This morning, cycling buddies Michael T. and Drew K. came down from Taichung for some cycling around Lugu [鹿谷].  The route was about 50km long and tallied up over 900m in climbs.  I packed my bike in Michael’s van and we traveled down HWY 3 to Zhushan [竹山].  We parked the van at the 7-11 on Jishan Road [3丙], unpacked, and were off!

Our route gave us a great view of the Jiji Weir and the Zhuoshui River.  Soon we were on County Road 139 followed by 131 to Lugu.  Along the way, there were plenty of tea plantations:

This is the much more heavily traveled County Road 151.  It leads to the popular tourist destinations Sitou [溪頭] and Shanlinxi [杉林溪].  Since the weather was cool, the traffic wasn’t too bad:

After stopping to confirm our location on a tourist map at the side of the road, Drew discusses his satisfaction with the outstanding English translations found on tourist maps throughout the island.  We were just a stone’s throw from the Tca Culture Hall [茶業文化館] and a short ride from Mr. Dongding [凍頂山].

Our bikes lined up during our final ascent before turning off on 投55-2 to circle back around to Zhushan:

Although it was really hazy, I did manage a few decent scenery shots here and there:

The ride back was mostly down hill.  We stopped briefly at a homestay run by the parents of one of Drew’s friends for tea and conversation before charging back to the van in Zhushan.

Here’s the official map of the route we took this morning.  I got a portrait of all three of us in front of a convex traffic mirror, but I accidentally erased it from my camera.  Here’s a self-portrait from the same traffic mirror that my delete-happy thumb spared:

After months of waiting, the time had finally come for another attempt up Jiufen Ershan [九份二山].  My last attempt in May ended in failure when I turned around after it started raining.  This time the weather called for sunny skies.  I also took a different direction up also this time, taking a road from Qingshui Village [清水村] up rather than Hexing [和興].

This stretch of road is one of my favorite views on a couple different routes I frequent.  All these banners must mean there’s an election coming up soon.  Thanks for ruining the view!
I’ve gone through this stretch of town several times.  Teenagers on bikes will occasionally initiate impromptu races with cyclists when they see them coming.

The very colorful Xinfo Temple [心佛寺]:

Now the real climbing begins.  These traffic mirrors will come in handy on the way down.

The way up was mostly farms.  I didn’t see a single cyclist outside of central Qingshui Village.  I was beginning to worry that I may have taken a wrong turn somewhere.  Luckily, after about an hour of cycling in the mountains I saw a sign pointing me in the right direction.  After that the signs became more frequent.

With a vertical climb of 1040 meters, this ride was my most challenging climb yet.  Thankfully, many residents gave me encouraging words on my ascent.

At 1:47 am on September 21, 1999, a powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck central Taiwan.  Jiufen Ershan was just one of many areas that were reshaped by the 921 Earthquake [九二一大地震].

The earthquake caused a massive landslide on Kandou Mountain [(崁斗山) pictured below].  The landslide area was about 102.5 hectares and the volume of the landslide deposit was estimated over 30 million cubic meters.  The landslide blocked the Jiucaihu River [韭菜湖溪] and the Sezaikeng River [澀仔坑溪], forming two landslide lakes.


Here, you can see where the strength of the earthquake absolutely mangled the mountain’s landscape:

A small note to observers:  those posts are vertical.  Walking around in this house is a lot more difficult than it looks!

A 921 Memorial:

Finally, the lakes that were formed as a result of the landslide:

I used Bikemap.net to map out this route.  The site was suggested to me a couple months ago and I finally got around to trying it out.  The site is a lot more useful than Google Maps for mapping out routes because it also makes an elevation chart for you and you can easily search for routes made by other cyclists.  I’ll be putting my favorite routes on there over the next few days.

For more information on the 921 Earthquake be sure to check out Taichung County’s 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of cycling with the Nantou City Power Cycling Club to a destination I haven’t visited since last year:  The Dragon and Phoenix Waterfalls [龍鳳瀑布].  The waterfalls are located in Zhongliao’s [中寮] Cingshui Village [清水村].  I’m happy to report that since my last visit, the walkway heading towards the waterfall has been repaired and other parts have been improved which should make this destination much more accessible if visiting with children.  A second walkway, on the other side of the Longan Forest River [龍眼林溪] has not been completed yet.

The waterfall is divided into two sections:  The Phoenix Waterfall, which is graceful and slender, and the Dragon Waterfall, which is robust and non-restrained.

The Phoenix Waterfall [鳳瀑布]

The Dragon Waterfall [龍瀑布]

Described by the fantastic travel website Taiwanese Secrets as Caotun’s Creepy Taoist Temple, Tzude Temple [慈德宮] rests on a high perch overlooking Caotun Township.  Occasionally, I’ll ride up the steep hill to this spot for exercise before work or during lunch break.  This particular time, I took my recently acquired Nikon FM2 loaded with ISO100 film and gave the area a closer look.

While walking around the grounds, I had the opportunity to talk to one of the temple’s caretakers.  She told me this temple’s design was unique in Taiwan.  When I inquired why this special design was chosen, she told me that a god told them to make it this way.

The front of the temple looks like a giant bamboo hat placed on four pillars.  The exterior of the temple is bright red and liberally decorated with dragons and phoenixes. Behind the temple is a sacred banyan tree said to be over 300 years old.

From the temple, visitors can see Caotun, Jhongsing Village, and Baguashan.  I didn’t take a picture of the view on account of it being a hazy day, but I’ve taken a couple of panoramas before from different locations along the same ridge.

This temple won’t win any records for being the oldest or the most visited, but it is certainly unique stop for anyone who finds themselves with some spare time in Caotun or Nantou City.  Want to visit?  Check out the map.

The cycling group I recently joined, The Nantou City Power Cycling Club took a trip to Shanlinxi [杉林溪] on Sunday.  Shanlinxi is about 17 kilometers uphill from the Xitou Recreational Forest Park [溪頭森林遊樂區].

My cycling team drove out early to avoid traffic.  We unloaded our bikes just past the Xitou Recreational Forest Park entrance and cycled the 17 km / 400-500 meter climb to our destination.  The views along the way were nothing short of magical.

Before long we made it to the Shanlinxi Forest Recrational Area and it was time for an exciting downhill journey back to the cars to grab lunch and head back to Nantou City.

This morning I had the chance to grab a few shots of today’s solar eclipse, which was the longest to occur in the twenty-first century and won’t be surpassed in duration for another 123 years.  Although it wasn’t a total eclipse when viewed from Taiwan, I consider myself very lucky to have had a chance to witness it.

The first shot was taken shortly before nine o’clock, while the second shot was taken around 9:40 at its peak.  I held a small filter used to view the eclipse over my telephoto lens to grab these shots.  A few minutes later, I used the Live View function of my camera to grab a shot of the sky without burning my retinas.

This morning I embarked on the same route I cycled last week.  This path brought me up to the Pingding Sacred Tree and down through Zhongliao [中寮鄉] on a slightly extended edition of a path I usually take.

