorial

M

uzha Pingxi Shuttle Bus

MRT Muzha Station 捷運木柵站

Shenkeng Old Street

台 灣 好 行 木 柵 平 溪 線 795

Pingxi Old Street

(to Shifen)

Pingxi Police Station

深坑老街

Shuangxikou (Transfer available to Shiding Old Street) 雙溪口(可轉乘至石碇老街)

Guniang Temple 姑娘廟

Jingtongkeng

(Pingxi Police Station) (Jingtong Old Street) 菁桐坑(天燈派出所)(菁桐老街)

Pingxi Old Street 平溪老街

Tainzi (Lingjiao Station) 田子(臺鐵嶺腳站)

Khanh Hoa Station (Wanggu Station) 慶和站(臺鐵望古站)

Shifen Old Street 十分老街

Shifen Visitor Center (Shifen Waterfall) 十分遊客中心(十分瀑布)

Shenkeng Old Street

PUBL ISHER 'S NOTE

Welcome to Taiwan!

Dear Traveler, Welcome to 2019! Recently, all around the world people have been making bold predictions about what lies ahead in the coming year. Let us make our own bold prediction here – visit Taiwan, immerse yourself in the sights and experiences we have lined up for your consideration in the pages to follow, and we guarantee you will leave our land of islands feeling mightily rewarded.

With that said, let’s get started:

JOE Y. CHOU PH.D. DIRECTOR GENERAL TOURISM BUREAU, MOTC, R.O.C.

In our Feature we proudly present a round-island tour of the myriad flower-festival celebrations staged in different regions each year, with a special focus on a magnificent once-in-your-lifetime floral jamboree happening right now, the 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition, which ends April 24. This extravaganza, an International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) event of first-tier importance, celebrates the city of Taichung, Taiwan’s wonderfully fertile environment, and its blooming flower industry.

This “round-island cultural round-up” theme is maintained in our Small-Town Charm article, an exploration of Taiwan’s four charming rural towns recognized by the prestigious Italy-based Cittaslow International organization, dedicated to the promotion of eco-friendly slow living; in Folk Experiences, where we explain the folk-religion worship of Mazu, Goddess of the Sea, and the countless pilgrimage processions staged annually to celebrate her birthday, notably the renowned Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage; and in Treasure Island Foods, in which we dig into the island’s unique, and decidedly delectable, hot-spring cuisine.

Satisfaction for those with a wandering spirit continues with regional meanders in our Scenic Routes and Harbors and Beyond sections. In the former we ply the North Coast Highway, which heads from the town of Tamsui in the northwest, above Taipei City, to Su’ao in the northeast, in Yilan County. In the latter we serve up a “flying visit to northern Taiwan” – i.e., day-tour options for passengers of cruise liners docking at coastal Keelung City, which has become a hot port of call.

In Family Fun we settle down for a day-tour in a single spot, visiting the entertaining Yunlin Hand Puppet Museum. Yunlin County, in the southwest, is the center of one of Taiwan’s most popular forms of traditional performance art: puppet theatre.

You’ve heard of “floating gardens.” Well, consider a visit to island Taiwan immersion in a floral garden of delights that floats atop the waves at the mighty Pacific Ocean’s western edge. See you soon!

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Travel in

Taiwan 2019 JAN. / FEB.

PUBLISHER Joe Y. Chou EDITING CONSULTANT Urna S. H. Chen PUBLISHING ORGANIZATION Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications CONTACT International Division, Taiwan Tourism Bureau Add: 9F, 290 Zhongxiao E. Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City, 10694, Taiwan Tel: 886-2-2717-3737 Fax: 886-2-2771-7036 E-mail: tbroc@tbroc.gov.tw Website: http://taiwan.net.tw 台 灣 觀 光 雙 月刊 Travel in Taiwan The Official Bimonthly English Magazine of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (Advertisement) January/February, 2019 Tourism Bureau, MOTC First published Jan./Feb., 2004 ISSN: 18177964 GPN: 2009305475 Price: NT$200

中華郵政台北雜字第1286號執照登記為雜誌交寄

Copyright @ 2019 Tourism Bureau. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form without written permission is prohibited.

ON THE COVER The Sound of Blooming installation at the Taichung Flora Expo (Photo by HIWIN Technologies Corp.)

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PUBLISHER Joe Y. Chou EDITING CONSULTANT Urna S. H. Chen PUBLISHING ORGANIZATION TAIWAN TOURISM BUREAU, MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT International Division, Taiwan Tourism Bureau Add: 9F, 290 Zhongxiao E. Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City, 10694, TAIWAN Tel: 886-2-2717-3737 Fax: 886-2-2771-7036 E-mail: tbroc@tbroc.gov.tw Website: http://taiwan.net.tw PRODUCER Vision Creative Marketing & Media Co. ADDRESS 1F, No. 5, Aly. 20, Ln. 265, Sec. 4, Xinyi Rd., Taipei City 10681, Taiwan TEL: 886-2-2325-2323 Fax: 886-2-2701-5531 E-MAIL: editor@v-media.com.tw GENERAL MANAGER David Hu EDITOR IN CHIEF Johannes Twellmann ENGLISH EDITOR Rick Charette DIRECTOR OF PLANNING & EDITING DEPT Joe Lee MANAGING EDITOR Krista Yang EDITORS Jenny Chung, Nickey Liu CONTRIBUTORS Rick Charette, Nick Kembel, Han Cheung PHOTOGRAPHERS Chen Cheng-kuo, Maggie Song, Ray Chang DESIGNERS Ian Tsai , Maggie Song, Nell Huang ADMINISTRATIVE DEPT Lily Wan, Hui-chun Tsai, Nai-jen Liu, Xiou Mieng Jiang

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

MAGAZINE IS SOLD AT: 1. Wu-Nan Culture Plaza, No. 6, Zhongshan Rd., Central Dist., Taichung City 40043 886-4-2226-0330 http://www.wunanbooks.com.tw/ 2. National Bookstore, 1F., No. 209, Songjiang Rd., Zhongshan Dist., Taipei City 10485 886-2-2518-0207 http://www.govbooks.com.tw/ WHERE YOU CAN PICK UP A COPY OF TRAVEL IN TAIWAN ABROAD Offices of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and 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.

IN TAIWAN Tourism 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 ONLINE Read Travel in Taiwan online at https://issuu.com/ travelintaiwan. You can also download the Travel in Taiwan app for iOS and Android mobile devices at https://tosto.re/ travelintaiwan.

ONLINE EDITION Scan the above QR code to read Travel in Taiwan online (https://issuu.com/ travelintaiwan).

This magazine was printed with soy ink. Soy ink is said to be more environmentally friendly than petroleum-based ink and to make it easier to recycle paper.

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Contents 10

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FEATURE

TREASURE ISLAND FOODS

TAIWAN IN FULL BLOOM ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

TAIWAN’S TOP TEN HOT SPRINGS CUISINE

The 2018 Taichung Flora Expo and Other Flower Celebrations Around Taiwan

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01

Take a Relaxing HotSpring Bath, Then Enjoy Delicious Food in Beitou

28

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

FAMILY FUN

04

HUWEI’S PUPPET THEATRE HERITAGE

TAIWAN TOURISM EVENTS

32

SCENIC ROUTES THE NORTH COAST HIGHWAY Alien Landscapes and Golden Sands

Tradition and History… But also Lots of Fun for Children!

06

CONVENIENT TRAVEL

37

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38

SPECIAL REPORT SMALL-TOWN NATIONAL VENUES CHARM OF THE ARTS

TRAVEL NEWS

08

Free Guided Tours of the National Theater and National Concert Hall

CULTURE AND ART

38

SMALL TOWNS OF “SLOW” CHARACTER Four Pleasant Taiwan Destinations Crowned with Coveted “Cittaslow” Status

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48

50

THE MAZU PILGRIMAGE IN TAIWAN CULTURE

NEXT PORT OF CALL: KEELUNG

FUNPASS TAIPEI

DELIGHTFUL FOLK EXPERIENCES Grand Birthday Processions for the Goddess of the Sea

HARBORS AND BEYOND Things to Do on a Flying Visit to Northern Taiwan

SMART TRAVEL Save Money While Spending Time in Greater Taipei

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TA I WA N TOURISM E V ENTS

EXCITING EVENTS IN EARLY 2019

Jan. | Apr.

Taiwan Tourism Events Calendar Website

Colorful Lanterns to End the Lunar New Year Festival

LANTERN FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES Feb. 24 ~ Mar. 4

(FOR THE TAIWAN LANTERN FESTIVAL, SEE PAGE 7)

February ~ March

Taipei Lantern Festival

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

As with the last two editions of the Taipei Lantern Festival, this year’s celebration will be staged in Taipei City’s western area, in the popular Ximending shopping and entertainment district and along busy Zhonghua Road.

Sending paper lanterns with wishes written on them up “to the heavens” has become a popular tourist activity throughout the year in New Taipei City’s Pingxi Valley. What’s different during this festival is that hundreds of lanterns are released at the same time, creating marvelous scenes.

臺北燈 節

新 北市平溪 天 燈 節

skylantern.eidea.tw

www.travel.taipei

Feb.18 ~ Feb.19

Feb.13,16,17,21

Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival

Miaoli’s “Dragon Bombing” Dragon Dance

If you are looking for a peaceful evening enjoying colorful decorative lanterns, this is not the place to go. It’s ear-numbingly loud and certainly not without an element of danger for those who get up close to the fireworks bursting forth almost horizontally from the “beehives.”

This is an annual festival staged by the Hakka people living in Miaoli County. At the center of the event activities is a paper dragon dancing to exploding firecrackers.

臺灣 慶 元宵 - 鹽水 蜂 炮

www.facebook.com/YenShui.B.F

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苗栗

龍 系列活動

www.art-fruit.com.tw/miaolibongdragon.html

JA NUA RY- A PRIL

FAIR

February 12~17

SPORTS

Mar.17

Taipei International Book Exhibition

New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon

台北國 際 書展

新 北市 萬金石馬 拉 松

The Taipei International Book Exhibition ( TIBE) is an important annual event for publishing professionals and book lovers in Taiwan and throughout East Asia. Last year, 600 publishers from 60 different countries and territories par ticipated, more than 1,000 events were held, and 530,000 visitors came. This year, Germany will be featured as the “Guest of Honor.”

This road race is different from the many other running events staged throughout the year in Taiwan in that it has been recognized as a Silver Label race by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). As such, the marathon has joined the ranks of elite road races around the world, and attracts a significant number of top marathon runners from abroad each year.

www.tibe.org.tw/en/

FOLK ART

Mar.30 ~ Apr.7

Song-Jiang Battle Array in Neimen, Kaohsiung 內門 宋 江 陣

This is a major annual cultural event in rural Kaohsiung City, combining traditional folk culture, mar tial and performing arts, and youthful energy.

The festival, lasting several days, was first held in 1993 and has grown in size and splendor each year since. www.nmzizhusi.org.tw (website of Neimen Zishu Temple; Chinese); www.taiwangods.com (look under "Religious Scenes" – "Kaohsiung City")

www.wanjinshi-marathon.com.tw

CON V ENIENT TR AV EL

TAIPEI CLASSICS TOUR

Taiwan Tour Bus website

Spend Half a Day Visiting Iconic Tourist Attractions in the Capital TE X T& PHOTOS V I S ION

In the past, before Taipei 101 became the towering key landmark of Taipei and symbol of the city’s modern accomplishments, there was a good chance that first-time visitors had one of the following tourist draws lined up on their city-tour itineraries as Taipei’s “most iconic” attraction: the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, National Palace Museum, National Martyrs’ Shrine, or Presidential Office Building. While tourist preferences have changed in many ways over the years, these four iconic historic sites remain as must-visit choices for most visitors. If you want to check them off your list conveniently in half a day, consider taking the following Taiwan Tour Bus tour.

O

n the Taiwan Tour Bus website (www.taiwantourbus.com) you’ll find a large number of bus tours offered by different local travel agencies. Most are half-day or one-day outings, and all of the best and most popular tourist destinations around Taiwan are covered. The Taipei City Half Day Tour (www.taiwantourbus.com.tw/C/tour/us/taipei-city-half-day-tour), offered by Edison Tours, Li Dai Travel Service, and SET Tour, lasts three hours and includes the following stops.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall This memorial, the giant plaza in front of it, the majestic archway entrance in front of the plaza, and the two imposing Chinese palacestyle buildings flanking the plaza – the National Theater and the National Concert Hall – together form a historic and very photogenic tourist spot. Walk up the marble stairs to the memorial hall’s large portal, have a look at the statue of a sitting Chiang Kai-shek, and watch the changing of the guard (top of each hour); then visit the exhibitions on the first floor of the memorial hall.

Note that there are guided tours of the National Theater and National Concert Hall (see page 37 for more info).

National Palace Museum During the tumultuous times of the late 1940s, when the Nationalist military was forced to leave mainland China and retreat to Taiwan, the vast collection of ancient treasures amassed by Chinese emperors over centuries was brought in a number of secret shipments to Taiwan.

Their long journey had begun in the early 1930s, when the Japanese threatened Beijing from the north; the treasures were first brought to southern China, and then across the Taiwan Strait in 1948/49. The National Palace Museum

in Taipei, built in the 1960s to store the treasures and present them to the public, is often named as one of the greatest museums in the world and is a must-visit when touring the city. Website: www. npm.gov.tw.

National Martyrs’ Shrine Built in 1969, this shrine commemorates the 390,000 soldiers who died during the War of Resistance against Japan and the Chinese Civil War pitting Nationalist against Communist forces. As at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, once an hour there is a ceremonial changing of the guard to be witnessed, conducted in front of the main gate.

Presidential Office Building This imposing red-brick building was constructed by the Japanese in 1919, during their time as colonial rulers of Taiwan. On the Taipei City Half Day Tour you will only pass in front of it, but if you are interested in going inside, note that it is partially open Mon ~ Fri 9am ~ 12 noon. Once a month the Presidential Office Building has a full-open-house day, during which tour-guide services are provided.

For more information, visit english.president.gov.tw.

