Taijiang National Park

In 2001 the local government proposed that Sicao Wildlife Refuge be turned into a national park. Following years of campaigning, communication and research, the National Park Planning Committee approved the 「Taijiang National Park Plan」 draft that included part of Cigu Township in a national park in its 83rd meeting on June 29, 2009. The area was approved as Taiwan’s eighth national park by the Executive Yuan on September 28 and the formal announcement made on October 15. The national park headquarter was opened on December 12 the same year, signaling that the park had begun operating.

The park has a total area of 39,310 hectares. Land area includes public land from Tainan City’s Yanshui River to the Zengwen River, Tainan black-faced spoonbill Reserve and Cigu Lagoon, covering 4095. The main focuses of planning are protecting wetlands bio-diversity, and relics from the settlement of the area and the salt industry. The sea area portion of the park encompasses the coastal waters to a depth of 20 meters. The area is about 5 kilometers wide and about 54 kilometers long from the Yanshuei River to the south end of Tungchi Island. It was the main water route for early Han Chinese settlers crossing from Tungchi Island to Luerhmen. The sea area makes up an area of 34,405 hectares.

Was it because the Taijiang National Park was the only national park in Taiwan that was proposed and campaigned by the local government instead of the central government or was it because of its vast coverage that diminished the highlights in the park? I traveled hundreds of kilometers to the east of Taiwan for Taroko National Park yet the idea of paying a visit to the national park that is right in my backyard has never occurred to me. Actually, that is not exactly correct; I visited the Sichao green tunnel and the black-faced spoonbill preservation area years ago before the national park plan was even heard, but somehow the beauty of the scenery didn’t imprint on my mind.

A video, Time for Taiwan—My Beautiful Island, produced by Michael Fimognari was broadcast worldwide this year that had caught my attention. The green tunnel in Sichao looks so peaceful in the video so I took a day off and visited the tunnel trying to figure out how did I ever overlook such a beauty. The tranquility of cruising in the green tunnel formed by mangroves was lost in the tour guide’s noise amplified through the loudspeaker then I realized the tranquility in the video was a result of reduction: the loss of audio stimulation intensifies the visual impact. Then I saw the beauty and the value of the Taijiang National Park:
“the main focuses of planning are protecting wetlands bio-diversity, and relics from the settlement of the area and the salt industry”.

The seven links

I am nominated by Lief in Taiwan for the 7 links project. The goal of the project is to "unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again". I've lost track of how many posts that I had published and what the posts were about. The nomination gives me a chance to look back at what I had published via the 7 categories and here are my seven:

1. The most beautiful: Old Buildings New Spirits

Someone once said "everything new is beautiful". In the blog 'old buildings new spirits', I attempted to capture the beauty that still resides in some old and discarded places when they are given a renewed purpose in use. The effect captured a resonance in time and meaning that I found quite beautiful, inspiring and enjoyable.

2. The most popular: Black Card Photography I

Of all my blog posts, this one is far and away the most popular in terms of 'hits' and 'citations'. Much to my surprise it found its niche audience, specifically for people who are interested in this photo technique.
 
3. The most controversial:Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese
The never ending story of what kind of Chinese is best to use and how a founding member of the UN lost its position. This post was so controversial that it was blocked in China at that time.

4. The most helpful: Nikon picture control
This blog allows Nikon DSLR camera owners to design their own picture controls in a step by step guide that was most helpful to interested users.

5. A post whose success surprised me: South Tainan Station

This has been on my top ten list for a long time and I still can't figure out why? Color me surprised! Who knew that a post about an old train station would have so many people jumping on board.

6. A post that didn't get the attention it deserved: Human flesh search invasion
Electronic lynchings are all the rage says Mr. Murdoch, yet for some reason this post didn't get much attention. Maybe next time I should include anonymous.  

7. The post that I am most proud of: Plitvice Lakes National Park

I have to credit the natural beauty of this area for making it my choice. The stunning beauty found in this part of Croatia makes me want to return time and again.

My nominations:
1. Fili's world
Full of great travel links, Fili has a passion and it shows in his blog.  