Following the painted arrow towards Nantou is my usual route, but I hardly work up a sweat going in that direction anymore.

The gentle curves of Country Road #17:

There are many farms along this rural route, here Longan [龍眼] grow along the side of the road:

Y:

Stopping at Guangfu Elementary School [廣福國民小學] for a brief rest:

And spotting some Jack Fruit [菠蘿蜜] growing behind one of the playground’s basketball hoops:

Here’s a Common Tiger [Danaus genutia (黑脈樺斑蝶)], not to be confused with Danaus chrysippus, or a female Hypolimnas misippus.  Those dark bands are a dead giveaway and from several meters away I recognized it and knew I haven’t taken a decent picture of one yet.  Here’s the best I could do after an extensive crop after shooting with the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8:

The longest, straight road on the route:

The beautiful and clean Pinglin River [平林溪] below:

The same river, right before the road takes a short climb to County Road #139:

One last shot of Zhongliao before I head into the more developed Nantou City:

And finally, no trip would be complete without a stop to buy some pineapples to take home.  The seller doesn’t use any chemicals on his crops so definately stop here if you find yourself in Nantou City and have a craving for pineapples.  The stand is located on Nansiang Road [南鄉路] across from house #200:

Here’s a map of the fun:

View Larger Map

On Sunday I headed out to Jhongliao for some cycling.  The forecast called for a rainy afternoon so I set my goal for the base of Jiufen Ershan [九份二山] with the intention of turning around after I made it that far.

Since I got there earlier than expected, I decided to make my way up Jiufen Ershan.  It became abundantly clear that the mountain is prone to landslides so I proceeded quickly and with caution up, telling myself I would turn around at the first drop of rain or 11 a.m., whichever came first.

I made great time going up, the steep sections of the route I took were very brief followed by longer flat or nearly flat sections.   Sure enough, at roughly four-fifths of the way up, at about 10:30 it started to rain lightly.  Not wanting to be stuck on the mountain I began my journey down.  About halfway down the rain stopped.   The sky still looked pretty dark so I kept riding towards home.

My D90 and I in front of a convex traffic mirror:

Finally, it wouldn’t be a rural cycling trip without a picture of a discarded betelnut box laying on the side of the road:

About an hour away from home, it started to rain more heavily for about 10 minutes.  I guess the epic journey to the Jiufen Ershan 921 Earthquake Memorial Park will have to wait.

[No google map this time, I'll create one after I take a return trip and actually make it all the way to the 921 Earthquake Memoral Park.]

Nantou’s Wangyou Forest [忘憂森林] lies a stone’s throw from the popular Sitou Forest Recreational Area [溪頭自然教育園區].  To get there, simply follow Route 151 to Lugu→Sitou, keep a look out for the 12 animal zodiac signs, once you’ve past the pig zodiac it’s not too far till you get to a steep and narrow road leading up to a parking lot and the restaurant Wangyou Forest Cafe.  You can park on the main road and walk up, which probably takes about 40 minutes, or you can call the restaurant and the owner will pick you up [tel:0916990520].

Most of the dishes at the restaurant cost between $300-$350NT, which is expected given its location.  No one in our group seemed really wowed by the food, but the air and the view [first picture in the post] are great.

I left my wife and her friends behind for a moment to take a walk around one of the area’s tea farms, the picture above are baskets used to collect tea leaves.  At times mists would come and go hindering visibility:

The Wangyou Forest is only about a 5-10 minute walk from the restaurant.  Despite the short walk it’s still really important to dress appropriately because most of the way is a dirt trail covered with roots, mosses, and the occasional fallen tree or large rock that needs to be manuevered over.

The area is a large pine forest, but one section has gone through a transformation.

The 921 Earthquake caused a small section of the forest to become a marshland.  The pine trees that were living in this section died because they could not survive with their roots soaked so long underwater.  The result, is breathtaking:



I found a stunning aerial photo by Chi Po-lin  [齊柏林] available on his blog.


After sometime in the forest we made our way back to the car along the narrow road:

We saw plenty of these on our trip, they are for moving goods and people to and from the farms.  I was tempted to ask for a ride on one but chickened out at the last minute:

I had the great pleasure of heading up to Baguashan [八卦山] this morning to check out the Tung Blossoms on the Wolongpo [臥龍坡步道] and Tengshan Trails [藤山步道].  These trails are two of several scenic areas visitors can flock to for the 2009 Hakka Tung Blossom Festival [2009客家桐花祭].  There were several booths as well as a stage set up in front of Fengtian Temple [鳳天宮] for the event.  I arrived before any of the vendors, so there was nothing distracting me from starting my walk down the Wolongpo Trail [臥龍坡步道].

There were only a handful of people on the trail, but that would soon change.

At the bottom of the trail is a parking lot and the entrance for the Tengshan Trail.  This trail was much more popular than the previous one.  Being a lovely Saturday morning, many families were enjoying the trail.

The trail has a platform to view the Changhua Plain and the Taiwan High Speed Rail:

Since this trail has no steps, it is also popular with cyclists [I've been here before]:

That’s Fengtian Temple in the background:

The trail brought me back up to where I started.  A sign at Fengming Pond [鳳鳴池] stated that this pond is used by local farmers to collect rainwater for irrigation.  It also boasts a handful of endemic species of plants and frogs.  That of course didn’t stop anyone from throwing tires or bottles of Whisby in.

Here’s a map of the area.  It’s easily accessible from Changhua City or Nantou City via County Road 139:

View Larger Map

Usually before I go cycling I’ve already decided several days ahead of time where I’ll be going. Today was different. I hadn’t decided where I would be going as I finished breakfast this morning. I got on my bike and headed in the direction of the Pingding Sacred Tree, as there are many choices of routes available once there. I felt a rumbling in my stomach, so turned around to go to the big 7-11 on Zhongzheng Rd. This particular 7-11 rates high in terms of clean restrooms. Had it not been for the unexpected bout of abdominal bloating, I probably would have gone to the Pingding Sacred Tree and come back through Jhongliao like I usually do.

After leaving 7-11 I decided to head in the direction of Baguashan [八卦山].  I entertained the idea of cycling to Changhua and ascending Baguashan from the Giant Buddha Statue one of my six year old students can’t stop talking about.

While cycling along Provincial Road 14 [14丁] it began to rain lightly.  Soon however, it began raining heavily.  I hid under the awning of an abandoned building and began small talk with an older woman hauling vegetables in a small cart behind her.  She pointed up to the sign for the Tiao Shui Ancient Path [挑水古道 (seen at the top of the post)].  A few banners for the 2009 Hakka Tung Blossom Festival [2009客家桐花祭] hung from a few lamp posts.  Remembering a news report I saw last night about the Tung Blossoms of Nantou and Yunlin Counties already in bloom, I decided to head up the path [See the map on the lower-righthand corner of the page to see if they are in bloom in your area].

Quickly I discovered that I made a great choice to go this way:

The Tiao Shui Ancient Path is a road leading up to two wells, both 10 meters deep dug at two springs.  Although unsure of the year of completion, the path is thought to be at least 100 years old.