Pick-up (from hotel) Martyrs’ Shrine (25 mins) National Palace Museum (1 hr) Chiang Kaishek Memorial Hall (30 mins) Chinese temple (20 mins) Pass by the Presidential Office Building handicraft center (20 mins) Return to hotel

Included in the price of the tour, which is NT$1,300 for adults and NT$1,100 for children aged 12 or younger, is the bus fare, a ticket to the National Palace Museum, a tour-guide service, and insurance; meals are not included. Reservations must be made at least two days in advance.

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ENGLISH AND CHINESE Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 中正紀念堂 Martyrs' Shrine 忠烈祠 National Palace Museum 故宮博物院 Presidential Office Building 總統府

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NEWS & Events around Taiwan

2019 TAIWAN LANTERN FESTIVAL The Taiwan Lantern Festival, being held February 19 ~ March 3 this year, is the biggest of the numerous events taking place around Taiwan to celebrate the end of the Lunar New Year period.

It is organized by a different city/county government each year, with Pingtung County having the honors in 2019. Since this year will mark the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Lantern Festival, this edition of the extravaganza is expected to be especially grand in scale and presentation.

This will also be the first time that the centerpiece of the event, the main theme lantern, will not be in the shape of the Chinese zodiac animal for the year – instead, a tuna is being depicted. Donggang Fishing Harbor, just to the northwest of the Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area, the venue of this year's festival, is well known for its bluefin tuna catch. The lantern will be located inside the The PenBay National Leisure Zone within the national scenic area, and plans are to keep it there permanently after the end of the festival.

There will be numerous themed lantern-display areas, presenting in colorful ways the many different aspects that make up Pingtung County's character, including the cultures of the local indigenous and Hakka peoples, the agriculture and fishery industries, arts and culture, and modern green technologies. The festival is also a great occasion to get to know the Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area, a popular destination for water sport lovers, offering many options for such exciting activities as windsurfing, kayaking, sailing, kitesurfing and, outside the "water sport" category, go-karting.

GETTING THERE (Public transport) During the time of the festival there will be a total of 18 special festival shuttle-bus routes, including routes connecting the festival grounds with railway stations (please see the festival website for info on the shuttle-bus services).

(By car) Take National Freeway 3 to its southern end (Linbian Exit), follow the signs to the festival ground car parks, and take a shuttle bus from there.

WEBSITE www.taiwan.net.tw/2019taiwanlantern/index_en.html (official festival website); www.dbnsa.gov.tw (Dapeng Bay NSA)

E-GATE CLEARANCE FOR AUSTRALIANS

TAIPINGSHAN’S “BONG BONG” TRAIN RUNNING AGAIN

Australian nationals visiting Taiwan can now use the automated immigration clearance system when arriving at one of the international airports. This is the result of a reciprocal agreement between Taiwan and Australia that also allows Taiwanese passport holders to take advantage of Australia's Arrivals Smar tGates self-processing e-passpor t control system. For questions related to visitor visas, visa-exempt entry, etc., visit www.boca.gov.tw.

Damaged by typhoons in 2012 and 2015, one of the most popular tourist at tractions in the Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area in Yilan County, the narrow-gauge Bong Bong Train system, was not in operation for six years.

The trains have been running again since last September, taking tourists through the refreshing coniferous forests of this visually stunning area. For more information about Taipingshan, visit tps.forest.gov.tw.

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CULTURE A ND A R T

CULTURE Concert, Exhibitions, and Happenings

February 23

March 1

Russian Festival Ballet – Swan Lake

Maroon 5 Red Pill Blues Tour Live in Kaohsiung

The esteemed touring ballet company Russian Festival Ballet proudly presents the best of Russian ballet, including such classics as Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The ensemble employs the most talented dancers from around Russia, preserving the great tradition of Russian ballet.

On their tour of Australia, Asia, and Europe in the first half of 2019, the American pop rock band Maroon 5 will delight Taiwanese fans with this concert in Kaohsiung, named after their sixth album, Red Pill Blues, released in November 2017. One of the highlights of the concert will surely be their performance of the album’s most successful song, Girls Like You.

俄 羅斯明星節慶 芭 蕾舞團 - 天 鵝湖

Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall [Taipei City] www.yatsen.gov.tw

Until February 17

Pushkin – Masterpieces of French Landscape Paintings

魔 力紅 2 0 19 高 雄 演唱會

Kaohsiung World Games Stadium [Kaohsiung City] redpillbluestour.maroon5.com

Until March 03

Miniature Life Exhibition 微型展 2 .0

俄 羅斯普 希 金 博物 館 特展

This exhibition showcases 65 landscape paintings by 48 artists from the 17th to the 20 th centuries on loan from Moscow’s Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. The focus is on impressionist and postimpressionist works, with Claude Monet’s Luncheon on the Grass (1865-1866) included among the many notable works.

National Palace Museum [Taipei City] www.facebook.com/PushkinExhibition

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Following up on his Fantastic World exhibition in 2017, this will be the second time that Japanese photographer and art director Tatsuya Tanaka showcases his whimsical world of miniatures in Taiwan.

This exhibition will include more than 40 miniature scenes with tiny figurines placed among real-size objects used as backdrop props – such as food items – and more than 100 photographs.

Huashan 1914 Creative Park [Taipei City] www.huashan1914.com; miniature-calendar.com (latest works of the artist)

CULTURE A ND A R T

February 23

January 19 ~ April 18

Hosono Haruomi Concert Tour

Studio Ghibli Layout Designs

Hosona Haruomi is regarded as one of the most important Japanese musicians over the past 50 years. A highly influential pioneer of the electronic-music scene, he has been part of two very successful bands, Happy End, and Yellow Magic Orchestra, and has written countless songs for Japanese pop stars and been involved in a wide range of other music projects.

Lovers of Japanese anime are looking forward to this exhibition presenting works by Studio Ghibli, widely known for its successful feature films, TV films and series, short films, commercials, video games, and many other types of works, created between the mid1980s into the present decade. The exhibition will feature manuscripts of many of the studio’s iconic creations and give visitors a chance to learn about the anime production process.

細 野 晴臣 C o n c e r t To u r

Legacy Taipei [Taipei City] www.legacy.com.tw; hosonoharuomi.jp (official website in Japanese)

吉卜力動畫手稿 展

National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall [Taipei City] www.cksmh.gov.tw

FE AT U R E / TA ICHUNG FLOR A E XPO

Taiwan in Full Bloom on the International Stage an d O The 2018 Taichung Flora Expo ther F iwan lower Celebrations Around Ta

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FE AT U R E / TA ICHUNG FLOR A E XPO

TE X T RICK CHARE T TE　PHOTOS CHEN CHENG -KUO, VISION

Taiwan has a flourishing floriculture industry, and throughout the year are large-scale celebrations of the joys that floral beauty brings to our lives. So whichever time of year you visit, flower-appreciation opportunities await. An especially grand one-time spectacle happening right this moment is the Taichung World Flora Exposition.

Harvest Blessings Pavilion in the Taichung Flora Expo's Waipu Park Area

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FE AT U R E / TA ICHUNG FLOR A E XPO

S

ubtropical Taiwan, tropical in its far south, is an unusually fecund place. A welterweight in terms of size, it punches far above its weight in the international agricultural arena.

Affectionately dubbed the “Kingdom of Fruit” by islanders – if you visit, don’t miss out on the tremendous range of flavors available, including in the delicious “fruit cuisine” – another moniker, the “Kingdom of Flowers,” would also be apt. The government actively supports the cash-crop flower industry, and over the past few decades great strides have been made in terms of both variety and quality, with exports growing substantially as a result.

The island’s status on the global flower-production stage has been recognized in the past decade with the bestowal of two coveted bouquets by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), which defines itself as “the world’s champion for the power of plants” – the choice of Taiwan as host venue for two major international horticultural exhibitions. The first was the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo, and the island is once again in full bloom on the international stage with the city of Taichung now proudly hosting the 2018 Taichung Flora Expo.

In the pages to follow we present a primer for international tourists interested in visiting the 2018~2019 mega-happening, and we follow this with quick visits to a number of other island garden spots where annual flower-theme celebrations attract visitors in great numbers.

Taichung Flora Expo The doors were officially swung open on this multi-month explosion of floral pastels on November 3 last year. More formally called the 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition, the goal of the organizer is to match and perhaps best the total of just under 9 million local and international visitors chalked up at the stupendously successful 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition. Let’s just say the cities of Taichung and Taipei have long been engaged in friendly competition.

Surveys show that many people in Taiwan consider Taichung its most livable city.

The jubilant color-fest runs until April 24, so you’ve still plenty of time to get yourself to one of the island’s international-travel portals and on to Taichung. Well-served by international airlines, Taiwan has an excellent domestic transportation network. English signage aplenty all along the way will also make getting to Taichung and around the expo sites a comfy experience.

The event organizer is the Taichung City Government. The Agriculture and Food Agency of the central government’s Council of Agriculture is co-organizer. In the run-up to the opening day they proudly declared this the “biggest theme event in Taiwan in 2018,” and visitor numbers since the beginning of the event have proven them right. The three expansive expo sites are in semi-rural districts northeast of the city center. The Houli Horse Ranch Area & Forest Expo Site measures 30.04ha in area, the Waipu Park Area 14.32ha, and Fengyuan Huludun Park 16.52ha.

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The city government has two prime goals in hosting this event and spotlighting these enclaves. The first is the enhancement of Taichung’s international visibility. The second is a comprehensive recrafting of the local landscapes, making them more inviting for both residents and visitors. The spirit of sustainability was at the core of all planning, in keeping with Taichung’s quest to transform itself into a “sustainable and people-centered flower city,” with post-expo reuse of facilities a key. “This expo,” proclaims the organizer, “offers reflections on the beauty of harmonious development between green production, natural ecology, and human life.”

Centered in and spilling over the sides of a shallow mountain basin just off the central-west coast, Taichung enjoys abundant sunshine and a reputation for Taiwan’s most pleasant weather.

Said pleasant climes and fertile soil have sprouted blooming cashcrop productivity, including intensive and growing cultivation of flowers and ornamental plants. This floriculture-industry prowess is both what has made the 2018 expo extravaganza possible and is the raison d’etre behind Taichung petitioning the AIPH to make it a showcase venue.

Adding to the festive entertainment at this f loral jubilee is an endless stream of live cultural-arts performances collectively celebrating Taichung’s culture and history. By the expo’s denouement visitors will have been entertained with over 1,200 theatrical performances and 14,000 street-artist shows.

FE AT U R E / TA ICHUNG FLOR A E XPO

Houli Horse Ranch & Forest Expo Site The theme for this attraction is “Horse Ranch and Flower Paradise / Ecosystems-Nature-Coexistence.” To handle the streams of visitors the Greenway was created, connecting the two areas, which are separate, with each other and with a shuttle-bus station at Houli Railway Station.

A section of this route will become an extension of another local tourist attraction, the Dongfeng Bikeway, after the doors are closed on the expo. Horse-riding and cycling are culturally iconic recreational pursuits in the Houli area, and the emphasis with the local bikeway network is on slow-paced enjoyment of pastoral scenery and railway history. The 4.5km Houfeng Bikeway takes riders from the Houli Horse Ranch to and through an old railway tunnel and then leaps the Dajia River on a lengthy steel-frame bridge that was also part of the old rail line. Complete the Houfeng circuit, or if abloom with energy switch at the connection with the longer Dongfeng Bikeway for a level-grade 18km excursion.

A Seed from the Sky at the Houli Forest Area

Horses at the Houli Ranch

What is perhaps the most brightly coruscating diamond of the entire expo is the modernistic Blossom Pavilion, a large purposebuilt two-floor architectural beauty in the Houli Horse Ranch expo area. The larger of its two halls is the Orchid Hall, a greenhouse facility that tells the story, in brilliant pastel hues, of Taiwan’s orchid industry and “Kingdom of Orchids” reputation. The Competition Hall serves as a wonderful chorus-line showcase of entrants created by local and international masters for floriculture competitions, demonstrating creative-design possibilities for people’s backyards, courtyard gardens, etc.

The forest expo area is on a former army-barracks site rich with soaring old trees now transformed into a “Big Tree Community.”

Within it, among the more compelling draws are the Amazing World of Taiwan Indigenous Cultures, the large A Seed from the Sky installation artwork, and the World Gardens, featuring installation artworks by teams from around the world celebrating the culture and floriculture of their respective homelands.

Discovery Pavilion

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FE AT U R E / TA ICHUNG FLOR A E XPO

Waipu Park Area The theme here is “The Flower and Fruit Village / Production-GreenSharing.” Taichung’s advantageous climate and topography has given birth to robust clusters of fruit-growing and flower-cultivation enterprises, with demand for their premium-quality offerings from around the globe. The most important cultivars at farms in the Waipu area are lilies, dancing-doll orchids, and flamingo flowers. Major fruits include lychees, dragon fruits, honey tangerines, and ponkans.

The exhibition halls in each expo area showcase the newest ideas and technologies related to that area’s major theme. There is strong emphasis on 3G (Green building, Green energy, and Green transportation) at the Waipu halls. The Green Pavilion and Nature House exhibit agriculture 4.0 technologies used in development of smart agriculture adhering to the “slow food and slow living” worldview.

Also strongly emphasized in this site’s holistic design is 3R (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle), and outside the exhibition halls are two especially visually compelling locations that serve as concept manifestations: the Water Recycling Bamboo Dome and the Aquatic Viewing Walkway. The dome, 18m in diameter, is made of woven bamboo and covers the site’s wastewater-treatment facility, which is surrounded by a pond, symbiotic plants, and a vanilla garden to create a pleasant environment. The walkway cuts through an ecopond which, among its varied uses, helps keep ambient temperatures cooler. The corridor’s below-surface-level windows allow visitors to view aquatic life below the ripples.

Leo the Scarecrow

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Pavilion at Power of Life plaza

FE AT U R E / TA ICHUNG FLOR A E XPO

Water Recycling Bamboo Dome

Discovery Pavilion

Fengyuan Huludun Park The clarion call here is “Floral Metropolis by the Water / Life-PeopleMutual Good.” Huludun Park is an elongated, landscaped park in Fengyuan District that follows the two sides of a small river. It is divided into five areas. Areas 1 through 4 celebrate the iconic characteristics that help to define Taichung, which in recent decades has been hard at work seeking to redefine its character, transforming from a working-class city into an oasis of cultured living where “green land, nature, and people” exist in symbiosis.