2. Traveling Hawk
Many wonderful experiences but you have to translate it from Romanian

3. On pine street
Creative writing blog that can help you with writing

4. Tainan City Guide
Some place you can find information about Tainan

5. Craig Ferguson Images
Wonderful pics and tips

Blame it on the Moon

I had a dream about the eclipse this morning: at the moment when the full eclipse took place, the blood red moon turned into a bright glowing orb in the sky emitting rainbow colors like a Sun. I took a video camera and filmed this unusual phenomenon then I blogged about it with the words "vampires would shed tears of joy as the day-walker is released from its intangible dream, it only takes a full lunar eclipse once in a blue moon" as my last sentences.

Sun Moon Lake Scenic Area

Sun Moon Lake is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Taiwan. The Sun Moon Lake Scenic Area Administration hosts a website containing the most informative resources about the area you can find online. However, I am turned off by the swarms of Chinese tourists, aggressive boat ticket sellers soliciting everyone in the parking area, and invincible tourist guides who would stop the traffic in the middle of a road in order to get a short cut to restaurants for their groups regardless the traffic laws. Nevertheless, the beauty of Sun Moon Lake keeps me going back on a yearly basis.

The magic power of Sun Moon Lake is best felt at dawn, before it is surrounded by tourists. The lake is protected by the surrounding hills. At dawn, before the sun has risen, the still water and hills shrouded in mists cast a charm of tranquility that is like being projected into a masterpiece of Chinese brush painting where time stand still. The mesmerizing spell is broken by the rays of the sun that disperse mists among the hills and unveil the golden hue of swift mists on the surface of the lake. From a distance, the wake of a rowing boat disturbs the reflections on the mirror-like lake, turning the fairytale land into reality.

You can find all the information you need for a trip to Sun Moon Lake on the website mentioned above. Most of the tourist groups skip the trails that are the quintessence of the area. Here is my version of a 2 day itinerary.

Day 1: Toushe Basin --> Syuanguang Temple --> Ci En Pagoda --> Syuentzang Temple --> Ita Thao  (lunch and feel the crowds)--> Ita Thao Lakeside trail  --> Shueiwatou Nature Trail --> Dajhuhu Nature Trail-->  Wenwu Temple  --> Maolan Mountain firefly sighting (only during mid April to mid May)--> Shueishe pier (accommodation, book a room with a lakeside view in advance)

Day 2: Shueishe pier sun rise --> Shueishe lake side trail --> Hanbi trail --> Paper Dome --> Make by Iron


Recommended Nearby Scenic Attractions

Toushe Basin is located at the west-south tip of the Sun Moon Lake and its peat soil makes it glint like a star next to the bright lights of Sun Moon Lake. Peat soil in the lake area is formed of decomposed vegetation. It is mostly organic, with a small proportion of mud, and rich in humic acid with a pH value of about 3.6. The peat in Toushe Basin is about 60 meters deep and covers an area about 175 hectares. The ground of Toushe Basin bounces like a water bed, as a result all man made artifacts are built at the edge of the basin. It is an unique experience walking on it. Follow the signs for Red Wood B&B (紅木農莊; GPS: 23.83103, 120.90389) on HuanHu road and you will find the bouncing earth that I filmed below:

The great Hanshin earthquake in Kobe/Japan on Jan. 17th 1995 destroyed more than 200,000 buildings including the Takatori Church. To build a temporary home for the community meeting house, architect Shigeru Ban raised funds and recruited 160 volunteers, most of them were college students, to build the house that is made of paper. The project started in July and was completed on September 17th, 1995. Inspired by Bernini's churches, 58 paper pillars (5m in length, 33cm in diameter, 15 mm in thickness) were arranged in an oval-shape that were sheltered in a rectangular fiberglass form.

The New Home Land Foundation (an organization that's dedicated to post 9-21 earthquake community reconstruction ) heard that the paper church that had served not only as a temporary meeting house but also a spiritual asylum for the community was about to be torn-down and relocation to rebuild the Takatori church when participating in the 10th anniversary memorial ceremony of the great Hanshin earthquake. The chairman proposed to relocate the paper church to Nantou/Taiwan where the epicenter of the 9-21 earthquake was in 1999. The proposal was accepted and the paper church was shipped to Taiwan in July, 2005. The paper church reassembling was completed and opened to the public on September 21st, 2008 in Tao-Mi Eco-village, Puli township.