If riding your bike up, save enough energy to carry it up the stairs to the top:

The top of the path will take you to County Road #139 [Bagua Road (八卦路)/ Dachang Road (大彰路)] where you’ll be treated to several beautiful rural scenes like this:

If you’re hungry, you may want to stop at Fengshan Temple [鳳山寺].  There are a lot of food stands there catering to the weekend cyclists crowd.

I made a brief stop at Houtanjing [猴探井]…

…to make a panorama of the Changhua Plain:

View the large.

In addition to tea farms, there are also a lot of pineapple farms:

No trip to Baguashan would be complete without a stop to chat with Mr. Huang, the owner of Nantou Red Soil Coffee [南投市紅土咖啡].  I just noticed Mr. Huang and I are sitting in almost exact mirror images of eachother in this picutre:

Here’s the map of today’s fun:

View Larger Map

Ninety-Nine Peaks [九九峰)], view the large.

On Saturday, I went with Da-xiang, a family friend to the hot springs of Taichung County’s Guguan [谷關].  The first part of our journey was spent on HWY 14, which will probably be much more pleasurable to cycle on once the monstrous HWY 6 is completed giving motorists a faster option to Sun Moon Lake.

I don’t know how all the strawberry fields, betelnut stands, and cafes will cope with less traffic coming through.

We continued on HWY 14 until turning off to head towards central Guoxing [國姓].

It was shortly after taking the picture below that we had entered Taichung County:

If you look very closely, about a third from the left, near the top of the mountain, you may be able see a white house:  That’s the goal, after that it’s mostly downhill until the relaxing ascent to Guguan.

Here’s a picture taken near the top, the road below is the one we traveled up.  It was starting to get hot during this unseasonably warm February.

This was the only picture I stopped to take during the journey down.  I took it because you can see Shuei Mountain[雪山] in the background.

After stopping for lunch at a restaurant that had more flies than customers [and that's not counting the two sheets of fly paper on the table behind us with no extra space for flies to stick on], we were back on the road heading towards Guguan along part of the Central Cross-Island Highway [中部橫貫公路], passing farms and great scenery along the way:

There’s a handful of suspended pedestrian bridges in the area, too.  This is part of the Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area [參山國家風景區].


Stopping for a break, before the final stretch to Guguan:

After riding for about 75 km, Da-xiang and I met up with his wife, Cathy, her sister, and mother at Guguan.  They drove up there and arrived about an hour earlier than us.  After a brief rest and a couple refreshments it was time to soak in the hot springs.

We went to the Yidou Japanese-style Outdoor Hot Springs [伊豆日式露天溫泉].  The resort has seperate baths for men and women, but private baths and rooms are also available.  This was my first hot spring experience [which is outlandish considering I worked in Beitou for 2 years].   After one trip, I’m already sold on hot springs.  While relaxing in the springs I didn’t feel like I had just spent half a day on a bicycle.

Here’s a map of the route we took:

View Larger Map

Last weekend I went with my wife and her family to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village [九族文化村] in Yuchih Township.  Right now is a great time to go because it’s the park’s Cherry Blossom Festival [九族櫻花祭].

There are more than 3,000 Cherry Blossom trees in the park.  We got to the park early to avoid traffic, but the park also looks spectacular for anyone making a trip during the evening [here's a link to Flickr's most interesting pictures from the event, you'll see a few evening shots on the first page.].

The park devotes sections to nine of Taiwan’s aboriginal tribes.  Each tribe’s area has replicas of traditional houses, handicrafts, boats, tools, ect.  There are also a few live shows.

I took the previous Daily Photo panorama at this pond.  I hope to be a little better about posting Daily Photos next week.

There are a handful of rides and roller coasters in the park.  From this picture taken in the park’s European-style Garden, you can see the park’s U.F.O. Drop ride:

On the way back to the car we noticed a bunch of carriages sitting in the parking lot that will be used on the Sun Moon Lake Ropeway, which will link Sun Moon Lake and the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village.

There’s information on the park’s English website on getting there by car.  On the Chinese website there is a link for a deal for a bus ride from Taichung High Speed Rail Station to the park [bus ticket + admission for $750NT].

I have a few other pictures from the day on my Flickr.

Falling Dizzy For Pink:

In every February, the Cherry Blossom Festival has become one of the most important cherry blossom viewing activities in Taiwan. February is when cherry blossoms are in full bloom and the more than3000 重瓣山櫻花 (Multiple Petals Flowering Cherry, or Kwanzan Flowering Cherry) in the Village dance with wind.

Spring hasn’t arrived yet, but we have all fallen under the inspiration of Valentine’s Day this past February 14th.

Cherry blossoms are Universally reacognized as a metaphor of peace or romance – as we can see the symbolisim in a number movies and animes.  Crowds among crowds gather in numbers as they hike up the mountain trails to enjoy the beautiful pink-and-white scenery, filled with the cherry blossom petals.

More Than Just A Flower: From the Chinese culture, the blossom symbolizes feminine beauty, the feminine principle, or love in the language of herbs; while in Japan, the people believe them to exemplify the transient nature of life due to their short blooming period.

In general Asia, cherry blossoms are held so much to the heart that it has even been used within Buddhist influence, embodied in the concept of mono no aware.

The association of the term dates back to the early 18th century scholar, Motoori Norinaga.  The transition in life of the short-lived blossoms are much associated with morality, and for such reason, Sakura have become richly symbolic and utilized in Japanese art, manga, anime, film and performances.

(Photo, courtesy of taiwannews) Blooming sakuras in Caesar Park Hotel of Taipei. Photo is dated to February, 2009.

What is sakura: It is an omen of good fortune and an emblem of love, affection, and represents the coming of spring.

Sakura with cherry blossoms: It is an enduring metaphor on the nature of life and its various fluid transitions.

Sakura in history: During World War II, it was used in terms of motivation and manipulation to embed nationalism and militarism among the Japanese people.  Branches of trees were event taken with the fighters on their missions, and cherry blossoms painted on the side of bombers in symbolism of the intensity and ephemerality of life.  The association was altered such the fall of cherry petals came to represent the sacrafice of your in suicide mission, in honour of the emperor.  The government promoted the idea, among the populace, that the souls of the deceased warriors were reincarnated into the annual blossoms.

In colonial enterprises, the Imperial Japan planted cherry trees as significance of claiming territory, in the name of Japan.

(Photo, courtesy of dcpages) Cherry blossom petals, flying with the wind in Wahington D.C.

Cherry Blossom Petals: “Five Centimeters Per Second,” is the stated speed at which the petals fall.  This act is the metaphor or reminiscent of the slowness of life and how many often start together, only to gradually drift apart into separate ways and lives.  This theme is used in a Japanese animated film titled, “5 Centimeters Per Second,” a chain of stories about their distance, by writer and director, Makoto Shinkai in 2007.

A Pink Taiwan:

(Photo, courtesy of TAIPEI TIMES, by George Tsorng) Visitors flock to Yangmingshan National Park Sunday, February 16, the first day of this year's flower season, to see the cherry blossoms and get a breath of fresh air.