Area 5 is centered on a scenic lake with f lower-covered waterfront, where improvements have been carried out to enrich the diversity of Taichung’s eco-habitats. A unique grouping of 10 florallandscape features demonstrate a new perspective on what a Taiwan urban-area waterfront environment can look like: an island at the lake’s center, a lakeview platform, ecological pavement, an art wall, a “vanilla maze,” a vine tunnel, riverbank grassy areas, a “citizens’ lawn,” and a music plaza.

Riverine Huludun Park has been refashioned to form a holistic ecological system, with planted trees, plants, and flowers forming a natural forest-like water-circulation system that reduces the urban heat island effect and attracts birds along with pollinating butterflies and bees to make the micro-environment self-sustaining.

Entrance to Huludun Park

For more information on all expo matters, visit 2018floraexpo.tw. Note that railway stations and major highways are located close to each park area, and access using public transportation is strongly recommended, along with the dedicated expo shuttle-bus services.

Bamboo Pavilion in Huludun Park

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FE AT U R E / TA ICHUNG FLOR A E XPO

The Sea of Flowers in Xinshe Festival Taichung’s Xinshe District, located east/southeast of the flora expo areas, is a rural district on a plateau area in the foothills east of the urban core. Known for farm production, the main products grown here are mushrooms, citrus fruits, grapes, carambolas, pears, loquats, sugar apples, pineapples, persimmons, bonsai – and flowers. Xinshe is today commonly referred to as “Taichung’s back garden.”

The festival is held late each autumn on the grounds of the Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station, established by the Japanese under a different name during Taiwan’s 1895~1945 Japanese colonial period. The first edition was held in 2005 in an effort to create greater “brand” visibility for Xinshe produce and boost its leisure-agriculture industry. Large swaths of colorful flowers are planted over 30 hectares of showpiece fields – including sunflowers, lavender, cosmos, spider flowers, sage, and begonias – and a series of related events staged.

Each year the festival’s various specially-themed exhibition areas are designed to highlight the area’s unique attributes, dubbed with such enticing names as Happy Farming Villages Exhibition, Incredible Fern Exhibition, and so on. While the hours away learning about paddy-rice production, from transplanted-seedling stage to maturity, the seemingly countless herbs eaten by Taiwan folk in tonic foods and used in medicines, with over 1,000 herbs on display, and much more. Invariably the most popular draw is the orchid in all its glory, with numerous rare specimens on dramatically colorful display.

In addition, live performances are staged on weekends throughout the festival, with an emphasis on music concerts. There are also indepth local tours offered in which your guide takes you to visit area recreational farms, and special packages are designed each year that encourage you to stay at the local cottage-style guesthouses, visit the local recreation/resort farms, and take in other local tourist attractions. For more info on the festival, visit flowersea.tw.

A great location to take photos

Flower fields at Xinshe

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FE AT U R E / TA ICHUNG FLOR A E XPO

Large swaths of colorful flowers are planted, including sunflowers, lavender, cosmos, spider flowers, sage, and begonias

Garden cosmos ďŹ elds

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In spring the fields fill up like a waving sea with the pure-white, delicate calla lily, which look like celestial fairies beckoning

Yangmingshan Flower Season Each spring the slopes of the Yangmingshan massif, on the city of Taipei’s northern side between the Taipei Basin and the big blue sea, burst into brilliant floral bloom, the mountain-cherry blossoms, azaleas, camellias, and peach blossoms opening in succession.

The crowning jewel of the massif, and one of the crown jewels of Taiwan’s wonderfully varied system of national parks and national scenic areas, is Yangmingshan National Park (ymsnp.gov.tw), which – to this food-loving writer’s way of thinking – covers the upper portion of the massif in the same manner as the chocolate fudge crowns an ice-cream sundae.

The main venue of the annual springtime Yangmingshan Flower Season is Yangming Park, which in turn is one of the key attractions within Yangmingshan National Park. It is an expanse of 100 hectares that features a famous Flower Clock, fountain, landscaped-garden theme areas, azalea-camellia garden, cherry blossom forest, peach blossom forest, water-curtain tunnel, and many other unique scenic attractions. This is a mystic up-in-the-clouds realm of landscaped waterfalls and ponds, gardens and grottoes, and brilliant floral colors.

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The budding and bursting to life of the mountain f lora is everywhere around you: azaleas, camellias, peach blossoms, Chinese hydrangeas, and a world of other colorful plant residents. This is the true portrait of spring, and amidst the endless palette of bright color it is the cherry blossom that most charms and bedazzles the visitor.

As in many other parts of Taiwan’s high-mountain areas, the colonial Japanese planted cherry trees in number to remind them of home.

In addition to enjoyment of the flower-theme landscaping at Yangming Park, Qianshan Park, and other locations, there are also floral-theme guided tours, a street-parade carnival staged by local schools, and weekend/holiday musical performances by Yangming Park’s Flower Clock.

Zhuzihu Calla Lily Festival Also occurring each spring in Yangmingshan National Park, is the Zhuzihu Calla Lily Festival. Zhuzihu is a peak-surrounded basin high up on Yangmingshan drained long ago by the Japanese, who desired

FE AT U R E / TA ICHUNG FLOR A E XPO

Cherry bloom on Yangmingshan

Calla lily field at Zhuzihu Picking calla lilies

the fertile earth here for agricultural experimentation. Today the quiet basin is filled with small cash-crop tourist farms growing flowers and vegetables. In spring the fields fill up like a waving sea with the purewhite, delicate calla lily, which look like celestial fairies beckoning.

Zhuzihu’s cool and moist weather makes it an especially inviting home for the calla lily, and this is in fact Taiwan’s most important production center for the flower, providing 80%. You can pick your own calla lilies, and can also buy cut flowers, potted flowers, and all sorts of other potted plants, including herbal plants. This is one vast, unified market, filled with color and hubbub.

Festival highlights include a calla lily landscape floriculturedesign competition, special calla lily-theme exhibits, colorful floraltheme parades, in-depth guided tours of Zhuzihu, and calla-lily ecotour outings. As well, explore the various streamside trails that the city government has established on the basin’s periphery, all near the farms. The walks take anywhere from 10 to 50 minutes, and along the way you get good looks at the calla-lily fields, farm terracing, and mountain backdrop.

Azalea blossoms at Yangmingshan

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Daylily ďŹ elds at Sixty Stone Mountain

The peak of Sixty Stone Mountain is about 800 meters above sea level, and a rolling tableland of daylilies carpets its farm-populated top

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FE AT U R E / TA ICHUNG FLOR A E XPO

Daylily buds are dried in the sun

Hualien Orange Daylily Season Mt. Liushidan (Sixty Stone Mountain) and nearby Mt. Chike, located in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County, overlook the bright-hued checkerboard of farm fields on the floor of the East Rift Valley (www.erv-nsa.gov. tw). Each year, during the August/September bloom season of the daylilies cultivated on their slopes, the mountains are painted orange, creating some of the most enchanting scenes found in a region renowned for bucolic visual pleasures. Tourists f lock to this comparatively isolated and pristine area from the island’s more heavily populated western side and northern end.

The peak of Sixty Stone Mountain is about 800 meters above sea level, and a 300-plus-hectare rolling tableland of daylilies carpets its farm-populated top. The photographic mood of the setting changes constantly, with repeated and rapid changes between blue or cloudy skies above and thick, rolling mists either creeping or surging up from below. Enhancing the mise-en-scenes even further are the area farmhouses with roofs and courtyards covered with harvested daylily buds spread out to sun-dry.

Visitors also discover that blooming daylilies are more than just visually alluring floral belles. They’re also delicious, and local eateries serve them up in various ways, including deep-fried, in soups, and in teas.

The limited number of eateries up on the tableland also serve up especially appetite-stimulating views. Other flower-season enticements include DIY daylily picking, nighttime eco-tours, and stargazing.

Farmers harvesting daylily buds

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Cherry blossom gazing on Yangmingshan

Taiwan Flower Viewing Through the Seasons The list of large-scale flower-appreciation celebrations and the list of flower types being appreciated are too long for us to delve into at any length here. Suffice to say, however, that whatever the season you visit Taiwan there will be numerous options. To give you an idea, let’s selectively open a window on events in Taiwan’s wonderful world of national scenic areas, national parks, and national forest recreation areas (those presented earlier not included), which come with a solid choice of quality accommodations and are well served by the Taiwan Tour Bus service (www.taiwantourbus.com.tw) and local Tourism Bureau-vetted travel agencies offering guided bus tours to foreign tourists.

In winter, enjoy the mountain cherry and Yoshino cherry blossoms in the Alishan National Scenic Area (NSA) and rapeseed flowers in the East Rift Valley NSA. In spring, savor the peach blossoms in the Lishan Scenic Area (TriMountain NSA) and azaleas at Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area.

In summer, delight in the lotus flowers in Baihe Township (Siraya NSA). In autumn, take in the cosmos flowers at Wuling Farm and Fushoushan Farm, the latter in the same NSA, and Chinese silvergrass flowers up on Yangmingshan.

Lotus flowers in Baihe ENGLISH AND CHINESE Aquatic Viewing Walkway 漫步水中 Blossom Pavilion 花舞館 Dongfeng Bikeway 東豐鐵馬道 Fengyuan Huludun Park 豐原葫蘆墩公園介紹 Houfeng Bikeway 后豐鐵馬道 Houli Horse Ranch & Forest Expo Site 后里馬場森林園區 Hualien Orange Daylily Season 花蓮金針花季 Mt. Chike 赤科山 Mt. Liushidan 六十石山 Taichung World Flora Exposition 臺中世界花卉博覽會 Taipei International Flora Exposition 臺北國際花卉博覽會 The Sea of Flowers in Xinshe Festival 新社花海 Waipu Park Area 外埔園區 Water Recycling Bamboo Dome 竹穹惜水 Yangmingshan Flower Season 陽明山花季 Zhuzihu Calla Lily Festival 竹子湖海芋季

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Yangmingshan

Houli Horse Ranch & Forest Expo Site Waipu Park Area Fengyuan Huludun Park Xinshe

Wuling Farm Lishan Scenic Area Fushoushan Farm Hehuanshan East Rift Valley

Alishan National Scenic Area Baihe

Mt. Chike Mt. Liushidan (Sixty Stone Mountain)

Silvergrass on Yangmingshan

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CPC Corporation, Taiwan is actively pursuing the development of a smart and convenient green-living circle with focus on improving energy production, energy storage, energy consumption, and energy conservation.

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TR E A SU R E ISL A N D FO O DS / BEITOU

Taiwan’s Top Ten Hot Springs Cuisine Take a Relaxing Hot-Spring Bath, Then Enjoy Delicious Food in Beitou TE X T V I S ION

PHOTOS V I S ION , G R A ND V IE W RESORT BE ITOU, R A DIUM K AG AYA TA IPE I , SWE E TME HOT S PRING RESORT

Taiwan is naturally blessed with various types of mineral springs, including hot springs, mud hot springs, cold springs, and oceanside saltwater springs. It is a world-renowned mecca for mineral-spring lovers, with many distinctive resort enclaves that have been developed around natural-spring sources. Quite a few of these getaway havens have restaurants and hotels offering delicious, hearty local hot-spring cuisine created with the idea of eating local and seasonal produce.

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TR E A SU R E ISL A N D FO O DS / BEITOU

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y selecting the best food experiences at hot-spring cuisine restaurants in Taiwan as part of the 2018 Taiwan Top Ten Hot Springs awards, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau in cooperation with the Chinese Gourmet Association, the government aims to assist tourists who spend time in hot-spring areas around the island soothing mind and body with relaxing hot-spring baths to more easily find and savor the most delicious local Taiwanese foods available. Another goal is to give visitors a richer and more diverse hotspring food experience, highlighting the charms of the unique gastronomic culture of each area by combining hot-spring soaking and good food.

After six months of voting by the general public supplemented with evaluation by experts and scholars, the best dishes in the two award categories, Banquet Dishes and Set Meals, were selected. Fourteen restaurants located in Taiwan’s premier hot-spring areas, spread throughout northern, central, southern, and eastern Taiwan, were awarded gold medals based on the criteria Taste and Creativity, Localness and Culture, Health, Speed and Quality, and Management.

Following you’ll find introductions of three gold-medal winners located in Taipei’s Beitou District, the Grand View Resort Beitou, the SweetMe Hot Spring Resort, and the Radium Kagaya Taipei. The restaurants at these three hotels serve hot-spring-style dishes bursting with local character, made using seasonal ingredients, winning over the taste buds of food connoisseurs and the general public alike.

Grand View Resort Beitou

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hi ne se F Gu r e n c h F st a tory usion Winte r Feast sea. A specially made dessert, White Chocolate C

Located close to Yangmingshan National Park at a high point in Beitou, the Grand View is the only 5-star hotel in the district. It is a merger of architectural aesthetics, accommodation and leisure, gastronomic culture, hot-spring fun, and other elements, with an emphasis on attentive Taiwanese-style service and local food-ingredient sourcing. The head chef at its C’est Bon Western restaurant gives free rein to his culinary creativity.

He has more than 20 years of experience at 5-star hotels and won the gold medal for hot-spring cuisine for the restaurant’s all-new autumn and winter menu introduced in September 2018.

C’est Bon combines carefully selected local Taiwanese ingredients and meticulous French cooking techniques, each dish presenting perfection in French-style texture and f lavor and every bite reflecting the attention to detail and skill of the chef while at the same time conveying the authentic spirit of Taiwanese food ingredients. Specially recommended are two main dishes that are part of dinner set meals.

The French-style Lamb Chops retain the juice and tenderness of the meat. Served with a mint sauce made by the head chef, the freshness of the sauce matches the richness of the meat superbly, the dish presenting the delicious taste of traditional French lamb chops perfectly.

Seafood lovers will want to order the Seasonal Fresh Fish. Sweet fresh fish accompanied by soft fried egg and bell pepper, served with classic French-style Marseille sauce made in-house by the chef poured on top, combine to create a dish that treats the diner to the delicious taste of the

Balls, is also highly recommended. The balls are filled with sweet, sour, and creamy seasonal winter strawberry with lychee mousse.