Entrance fee: NT$100, exchangable voucher
Opening hours: Sun-Fri: 09:00-20:00; Sat and National holidays: 09:00-21:00
Address: No. 52-12, Taomi lane, Taomi village, Puli township, Nantou county (GPS: 23.94143, 120.92703)



Make By Iron (金剛基地) is the base of Autobots in Taiwan. Inspired by the movie Transformers, Mr. Liang gave up his job as a gardener and built a Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and some transformers out from the car parts for his son. The base was opened for public on Jan. 23rd, 2011, with an entrance fee NT$30 which can deduct expenses in the base. (Address: 200, Chungshan rd sec. 4th, Puli township, Nantou County; Opening hours: 10:00-17:30; Tue. off)

Photo-trio

I got this weekend free so I drove around Tainan and visited a few places that I always wanted to go but had never been. This is my photo-trio.

Cigu Salt Mountain is the monument that stands for the glory of salt making of old times. Under the promotion of tourism, Cigu salt fields usually overshadow the other salt fields in Tainan, but when it comes to the best quality of salt made in Taiwan, Beimen salt stands out unanimously. Jing Zai Jiao tile paved salt field (井仔腳瓦盤鹽田) was the first salt farm in Beimen District, Tainan, to use a tile base for drying the seawater.The saltworks started operation in 1818 and the area for salt drying in Beimen county was as big as 360 hectares in 1980. However, the high cost of manpower for making salt in Taiwan is becoming unaffordable and the Beiman salt fields were shut down in 2000. Jing Zai Jiao tile paved salt field is the only salt field kept for tourism purposes and the salt crystals glint in the sunset making it a great spot for photography.

Built during the 23rd year of the reign of Jiacing in the Cing dynasty (A.D. 1818), the Jingzaijiao Tiled Salt Fields were formerly known as Laidong Salt Fields.The site was originally a barren desert. Lying on the sandy beach is a small sand dune, where underground water gushes out from low-lying ground forming a well-like structure. The name, Jiingzaijiao, was essentially derived from this particular landscape formation. To prevent salt crystals from attaching to the soil, salt miners at Pottery Dish Salt Field manually laid out broken debris of pottery onto the crystallizing ponds of salt fields. This approach resulted in purer and clearer salt being mined. Under the sunshine, the Pottery Salt Pan displays a resplendent, mosaic like pattern. These features make it a unique cultural landscape of the homeland of salt. Today, it has become an excellent site for tourists to experience salt drying.
http://www.swcoast-nsa.gov.tw:2480/en/02_tour/scenery_view.aspx?sn=155

Oyster farm is the most common scene in Cigu but the z-shaped oyster stands with the sun setting in a perfect location makes this spot a popular site for sunset black card photography. It's not an easy location to find, I drove back and forth about one hour, asked a few fishermen and still couldn't find it. It wasn't until I cross referenced with internet information and the google map with iphone to locate this spot. If you are interested, check on the map below for details.

Tainan Science Park public art space features the "yellow ribbon" at a cost of NT$300 million, (US$10 million) it's worth taking a look at just because of the price.
* lights up sometime after 19:00.




View Photo-trio in a larger map

E-Da World

Located in Da Shu District, Kaohsiung City, E-Da world is a community that incorporates recreation, education, estate development and health care. E-United group, in cooperation with Eliter Corp, spent 25 years planing and constructing and invested more than 50 billion to build a community that has 2 hotels (Crowne Plaza and E-Da Skylark Hotel), the biggest outlet shopping mall in Taiwan, the first Greek themed amusement park, E-Shu University and international high school, Eliter Estate (Earl's District) and its own public transportation. E-Da World was test operated on June 19th, 2010 and the grand opening was on December 18th, 2010.