Taipei’s Yang-Ming-Shan National Park is to hold the Annual Flower Festival, officially beginning on Friday, February 20 (up to March 22).  Due to the confusing recent changes in weather, there have been a reported average of 20% to 30% blooming activity around the country, making it the perfect time to attract tourists and visitors.

Out of the approximate 2400 cherry trees in blossom, visitors may enjoy the five to six hundred, already in full bloom, according to Yan Chun-Cheng, Director of Yang-Min-Shan Office of the Taipei City Parks Administration.

One may call the Taipei City government hotline (1999, if calling from Taipei City, or for outside Taipei: 02 – 2720 – 8889) for any inuqiries.

Train:

(Photo, courtesy of taiwannews) Cherry blossoms and camellias have been seen blossoming in the mountains north of Taipei. Photo, dated to February, 2009.

The infamous, must-visit destination site, Alishan – is offering extra train services, destinated to its forest recreation area, during the upcoming cherry blossom season.

The scenic mountain (of Chiayi County) is one of the most visited and recommended tourist attracts in Taiwan with many art depicting sunrises from its mountains to the serene landscape and ancient trees.  The 86 kilometer railway runs up the mountain, which is only a mere one-third of the alpine railways remaining in existence in the world.  Taiwan is in gratitude for the many benefits of Japanese Colonization.

The most famous of the cherry blossoms are the white-blossomed Yoshino cherry from Japan.  The first Yoshino cherry trees grown in the area, is dated back to the early 19th century (1903), during the Japanese Colonial Period.

Planting them, however, did not rise in numbers until ten-some years later, in 1918, thanks to the Japanese importing some 900 Yoshino cherry saplings at where is now, the Chaoping train station.  Three years later, all the trees bloomed simultaneously, marking the first Alishan’s cherry blossom season in 1921.

Since the first season, varieties of cherry trees have since continued its import, and reintroduced to the terrain.  Today, the numbers have increased from 900 to over 6,000 Yoshino cherry trees.

Enjoying The View:

(Photo, couresy of sunmoonlake.gov.tw) The Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village first opened on July 27, 1986. It earned itself a reputation for its popular theme area which introduces Taiwanese Aboriginal culture and for its lush forest and beautiful European Garden.

What makes enjoying the blooming season the best, is viewing them at night when the Village uses the “light carving” technique.  It is an anfractuous path, created by lights ranging in various brightness and colours, romanticizing the beautiful in-bloom petals – with the background music, luring in the people into the outdoor cafes and restaurants by the couples and families.

Festival:

The enjoyed "light carving" in the evening festivities of the Aboriginal Cherry Blossom Festival.

It was so brought forth since its start in February 2001.  The festival consists of events, centered around mountains by the hundreds, filled with cherry trees, lining the world famous Sun Moon Lake and the 2000-some cherry trees in the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village.

Each year, this festival reignites tourism in Taiwan, during one of its slow seasons of the year, to enjoy and educate in Taiwan’s agriculture, history, beauty and ethnicity.

It is the largest, recognized festival in Central Taiwan, increasing the scale of tourism by the year.

Activities have lured around 50,000 people in all, including those of such professions as culture artists, poets, dancers, musicians, painters, culturists, and anthropologists – just to name a few.

Part of the festival, is the much raved program referred simply as the “Evening Cherry Blossom Activity” in which a single lamplight is placed on each tree, creating the romantic and poetic ambience to the colourful veranda.  This, in itself, is the hilight to Taiwan’s cultural activities.

In 2008:

(Photo, courtesy of TECO in Atlanta) Macon, Georia welcomes Taiwan in 2008.

On March 28, TECO in Atlanta received an invitation from the Kaohsiung City Government, led by Vice Mayor Lin Ren-Yih to attend Macon, Georgia’s [26th] Annual, International Cherry Blossom Festival.

Kaohsiung and Macon have been sister-cities for 32 years (as of 2009), hence the little China-Town of Atlanta, Georgia.  The Vice Mayor addressed the festival visitors and VIP’s (at the Kaleidoscope of Cultures cultural performance vent) to attend the World Games and other festivities Taiwan has to offer.

In 2007:

(Photo, courtesy of taiwan.net.tw) Wulai is a famous mountain village in northern Taiwan and is located in water reservation area. Residents are mostly aboriginal people (Tai Ya Tribe).

The Cherry Blossom Festival was held at the beautiful Sun Moon Lake (located in Wulai), one of the most raved romantic destinations for Taiwanese and all tourists alike.  The Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village of the area celebrated the season with two major festival activities, running in accordance from February 1 to April 1.  The festival began with “Evening Cherry,” lasting from February 1 to 29 during the day and evenings.

The culture village as well hosted a “Flowers and Greenery” activity running for the rest of the duration period of February 18 to April 1 with featured sculptured horticultural creations and other floral delights, featuring the village’s European Garden area and the Forest Orchid Trail with it alluring fragrances.

>>> Park, garden and trail information may be acquired through here.  <<

Cherry Isn’t Poetry, Life Is:

(Photo, courtesy of Japan Times) Two's company: Genji and his lover the Lady of the Misty Moon in the comic "Asakiyumemishi" (あさきゆめみし, or The Tale of Genji) by Waki Yamato. © WAKI YAMATO / KODANSHA

Mentioned previously, is the use of cherry blossoms in [Japanese] Buddhist literature; most of which are referred to in poems.

Iroha nioedo, chirinuruwo

Though I smell the colorful blossoms, they are doomed to scatter

Wagayo tarezo tsunenaran

Who in this world exists forever?

Ui no okuyama kyō koete

Today I cross over the deep mountains of existence

Asaki yume miji, eimo sezu

I shall no longer dream shallow dreams, no longer be drunk.

The cited poem [above] begins with establishing the sense of impermanence as the current global state – and ends with a luring promise of enlightenment and trescendence of cycle of willful existence (ui, is the only Buddhist technical term, used in this poem).

In Meaning: Colourful blossoms are cherry blossoms, the most important metaphor used within Heian-era literature.

Cherry bursts into bloom during the Spring, but they hae become fragile: their peak of beauty lasts a mere two to three days and at any time, are susceptible to being carried-off by the wind.  The symbolism of being rushed off by the wind, is to the fragility of one’s human life – capable of meeting its end at any moment and day.

Under all circumstances, the flowers still fall past their bloom: the best of moments in life occur in brief, scattered moments.

The blossoms are the feelings of peace and enlightenment, of which has become the ideal expression of mono no aware in literature.

Buddhistic cherry blossom as the main focus: in a poem, titled, Kokin wakashū:

Utsusemi no yo nimo nitaru ka

Indeed how they resemble this fleeting world of ours!

Hanasakura

The cherry blossoms.

Sakuto mishimani katsu chirinikeri

No sooner do we gaze at them in bloom then they have scattered

Utsusemi is defined as both the human world and the emptiness of the cicada shell, reinforcing the Buddhist thought of the world as a mere transiet place, of no permanent substance (other than life, or spirit of all things in nature), like the cherry blossoms.

