Weekend in Taiwan

Most tourists who visit Taiwan (not one of the premier hot spots of Asia) head straight to the National Palace Museum in Taipei to ogle the superb collection of ancient Chinese artifacts and artworks representing 8,000 years of Chinese history.  In 1931, General Chiang Kai-shek moved the most valuable pieces out of the Forbidden City in Beijing in order to prevent them falling into the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army.  In 1948, he moved the collection to Taiwan in order to prevent it falling into the hands of the Communists.  Enough said!
The second reason tourists visit Taiwan is for the amazing local food, which has been influenced by both Mainland Chinese and Japanese cuisine.  Again, the Generalisimo was the catalyst. His high-level cadre brought their best chefs with them - chefs from all corners of the country.  These chefs, in turn opened restaurants and influenced the subsequent generations of chefs.
Our AWA weekend in Taiwan excluded both the Museum and the good food, but it did have its highlights and lowlights!

Twenty of us AWA members and spouses boarded an early flight to Taipei on Friday morning, January 13th.  Most of us were upgraded to business class - a very nice way to start a trip!  The focus of our tour was to travel off the beaten tourist track, and to explore the colonial history, natural beauty, and ethnic culture of this island.

After checking into the Fullon Hotel (one of the nicest hotels ever! twin king size beds! beautiful bathrooms! excellent Western breakfast! and it's shaped like a cruise ship!) at Fisherman's Wharf in Danshuei, a coastal suburb of Taipei, we headed to lunch in a restored colonial building where we were greeted by our guide-for-the-day, Stevie Garcia.  Stevie had been billed as the "Jason Wordie" of Taiwan.  (Jason's one of my favourite Hong Kongers - there are many references to him in my earlier blogs).  Stevie didn't quite live up to the billing.  He's not exactly a "scholar", and he lacked a very deep insight into the history of Taiwan.  We did learn that Taiwan was first colonized by the Dutch, then the Spanish, then the Dutch again.  In 1662, Taiwan became part of China.  During the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan became a Japanese colony, and there it remained until the end of WWII.  Japanese imperial education was implemented in Taiwan, and many Taiwanese fought for Japan in WWII.  The Japanese built at least 16 POW camps in Taiwan from which only 60% of the prisoners survived.  Enough said again.

I should mention that we had one of those TIC moments (after all, Taiwan is China) at lunch.  After a passable Chinese meal (the rest of our meals went downhill from there), the waiters brought out our dessert - Russian ice cream cups (yes, Chloe, it was awful!).

After lunch, we took a short boat ride (a respite from the humidity).  Although the day was cloudy, we were able to see the mountains on the other side of the river.  Most of the Chinese population in Taiwan live on the west side of the island.  Mountains dominate the interior, and ethnic minorities (referred to as aboriginal tribes) have been relegated to the eastern side and on the small islands off the east coast.

We alighted where the river meets the open sea, and then walked by the Love Bridge to get to Hobe Fort.  The fort was not remarkable in the least.  It resembled the forts that Jeff and I visited in Penang, Malaysia,  and Xiamen, China.  I suppose there's not much creativity needed when designing defence structures.  While we were walking around, I met a pleasant Taiwanese man who explained more about the history of Taiwan, and told me about growing up speaking Japanese with his parents!

I could not resist taking pictures of these two intriguing buildings.  Unfortunately, neither the Teng Feng Fish Ball Museum nor the Museum of Tamsui Fishiegoodies was on our itinerary!  

After visiting Fort Hobe, we proceeded to Fort Santo Domingo.  The fort was built by the Spanish, destroyed by the Dutch, rebuilt by the Dutch (renamed Fort Anthonio), then taken over by the Chinese. (One of the Dutch East India Company officials left his clogs outside!) In 1868, following the Second Opium War, it became the British Trade Commission, and so it remained until 1972 when the People's Republic of China was admitted into the U.N.  When the PRC was admitted to the United Nations, Taiwan was kicked out, and all of its foreign embassies packed up and moved to Beijing!  Today, the only a few African and Central American countries have embassies in Taiwan (including Burkina Faso, Chad, Swaziland, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Haiti).  More "important" countries, like Canada, the UK, and the US, have trade or liaison offices.