At the Grand View Resort Beitou, guests can enjoy much more than a relaxing hot-spring bath. They should be sure not to miss the perfect combination of hot-spring bathing pleasures and fine cuisine, savoring a hot-spring gastronomic trip that satisfies mind, body, and taste buds.

GRAND VIEW RESORT BEITOU ( 北投麗禧溫泉酒店 ) (02) 2898-8888 www.gvrb.com.tw No. 30, Youya Rd., Beitou Dist., Taipei City ( 台北市北投區幽雅路 30 號 )

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SweetMe Hotspring Resort Just three minutes by foot from MRT Xinbeitou Station, the SweetMe Hotspring Resort covers a large area and offers beautiful scenery. It channels hot-spring water from Beitou’s Dahuangzui hot-spring area, offers a range of hot-spring facilities, and has long been popular with aficionados of hot-spring bathing. The hotel’s Sweetme Restaurant, in business for over 50 years, was awarded a gold medal in the Banquet Dishes category.

The kitchen is overseen by head chef Ye Fu-lai, who has 27 years of professional cooking experience. His selfappointed mission is to pass on Beitou’s local “winehouse cuisine” dishes by displaying the most authentic local gastronomic traditions.

Sumptuous Beitou Winehouse Dishes

“Winehouse cuisine” refers to the Beitou culinary style that was developed in the Japanese colonial period (1895~1945). During that era, political and business figures would gather in the bathhouses and hot-spring hotels of Beitou to socialize, talk business, and discuss political affairs, leading to the development of various “officials’ dishes.” The style of Sweetme Restaurant’s cuisine merges the freshness, sweetness, and richness of traditional southern Fujian cuisine, the varied flavors of Sichuanese cuisine, the layering of Cantonese food, and the elegant light flavors of Japanese kaiseki ryori cuisine.

The restaurant selects authentic premium local ingredients from around Taiwan, turning them into such famed dishes as Turtle Soup with Chicken and Pork Stomach, a tasty and hearty stew with the sweet taste of the sea and rich tastes of the land. For its Crisp Pork Ribs dish, pork ribs are marinated overnight, then deep-fried over a low flame, leaving the outside crispy and the inside juicy and aromatic. For the most authentic Beitou travel experience, sit down to a meal of winehouse cuisine dishes after a soothing hot-spring soak.

SWEETME HOTSPRING RESORT ( 水美溫泉會館 ) (02) 2898-3838 www.sweetme.com.tw No. 224, Guangming Rd., Beitou Dist., Taipei City ( 台北市北投區光明路 224 號 )

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TR E A SU R E ISL A N D FO O DS / BEITOU

Radium Kagaya Taipei

Passing on Classic Japanese Cuisines

Located by the site of Taiwan’s first hot-spring hotel, the Japanese colonial period’s Ten Gu An, the Radium Kagaya Taipei was jointly built by Taiwan’s Radium Group and Kagaya, the long-established Japanese hot-spring ryokan (traditional-style inn). It inherits the three main elements of Japanese architecture, service, and cuisine, recreating the authentic original Kagaya in Taiwan. It has become the Beitou hot-spring bathing establishment with the most pronounced Japanese charm.

Designed by a Japanese architect, the building space fully echoes the style of a traditional sukiya tea ceremony room. The service also reflects the essence of the housekeeper-service culture of Japanese hotels, displaying all the warm hospitality of a traditional Japanese hotspring inn. Of course, the cuisine also adheres to the rules of Japanese seasonal food, the sumptuous banquet dishes providing diners with all-round sensory satisfaction. This was the key reason its food was awarded a gold medal.

Inheriting the spirit of traditional Japanese cuisine, Radium Kagaya Taipei’s Tenshou Restaurant offers classic banquet dishes. From starter, to soup, to main course, and to nimono simmered dishes, all are made using seasonal local ingredients carefully selected by the head chef accompanied by premium seasonal foodstuffs imported from Japan. As well as emphasizing seasonal ingredients, the freshness and original f lavor of the foodstuffs are also paramount. Minimal flavorings are used, to allow the original flavors of the ingredient to shine and diners to enjoy the taste of each season, as well as to display the exquisite beauty of Japan’s washoku traditional cuisine at its most authentic. Every guest who comes to Radium Kagaya Taipei for a hot-spring bath also has the chance to enjoy distinctive fine Japanese dishes.

RADIUM KAGAYA TAIPEI ( 日勝生加賀屋 ) (02) 2891-1111 www.kagaya.com.tw No. 236, Guangming Rd., Beitou Dist., Taipei City ( 台北市北投區光明路 236 號 ) ENGLISH AND CHINESE 2018 Taiwan Top Ten Hot Springs Awards 2018 台灣 10 大好湯美食 Beitou District 北投區 C'est Bon 歐陸餐廳 Chinese Gourmet Association 中華美食交流協會 Crisp Pork Ribs 排骨酥 Dahuangzui hot-spring area 大磺嘴地熱溫泉區 French-style Lamb Chops 法式羊排 "officials'dishes" 官家大菜 Seasonal Fresh Fish 季節鮮魚 Ten Gu An 天狗庵 Tenshou Restaurant 天翔廳 Turtle Soup with Chicken and Pork Stomach 雞仔豬肚鱉 White Chocolate Balls 白巧克力球 "winehouse cuisine" 酒家菜 Yangmingshan National Park 陽明山國家公園 Ye Fu-lai 葉福來

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Huwei’ s

Puppet Theatre Heritage

Tradit ion and History...But also Lots of Fun for Children!

Rarely introduced in great detail in English guidebooks, Yunlin County is the center of one of Taiwan’s most popular forms of traditional performance art: puppet theatre. Culture and history buffs, travelers with kids, or anyone simply looking to get off the beaten track can head to Huwei Township to experience Taiwan’s distinctive puppetry culture.

TE X T NICK K E MBE L PHOTOS M AGG IE SONG

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hile I haven’t brought my kids yet, I know they truly would enjoy the Yunlin Hand Puppet Museum. We’ve passed by outdoor puppet stages decorated in a riot of neon colors in our New Taipei City neighborhood numerous times. I have never been able to explain this complex and multifaceted art form to them, though my wife fondly recalls the excitement and awe of taking in puppet shows as a child growing up in Chiayi County, south of Yunlin.

Hand puppetry, or budaixi, originated in mainland China’s Fujian province in the 17th century and was subsequently carried over to Taiwan by Chinese migrants.

It combines elements of performance art, music, martial arts, and literature, popularizing ancient Chinese novels and making traditional culture more accessible to the masses. The puppeteers must have precise control of the puppets in order to differentiate characters of different ages and genders, not to mention maneuvering the delicate puppets for wild stage antics such as making them “fly” or blast fire.

While Yunlin is anything but flashy today, it was once the birthplace of a thriving puppet theatre scene. It was here that the founding father of Taiwanese hand puppetry, Huang Hai-dai, skirted the ban on Taiwanese culture in

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the Japanese colonial era (1895~1945) by incorporating Japanese lines into his famed performances.

In the 1950s Huang’s sons ushered in the Jin Guang (Golden Ray) era of puppet theatre in Taiwan, during which children and adults island-wide frequently rushed to take in performances after school and work. The new style added larger puppets, special effects, and other creative elements to the traditional budaixi foundation.

With the advent of television in Taiwan in the 1960s his sons also produced television adaptations that proved so popular they were banned for a period of six years by the Legislative Yuan for disrupting the daily routines of farmers and workers.

At the THSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail) Yunlin Station, I catch a taxi and head off on a 10-minute ride, traversing a landscape that hovers indecisively between urban and rural. Both the THSR station and the Yunlin Hand Puppet Museum are located in Huwei, a relatively undeveloped township on land once home to a powerful indigenous tribe, which was driven further inland by Han Chinese settlers from mainland China.

The museum sits among a cluster of restored public buildings dating to the early 1920s, when Yunlin was a part of Tainan Prefecture, a Japanese-era administrative division. The handsome wood-and-red-brick building

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is constructed in the Victorian style, one of the styles favored by Japanese architects at the time. It originally housed the Huwei District Office, and was converted for use as a police station in 1945. The building is said to have 2.5 floors, due to a covered walkway that starts at the building’s rear, at a level midway between the first and second floors, and cuts across the rear courtyard. The first and second floors are also not contiguous; instead, apertures in the building façade lead to narrow spaces in between, an ingenious Japanese design element that provides natural air circulation.

Abandoned from 1989, Yunlin leaders later decided to preserve the structure, and in 1999 they successfully obtained a subsidy to fully restore the building. In 2009 it was finally reopened as a dedicated puppet theatre museum, created to pay homage to Huwei’s significance in Taiwanese puppetry. The museum is open 10am to 6pm (closed Monday and Tuesday), and entry is free.

puppets from this period, samples of which are presented in the first display I see, were only 30 centimeters in height.

The puppeteer’s index finger fit into the puppet’s wooden head, the thumb worked the left arm, and the three other fingers worked the right. Since the puppets were so small, the puppeteer could control one puppet with each of his hands. He was positioned behind a stage that was often little more than a stand folded out from a piece of luggage.

In the 1920s and ’30s, puppeteers in Yunlin began pushing the boundaries, writing their own scripts, making the performances more entertaining and action-packed, and creating larger puppets.

In the Golden Ray era the puppets were made much taller, about 45 centimeters, with disproportionally larger heads, making them easier to see for members of the growing audiences seated further back from the larger stages now being used.

In the main-floor exhibit, I delve into the history of puppet theatre in Taiwan. During the early days, puppeteers adhered to Chinese styles and adopted storylines based on classical martial-arts literature. The

Public performances had already been driven indoors during the years of sociopolitical disturbance that followed the infamous 2-28 Incident of 1947, and in the early 1960s another game-changer arrived on the

Playing with a puppet

DIY puppet creation

Puppet stage roof

Grand balcony

Name of role Main stage gate

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Wu Zhua Jin Ying puppet

scene: television. The rise of television was a new threat to puppet theatre, but when adaptations were created for the new medium the new style of presentation instantly became a nationwide hit. If you had a TV in your living room or set up in your courtyard at that time, you could expect half the neighborhood to show up, bringing their own chairs.

The puppets changed again in this period. Rising in size to 80 centimeters, they became so large that a puppeteer could only hold one on his right arm, using his left arm to control the movements of the puppet’s left arm with a stick. The heads became smaller again, and more life-like. The puppets took on a look that was decidedly sleek, attractive, and contemporary, the style moving away from the comparatively garish array of bright colors on traditional puppets.

A prime example is the most famous character in Taiwanese puppetry, the scholarly swordsman Shi Yan Wen, developed by Huang Jun-xiong, second son of Huang Hai-dai. Adapted from his father’s most famous character, Shi is usually portrayed with a soft, white, effeminate face and flowing white garments.

On the other side of the main floor I take in a display on Long Xing Ge, a troupe of puppeteers that developed in neighboring townships alongside Huang Hai-dai’s troupe, but which incorporated local Hakka language and themes in its storylines. Featured prominently in the display is the character Wu Zhua Jin Ying, who often has his eyes blindfolded because, so the tale is told, he became so angry after his girlfriend was kidnapped that everything he sees will die.

Heading out behind the building, I explore a calm courtyard dominated by a 100-year-old banyan tree. There is a small puppet stage here, and on weekends children can borrow puppets to play with. There is also a small café and a souvenir shop specializing in local products including coffee, soy sauce, noodles, and sweet potatoflavored dishes and beverages.

The second floor of the museum, once the district leader’s office, now features displays on the various parts of the puppets, such as headdresses, hats, clothing, and wooden heads. One display features “modern” puppets, including a cowboy and a zombie. Quirkier

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Inside the Story House

designs like this are more common in the south of Taiwan, where performers have a penchant for bending the rules of classical performance.

Before leaving the museum, I pop into the former police station’s jail room, which has three cells with smooth black bars made of Taiwanese cypress. There are also two padded rooms that were used for suicidal inmates, as well as a squat toilet with a low door so guards could keep an eye on the inmates while the latter took care of business.

Last but not least, there is a DIY room in the police station section where kids can make a puppet keychain (NT$120) or paint their own Taiwanese-style puppet (NT$500). Complete puppets are also for sale (NT$450-700). In the adjacent room, kids can enjoy seeing the Taiwanese-puppet versions of Gandalf and Harry Potter.

After visiting the museum, I take a peek at the Yunlin Story House next door, a beautifully restored Japanese-style residence that was once the home of the Huwei County Magistrate. Among the items on display are a number of cart bicycles that Japanese peddlers once rode around to sell candies and tell stories to kids using large moveable illustrated papers, a form of storytelling street theatre known as kamishibai, or “paper theater.”

Across the street from the Yunlin Story House, I lunch at Yunlin Memory Cool, an eatery housed in a one-time land registration office dating to the same period as the puppet museum. I peer inside a room of empty shelves that were once filled with registration documents.

The menu features Japanese curry with two kinds of locally grown rice, sesame cold noodles, matcha shaved-ice desserts, and other treats.

Last, I check out the old fire station across from the puppet museum, which now houses a Starbucks and an Eslite Bookstore. I can say with reasonable confidence that this is the only Starbucks in Taiwan that has a firefighter’s pole connecting the first and second floors, though (unfortunately) you can’t slide down it.

FA MILY FU N / Y UNL IN COUNT Y

Yunlin Puppet Design Hotel

Lobby of the hotel

If you plan to visit the area, why not make a night of it and stay in a puppet-theatrethemed hotel? The Yunlin Puppet Design Hotel is a 10-minute walk from the museum. Huang Hai-dai’s son Huang Jun-xiong built the hotel in 1981, and the flamboyant hanging lights in the lobby are a reminder that there was once a popular disco here.

The hotel was closed in 1996, then bought for refurbishment in 2014 and finally reopened in early 2018. Paying homage to the original owner’s immense influence in Taiwanese puppetry, the hotel is tastefully decorated with a puppetry theme, including a puppet stage in the lobby and two original Huang Jun-xiong puppets on display.

Each room is associated with one of the six main puppet theatre characters. The Dan (female character) room is the pick of the bunch, while the tiny Za (half-horse half-man character) single room is worth a look.