Underneath its given and adored appearance, is translated as the pleasantness of life or the anxiety over its impermanence.

An example of the metaphor, Prince Genji (<< a highly recommended read, it is considered to be The Asia’s Odyssey) came to a regret of a life empty by the pursuit of pleasures, in a society of superficialness where the result of age is of bad omen.  Throughout the Heian era, the anxiety grew.

The 2009 Nantou City Sand Sculpture Art Festival [2009南投市貓羅溪畔沙雕藝術節] opened on January 17 and runs until February 15.  Located along the Maoluo River, this is the first event of its kind held in central Taiwan.

I guess a handful of local hoodlums had grown tired of simply getting intoxicated, breaking empty liquor bottles on the street, and urinating in public as some of the sculptures were vandalized about a week and a half before the opening of the festival.  Luckily, the damage had been repaired and the works were ready for the opening.

The festival showcases the work of twenty artists.   Adjacent to the sand sculptures exhibit is a driftwood art exhibit.  There is also a stage set-up, but no one was performing or speaking when we went.  There is also plenty of stands for snacks and a section for kids to create their own sculptures.

Looking to drive here?  You can get directions from Google Maps.

For the last couple months any cycling I’ve done has completely been limited to my commute to and from work.  This morning, I managed to change this recent streak with a trip along the Caotun Bike Route [草屯鎮自行車道].  The first portion of the trip was up to the Pingding Sacred Tree [坪頂神木].   Usually there are cyclists resting on the benches near the tree.  This time I felt lonely being the only one there, so after sitting a couple minutes and a few sips of Super Supau I was on my way.

The road down to Nanpu [南埔] has a handful of Cherry Blossoms [櫻花] in bloom along the way:

I still haven’t gotten a tripometer/speedometer for my bike so I don’t know how fast I went down this hill after I took this picture:

Once down, the bike route takes visitors past several of the area’s farms.  Here’s one filled with Rapeseed Flowers:

A very serious racing pigeon operation:

One portion of the route [unlikely marked correctly on the map I made from the trip] takes riders along a narrow path which runs parallel to an irrigation ditch.

The bike path sign points towards this water mill.  I assumed I was supposed to keep going past the water mill.

The path continued up to an industrial facility guarded by several [thankfully chained] dogs.  The road ended at a long concrete stairwell going down.  I went down the stairs without my bike to see if I was going the right way, but the path led to an irrigation ditch.  The dogs were still barking loudly in the background.  I went back up the stairs and got on my bike again.  It seems the only unchained dog had noticed me.  He appeared more docile than the others.  As I rode past him, he gave chase to me. He was barking and trying to bite my leg as I peddled quickly while the others dogs gave him encouragement.  Luckily, he stopped after about fifteen meter chase.  After taking a brief stop and checking the view I figured out where I had to be:

The bike route connects to HWY 14, anyone who has been to Sun Moon Lake is probably familiar with the route.  But don’t worry, bikers of this route only have to share the busy highway with automobiles along what is probably the most dangerous, steepest section of the road.  Seeing the fork to turn at will be the happiest moment of your trip:

Along County Road 6 you’ll see Pinglin Bridge [平林橋]…
and The Twin Dragons Tunnel [雙龍隧道]:

The route follows a few local roads after County Road 6 connects with HWY 14.

There are plenty of farms and interesting old houses along the way:

I crossed the Wu River [烏溪] at Tongxin Bridge [同心橋] and followed the last portion of the trail along Shizhuo Lane [石灼巷].  Here an abandoned car is claimed by nature:

This is the end of the route, the road ends not much further down.  It is a very anti-climactic ending to the bike route.  The road ends somewhere close to the border with Guoxing Township [國姓鄉].  I mostly followed the same route home, the total distance was about 50 km [30 miles] roundtrip.

(Photo courtesy of FANG PIN-CHAO, Taipei Times, dated to March 13, 2004)
The event, which took place throughout the nation’s 25 cities and counties, climaxed when the alliance’s presidential candidate, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), made a dramatic gesture in Taipei and prostrated himself, kissing the ground alongside his wife Lien Fang-Yu (連方瑀) and KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-Cheng (林豐正) in front of the Presidential Office.

Lien said the move was meant to demonstrate his love for Taiwan.

Lien Chan has served as Chairman under the KMT from 2000 – 2005.

The name originated from Lien Heng (known for his writing, “The General History of Taiwan“)who, sick with liver cancer during his stay in Shanghai, wrote to his pregnant daughter-in-law (in Xi’an) :

“China and Japan will battle inevitably.  If the child born is a boy, name him Lien Chan, signifying that the strength coming from within oneself will never diminish and can overcome the enemies and be victorious.  It also has the meaning of reviving the former nation, reorganizing the light and hope of our homeland.” (『中、日必將一戰，如生男則名連戰，寓有自強不息，克敵制勝，有復興故國、重整家園光明希望。』)

Everyone is “on pins and needles” with the issue of the “Taiwan Strait,” no matter which side one is speaking from.  Lets look at the man who has been the head and Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) party for so many years, Lien Chan (連戰).  Believing that “Taiwan should seize the chance,” he says, “In such a situation, Taiwan would suffer a serious negative impact if it keeps a close mind.”  Before we dissect and look into what he’s said (the opportunity), lets first look at what got him there.

What environment and family did he come from?

How did he enter the KMT party?

What influence did he have as a Chairman?

List of the Chairman’s actions…

Environment:

Born in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China as an only child to Lien Chen-Tung (連震東) and Chao Lan-K’un (趙蘭坤), he was not considered  member of the “Mainlander group in Taiwan” due to his Taiwanese familial roots.

Lien earned a Bachelor’s degree in political science (in 1957), and a Master of Arts in International Law and Diplomacy (in 1961) from National Taiwan University (NTU).  Continuing his education in the University of Chicago (where he received a Ph.D. in political science in 1965), married former Miss ROC (Taiwan), Fang Yui.

Returning to Taiwan in 1968 as a visiting professor of political science in NTU, he as well served as Chairman of the Political Science Department and Dean of the Graduate Institute of Political Science the following year.

Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan (R) delivers a speech as his wife Lien Fang-yu (C) applauds after an ancestor worship ceremony at Lien's Ancestral Hall at Maqi Village in Zhangzhou, a city in southeast China's Fujian Province on April 19, 2006. Lien's ancestors lived in Maqi Village and moved to Taiwan in 1628. Lien Chan and his family members worshipped ancestors at his hometown of Maqi Village.

The Father: His father, Lien Chen-Tung, bought their first piece of land in 1949, currently recognized as the site of the second hall of the Idee Department Store in Nan-Jing West Road, Taipei.  Documents prove that in the year prior to the land purchase, the KMT government had nationalized the property as early as 1950, having transferred over to Lien [father] in 1951.  This land, unfolded a series of scandals later on, which had been investigated by former Taipei mayor (at the time), Chen Shui-Bian (陳水扁).  Along to the property, the family had illegally purchased farming land, used for commerical purpouses.  In 1961, Lien [father] used the same method in purchasing another piece of land (within the same area), completing the land recategorization only five years later, in 1966.