The Fort (photo on the left) is now a rather unimpressive museum.  It resembles several red-brick British colonial buildings in Hong Kong, including the Old District Office North (photo on the right), which is now used by the Scout Association of Hong Kong.

And then we came to CANCON!!!  Yes, Canadian content in a big way!  A doctor named George Leslie Mackay was the first Presbyterian missionary to northern Taiwan.  Like Norman Bethune in China, Mackay is a hero to the Taiwanese.  Mackay arrived in Danshuei in 1872, and remained there until he died in 1901.  He is as famous for his dentistry practice (he pulled more than 21,000 teeth during his sojourn in Taiwan) as his medical practice (he introduced Western medicine to Taiwan, and established Western hospitals).  We visited his first clinic, and then gathered by his statue in a main square.

We were all rather pooped by the time we arrived at the Sakuraoka Hot Springs Resort for dinner.  Not only was this an hour's drive from our Fullon Hotel in Danshuei, it also served absolutely bad food.  When my very polite father doesn't care for something, he says "it's different".  The food we were served that evening was beyond different!  Some of our group opted to go for a dip in the hot tubs during dinner, but Jeff and I could hardly keep our eyes open, let alone venture into the steamy baths of Taiwan.  The highlight of the evening came when we programmed the karaoke t.v. to play some golden oldies, and Susan W. and I sang along to Paul Anka's "Diana"!

After a great night's sleep, we were all raring to go on day 2 in Taiwan.  We were still waiting for a "wow" moment.  Unfortunately, the Juming Museum that we were scheduled to visit was still undergoing renovations, so we went to a highly entertaining puppet theatre and museum instead.  Glove puppetry (budaixi) is a traditional art form that has been popular in Taiwan for over 300 years.   The venue that we visited was founded in 1931 by puppet master Li Tien-lu.  Mr. Li's grandchildren (teenagers!) are now on their way to becoming masters of this art.  One of the grandsons gave us a demonstration of how the puppets move, and then a short performance followed.  We all sat as enthralled as children, watching the skill and coordination of the puppets (and their masters!).  After the show, we were given the opportunity to practice with the puppets.  Jeff was rather pleased with himself (until he tried to throw the puppet in the air and catch it!).

The puppet museum showcased beautifully costumed puppets.  There was even a George Mackay puppet on display!  We had fun browsing around the small gift shop.  Jeff wanted to buy a monkey king puppet, but I found it too creepy-looking, so we bought an emperor puppet instead.  Our puppet is now gracing the same shelf as our Vietnamese rice picker, our Cambodian lacquered flowers, and our miniature toulou from Fujian.  Quite an eclectic collection.

And now for our WOW moment!  Yehliu Geopark!  This coastal national park is filled with fascinating sandstone rock formations, eroded by centuries of wind, waves and rain into the most interesting shapes.  (They are Taiwan's answer to the hoodoos of Western Canada.)  It is a spectacular sight.  Everywhere we turned there were hundreds of large, weathered rocks, and also many fossilized rocks.  The most famous rock in the park is "Queen Nefertiti" - there was a very long line of tourists waiting to take pictures like the one at the left!  Although there is a thick line marking the boundary for visitors, as well as guards ensuring that tourists do not get too close to the water, these barriers did not prevent local women from scavenging for shellfish at the shore.  Everyone in the group agreed that Yehliu was the best part of the tour, and Kurt (age 23) proclaimed "Day two has blown the pants off day one!"

I can't remember where we stopped for lunch.  We were served the exact same tasteless dishes (pigs knuckles, boiled cabbage, unseasoned fish, etc.) as at Friday lunch and dinner.  This meal had one extra dish - a bowl containing a boiled/steamed black chicken.  At that point I downed my beer, rolled my eyes, pursed my lips, and went on a mini hunger strike for the remainder of the trip.  I survived on some street food we bought along the way and some Mars Bars purchased at 7-Eleven (did you know that there are almost 5,000 7-Elevens in Taiwan?).  I didn't starve, but I wasn't a happy camper.

To round out the day, our bus drove up a mountain so that we could visit Jiufen, an old mining town.  When we got out of the bus, we climbed up to the observation deck to see the surrounding area.  Jeff and I were very impressed with the beautiful Chinese houses dotting the upper hills.  After a minute we realized that these were all tombs!   The rest of the town is now a crowded tourist trap - small narrow streets filled with market-like shops selling junk.  We stopped in at a tea shop where we sampled excellent Formosan oolong tea, and bought some to bring home.

