Namasia, the name resonates in my ears, it might sound meaningless to outsiders but the exotic phonetics of the name intrigues me. Located in the mountainous area of Kaohsiung, Namasia district is part of the Yushan range (the jade mountain) with two rivers, Cishan or Nanzihsian river and Laonong river, running through. The demographics of the area is mostly Bunun, with Tsou and Paiwan as substantial minorities. The bureaucratic old name "Sanmin", taken from Sun Yat-Sen's "Three Principle of People", was re-placed with Namasia in 2008, as it is the name of the Nanzihsian river in the Tsou language, meaning "better and better" in Bunun.
My first visit to Namasia was following Rich's lead, participating in one of the Bunun tribal festivals, Malatangia: Coming of Age, in 2012. I was amazed by the majestic scenery when driving on the temporary roads and bridges. The devastating typhoon Morakot in 2009 brought rainfall that equaled the annual amount in 3 days and destroyed the major access road, route 21, and mountains in the area. The most heart breaking news was that the whole Hsiaolin village, 169
households, was engulfed by a landslide, causing 398 lives lost. Driving along the river bank on these temporary roads and bridges that were built on fallen rock debris, with the crumbling mountains in sight, the impression could humble the most proud man by the presence of mother nature.
I visited Rich in Namasia during the 2013 lunar new year's holiday, the route 21 was partially fixed and survivors from Hsiaolin village were translocated to a newly built modern community. A memorial park was built at the original site of Hsiaolin village, where all 169 households were labeled in miniature. It all seems like a bright future awaits, sad still but hopeful. The road in between the memorial park and Namasia is still a mess, it's even worse than I remember from my last visit. Apparently a rage water washed away these temporary bridges and foundations. Hopefully they will repair the roads so other people can enjoy the rugged beauty of its nature.
The word Zion makes people think of the Bible, Jerusalem, novels, or maybe movies like the "Matrix". In the mountainous area of the Hsiaolin District in Kaohsiung, a mountain was crowned "Holy Mt. Zion", and for believers, the mountain there is as sacred as Jerusalem or even more. "Holy Mt. Zion" engraved on a colossal rock, cherub statues watch over the visitors at the entrance, well maintained infrastructures and the stupendous scenery, Mt. Zion stands out from its neighbors: the crumbling mountains and roads that were destroyed by the devastating typhoon Morakot in 2009. I didn't know what to expect in the Mt. Zion, but the last thing I expected was the hatred that ruled/rooted in this Eden. Posters, TV, and preaching were all about the evil nature of the Kuomintang Party (KMT) and how the prophet and his followers were persecuted in the past. I had the feeling that I was walking into a Falundafa's protest venue. To get to know the history better I went to their museum and talked to a guide. Here is the brief of their story.
Elijah Hong, the prophet as they claimed to be, came to this mountain known originally as Shuangliankuin 1963 and started to practice a living style as a farmer and worshiped Jesus Christ. In 1980, the KMT plundered the land and ousted the people as this land was chosen as the graveyard for the president, Jingguo Jiang. In the following 7 years, they camped on the river side at the feet of the mountain trying to fight KMT under the martial law and finally they won the battle and returned to Zion. They rebuilt their homestead and started organic agricultue transforming Zion into Eden.
I sympathize with what happened to them 30 years ago and I admire their courage and perseverance but what I can't understand is that in the name of God these people can't let go of the past and allow hatred to overshadow the central idea of what the prophet was told, turning the Holy Mt. Zion into an outpost against the KMT. During my brief stay, all I saw and heard was how they focused on demonizing the KMT instead of preaching their beliefs regardless of the time that has moved forward more than 3 decades. The past can not be forgotten but could be forgiven, in the name of God, I hope they find their inner peace.
Kenting is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Taiwan. I still remember the sore on my butt from sitting too long on a motorcycle from riding to the beaches years ago. It was the time when spring scream was just a few amateur bands improvising on one stage and I could pay NT$200 for a beer and a spot in a tent to crash overnight. I used to love the atmosphere of freedom and relaxation of white sandy beaches, blue ocean and sky; Kenting emitted this exotic illusion that lured me back every year. Like every tourist hot spot, Kenting became unbearably crowded on weekends and throughout the summer vacation, so I changed my visit to dreadful winter time when the sky is usually gray and the water too cold to jump in. The inspirational spring scream became the biggest music festival in southern Taiwan, and it was up to me to improvise, to be able to find a way in and find a place to stay overnight. I'd forgotten how beautiful this place could be until my latest trip to Kenting in early October. The weather was great: the sunlight was sparkling on the white coral sand, compromising the cobalt blue sky and ocean. The wind wasn’t too strong to stand still, just enough to attract surfers. The temperature wasn’t melting hot as it was in summer nor too cold to get in the water and best of all was that the summer crowd was fading away so I could enjoy the beaches and streets at my leisure.