The father is not alone in scandalous land-purchases, the oldest daughter, Lien Hui-Hsin (連惠心) was documented at the age of two having purchased (another) farmland in the Shih-Lin District in 1959 when Lien [father] was studying in the United States, later changed into building land in 1972.  According to the Agriculture Development Act (ADA, 農業發展條例), only the people who are able to cultivate the land are eligible to buy farming land was not passed until 1973, the previous Land Law (土地法), passed in 1930 held equivalent regulations on farmland purchases.

The calling to move back to Taiwan and family’s list of properties (shooting the family’s wealth into Taiwan’s 11th place), molded his fate into a political career.

(Photo courtesy of Xinhua) Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi (R) talks with Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan at a banquet in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, Oct. 18, 2006. Wu held the banquet Wednesday night in honor of the representatives of the Cross-strait Agricultural Cooperation Trade Fair.

Enter, the KMT:

The social and political climb started when he served as an Ambassador to El Salvador (1975 – 1976); to Minister of Communications and Transportation (in 1981 – 1987); then promoted as the position many remember him for, Vice Premier (in 1987 – 1988); to Foreign Minister (in 1988 – 1990); to a powerful and influential position as Governor of Taiwan Province (in 1990 – 1993) and finally appointed in 1993 as Premier of the Republic of China (ROC, or Taiwan).

Former President, *Lee Teng-Hui appointed Lien as Vice President in 1996 while retaining premiership.  Dual positions lead to an unpopular image among the people while opposition parties claimed that this action is in conflict with the Constitution, leading to a Council of Grand Justices decision ruling that Lien’s retention of these dual roles was “constitutional but inappropriate.”  Wisely following advice of the Council, he stepped down as Premier in 1997, but held his Vice Presidency status.

Lien was a Vice Chairman to the KMT party (1993 – 2000) and held membership to the Central Committee within equal time period (1984 – 2000).  His term as Vice President could not help boost his popularity and remained under the image as being arrogant, aloof and out of touch with the public.  This was the start of a trend, unrolling before himself down the years, even to present time.  His father, Lien Cheng-Tung, held position as the Interior Minister of the Taiwanese Agriculture Policy and through his influence, the family made further farmland purchase (throughout the 1950’s and 60’s), then illegally rezoning them.  Quoting a DPP Legislator, Tang Bi-A, “It is doubtful that Lien Chan and his father could accumulate billions in wealth for their family when both of them were government officials receiving limited salaries.”  The Lien family was already within Taiwan’s top wealthiest, recognized people.

Visiting Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) Party of China Lien Chan delivers a speech upon his arrival at the Beijing Capital International Airport Thursday April 28, 2005. Lien said it is the "common aspiration" of the people from both sides of the Taiwan Straits to build a peaceful and win-win future. (newsphoto)

Influence As A Chairman:

After KMT’s political defeat in 2000 with Chen Shui-Bian’s presidency, Lien assumed leadership in the KMT and in following, adopted a platform to erase the Lee effect from Taiwan and “Return to the Good Old Days,” a call to return to the rule of Chiang Ching-Kuo.  The party launched a support to eradicate Lee supporters, and held membership to drive to attack KMT loyalists.  This action followed a drop in membership as many of the former members as a compulsory act of conscripted military service never renewed.  Lien, now a Chairman, held forums in discussion of erasing the KMT’s image as a corrupt institution and promised to release property seized by the party following the Japanese exodus.

The forums changed the image of the KMTs forever: there is now a friendlier KMT party, one that would attempt to listen to the public voice.

Having returned properties to the government, the scandal still did not leave the hearts of the damaged.  People believed and criticized that Lien was freely submitting the land to local governments as a form of payoff in exchange for political support.  In the 44-member City Council, the KMT party holds the largest number of 11 seats, the DPP 9 seats, the TSU (Taiwan Solidarity Union) 5 seats, and the PFP (People First Party) 3 seats.  The other 16 seats are held by the Independents.

(Photo courtesy of daylife) Lien Chan (L) former chairman of the Kuomintang party (KMT) meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on April, 29, 2008. Lien Chan flew to China on April 28 for a nine-day trip. Lien met Hu, the fourth meeting between the two since his historic trip to the mainland in 2005.

Actions That Speak Louder Than Words:

April 26, 2005, Lien Chan traveled back to China, meeting with the Communist Party of China (CPC) heavyweights, such as CPC leader, Hu Jin-Tao.  The meeting is recognized as the greatest level of exchange since Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Ze-Dong’s meting in Chong-Qing (August 28, 1945), in celebration of victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War and discussed a possible compromise in the [then] impending Chinese Civil War.  April 29th of the same year, Lien presented a speech at Beijing University and met with China’s President, Hu Jin-Tao, reaching the ever unforgettable “5-point Consensus, reaffirming that Taiwan is part of China and that the two parties would work together to ‘prevent Taiwan independence.’ “

In Peru, President Ma Ying-Jeou hand-selected Lien as a special envoy in representing Taiwan, participating as “Chinese Taipei” at the APEC in 2008.  With this status, he was able to make a second visit with Hu, known as the “highest level of official exchange betweent eh Mainland and Taiwan on the international stage.”

THE Talks on November 21, 2008 and Beyond…

On November 21, 2008, Hu Jin-Tao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and his wife Liu Yong-Qing met in Lima with Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan and his wife Lien Fang-Yu.

“You are our old friend and I am very glad to meet you again today,” President Hu said, directed to Lien. In the meeting, Hu spoke highly of Lien’s many contributions and efforts in the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations that KMT and China, together, have so long desired.

Hu, in noting the current cross-Strait ties, mentioned the registered sound development, and the four agreements having been signed by (China’s) Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) during its visit with the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).  SEF is responsible for the newly direct shipping and flights, postal services and food safety, and for having brought substantial benefits to compatriots in either side of the Taiwan Straits.  Success of the visit indicates development of [cross-Strait] relations in turning over a new leaf and into an admirable perspective.  Hu adds that through enhancing exchanges and cooperation shall greater ignite the common aspiration and the general trend.

Hu calls the compatriots of both sides of the Strait are one family: It is within this crucial moment that both sides should embark on communication and through cooperate in trade and like economic cooperation, turn challenges into opportunities.

In delight of a rare second visit, Lien referred the current meeting as an indication of further development and growing cooperation and adds that the greater Taiwanese are excited and welcome the agreements.  He continues, agreeing with Hu: contributing to global economic growth should be successful with equal compliance.

What Lays Beyond ‘The Talks,’ the opportunity :

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Hu Jintao (R) holds a meeting with Lien Chan, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), on Tuesday afternoon in Beijing. (Photo, courtesy of Xinhua}

Hu, from a meeting in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in central Beijing, he fondly recalls the original meeting with Lien that had taken place nearly four years ago: the first official summit between the CPC and the KMT in the past 60 years.  Hu called for resuming the talks on basis of the “1992 Consensus” as early as possible in resolving issues within a practical manner.