I visited E-Da world during the new year holidays and checked in to the Crowne Plaza. Off the freeway No.1, the width of roads to E-Da world started from 3 lanes each direction down to a 1 lane winding mountain road, with the new year crowds I was amazed that I didn't get stuck in traffic. After parking, I gave up on checking into my room because of the crowds in the Crowne Plaza lobby and headed to the outlet mall (Mon-Fri: 11:00-22:00; weekend/holidays: 10:00-22:00). The 19 thousand meter square outlet mall is divided into 3 sections. Section A, 7 floors and a ferris wheel on the roof (NT$200; free ride if you have a ticket to the amusement park), sells designers collections, interior decor and housewares. Section B, 2 floors, has a Fontana di Trevi replica and painted dome that attracts most of the attention in the mall. The roof of section B is an open-air market and restaurants where live performances take place every night. Section C, 6 floors, is where all the fun starts. Rock climbing, ice skating, baseball, basketball and a movie theater. This section is also the ticketing and entrance of the amusement park.

E-Da theme park (NT$899, Mon-Thu 09:30-17:30; Fri-Sun 09:30-19:30; NT$ 650 after 14:00(Mon-Thu),15:00 (Fri-Sun); tickets sold before 17:30) is the first Greece themed amusement park in Taiwan, the park is built according to the Acropolis, Santorini Mountain City and Trojan Castle styles. Acropolis has an extravagant opera theatre that can accommodate 1800 guests. Santorini mountain city creates an illusion of being actually in Greece. The giant wooden horse in front of the Trojan Castle recreates the scene of the famous story that has been told for thousands of years. In the castle, flying over Taiwan simulates hangliding over scenaries of Taiwan. There are 47 recreation facilities in the park including an U shaped roller coaster, a spin that goes up to 55 meters above ground and a roller coaster goes into water, etc. This is the place where you can have fun untill you throw up.

I went back to the Crowne Plaza Hotel and was suprised by the crowds in the lobby waiting to check in at 18:00. I've never seen anything like this: guests in every counter of the reception were complaining about the sluggish checkin procedure; a woman was screaming at the manager, it was so loud that everyone in the lobby could hear her and a group were taken into the manager room as they were banging on the table; people who waited in lines were total strangers but acted as they were the best comrades and were planing a riot. I waited an hour and finally it was my turn. After checking my reservation and ID the receptionist told me that my room was not ready yet and suggested that I should have dinner first and come back later! I asked the receptionist to send my key to me at the Italian restaurant in the hotel, 30 mins later, my key was sent to my table and my room was upgraded.

Despite the incident of checking-in, the hotel amenities of Crowne Plaza were fabulous. Water fountain show right next to the restaurants, sauna, swining pool, gym and espresso café machine in the room..., it was a great acommodation.

Transportation: shuttle buses commute between Taiwan High Speed Rail Zuoying station and E-Da World (NT$37; 06:20-23:00, timetable in details),

2011 Taiwan International Orchid Show

The 2011 Taiwan International Orchid Show (TIOS) is now taking place at the Taiwan Orchid Plantation in the Huobi District of Tainan City. I bought a pre-ordered ticket from 7-11 ibon (NT$90; the full price for an adult is NT$150) and drove about 50km from Tainan city to the venue. I was affraid that I'd be traped in the traffic and would end up seeing nothing but tourists at the exhibition but to my surprise, the traffic was smooth and the venue was well organized: cars were directed to drive in from one direction and out from the other; parking lots were set far away from the exhibition and lots of shuttle buses were taking visitors back and forth seamlessly. I got to take some amazing photos of even more amazing orchids.

Magnificent landscaping made from all kinds of orchids can be found right at the entrance of the gallery that also exhibits the wining orchids to welcome visitors. this gallery is the highllight of the orchid show. The well designed exhibition and tour routes allow an enjoyable tour despite the crowds. The grand champion of this year is Prince Edward of York, a Paohiopedilum.

The show will continue from March 5 to the 14th at the Taiwan Orchid Plantation (325, Wushulin, Wushu Village, Houbi Dist, Tainan) from 09:00-18:00.
Info: www.tios.com.tw