I was planning to get up early and go to Jialeshuei for sunrise but the drizzle at night and my cozy room kept me in bed until the noise from a construction site nearby woke me up. Looking out from my balcony, the stunning blue sky and ocean made every penny I paid for the room worth it. Jialeshuei is famous for its various weird shaped rocks that were eroded by the sea. It puzzles me that administrations of these kinds of tourist attractions in Taiwan try so hard to visualize the rocks with some animals or even genital and preach to the tourists. I could correlate some of the rocks with the animals they said but sometimes I would have to pretend that I got the pictures so they would move on.
White sand beaches are jewels of Kenting, the sky and ocean wouldn’t be as blue if it wasn’t for the white sand. Except for naturists, everyone could probably find a beach that fits and spend a half day there. Nanwan (south bay beach) has the most water activities provided in the area; shiaowan (small bay) has a beach bar operated by the Caesar park hotel, providing luxurious indulgence; baisha bay (white sandy shore) is the top choice for campers, and Jialeshuei, supposedly, is good for surfing as it was the venue of the 2012 international surfing contest and I never knew there is a sandy beach in Jialeshuei until this trip. I spent a beautiful afternoon at Nanwan seeing people playing football, jumping in the water and enjoying it so much that it made me actually join in even though I can’t swim.
More info: Kenting National Park: the official kenting national park website UU Kenting: probably the most useful website for Kenting, Chinese only
If you have more time in Kenting, sign up a night in the aquarium, highly recommended.
The custom of Wang Yeh boat worshiping, is one of the most unique folk beliefs in southern China and Taiwan. It's a ritual for expelling plagues and death. Given the high humidity and temperatures, southern China used to be the epicenter of diseases and was regarded as a plague rampant region. Due to underdeveloped medical knowledge, people didn't know the cause or how to treat patients; fear toward unknown epidemics was then left for the spiritual realm to deal with by worship. After worshiping the spirits that spread plagues, the spirits were invited on board a boat made out of paper and sent out to sea which symbolizes sending the plague and evil away to bring health and peace back to the local residents. The wind and sea currents drifted the boats of 'evil' circulating around
southern China, Taiwan and Penghu. Anywhere one of these boats might drift into , residents would have to pick up the boat and 'treat' the evil spirits before building a boat and sending them on their way.
Over time, with the improvement of sanitary conditions, the progress of medication and the development of civilization, plagues were no
longer rampant in the area and the spirits of plagues were transformed into deities of plague, also known as Wang Yeh, who inspect the good and evil of people and punished the bad by spreading pestilence. These inspections are known as 'inspections on behalf of heaven' (代天巡狩 daitian xunshou) and the meaning of building a boat was changed from expelling plague and death to sending the deities back to heaven from their inspections on behalf of heaven, hopefully taking disease and calamity with them. The practice was evolved from "sending the boat to an open sea and drift it away" to "set fire to the boat and rise with ashes to heaven".
At first I wasn't sure about the trip to Sitges even though it was highly recommended by the locals I had met in Barcelona. On my way to Montblanc as the train was passing by Sitges, my interest for the town was aroused by the surrounding rocky mountains and the shimmering Baleanic sea. I bought the ticket and jumped on a train at Passeig de Gràcia, following the instructions of the lady who sold me the ticket. Soon, I was panicking as I realized that the destination of the train was St. Vincenç de Calders. I got off the train at the next station, Barcelona Sants, and looked for a platform that showed Sitges but I couldn't find any. The next train to St. Vincenç de Calders arrived, I asked an old lady boarding the train whether the train stopped at Sitges and she nodded bewilderingly so I got on the train skeptically. Thirty minutes later the train stopped at Sitges.
It was a sunny day, a perfect day out for beach activities but the water was too cold and that helped to keep people away from the gorgeous beaches and created a perfect bio-distance for me: not too crowded yet you could still see people sun bathing, surfing, playing volleyball, playing guitar, practicing macaco and sailing. The mild heat in the air radiating from the sun contrasted with the freezing cold from the sea, it was an interesting oxymoronic sensation. Sitges has no famous architecture like Sagrada Familia nor museums like Picasso or Milo in Barcelona but the atmosphere of the town was cozy and relaxing. The houses gave me deja vu feelings; whitewashed walls, blue windows and shimmering water in the distance at the foot of the hilly town, I wondered, does this mediterranean style truly have magic soothing power or have we just been brain washed by the images of Greece?