ENGLISH AND CHINESE budaixi 布袋戲 Huang Hai-dai 黃海岱 Huang Jun-xiong 黃俊雄 Huwei Township 虎尾鎮 Jin Guang 金光 Long Xing Ge 隆興閣 Shi Yan Wen 史艷文 Wu Zhua Jin Ying 五爪金鷹 Yunlin International Puppet Theater Festival 雲林國際偶戲節 Yunlin Memory Cool 雲林記憶 Cool Yunlin Puppet Design Hotel 虎尾春秋文創設計旅店 Yunlin Story House 雲林故事館

YUNLIN INTERNATIONAL PUPPET THEATER FESTIVAL One of the best times to visit Huwei is during this annual festival, which features exhibitions and performances not only by local hand-puppet troupes but by puppeteers from abroad as well. International cultural exchange is one of the main objectives of the event organizers. The festival is staged in October.

2018puppet.yunlin.gov.tw (Chinese; last year’s website)

GETTING THERE To reach the places mentioned in this article, a taxi from Yunlin's high-speed rail station will take about 10 minutes and cost NT$150. You can also take bus 7701 or 7702 and get off at the Huwei stop.

YUNLIN HAND PUPPET MUSEUM ( 雲林布袋戲館 ) (05) 631-3080 tour.yunlin.gov.tw (Chinese) No. 498, Sec. 1, Senlin Rd., Huwei Township, Yunlin County ( 雲林縣虎尾鎮林森路一段 498 號 )

YUNLIN PUPPET DESIGN HOTEL ( �尾�������� ) (05) 636-0618 www.huweihotel.com.tw (Chinese) No. 69, Xinyi Rd., Huwei Township, Yunlin County ( 雲林縣虎尾鎮信義路 69 號 )

Yunlin Memory Cool restaurant

Dishes served at Yunlin Memory Cool restaurant

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Alien Landscapes and Golden Sands TE X T H A N CHEUNG PHOTOS V I S ION , NORTH COAST & GUA N Y IN S H A N N ATION A L SCE NIC A RE A

One of the wonderful things about visiting Taipei is that you can leave the urban sprawl easily after you have explored the many sights in the city. It just takes about an hour to get to the scenic North Coast and Northeast Coast, where there is much to see and do. Here’s a short introduction of places to visit while following the North Coast Highway, which despite the name traverses both areas in full.

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SCENIC ROU TE S / NOR TH/NOR THE A S T COA S T

Baishawan (White Sand Bay) on the North Coast

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am zipping between gently sloping foothills and peculiar rock formations that fade into the deep blue sea, while Guishan (Turtle) Island looms in the distance. The gleaming-white lighthouse on Sandiao Cape rises into view on the top of a verdant hill, looking down on the easternmost point of mainland Taiwan.

On this day there are relatively few people on the Old Caoling Circle Line Bikeway, a 20-kilometer loop that starts at the railway station in seaside Fulong village and first takes you through rural countryside, then through a 2,167-meter-long retired railway tunnel, and then along the highway on Taiwan’s Northeast Coast back to Fulong. Many cyclists choose to just visit the tunnel and return the same way to the station, disappearing into the crowds that come here to frolic on the golden sands at Fulong Beach. Bike rentals are available just outside the station, where a number of restaurants claiming to be the original home of the famous Fulong railway lunchbox are also found.

Despite the many visitors, Fulong Beach doesn’t get terribly crowded – stretching 3km, it’s one of the longest in Taiwan, where rocky shores are the norm. Each April it is transformed into a sandscape of fantastic creations as the Fulong International Sand Sculpture Festival takes place; after the end of that event the HoHai-Yan Gongliao Rock Festival, also staged right on the beach, packs some extra heat into the steamy Taiwan summer.

One can easily spend an entire day exploring this area, but it’s just one of many to choose from along the scenic North Coast Highway (Provincial Highway No. 2), which stretches nearly 170 kilometers from New Taipei City’s Tamsui District in the northwest to Yilan County’s Su’ao Township in the east. It is one of several provincial highways that, collectively, closely trace most of Taiwan’s coastline.

In southern Yilan this highway connects to the breathtaking Suhua (Su’ao-Hualien) Highway. It may be hard to decide which coastal highway is the most scenic, but in terms of sheer number of attractions – both natural and cultural – the North Coast Highway takes the cake. Perhaps the best-known attraction of them all, a site on most every Taiwan visitor’s list, is Yehliu Geopark, with its “Queen’s Head” the most iconic of the myriad rock formations that dot this coastal route.

Even with a car, in a quick two- or three-day trip it’s nearly impossible to hit all the spots, which range from spectacular geological formations to idyllic fishing villages to pristine beaches.

The tourism infrastructure is excellent, with parking available at lookouts and most sites as well as coherent signage in English.

Biking the entire route on a multi-day outing is also possible, but it’s probably more enjoyable to break the trip up according to the many designated bike routes along the way, as they are designed to take the traveler to and through most of the area’s hotspots. For example, the aforementioned Old Caoling bike route cuts through the tiny but charming Mao’ao fishing village, whereas the highway goes around it.

If you rely on public transport, note that stretches of the highway are served by buses of the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle network (www. taiwantrip.com.tw): Crown Northern Coast Shuttle Bus (TamsuiGuihou Fishing Harbor), Keelung Shuttle Bus West Line (Yehliu Geopark-Keelung Railway Station), Keelung Shuttle Bus East Line (Keelung Railway Station-Ruifang), Gold Fulong Shuttle Bus (Ruifang-Fulong), and Zhuangwei Sand Dunes Route shuttle bus (Toucheng-Yilan City).

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Historic Spots The port town of Tamsui and the harbor city of Keelung are day-trips in their own right, both with hundreds of years of history and many heritage sites. Tamsui is the only place on the highway accessible from downtown Taipei by using the Taipei Metro (MRT Tamsui-Xinyi Line). One of Taiwan’s busiest ports in the 19th century, the town retains important vestiges of its foreign influence, from the majestic Dutch-built Fort San Domingo, constructed in the 1640s, to the alluring Taiwanese-Western fusion architecture of Aletheia University, founded in the late 1800s by Canadian missionary George Leslie Mackay. Even the Qing-built Tamsui Customs Officer’s Residence is in Western (colonial) style, pure white with arched corridors. Japanese influence is also apparent, with several classic residences in the area, including that of former township official Tade Eikichi.

The area around the Tamsui River boardwalk, near MRT Tamsui Station, is where most of the tourists flock to, as it has many food stalls, games, street artists, craft stores, and local specialty shops. But don’t hesitate to wander off into the myriad of alleys that crisscross the hill that rises dramatically above the shore – you might even stumble onto a place called Lover’s Lane.

Promenade along the Tamsui River

Fort San Domingo

A strategic port that was invaded by the French in 1884 and served as the key point of entry for the Japanese colonial occupiers in 1895, Keelung boasts many old cannon batteries, and also has an eerie cemetery for the French soldiers who died here during the 1884~1885 Sino-French War. Baimiweng Fort, built on a steep hill and directly facing the ocean, is a charming place to relax and enjoy the sea breeze. The Guanhai Pavilion in Zhongzheng Park provides a panoramic view of Keelung’s harbor, especially stunning at sunset when the colorful lights are reflected in the waters. Most domestic tourists come to the harbor area for the food. In addition to an abundance of fresh-seafood restaurants, the Miaokou Night Market is among the top of its class, well known for its “nutritious sandwich” which, ironically, is deep-fried and comes with a liberal dose of mayonnaise.

Heping Island, on the east side of the Keelung harbor entrance, is known for its seafood restaurants and rock formations, with names such as “pile of ten-thousand people” and “moongazing rhinoceros.” It’s much quieter than Yehliu Geopark, and there’s a short hillside loop trail that’s steeped in history.

Miaokou Night Market in Keelung

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Don’t worry about stocking up before touring around either city. Roadside coffee shops, seafood joints, and convenience stores can be found along the way, whatever routes you choose. You might even come across a fish ‘n’ chips shack in one of the cities. If time allows, save Tamsui for a fullday trip – check out the waterfront, grab some agei (fried tofu stuffed with glass noodles and sealed with fish paste), explore the historic sites, take the ferry across the Tamsui River, and visit Fisherman’s Wharf.

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Fulong Beach

Yehliu Geopark

From Tamsui to Fulong Qianshuiwan, the first beach you’ll pass on the highway east of Tamsui, isn’t spectacular, but it’s relatively laid back compared to the more popular beaches at Baishawan and Fulong elsewhere along the coast. There are a number of funky coffee shops and restaurants to choose from. In nearby Sanzhi town, the Li Tien-lu Hand Puppet Historical Museum is well worth a stop. Those who aren’t puppetry aficionados might still know of celebrated puppeteer Li Tien-lu from the internationally acclaimed biopic The Puppetmaster by director Hou Hsiao-hsien. This museum is a great way to learn about his craft and see his puppets, props, scripts, and musical instruments up close, some of them more than 200 years old.

The best part is that visitors get to be “part of the show” in the musical instrument room and on the children’s puppet stage. (For more about Taiwanese puppet theatre, see the Family Fun article on page 28 in this issue.)

Baishawan, further east along the coastal h ig hway, i s a not her popu la r be ac h spot.

“Baishawan” means “white sand bay,” and the white sand at the beach here contrasts with the golden sand at the beach in Fulong. There are several bike paths in the area, including one that traces the shoreline along the rugged Linshanbi cape. This area, known for its black volcanic rock, became a hotspot after appearing in the 2007 movie Secret, directed by and starring local popmusic megastar Jay Chou.

Laomei Green Reef

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Fugui Lighthouse

Fugui Cape Linshanbi Li Tien-lu Hand Puppet Historical Museum Qianshuiwan Aletheia University Fort San Domingo

Laomei Green Reef Shi men D i st r i ct Sanzhi D i st r i ct

Jinbaoli Old Street Twin Candlestick Islets

Ji nshan D i st r i ct

T amsui D i st r i ct Yangmi ngshan

Tamsui

Juming Museum

Wanl i D i st r i ct

Yehliu Geopark

N at i onal Par k

Keel ung C i t y

Baimiweng Fort Heping Island

Nanya Rocks Bitou Cape Longdong Bay

Fulong Beach

Taiwan ENGLISH AND CHINESE agei 阿給 Aletheia University 真理大學 Baimiweng Fort 白米甕砲台 Bitou Cape 鼻頭角 Fort San Domingo 紅毛城 Fugui Cape 富貴角 Fulong 福隆 Fulong Beach 福隆海水浴場 Guanhai Pavilion 觀海亭

Heping Island 和平島 Jinbaoli Old Street 金包里老街 Juming Museum 朱銘博物館 Laomei Green Reef 老梅綠石槽 Li Tien-lu Hand Puppet Historical Museum 李天祿布袋戲文物館 Linshanbi 麟山鼻 Longdong Bay 龍洞灣 Lover's Lane 戀愛巷 Mao'ao 卯澳

Taiwan’s northernmost point, Fugui Cape, is next, marked by the iconic black-and-white-striped Fugui Cape Lighthouse, rising up from a verdant expanse. The volcanic Laomei Green Reef makes for yet another alientype landscape on the North/Northeast Coast. Over the centuries waves have eroded the reef’s lava rock, creating deep trenches. The reef is at its most photogenic in the spring when seaweed and other vegetation turn the formation a lush green – you’ll definitely notice the many photographers with tripods set up at this time of the year. (Note: Stepping on the reef is not allowed, to protect this natural sight.)

Jinshan is the next major settlement along the coastal highway, but before you arrive there, make a stop at the scenic Tiaoshi (“Jump-stone”) Coast, a stretch with a wild jumble of large rocks on its shores. In days gone by the local farmer folk had to jump from rock to rock on their way to town, hence the name. Today, mobile coffee trucks can be easily spotted by the highway on weekends, but there are more food options along Jinshan’s 300-year-old Jinbaoli Old Street, which is especially well-known for its duck meat restaurants.

The signature rock formation along the Jinshan shore is the Twin Candlestick Islets, just a five-minute drive from Jinbaoli Old Street. The two candlestick-like columns are the remnants of a collapsed stone arch.

Another highlight of the area (located not directly on the coast, but in the foothills northeast of Jinshan town) is the Juming Museum (www.juming. org.tw), its expansive sculpture-adorned landscaped grounds and pyramidlike main structure personally designed and funded by the world-renowned artist Ju Ming himself. Visitors can get up close to the artist’s blocky, minimalist pieces in the open-air space, and the galleries also host works by both local and international masters.

The star of the next coastal stretch is definitely Yehliu Geopark (www.

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Sandiao Cape

Miaokou Night Market 廟口夜市 Nanya Rocks 南雅奇石 North Coast Highway 北部濱海公路 "nutritious sandwich" 營養三明治 Qianshuiwan 淺水灣 Sandiao Cape 三貂角 Suhua Highway 蘇花公路 Tamsui 淡水 Tamsui Customs Officer's Residence 前清淡水關稅務司官邸

Tiaoshi Coast 跳石海岸 Turtle Island 龜山島 Twin Candlestick Islets 燭臺雙嶼 UFO village 飛碟村 Yehliu Geopark 野柳地質公園 Zhongzheng Park 中正公園

ylgeopark.org.tw) – which probably does not need further introduction for those even considering visiting Taiwan. While the locally well-known cluster of bizarre UFO-pod houses on the coast at Sanzhi was demolished in 2010, Wanli District’s UFO village, popular with urban explorers, is still intact, but decaying and almost fully abandoned. A failed vacation-house project that was abandoned around 1980, these are copies of the Futuro and Venturo pod-houses created by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, and represent a literal take of the North Coast’s “alien-ness.”

East of Keelung, the rock formations continue to surprise. The best known are the Nanya Rocks, particularly the columns shaped like ice-cream cones The rocky cliffs of Longdong Bay further east are considered Taiwan’s best natural rock-climbing spot, but the highlight of the area is Bitou Cape, where a hiking trail meanders through dense mangrove forest and along eroded cliffs toward a lighthouse at the tip, with the ocean always in full splendid view.