“The Chinese nationality will realize a bright future in its great rejuvenation, a common glory for the compatriots of the two banks,” said Hu, adding that by compatriots sharing the same fate, we all belong to the same big family of the Chinese nationality.

Having attended a Legislative Yuan committee meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Ou was in high hopes of Taiwan’s intention to join the WHA or  the World Health Organization where he and Lien (representing President Ma Ying-Jeou) met at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) informal summit in Peru in late November 2008.  Since Ma’s Presidential inauguration and the historic discussion on the Taiwan Straight, the United States has been encouraging in relations, the U.N. is one step closer to recognizing the ROC, and China offered their historical first offering to Taiwan: Pandas.

(Photo courtesy of China Newsphoto/Reuters/Corbis) Lien Chan, the honorary chairman of the Taiwanese KMT party, and his wife visit a panda research centre during a tour of mainland China in October. China offered a pair of pandas as a gift to Taiwan.

Lien asked if there were chances for Taiwan to join the U.N.-affiliated organization, the Foreign Minister complimented Lien as “persuasive” and have since, been on friendly terms with the Chinese president.  Ou states that Taiwan has a 60% of chance in succeeding, particularly in view of a long period of preparations the people have have before the WHA convenes in May (of this year).

“People on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are pleased with the mainland’s decision to donate a pair of pandas to Taiwan compatriots,” Lien said soon after the annoucement by Chen Yun-Lin, director of the Taiwan Work Office of CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

(photo courtesy of AsiaNews) China-Taiwan dialogue resumes: trade and tourism to avert crisis.

Globalizing through China:

Thanking on behalf of Taiwan, Lien addressed, “People on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are pleased with the mainland’s decision to donate a pair of pandas to Taiwan compatriots.”

Lien as well welcomed China’s decision in expanding the access of Taiwan’s agriculture to 18 species – from the current 12, and exempting tariff on (minimum) 10 species of Taiwan fruits.  This is of great significance to the farmers and agriculture industry, in Central and Southern Taiwan.  Since the decision to allow straight flights, sightseeing tours is another “epoch-making” movement for the both sides: the welcoming of Mainland Chinese tourists to the island.

“We all witnessed how tourists from the mainland have helped boost the economic recovery in Hong Kong after the travel go-aheadwas given years ago.” comments Lien on the subject of Chinese tourism in Taiwan,  “Almost all the world’s major countries have placed great importance on the mainland, viewing it as an important place to improve competitiveness and expand markets.”

“In such a situation, Taiwan would suffer a serious negative impact if it keeps a closed mind,” he said, adding that now is a crucial time to “seize the market and business opportunities, and a way out” on China.

A recommended read, from the Institute for National Policy Research, titled: A New Beginning for Taiwan-China Relations?

A couple days before our wedding we brought my family and Cathy’s nephew up to Cingjing Farm [清境農場] for some great food and mountain scenery.  The winding road going up still had a few sections of road missing from the previous typhoon [four months ago].  Luckily there were no delays as there was very little traffic going up or down from our destination because it was a weekday.

Our first stop after such a long drive was Yunwu [清境雲舞樓渡假花園] for some excellent Yunnan cuisine, no need for much description, I’ll let the pictures do the talking…

First on the menu: Pepper Herb Chicken [椒麻雞]:

Next: Spice Roasted Fish [香料烤黃魚]:

Followed by some Steamed Pork [橘皮扣肉]:

The following three dishes I didn’t catch the name of but were nothing short of delicious:

After a very satisfying lunch we headed to the Evergreen Grassland [青青草原] for a brief stroll and to see the sheep.  Since it’s winter now, the grass is yellow, but in warmer months it blankets the area in a sea of green.

I filled a paper bag with food from the vending machine and began to feed the sheep.  Quickly about half a dozen sheep surrounded me.  Towards the end of the bag one bold sheep snatched the bag out of my hand and ate the paper bag and any remaining food that was inside of it.

My brother takes a moment to enjoy the view:

I really like this picture of Cathy’s nephew Henry [saved by using the onboard flash as fill light]:

Finally, I’ll wrap things up with a hastily shot panorama that turned out better than the other two I made [that I spent much more time shooting]:

View the large.

Supporters of former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian shout slogans during a night rally in Taipei November 22, 2008. Around 1,000 supporters protested on Saturday against Chen's arrest, which they called a political plot. A probe into the ex-president's suspected role in several money-related crimes will be finished by year end, possibly leading to an indictment, a special prosecutor's spokesman said. The banner reads "Political prosecution, return my innocence, the judiciary is dead, the country mourns".

History that’s almost too unbelievable to be true, almost as if it’s a story come-alive from a novel.  Ma Ying-Jeou (馬英九) and the KMT party appear to find endless accusations, filing one after the other, against former President, Chen Shui-Bian (陳水扁).  As a prisoner, number 2630 with only one cell-mate, Chen’s faith is ever as strong, however feels as if there is no end in site.

Monday, January 19, public prosecutors filed two additional charges against Chen at a pretrial session for his case at the Taipei District Court.  What new charges could they be based on?  Nothing new apparently: additional counts of “extorting property and demanding forcibly through influence” and “profiteering in a non-authority status” in a bribery case surrounding a Lungtan land procurement deal in 2004.  But wait, doesn’t this sound familiar?  Doesn’t it sound like past KMT actions reported by the people, only to be hushed later through bribery and political intimidation?

Forbes.com: Taiwan's Richest, #19, Leslie Koo

Well, according to the prosecutors, Chen pushed for the government’s purchase of the land for the construction of a science park by taking advantage of his presidency, once after the First Lady, Wu Shu-Jen, accepted bribes from Taiwan Cement chairman, Leslie Koo, in TaoYuan County of northern Taiwan.  The estimated amount is stated to be NTD $300 million (USD $8.9 million) from bribes within the deal back in December, 2008.

In searching for past articles on KMT’s harassment, threats, acts of political intimidation and bribery reported by farmers, landowners and other citizens – somehow disappeared from search – just when it was available prior to January 2008.  I can remember one such article from etaiwannews.com, a local farmer in Central Taiwan reported to the local news how the KMT party came to ask him to voluntarily sign-over the land to the party.  When he refused, the visitors resulted to diplomatic actions, held the farmer at knife-point, it was an offer he could not refuse.  After reporting it to officials, the case never developed since he signed-over “voluntarily” to the KMT representatives…

Chen’s three lawyers described the pile of charges as “salt on his wound,” arguing that during his 17 years of service as a lawyer, had never seen such an addition of new charges to an indictment.

“If such a thing were true, I could not die in peace,” Chen comments on the bribery accusations, in a court proceeding.

Chen Shui-Bian is seen Monday stepping-out of a detention centre in Taipei.

Chen Shui-bian pleads, “not guilty,” to the recent charges (receiving bribes in a land deal).  He appeared at a Taipei court for a pre-trial hearing on graft charges, which he believes to be politically motivated.  The 58-year-old Chen admits to his wife having transferred $20 million abroad without his knowledge  also well admitted to the case of submitting bogus expense forms, however the amount was strictly used for and labeled as “secret diplomatic missions“.