Saint George's day (La Diada de Sant Jordi), also known as the day of the rose (El dia de la Rosa) or the day of the book (El dia del Llibre), is Catalunya valentine's day (El dia de los enamorados, the day of lovers) held on April 23rd. Legend has it that there was a dragon destroying crops and killing stocks and people in Montblanc. The villagers came out with a solution to get the temporary peace by sacrificing a girl everyday to the dragon. One day, the princess was sent to the sacrificial altar as scheduled and a knight, Sant Jordi, rescued her and slaughtered the dragon. The blood of the dragon became red roses and Sant Jordi presented the rose to the princess and they lived happily ever after. Sant Jordi was recognized as a patron saint in Catalunya and his death was memorized by the tradition that men give their lovers a red rose on his death anniversary. The romantic story passed on for centuries and April 23rd is the valentine's day celebrated in Catalunya instead of February 14th. April 23rd is also marked as the world book and copyright day by UNESCO in 1995, given the fact that it is William Shakespeare's death anniversary. A rose to the woman, a book to the man, streets filled with rose and book stalls on April 23rd (especially on La Rambla), and men give a red rose along with a wheat-ear (symbol of fertility) to their lovers and women give their men a book for return. You can feel the influence of Sant Jordi everywhere in Catalunya; Sant Jordi's cross on the flag of Barcelona, the badge of Barcelona football team, the sculpture on the facet of Palau de la Música Catalana and even on the roof of Casa Batllo, Gaudi depicted the story of Sant Jordi slaughtering the dragon.
Sant Jordi day is one of the most important holidays celebrated in Catalunya. On this day, Ayuntamiento de Barcelona and Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya on Placa Sant Jaume in Barcelona are opened to the public. One hundred kilometers away, a medieval festival is held in Montblanc where the legend of Sant Jordi took place. Setmana Medieval de Montblanc is a festival that devotes
an entire week to celebrate a variety of events centered on life in
medieval Catalunya and the figure of Sant Jordi. The whole town put on medieval costumes, they organized various events such as medieval market where you can see blacksmith forging swords in traditional way, medieval fight, open air performances, medieval parade, Catalan courts and the representation of the legend of Sant Jordi. You can even join the party representing some of the characters like noble, clergy, servant... if you can participate in the whole event and their rehearsals.
There are 5 trains going to Montblanc from Barcelona everyday, the journey takes about 2 hours. Schedule refers to: http://www.renfe.com/
I had seen Antonio Gaudi´s architecture; tasted tapas, paella and churros
& chocolate; listened to Xavier Coll´s espanya guitar in Santa Maria de Pi; smelled the fragrance of roses on Sant Jordi day and orange blossoms at Hospital de Sant Pau; touched
the freezing cold water in Sitges. With all 5 senses contented, I found myself falling in love with Catalunya so I started listening to Pablo Alborán's CD, following Spain related blogs, trying to replicate the taste of paella..., to slow down the feeling slipping away.
Before the trip, I heard my friends commenting on my trip with a tone of envy and jealousy: you must see Gaudi's architecture! I answered: 'of course, that's the highlight of Barcelona', but the truth was I thought Gaudi was a place or a style of architecture. My first Gaudi experience was Sagrada Familia, the one building that he spent most of his life working on as an architect and is still under construction after his death. "It can't be a basilica!" that was the first impression I had for Sagrada Familia, despite the fact that its exterior looks like one. The doors are not traditional wooden/bronze doors; they are more like doors you would see in some kind of contemporary art museum, emblazoned with 3 D bronze words with a few key words gilded. The interior is as solemn as all cathedrals, however, the bright ambient lighting and avant-garde sculptures distinct Sagrada Familia from other basilicas. Blazing colors cascade on pillars and the floor through stained glass, imagining the pillars as tree trunks branching out and up to the flowers on the ceiling, Gaudi transfigured a building into a forest that changes colors as the sun moves. "The straight line belongs to Man; the curved line belongs to God", given this idea of Gaudi, I wonder why the building dedicated to the Saint family feels less "curvy" than his other works like Casa Batlló and Casa Milà (La Pedrera). One thing for sure is that you will never find a basilica like Sagrada Familia anywhere else.