At Bitou Cape the highway turns southward, taking you to the aforementioned Fulong and Sandiao Cape and then further down the coast into Yilan County. More adventures await, but for this article we will end our journey here. If you want to read about places of interest between Fulong and the town of Toucheng, read the previous issue of Travel in Taiwan (online at tosto.re/travelintaiwan).

There’s so much more to do and see along the North Coast Highway than we could cover in this article, so a trip spanning more than one day exploring this wonderful part of Taiwan is highly recommended. There are plenty of places to stay overnight along the way, among them numerous hotels and homestays (B&Bs) in Tamsui, Sanzhi, Jinshan/Wanli, Keelung, and Yilan.

SPECI A L R EP OR T / TA IPEI

National Venues of the Arts

TE X T V I S ION

PHOTOS M AGG IE SONG

Free Guided Tours of the National Theater and National Concert Hall

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is known far and wide as one of the top tourist draws in Taipei, if not in all of Taiwan. Part of a visit is strolling across the Liberty Square, taking pictures of the memorial hall at the far end, opposite the magnificent archway entrance at the other end, and of the National Theater and National Concert Hall on either side. If you’re interested in what the two grand classical Chinese palace-style buildings look like on the inside, sign up for a one-hour guided tour!

A

ll you need to do to join a tour is make a reservation online at npac-ntch.org/en/tour/intro (click on the Reservation Online tab).

You can also make reservations by phone at ([02] 3393-9888).

These must be made one week in advance. Currently, tours are available Monday through Friday at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm (10 or more people need to sign up for each tour). Tickets for adults are NT$100 (discount tickets for members of larger groups, etc., are NT$70). An Englishspeaking tour guide can be arranged by calling the aforementioned number in advance.

During the tour you will learn many a fascinating fact about these two international-caliber arts venues: the history, the layout, the artwork that adorns the walls, the materials used in their construction, and much more. You also get to see some of the areas that are off-limits to ordinary visitors, including the lounges provided to VIP guests. Unless there are rehearsals going on at the time of your tour, you might even be taken into the auditoriums, where you can learn about such things as the seating arrangements, the stages, the giant organ in the concert hall, and the massive stage curtain in the theater.

In the foyers of both houses you will learn about the sculptures, chandeliers, walls adorned with plants, giant drums, and more, and in the basements you will be shown the restaurants, cafés, and gift shops.

A steady stream of fascinating info tidbits flow from your guide as you move along, such as the origin of the marble widely used in the floors and columns and what’s behind the cute mythical figures on the roofs of both buildings.

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Small Towns of “Slow” Character Four Pleasant Taiwan Destinations Crowned with Coveted “Cittaslow” Status TE X T RICK CH A RE T TE

PHOTOS V I S ION

An introduction to four small “Cittaslow” towns where life is good and which by no coincidence are much liked by, and most accommodating to, visiting travelers.

W

hat is Taiwan to you? This floating mosaic of beautiful islands is home to a ruggedly mountainous main island and scores of offshore islands. Each of the latter presents travelers with culture, terrain, and scenery a world apart from that found on the big island, and that found on each other.

The main image many travelers have of Taiwan, before first visits, is of an industrial dynamo with big busy cities and humming factories crafting “MIT” (Made In Taiwan) products ranging from industry-vanguard microchips to the Giant and Merida bicycles so in demand around the globe. Before these cities appeared, however, Taiwan was a land of towns and villages – and international visitors delight in finding this Taiwan world remains very much alive.

In these thriving communities visitors find venerable traditions, colorful temples, age-old festivals, lively processions, and old shops selling traditional medicines, snack treats, and crafts. Yet at the same time their citizens are embracing the best of the modern, filling their lives with public artworks and culturalcreative enterprises and proudly introducing themselves to outsiders with unique guided tours, bicycle touring routes, DIY experiences, and other enticements.

Four towns in Taiwan, all on the big main island, have been recognized with prestigious “Slow Town” status by Cittaslow International (www.cittaslow.org). This influential Italy-based association, inspired by the “Slow Food” movement, promotes a slow-paced lifestyle. Its goals are quality improvement in daily living through the slowing down of overall pace, a more peoplefriendly flow of humans and vehicles through public spaces,

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environmental conservation, sustainable development, and Slow Food culinary habits.

Fenglin, Taiwan’s first recognized Slow Town, is in Hualien County on the pristine East Coast in the verdant, farm-carpeted East Rift Valley. The setting is stunning, with the Central Mountain Range on the west and the Coastal Mountain Range on the east. This farm-market town is notably quiet and peaceful, the cycling experience in and around the community especially pleasant.

Nanzhuang, in hilly Miaoli County in Taiwan’s key cluster of Hakka settlements, sits in the foothills of the majestic Snow Mountain Range. Once a logging and coal-mining center, it retains many vestiges of its Japanese colonial era heyday, notably many a building clad in clapboard.

Sanyi, southwest of Nanzhuang and also in Miaoli’s rolling hills, is Taiwan’s woodcarving capital and also renowned for its oldtime Hakka culture. Browse through hundreds of shops, some of which double as artist studios, filled with superb artworks ranging from religious figurines to household furniture items.

Dalin is a small rural town on the southwest plains, in Chiayi County, surrounded by f lat farmland where rice, pineapples, orchids, and much else is cultivated. Steeped in heritage shops offering traditional Chinese medicines, stinky tofu, etc., it is also rich in old-time architecture, including a restored movie theater and old sugar factory ruins. A guided walking tour is your best route into and through this inheritance.

Let’s spend a little more time in each location.

SM A LL-TOW N CH A R M / FOUR TOW NS

Exploring an old neighborhood in Dalin, Chiayi County

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Dalin The old core of this somnolent farm-region center is before the small Dalin Railway Station, a stop on milk runs.

Opened in 2003, this was Taiwan’s first “green architecture” train station. Most of the town’s attractions are within easy walking distance of the station, and the best way to take them all in during a single-day visit is on a guided walkabout tour.

One is a well-restored wooden Japanese-style station master dormitory, located immediately north of the station.

The main commercial street, which starts directly before the station, serves up heritage buildings home to long-in-place family-run eateries selling traditional savory snack foods

such as stinky tofu and a Chiayi County specialty, turkey rice. There are also a family-run traditional eyewear shop and Chinese-medicine pharmacy that both double as minimuseums. Nearby is the Wanguo Theater, devotedly restored by local workers, with a facade covered with hit-movie posters and ticket prices from the town’s old glory days.

Much of said glory poured forth from the Dalin Sugar Factory, off the town’s edge, from which mass-produced sugar made from local sugarcane once poured forth. The complex is still well worth a visit (there’s an operational Taisugar retail outlet), and a pleasant 7km bike route around the complex and along flat farmland backroads starts here.

Bicycling in Dalin

Nanzhuang

Osmanthus Alley in Nanzhuang

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Nanzhuang sits amidst an exceptionally charming setting, spread out on the flat floor of a narrow, curving valley around the point where two mountain rivers flow out and become one. This is a Hakka settlement; around 15 percent of Taiwan’s Han Chinese population is of Hakka descent. The town’s main tourism attraction is narrow Nanzhuang Old Street, dense with old shops and eateries, many in business a half-century or more, many run by the founder’s descendants. Among the delicious Hakka culinary must-try staples served are braised pork with plum leaves and dried-radish omelets.

Parallel to this is another tourist-focused old street bubbling with commercial activity, christened with the pretty nickname Osmanthus Alley. Spring water gurgles along at its base in an open stone-lined channel once used by local ladies to wash clothes.

There are also many types of gastronomic treats sold here, but the specialty is gems made with guihua niang – honey flavored with osmanthus flowers: cakes, ice creams, shavedice desserts, teas, vinegars, and more.

Other much-photographed key town draws include the wood-built Nanzhuang Old Post Office, erected during the Japanese colonial era, the movie poster-bedecked Nanzhuang Theater, which dates to the post-colonial era when the local timber and coal-mining still poured in wealth, and the main center of worship, Yongchang Temple, established in the same period.

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Sanyi Sanyi is the hub of Sanyi Township, a hill-area enclave where traditional Hakka culture, old-time crafts and industries, and railway-building pride are celebrated. Dubbed the Taiwan Kingdom of Woodcarving, the local hills once teemed with camphor and other trees of value as timber. Extensive logging was conducted during the Japanese colonial era, tea farms afterward bloomed on the cleared land, local Taiwanese took to using the dug-up trunks and roots as decorative ornaments, a commercial sculpture industry slowly took root, and in recent decades many full-time artists have moved in.

The town’s two tourism icons are its approximately 200 woodsculpture studio shops and the first-rate, modern-architecture Sanyi Wood Sculpture Museum. The shops display works of startling variety, from artworks through furnishings and utensils, with international travelers most intrigued by the intricate Chinesepantheon religious statuary.

Most day-trippers also include Shengxing Railway Station and the Remains of Longteng Bridge on their itinerary, both located near the town. Until recent times the Hakka have primarily been a hill people, deeply involved in this region’s logging, tea farming, and mountain-railway work. The cottage-style station and the bridge were part of a now-defunct railway, used to haul mountainregion resources, built by the Japanese in the early 20th century.

The soaring red-brick viaduct bridge, which vaulted across a narrow valley, was shattered in a devastating 1935 earthquake, leaving today’s 60m-long remains. This area’s section of the defunct Old Mountain Line is popular with walkers/hikers, and now has a new attraction – rail-biking.

Remains of Longteng Bridge in Sanyi

Fenglin When the Japanese controlled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, they set up 10 Japanese-immigrant villages in the East Rift Valley. Today, the locale with the best cluster of intact vestiges of this time is on Fenglin town’s northern/northeastern side. A cash-crop tobacco industry was launched to help the immigrants support themselves, and experienced Hakka tobacco-industry workers from Taiwan’s western side were brought over. Explore the local history at the Hakka Cultural Museum, not far from the town’s railway station.

The flat land and wide, quiet roads inside and around the town beg for another mode of exploration – the bicycle. Quality rentals are available around the train station. Among the best-preserved historical buildings in the old Japanese-immigrant area are the quaint cottage-style tobacco drying sheds, old residence buildings, a police station, and a school.

In adherence with Cittaslow’s Slow Food guidelines and support, local farmers are encouraged to utilize natural farming techniques. The delicious, healthy results can be enjoyed as cooked ingredients in local-eatery dishes, and bought uncooked at local shops. Key area products are rice, bananas, watermelons, and corn.

MORE INFO In recent issues, Travel in Taiwan has covered the four towns introduced above with full individual articles, and also covered other towns popular with international tourists. These can be found at tosto.re/travelintaiwan .

Beyond Cittaslow recognition, other forms of distinction sprinkled among the various selected towns are a plethora of Michelin travelguide stars and inclusion in the Taiwan Tourism Bureau's list of Taiwan Top Ten Tourist Towns .

Find more information on how to get to the towns, visit tourist sites, go cycling, join guided tours, and more in the aforementioned articles, and on the official Taiwan Tourism Bureau website (www.taiwan.net.tw ).

Hakka-style cuisine in Fenglin

Nanzhuang Sanyi

Fenglin Dalin

ENGLISH AND CHINESE Fenglin 鳳林 Hakka Cultural Museum 客家文物館 Nanzhuang 南庄 Nanzhuang Old Post Office 南庄老郵局 Nanzhuang Old Street 南庄老街 Nanzhuang Theater 南庄戲院 Old Mountain Line 舊山線 Osmanthus Alley 桂花巷 Sanyi 三義 Sanyi Wood Sculpture Museum 木雕博物館 Remains of Longteng Bridge 龍騰斷橋

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DELIGHTFUL FOLK E XPERIENCE S / MA ZU PILGRIMAGES

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DELIGHTFUL FOLK E XPERIENCE S / MA ZU PILGRIMAGES

The

Mazu Pilgrimage in Taiwan Culture

Grand Birthday Processions for the Goddess of the Sea TE X T RICK CH A RE T TE　PHOTOS WU S H AO - Q I A NG

In Taiwan, talk about folk-religion fervor and you invariably end up talking about Mazu (Goddess of the Sea) worship. This is the most important deity in this land of islands, enshrined in the most temples and with the most temples built specifically in her honor.

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DELIGHTFUL FOLK E XPERIENCE S / MA ZU PILGRIMAGES

M

azu fervor reaches fever pitch in the period surrounding her springtime birthday each year, bursting with exciting pilgrimages and celebrations. And said fever is expressed with its most florid and feverish passion in the great annual Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage across the island’s west-central plains. This pilgrimage is recognized as one of the world’s three largest religious celebrations, the other two in India and Saudi Arabia, respectively. More on the Taiwan spectacle in a moment.

Who, Pray Tell, Is Mazu?

The goddess was born mortal, in 960 A.D., on the 23rd day of the 3rd lunar month. Named Lin Mo-niang, she was a silent and precocious girl. “Mo-niang” means “silent maiden.” Her home was the island of Meizhou, located just off the coast of mainland China’s Fujian Province. Mo-niang lived just 28 years, but during her mortal days she first gained renown among locals for compassion and purity, and then for supernatural powers and miracles. As an immortal, over the centuries her metaphysical repertoire has grown as wide as the broad oceans.

One version of the key folktale told about Lin Mo-niang’s preternatural gifts concerns a family tragedy. One night, in a dream she espied her fisherman father’s boat foundering in a fierce storm. Magically flying to it, she grabbed one brother in each arm and lifted her father by his clothing with clenched teeth.

At that very moment, however, her mother shook her awake.

Crying out in surprise, Mo-niang dropped her father and awoke to find her clothing sopping wet. Soon enough, yes, she learned her father had been lost at sea but her brothers saved.

In the thousand-plus years since, marine craft in the southeastern China region that have headed out over the sea have had a Goddess of the Sea icon aboard for protection. Many of the Han Chinese settlers who flooded to Taiwan in the 1600s through 1800s built temples to enshrine and thank the icon of the lady who had guided them safely on the perilous journey across the Taiwan Strait. There are over 800 temples dedicated to her in Taiwan today.

“Mazu” translates directly as “Mother Ancestor.” Another honorific title, more recently bestowed by Chinese Emperor Kangxi in the 1680s, is “Tianhou,” or “Empress of Heaven.”