On our way back to our hotel in Keelung, our guide, Candy, turned on the t.v. on the bus so that we could all watch the presidential election results.  Because of Candy's enthusiasm, we had all been caught up in election fever ever since meeting her the day before.  Candy told us a little bit about the candidates and explained what their platforms were.  Almost 500,000 Taiwanese who work in HK and Mainland China returned to Taiwan to vote!  Everywhere we drove there were huge election posters with smiling politicians.  Team 2 - the blue team - won.  Mr. Ma, the leader of the KMT, was re-elected much to Candy's delight!
By the time we arrived in Keelung, it was too late and too dark to tour Baimiwong Fort, so we checked into our hotel, relaxed, and looked forward to a Western buffet dinner at our hotel.  The only Western dishes at the buffet were spaghetti and mystery sauce.  By the time our gang arrived at 8 p.m., most of the food was gone, and there were no plans to replenish it.  There were a lot of very nice people in our group, and we just sat and talked for a couple of hours, drinking our beer.  Most of my caloric intake that weekend was from beer - Andrew, am I becoming a "frat boy"?

Day 3 - Sunday morning, and the weather was pouring!  Seven of us bleary-eyed AWAers met for breakfast at 7:30, raring to go.  Where were the others?  Sleeping, of course.  Those lazy bums were about to miss Baimiwong Fort!  Fortified by breakfast, the seven of us donned our rain gear and joined Candy on our bus.  Oops! only six of us got on the bus!  About five minutes after we drove away from the hotel, the bus driver's phone rang:  S.O.S. - we had forgotten Sue!  Since it was too late and too complicated to turn around to fetch her, Candy told Sue to take a taxi and meet us at the Fort.  Our bus stopped at the bottom of a steep, paved road.  By the time we walked the kilometre up the hill to the Fort, we were soaked.  Sadly, I discovered that my faux Burberry raincoat (purchased in Shenzhen) is not at all waterproof!

Linda didn't have a raincoat at all, so we gave her an umbrella that we found on the bus. Alas, the umbrella was useless, so Linda had to return to the bus.  After a few minutes, we all started giggling, and we didn't stop laughing until we had explored every slippery surface of the Fort.  In the fog and rain, the only dim view we had was of the smoke stacks at the nuclear power plant nearby.  When we got back to the hotel, we dried our hair, put on warm clothes, and bragged to the rest of the group how much fun we had!

Our next (dry) stop was the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines.  This museum is right across the road from the National Palace Museum.  The museum contains artifacts relating to the numerous indigenous tribes of Taiwan.  I was not overly impressed, since I thought that it merely skimmed the surface.  I wanted to know more about how, why, and when most of these tribes were converted to Christianity.  Did they/do they have many churches in their villages?  What Western/Christian elements have they introduced into their daily lives?  We did learn that many of them now work in construction in the big cities, and it reminded me of the Kahnawake (Mohawk) of Montreal who built most of the skyscrapers in New York City.
We had our last disgusting meal at the Silks Palace Restaurant (check out the Imperial Treasures Feast on their home page) in the National Palace Museum.  My mouth watered as I watched diners enjoying beautifully prepared dim sum.  Nope, not for us!  Same old, same old.  I finally "lost it" and complained to Jane, our leader.  She explained that she had gone over every menu in every restaurant with our guide before our trip.  Alas, TIC - you are served what they want to serve you.  (Be sure to carry granola bars and a jar of peanut butter when you travel in China).

Next stop was the jade and flower market.  We Hong Kongers have visited our own jade and flower markets many times, so this was nothing new.  Jeff and I found the nearest Starbucks and warmed ourselves over cappuccino, tea, and some normal food.
Then it was back on the bus to our last stop, Yingge, the ceramic town.  Lots of tourists and lots of shops selling pottery and housewares.  We bought a couple of mugs and a very nice serving platter (to replace my blue and white platter that is in storage in Toronto along with all of our other dishes and serving pieces).
If time allows, Jeff and I will go back to Taiwan one of these weekends to visit the National Palace Museum, take in a puppet show, wander around the sculptures at the Juming museum, and eat some fabulous Taiwanese food.