Casa Vicens, Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell, Palau Güell, Casa Calvet, Casa Milà and Casa Batlló are highlights of Gaudi's design in Barcelona. Casa Calvet is now a restaurant and Gaudi's first building, Case Vicens, is closed and entrusted to Altadicion for sale now. Except for Gaudi's architecture, Barcelona has much more to offer. The Palau de la Música Catalana hosts various concerts on a daily basis; Picasso and Milo museums exhibit the most complete collection of the two famous impressionists. The labyrinthine Gothic quarter is a great place to get lost while admiring Moorish architecture and various art performances in the streets. If you are visiting the Gothic quarter in Barcelona on April 23rd, Sant Jordi's day, do not miss Ayuntamiento de Barcelona and Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya located on the opposite side of Placa Sant Jaume that are only open to the public once a year. A visit to Anella Olímpica on Montjuicmakes the decision of selecting Montjuic as the venue of 1992 Summer Olympic seem like a perfect choice. Standing in front of the Estadi Olímpic and looking down on the city below, I guess that's the scenario they portrayed about Greek Gods standing on Mount Olympus watching over mortals. There are 4 main beach areas spanning 4.2 km filled with people jogging, cycling, sun bathing, with restaurants and even a casino.
I stumbled across an open air concert held in the plaza next to the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art on Sant Jordi's day. The stage was set and the host walked back and forth communicating with the crowds in the venue. Half hour passed, there was no sign indicating the concert would start any sooner, I asked a guy, Émile, who sat next to me what the event was about and that was my lucky day. Émile not only spoke English fluently but he also spoke Catalan! He kindly explained to me the conflict between Spain and Catalunya and the campaign was to defend Catalan culture. I took the video of balloons arranged in Catalan and released with wishes attached in the air.
Barcelona four days Itinerary
Day1
09:00 Sagrada Familia (2-3 hours)
Walk to Hospital de Sant Pau via Avenida Gaudi (10-15 min)
12:00 Hospital de Sant Pau Guided tour (1-2 hours)
Sant Pau-Dos de Maig station take L5 direction Cornella centre get off at Diagonal
14:00 Casa Mila (1-1.5 hour)
Walk down Passeig de Gracia
16:00 Fundació Antoni Tàpies (30 min)
16:30 Casa Batllo (2 hours)
Passeig de Gracia station take L4 direction La Pau, get off at Barceloneta
19:00 Barceloneta beach and Port Vell
Day2
09:00 Placa de Catalunya walk down Portal de l'Angel turn right on Carrer de Santa Anna and visit Esglesia Santa Ana
0930 Gothic Quarter (3-5 hour)
Visit :Arxiu Historic de La Ciutat -> Cathedral of Santa Eulalia -> Museu Frederic Marès -> Palace de Rei -> Palca Sant Jaume -> Ayuntamiento de Barcelona->
Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya -> Carrer del Bisbe -> Lunch at Bilbao Berria (Tapas pay by the sticks ranged from 1-3 EUR; add : 3 Placa Nova Barcelona, tel : 34933170124) -> Placa de Sant Felip Neri ->
Placa de Sant Josep Oriol -> Placa Reial
15:30 La Rambla (1-2 hour)
17:00 Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona - CCCB (1 hour)
18:00 MACBA (1 hour)
Day3
09:00 Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria (1 hour)
Walk down La Rambla
10:00 Palau Guell (1.5 hour)
Walk to Paral.Lel station take Funicular de Montjuic Direction Parc de Montjuic get off at Parc de Montjui
12:30 Anella Olímpica (1 hour)
13:30 Fundation Joan Miro (1.5 hour)
15:00 Botanical Garden of Barcelona (1 hour)
16:00 Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (1.5 hour)
Day4
08:00 Passeig de Gracia take bus No. 24 to Carretera Carmel (Davant Parc Guell) (30 min)
08:30 Park Guell
Gaudi + Casa Meseo Gaudi (2.5 hour)
Walk to Lesseps take L3 direction Zona Universitaria get off at Palau Reial walk to Monasterio de Pedralbes
12:00 Monasterio de Pedralbes (1 hour)
Take bue No. 22 to Placa de Catalunya, walk to Palau de la Música Catalana
14:00 Palau de la Música Catalana (1 hour)
15:30 Museu Picasso (1.5 hour)
17:00 Carre de Montcada -> Santa Maria del Mar -> Born -> Ribera
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