This was done to honor Mazu for her supposed assistance to the Manchu Qing when they invaded Taiwan and defeated Han Chinese resisters to rule of China by the Manchurians. As the centuries have gone by, however, the horizons of the immortal empress have come to encompass a realm much broader than just the four seas, for her graces have long been bestowed on landlubbers as well.

The Taichung Mazu International Festival An annual festival has been organized around the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage, the Taichung Mazu International Festival, celebrating the many folk arts and practices emanating from traditional Taiwanese religious expression. It starts well before the birthday of the goddess and ends well after. Mazu’s birthday is on the 23rd day of the 3rd lunar month (April 27 this year). Beyond the pilgrimage, the festival’s main event, there is an exhibit of Mazu-related religious garments and accessories, an exhibit of

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heritage photos of the pilgrimage, street-music parties, martial-arts competitions, traditional opera and puppetry shows, handicrafts exhibits, dragon and lion dance performances, guided tours with varied festival-related themes, and even indigenous song and dance performances and shows by overseas performance troupes.

The Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage is a resplendent grand march of pilgrims escorting the Dajia Mazu, an icon of Mazu enshrined in Dajia Jenn Lann Temple (www.dajiamazu.org.tw; Chinese) in Taichung City’s Dajia District, on a visit to the Mazu image resident in Fengtian Temple (www.hsinkangmazu.org.tw, Chinese) in Chiayi County’s Xingang Township. Fengtian Temple was founded in 1700.

Jenn Lann Temple, founded in 1732, is widely regarded as Taiwan’s most important center of Mazu worship. The round-trip pilgrimage journey is about 400 kilometers, through city districts and counties in central and southern Taiwan, and takes well over a week, with over 60 temples visited and blessed by the Dajia Mazu along the way. Visited temples provide water, meals, and lodgings. About 200,000 people greet the empress on her return to her home temple.

The spiritual sojourn is made to jinxiang or “offer incense” to the higher-ranking (generally this means the older one) Fengtian Temple Mazu icon and to yihuo or “reap the flame” from the latter’s main censer, thus reinvigorating the Dajia icon’s powers. The Fengtian figure, said to be about 1,000 years old, is higher up the icon-pecking order and thus more powerful. The Dajia icon also has remarkable powers; believers crowd the procession route to receive ashes from her censer, presented in auspicious red-dyed pouches and in some of the tea brewed in offerings to her. Both possess magical curative powers.

All marchers are blessed by joining in, but only a completed journey brings the full protective blessing of the goddess.

DELIGHTFUL FOLK E XPERIENCE S / MA ZU PILGRIMAGES

Over the course of the procession, devout believers in the thousands prostrate themselves on the ground to receive Mazu’s blessing as she passes overhead in her sedan chair. Tens of thousands press forth through the throngs to earn a blessing by touching the chair. During the day, the number of pilgrims accompanying the goddess can reach 10,000 or so. Countless people set out sacrificial food offerings along the route, which are distributed to the devout pilgrims after Mazu has consumed their “essence.”

The Dajia Mazu is more powerful than almost all the icons she visits along the pilgrimage route, and her presence thus lends them extra power to protect their neighborhoods in the coming year. The Fengtian Temple icon is more powerful than she is, so as explained above she gains power. During stops at large temples there are magnificent celebrations, with martial-arts displays, cracking gong-and-drum entertainments, and other folk-arts demonstrations. Great bursts of firecrackers drive off baleful influences, colorful spirit mediums called dangki (Taiwanese pronunciation; jitong in Mandarin Chinese) prance back and forth speaking for the celestial beings on the other side, and performances of traditional opera, puppetry, and music are staged within view of each temple’s main icon to please the deity.

Other Pilgrimages – Launching from a Neighborhood Near You Each year the managers of other Mazu temples all across Taiwan also organize smaller-scale pilgrimages, taking their Mazu icon and neighborhood devotees to visit more powerful temples in the period leading up to Mazu’s birthday, with Fengtian Temple the key destination for many such groups. The icon, her sedan chair, all the costumes of her protective phalanx of deities, and other requisite paraphernalia are loaded onto trucks, and pilgrims generally travel in rented coaches. Everything is unloaded a short distance from each temple to be visited, out of sight of the Mazu icon awaiting, who watches over her neighborhood through the main (central) portal of her temple.

The procession then marches up the main thoroughfare directly facing the temple, so that the visitee can observe the pageantry – protective phalanx first, frightening away evil unseen entities and preventing bad qi from flowing into the temple, followed by the sedan chair, followed by the temple band pounding and blasting away, followed by the pilgrims carrying incense. Tourists specially come to the town at this time to join the throngs in the raucous, good-natured revelry.

Each temple will cover much or all of the cost for the pilgrims, including simple meals generally taken in communal halls run by the respective visited temples and simple accommodations, often dorm rooms in temple-run hostels or low-cost hostels/hotels close by.

平 風 迴 雨 M a z u 安 s 調 肅 P l 避 a i l u grims t i R 順 靜

ey sak p l ay t i e s a t l e c n i nc e i p ac t i v e a n n u a ing i h le h B u r n i n wo r s d u r i n g t o f t e m p e s s l d e e o l r mp he as h ted an dc u te T M a z i m a g e. r e c o l l e m s i n r e e i r a iv r g s g l pi pil tec t ser c e n u t e d to fo r p r o es rib dis t pouc h s s ing. ble d ye d

Mazu, the most po pular deity in Taiwan, is reve red as the goddess and patro ness of the sea. She is believe d to protect fishermen and sa ilors. There are an estimated 80 0 houses of worship dedicate d to her in Taiwan.

Ma w h o ny p i l g l Daj e 4 0 0 k r ims w ia's a Je n ilom et lk t h e to Tem Xinga n Lann ers fro m n thei ple an g's Fe Templ d ba e ngt r de G o d vo t i o n c k , s h o i a n t des w s of o M a zu i n g the , the S ea .

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DELIGHTFUL FOLK E XPERIENCE S / MA ZU PILGRIMAGES

MORE INFO For more information on the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage and the international festival, visit www.mazuevent.com . For information on folk-religion worship in Taiwan, important Mazu temples, festival celebrations, and other related matters, visit the Taiwan Tourism Bureau website at www.taiwan.net.tw. As well, note that Travel in Taiwan has covered these topics as well as the Dajia and Xingang areas over the past couple of years.

Worshipers prostate themselves so the Dajia Mazu can pass over them, receiving her blessing. During the pilgrimage over one million people line the route; just seeing the palanquin brings a small blessing. Her movements are even tracked via GPS and presented on the Dajia Mazu pilgrimage website.

Bobe-a (Taiwanese pronunciation) is Mazu's advance courier, beating his gong to announce her arrival. A whimsical character, his accouterments are steeped in symbolism. A bare foot symbolizes the ecstasy and absent-mindedness felt at Mazu’s approach. Any attacking tiger will take his pig trotter, leaving marchers safe – thus symbolizing long life.

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DELIGHTFUL FOLK E XPERIENCE S / MA ZU PILGRIMAGES

ENGLISH AND CHINESE Dajia District 大甲區 Dajia Jenn Lann Temple 大甲鎮瀾宮 Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage 大甲媽祖遶境進香 dangki 乩童 Fengtian Temple 奉天宮 jinxiang 進香 Lin Mo-niang 林默娘 Mazu 媽祖 Meizhou 嵋州 Taichung Mazu International Festival 臺中媽祖國際觀光文化節 Tianhou 天后 Xingang 新港鄉 yihuo 刈火

At the end of the pilgrimage about 200,000 people greet the empress on her return to Dajia Jenn Lann Temple.

Temples of anything other than small size will generally have a temple band, made up of members of the local community.

Their reverential playing brings them individual blessings from the icon being entertained. Temple name and place of origin are written on ceremonial yellow banners or flags.

As a procession heads into a temple, the protective deity called Santaizi, or Third Prince, is seen in full view.

During the Dajia pilgrimage, parents with newborns will implore the urchin deity for a new pacifier, which will help protect the child as it grows up.

These pilgrims ritually carry bouquets of flowers for presentation as offerings. Once Mazu has enjoyed and blessed the offerings, individual flowers can be taken by pilgrims and placed on family altars in homes, bringing good luck or assistance in begetting a child.

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H A R BOR S A N D BE YON D / K EELUNG

Next Port of Call:

Keelung

Things to Do on a Flying Visit to Northern Taiwan

TE X T & PHOTOS V I S ION , NORTH COAST & GUA N Y IN S H A N N ATION A L SCE NIC A RE A

In 2018, a total of 173 cruise liners made a stop at Keelung Harbor in northern Taiwan. That is almost one huge tourist-carrying vessel every two days. Sometimes you can even see two of these ocean-going giants in the narrow harbor at the same time. For some of these ships the mountain-ringed city of Keelung is the start/end point of a cruise; for others it’s a port of call. For those cruise tourists who decide to become temporary landlubbers while their vessel is docked at Keelung, here are some suggestions on where to go and how to get there from the harbor.

Shimen Arch

Fugui Lighthouse

Baishawan 2

Shimen Sanzhi Jinshan 2

101

Yehliu Geopark

2

2A

2乙

101甲

Wanli

Heping Island

MRT Tamsui Station 2

Yangmingshan

Keelung Harbor

Na M Te

3

Taipei City

MRT Shilin Station

3

62

62

1

Longshan Temple

MRT Taipei Main Station

Taipei 101 Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

1

5

MRT Jiantan Station

1

吃

National Palace Museum

小

2

Miaokou Night Market

Keelung

2A

1

MRT Tamsui-Xinyi Line MRT Bannan Line

H A R BOR S A N D BE YON D / K EELUNG

Keelung

Heping Island

Yehliu Geopark

While Keelung is a harbor city with a distinct blue-collar character, in recent years it has been significantly modernized, made most evident to visitors by the new railway station just off the harbor and a shopping mall close to the pier where the cruise liners berth. For foodies, the place to go and sample local street food is Miaokou Night Market, where vendors start serving customers in the afternoon.

Ta iwa n’s North Coa st a nd Northea st Coast areas are famous for fascinating rock formations. The closest location to the harbor where one can marvel at some of the beautiful rock formations sculpted by wind and water is Heping Island, just a short taxi or bus ride away.

Follow the coast northwest of Keelung and you’ll come to one of the hottest tourist attractions in northern Taiwan, Yehliu Geopark, a wonderland of strangely shaped natural stone sculptures, the most iconic of which is named Queen’s Head. Close-by Guihou Fishing Harbor is an excellent place to try some of the fresh seafood for which Taiwan is famous.

GETTING THERE The night market is on Ren 3 rd Rd., a 15-min. walk south from the cruise-liner pier.

GETTING THERE Take a taxi or take bus No. T99 (Keelung Shuttle Bus East Line) of the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle network (www.taiwantrip.com.tw ). The bus stop is in front of the Keelung Visitor Center, by the old Keelung Railway Station building.

Jiufen

Pingxi

Taipei

If you head east of Keelung, nestled along a mountain ridge overlooking the sea is another Taiwan tourist favorite, the town of Jiufen. This one-time mining center is today best known for its narrow Old Street and breathtaking views of the coast, which are especially beautiful as the sun sets.

Inland southeast of Keelung, and requiring a combination of bus and train rides, is the Pingxi Valley. The valley is home to a number of small old towns and villages, also former mining centers, that are surrounded by verdant mountains. The most scenic attraction in the area is picturesque Shifen Waterfall, a 15-min. walk from the Shifen Railway Station.

If what interests you most is getting to know Taiwan’s capital, note that taking the train from Keelung to Taipei Main Station takes just 50 minutes. From there, the MRT (Taipei Metro) system transports you in no time to such attractions as Taipei 101, Chiang Kaishek Memorial Hall, Longshan Temple, and the National Palace Museum (additional short bus ride required). Just outside Taipei Main Station, on Zhongxiao West Road, you’ll also find the bus stop for the Taipei Sightseeing Bus (www.taipeisightseeing.com. tw), a service that takes you on a quick tour around downtown Taipei (two different routes available).

GETTING THERE Take a taxi or take bus No. 788 (the bus stop is on Zhong 1st Rd., across the street from the harborside Ocean Plaza).

National Museum of Marine Science & echnology

Ruifang

Nanya Rock Formations

GETTING THERE Take a taxi or take bus No. 788 to Ruifang Railway Station and transfer to a train headed to the town of Jingtong (the terminal station on the Pingxi Branch Line). Alternatively, take bus No. 791 to Badouzi Railway Station and take the train headed to Jingtong from there.

Bitou Cape/Longdong Bay

Jiufen/Jinguashi 2

ENGLISH AND CHINESE Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 中正紀念堂 Heping Island 和平島 Guihou Fishing Harbor 龜吼漁港 Jiufen 九份 Miaokou Night Market 廟口夜市 National Palace Museum 故宮博物院 Ocean Plaza 海洋廣場 Pingxi 平溪 Shifen Waterfall 十分瀑布 Yehliu Geopark 野柳地質公園

GETTING THERE Take a taxi or take bus No. T99 (Keelung Shuttle West East Line) of the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle network from the Keelung Visitor Center.

GETTING THERE Take a Local Train from Keelung Railway Station to Taipei Main Station. Alternatively, take a Kuo Kuang Motor Co. bus from the bus stop in front of the old Keelung Railway Station to Taipei; get off at the National Taipei University of Technology bus stop (at the MRT Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station) or the Taipei Bus Station.

INFO For more information about places to visit in and around Keelung and in other parts of Taiwan, go to the Keelung Visitor Center, located beside the old Keelung Railway Station building.

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SM A R T TR AV EL

Save Money While Spending Time in Greater Taipei WEBSITE

APP

I

f you plan to travel to Taiwan and spend a significant amount of time here, and you like the idea of saving some money when visiting local tourist attractions, dining in restaurants, and buying souvenirs, note that there is an easy way to enjoy discounts while engaged in all of these pursuits. Buy a Taiwan Pass!

There are currently six types of Taiwan Pass cards available for purchase, which bring you special prices on a wide variety of products and services in different parts of Taiwan: the KPP (short for Kaohsiung, Pingtung, and Penghu), Yilan, Taichung, Taitung, Tainan, and TNK (short for Taipei, New Taipei City, and Keelung) editions. Let’s have a look at the last card and see how you can take advantage of the special offers available in the cities of Taipei and Keelung.

There are in turn three different types of TNK card, Classical, Unlimited, and Transportation:

CLASSICAL CARD

UNLIMITED CARD

TRANSPORTATION CARD

Classical (NT$950) cards come with tickets to the National Palace Museum and the Taipei 101 Observatory, and the card can also be used as a regular stored-value card (i.e., as an EasyCard; there is no stored value at time of purchase; add value inside an MRT station or chain convenience store).

Showing the card when making a purchase at selected stores brings you a variety of discounts (find a complete listing of these stores at funpass.travel. taipei/authorizedStore.html).

Unlimited cards are available as 1-Day (NT$1,200), 2-Day (NT$1,600), and 3-Day (NT$1,900) passes, and come with tickets to some of the most popular tourist attractions in the greater Taipei area, including the Taipei 101 Observatory, Yehliu Geopark, and Tamsui River ferry cruises. You’ll also enjoy unlimited rides on all MRT (Taipei Metro) lines and on five Taiwan Tourist Shuttle (www.taiwantrip.com.tw) bus routes, as well as discounts at more than 100 stores and restaurants.

Transportation cards come in handy when you plan to use the Taipei-area public-transport system extensively during your time here. The 5-Day Pass (NT$700) gives you unlimited rides on the MRT lines, city buses lines, and five Taiwan Tourist Shuttle lines, while the 1-Day Pass + Maokong Gondola (N T$350) additiona lly includes unlimited rides on the cable-car system that connects the Taipei Zoo with the tea-plantation area of Maokong.

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Find out more about the FunPass TAIPEI on its official website at funpass.travel.taipei and about all Taiwan Pass options at www.funcard.tw.

Hotels of Taiwan North Taoyuan City

Taipei City

Keelung City

Visitors to Taiwan have a wide range of choice when it comes to

New Taipei City

Hsinchu City Hsinchu County

accommodation. From five-star luxury hotels that meet the highest international standards, to affordable business hotels, to hot-spring

Yilan County

Miaoli County

and beach resort hotels, to privately-run homestays located in the countryside there is a place to stay that satisfies every traveler’s needs.

Taichung City

What all hotels of Taiwan — small and big, expensive and affordable —

Central Changhua County

Nantou County

Yunlin County

have in common is that serve and hospitality are always of the highest standards. The room rates in the following list have been checked for

Hualien County

each hotel, but are subject to change without notice. Room rates at the

Chiayi City Chiayi County

hotels apply.

Northern Taiwan

Tainan City Kaohsiung City

Taitung County

Central Taiwan

CAESAR PARK TAIPEI

East

53 HOTEL

ESLITE HOTEL

HOTEL RÊVE TAICHUNG

TAIPEI GALA HOTEL

Southern Taiwan

GLORIA PRINCE HOTEL TAIPEI

Pintung County

GOLDEN TULIP GLORY FINE HOTEL

THE GRAND HOTEL MADISON TAIPEI HOTEL

South

MIRAMAR GARDEN TAIPEI RADIUM K AGAYA TAIPEI WESTGATE HOTEL

＊ Hotel list in alphabetical order from Northern to Southern Taiwan.

CAESAR PARK TAIPEI 台北凱撒大飯店

Taipei 台 北

No. of Rooms: 478 Room Rates: Superior Room Deluxe Room Superior Double Double Metro Room Metropolis Room Station Suite

eslite hotel

Taipei 台 北

誠品行旅

No. of Rooms: 104 Room Rates: NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$

8,500 9,500 11,000 13,000 14,000 18,000

(All rates are subject to 10% service charge.)

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Chinese

RestauRaNts:

Deluxe Studio Suite Library Suite D/E C B A

sPecial featuRes:

RestauRaNts:

e-Lounge, Banquet, Meeting Room, GYM, SPA, Roof Garden, Free Wi-Fi,Room Service, Laundry, Luggage Storage, Valet parking service

NT$ NT$ NT$

16,000 20,000 25,000

NT$ 38,000 NT$ 48,000 NT$ 68,000 NT$ 138,000

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Chinese

慶泰大飯店

Taipei 台 北

No. of Rooms: 160

(Rates are subject to 10% service charge and 5% government tax)

2F Checkers, 3F Dynasty Restaurant

TAIPEI GALA HOTEL

The Lounge (Lobby Lounge) The Chapter Café (All-day Dining Restaurant) In Between (Fusion Cuisine Restaurant)

sPecial featuRes:

Fitness Center, Ballroom and convention facilities, Parking, Laundry service, 24-hour room service, Wireless internet, Airport transportation service

Room Rates: Single Room Deluxe Single Room Deluxe Triple Room Suite Room

GLORIA PRINCE HOTEL TAIPEI

Taipei 台 北

華 泰 王子大 飯 店

No. of Rooms: 220 NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$

6,400 7,000 9,000 12,000

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Chinese RestauRaNts: Golden Ear Restaurant (Western semi buffet); Golden Pot (Chinese Cuisine) sPecial featuRes: Business center, meeting rooms, airport transfer service, parking lot, laundry service, free Internet access, LED TV, DVD player, personal safety box, mini bar, private bathroom with separate shower & bath tub, hair dryer

Room Rates: Single / Deluxe / Executive NT$ Suite NT$

6,000- 8,500 9,500-20,000

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Chinese RestauRaNts: L’IDIOT RESTAURANT & BAKERY (Western), CHIOU HWA RESTAURANT (Chinese) sPecial featuRes: Coffee Shop, Fitness Center, Business Center, Meeting and Banquet Facilities,Laundry Service, Non-smoking Floor, Parking Lot, Airport Transfer Service

No. 186, Songjiang Rd., Taipei City 台 北 市 松 江 路 186 號

No. 38, Sec. 1, Zhongxiao W. Rd., Taipei City 台 北 市 忠 孝 西 路 一 段 38號 Tel: +886 -2-2311-5151 Fax: +886 -2-2331-9944 E-mail: info_tpe@caesarpark.com

No.98, Yanchang Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City 台北市信義區菸廠路98號 Tel: +886 -2- 6626 -2888 Fax: +886 -2- 6626 -3888 E-mail: ser vice@eslitehotel.com

Exit 1 of MRT Xingtian Temple Station on the Luzhou Line.

Tel: +886-2-2541-5511 Fax: +886-2-2531-3831 Reservation Hotline: +886-2-2541-6888 E-mail: reservation@galahotel.com.tw

No. 369, Lin-sen (Linsen) N. Rd., Taipei City 台北市林森北路3 6 9 號 Tel: +886-2-2581-8111 Fax: +886-2-2581-5811

taipei.caesarpark.com.tw

www.eslitehotel.com

www.galahotel.com.tw

www.gloriahotel.com

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THE GRAND HOTEL 圓山大飯店

Taipei 台 北

MADISON TAIPEI HOTEL 慕軒飯店

Taipei 台 北

MIRAMAR GARDEN TAIPEI

RADIUM KAGAYA TAIPEI

美麗信花園酒店

日勝生加賀屋溫泉飯店

No. of Rooms: 500 (Suites: 57)

No. of Rooms: 124

No. of Rooms: 203

Room Rates: Single/DBL Suite

Room Rates: Classic Room Deluxe Room Oasis Room Madison Room Skyline Suite Madison Suite

Room Rates: Deluxe Room Business Room Executive Deluxe Room Boss Suite Premier Suite

NT$ 8,800-15,800 NT$ 22,000-36,000

(All rates are subject to 10% service charge.)

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, French, Spanish, and Japanese RestauRaNts: Western, Cantonese, Northern China Style Dumplings, tea house, coffee shop, steak house sPecial featuRes: Grand Ballroom, conference rooms for 399 people, 10 breakout rooms, business center, fitness center, sauna, Olympic-size swimming pool, tennis courts, billiards

NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$

14,800 16,800 18,800 20,800 60,000 90,000

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Chinese sPecial featuRes: Workout Room, VIP Rooms, Underground Parking, Italian Restaurant, Whisky Bar

Taipei 台 北

Taipei 台 北

No. of Rooms: 90 NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$

9,000 11,000 13,000 17,000 21,000

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, and Mandarin RestauRaNts: Rain Forest Buffet Restaurant, Tic-Tac-Toe Bakery, Light Café, JIU BAR sPecial featuRes: Business Center, Pyramid Club, Sauna, Fitness Club, Outdoor Swimming Pool, Multifunction Room, Car Park

- Recommended by Michelin Guide Taipei - Luxury City Hotel by World Luxury Hotel Awards - Top 10 Popular Hotels for Business Travelers by Hotels.com

Room Rates: Japanese/ Mixed Standard Suite NT$ 23,000 Park Side View Japanese/ Mixed Standard Suite NT$ 25,000 Park Side View Japanese/ Mixed Deluxe Suite NT$ 27,000 Executive Suite with Open-Air Hot Spring Bath NT$ 29,000 Duplex Apartment Suite NT$ 56,000 Special Suite NT$ 120,000 (All rates are subject to 10% service charge.)

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Chinese RestauRaNts: TENSHOU Restaurant, HIYORI Lounge, YUDUKI Bar sPecial featuRes: Provides introductions in English and Japanese, Free WiFi, Room Service, Dry Cleaning, SPA Massage, Free Tea and Mineral Water, Free Minibar, Communal Pool, Hotspring Rooms, Car Park, Meeting Rooms, Banquet Hall

No. 1, Chung Shan N. Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei City 台北市中山北 路4 段1號 Tel: +886-2-2886-8888 Fax: +886-2-2885-2885

No. 331, Sec. 1, Dunhua S. Rd., Taipei City 台北市 敦化 南 路1段 3 31號 (8 minutes by foot from Exit 2 of MRT Xinyi Anhe Station or Exit 4 of MRT Da’an Station) CHM Central Reservations: +886-2-7706-3600 Tel: +886-2-7726-6699 Fax: +886-2-7726-9070 E-mail: guestservice@madisontaipei.com

No. 83, Sec. 3, Civic Boulevard, Taipei City 台北市市民大道3段83號 Tel: +886-2-8772-8800 Fax: +886-2-8772-1010 E-mail: info@miramargarden.com.tw

No. 236, Guangming Road, Taipei Cit y 台北市光明路236號 Tel: +886-2-2891-1111 Email: reservation@kagaya.com.tw

www.grand-hotel.org

www.madisontaipei.com

www.miramargarden.com.tw

www.kagaya.com.tw/EN/

WESTGATE HOTEL 永安棧

Taipei 台 北

53 HOTEL 寶島53行館

Taichung 台 中

HOTEL RÊVE TAICHUNG

GOLDEN TULIP GLORY FINE HOTEL

威汀城市酒店

榮美金鬱金香酒店

No. of Rooms: 121

No. of Rooms: 70

No. of Rooms: 125

Room Rates:

Room Rates: Standard Room Superior Room Deluxe Room Family Room Deluxe Family Room

Room Rates: Standard Double Room Business Double Room Family Queen Room Deluxe Family Suite Family Suite Executive Suite

COZY DELUXE PREMIER CITY VIEW PREMIER DUAL QUEEN PREMIER DUAL QUEEN EXECUTIVE SUITE

NT$ 7,200 NT$ 7,800 NT$ 8,500 NT$ 8,800 NT$ 10,800 NT$ 11,800 NT$ 12,800

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese sPecial featuRes: Fitness centre, Bar, Restaurant, Free Wi-Fi, Luggage storage, Laundry, Meeting/banquet facilities, Tour desk

NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$ NT$

4,500 5,000 5,500 6,000 6,500

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Chinese sPecial featuRes: Our guests enjoy easy access to all attractions lively Taichung City has to offer. From the hotel it’s a two-minute walk to Taichung Railway Station and a three-minute walk to the bus station, from where guests can easily reach popular tourist sites, such as Qingjing Farm, Xitou Forest Recreation Area, and Sun Moon Lake.

53 Hotel offers a wide range of services, including laundry/dry cleaning, a business center, a gym, and free wireless Internet access.

Taichung 台 中

NT$ 5,200 NT$ 7,000 NT$ 8,000 NT$ 9,000 NT$ 10,000 NT$ 10,000

Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Chinese RestauRaNts: RÊVE Kitchen (6:30-10:30 Daily Breakfast) sPecial featuRes: Business Center, Conference Room, Fitness Gym, Parking Lot, Laundry, Bike Renting, Free Wifi, Personal Electronic Safety Box

Tainan 台 南

No. of Rooms: 116 Room Rates: Standard Double NT$ 5,000 Prestige Double NT$ 5,300 Prestige Double Double NT$ 6,300 Deluxe Double NT$ 6,200 Honeymoon Deluxe Double NT$ 6,800 Deluxe Double Connecting NT$ 9,400 Glory Fine Suite NT$ 12,800 Desk PeRsoNNel sPeak: English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese sPecial featuRes: GYM, Laundry Room, Universal Adaptor, Panasonic Hair Dryer,TOTO Washlet, Mini Bar, Panasonic 42-Inch LCD TV, Blu-ray & DVD Player, Free Wi-Fi, Safe Deposit Box

No. 27, Zhongshan Rd., Central District, Taichung City No. 150, Section1, Zhonghua Road, Taipei city 台北市中 華路1段15 0 號 Tel: +886-2-2331-3161 Fax: +886-2-2388-6216 Reservation Hotline: +886-2-2388-1889

台 中 市 中 區 中 山 路 27 號 (距離火車站 2 分鐘) Tel: +886-4-2220-6699 Fax: +886-4-2220-5899 E-mail: service@53hotel.com.tw

No. 100, Sec. 1, Minsheng Rd.,Daya Dist., Taichung City 台 中市大雅區 民 生 路1段10 0 號 Tel: +886-4-2568-0558 Fax: +886-4-2567-7134 E-mail: service@reve.com.tw

www.westgatehotel.com.tw

www.53hotel.com.tw

www.hotel-reve.com.tw

52

TR AVEL IN TAIWAN

( two minutes from railway station)

No. 50, Sec. 3, Haian Rd., Tainan 台南市北區海安路3段50號 Tel: +886-6-220-0366 Fax: +886-6-221-5966

www.rsbhotels.com.tw

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