Quoting from a report by taipeitimes.com,

“Why did they need to add these two charges?  It is because they know that the initial charges were too weak to convict me,” Chen said.  “For the Lungtan case, I was actually trying to help boost the nation’s economy.  How can that be called corruption?”

“No [other defendants] have ever named me as bribe recipient and I don’t know why I was charged with taking bribes,” he told the court.

The session, heard by Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-Hsun (蔡守訓) and judges Hsu Chien-Hui (徐千惠) and Wu Ding-Ya (吳定亞), began at 9:30am (footnote by yours truly: court began at 9:-30 am today, simultaneous to the publication release of his book.)

The Beginning:

A man buys copies of former president Chen Shui-bian’s new book at a bookstore in Taipei yesterday next to a sign that carries the cover of the book. (PHOTO courtesy of AFP, dated to Monday, January 19, 2009.)

One of the first cases to be charged against the former President is of him having stolen selected “top secret” files from the Presidential Office.  All files within the office are handed done from one president to the next, including those classified as official, confidential, top-secret, etc.  Removing any file or document is considered a federal offense.  It was believed that Chen had taken the reported files, as to protect Taiwan from Ma after his inauguration.  When brought into hearing, Chen defended that due to the confidentiality of the documents, they cannot be presented or discussed in court.

Category five did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Presidential Office.  Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-Po (詹春柏) remarked.  The Chen administration defended that the documents, pertaining to six diplomatic missions, were classified material under the protection of the “Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法)” and that prosecutors nor court should not be allowed to see them.  In following, they asked the Presidential Office to voluntarily declassify the documents so the trial may resume.  Chen’s office, on August 06, 2008, issued a statement calling Ma’s actions “illegal” and “unconstitutional.”

DPP Legislator, Gao Jyh-Peng (高志鵬), spoke in a press conference that Chen has been advised to file lawsuit against Ma, arguing that his decision would constitute an offense against national security.

He said the Council of Grand Justice’s Ruling No. 627 issued in June 2007: recognizes the president’s confidentiality privilege, and that given such a privilege, the president could determine whether a document should be kept confidential for national security or national interest concerns.

Since Chen’s approval in the permanent classification of the documents in reference to diplomatic secrets as confidential information, Ma would be violating the law and the Constitution by opening the documents, said Gao.

For now, the court date is set for February 24: if proven guilty, he may face a life sentence in prison.  13 others involved, includes: Chen’s wife, son, daughter-in-law and brother-in-law.  The prosecutors added to the attention that Chen’s son holds a Swiss bank-account with $22 million, believed to be a colletction of illegal proceeds.

“Everybody wants to struggle upstream, Chen writes, but sometimes a person must make sacrifices in return for a bigger reward and sometimes a person messes up not because the person is stupid, but because he is too intelligent.  “

this would be the chance to listen to his last defence." “]”]

Review and Criticism:

In the book, “Taiwan’s Cross,” (the cover depicts a photo of the former President in handcuffs with fists in the air, exclaiming, “POLITICAL PERSECUTION, GO TAIWAN,” Chen questions former premier Frank Hsieh’s (謝長廷) presidential campaign strategy and insinuates that he [Hsieh] should be held solely responsible for the political defeat in 2008’s presidential election.

Of the chapters and sections within the book, one chapter “Striving Upstream,” stands out.  Chen writes a rare display of emotions compared to his reserved, but passionate image, that it was unfair for him to shoulder the responsibility as a whole for the party’s defeat in 2008’s presidential election.

Hsieh plans to invest more to help the elderly, children and disadvantaged groups. (Courtesy of Hsieh-Su campaign headquarters)

“The Democratic Progressive Party’s biggest opponent does not lie on the outside, President Ma or the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT),” says Chen through the words of his book, “… But it lies on the inside.  The party is not united and everybody has his or her own axe to grind.”

On the debate of Hsieh’s political campaign, Chen speaks of Ma’s green card status appearing to have been the Hsieh campaign’s sole issue.  Along with which in early February of 2008, Hsieh accused Ma of adopting “double standards,” stating that Ma, together with his running mate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), talks about loyalty and clemency on TV, but treats people indicted for graft like convicted felons.

Many a passer-by would stop to hear for a brief moment before continuing on their way.  In Taipei City, not all citizens nor students may be able to speak Taiwanese, let alone understand it, as appose to Central or Southern Taiwan.

It was just “one bad show dragging on for too long.”  Supporters remember all too clearly the campaign season at the time, recollecting how the campaign seem to mainly stress the issue of independence, attaining membership in the United Nations, and the opposition’s political errs – all in Taiwanese.  Though the show of strength in Taiwanese identity and union seems to be a strength, the lack of speaking on other issues, failed.

After Thoughts:

I would like to conclude this article in an after thought with a piece from taipeitimes.com, in 2004.

Lee Tung-Hui said that Taiwanese should use three core principles in defining their relationship with China: first that Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China are two separate countries which do not belong to each other; second, the confirmation of “Taiwan First,” i.e., thinking from a nationalist perspective centered on the interests of Taiwan; third, counting China as a hostile country until it renounces its military threats against Taiwan.

Much of the discussion of the need for a new constitution centered on the lack of clarity about who should actually govern in Taiwan’s semi-presidential system.

“Taiwan is a political system neither led by the president nor by the Cabinet. The president cannot dismiss the legislature when the legislature is running amok and vice versa,” Lee Hung-Hsi said.

He said it was necessary to draft a new constitution because it was impossible to amend the current one.

“To have the Constitution amended, regulations require that the amendment has to be proposed by at least one fourth of the legislators, at least three-fourths of the legislators have to be present at the session and at least three-fourths of the legislators present at the session must support the amendment.  But with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) dominating the legislature, any amendment is destined to fail.  So we can only resort to making a new constitution,” he said.

Lee Hung-Hsi pointed out that the current Constitution was written in 1946 and promulgated in 1947 in China.  It reflected the needs of China, and it had nothing to do with Taiwan.  Taiwan needed a constitution of its own, he said.

“Someone has even been saying amending the Constitution would cause chaos in the country, but even China has amended its Constitution in the past and we didn’t see Chinese people running amok after that,” he said.

According to Chen Po-Chih (陳博志), chairman of Taiwan Thinktank, the KMT was trying to preserve the current Constitution to enable it to hold on to power at some level.

Lee Tung-Hui is as well known for being a splitist, as an article (September 2003) would depict.  A believer of Taiwan Independence moved and molded the nation into individuality and encouraged the reintroduction of the long-lost Taiwanese identity.

“In regards to national identity, Lee supported the Taiwanese localization movement, which prioritized anything Taiwanese and opposed anything Chinese.  Lee believed that Chinese and Taiwanese identities were completely incompatible.”   -Harvard International Review (HIR), “Crafting the Taiwanese“

Cast members of the film "Ballistic" Chang Hsiao-chuan (L) and Hu Ting-ting pose for photographers during a news conference in Taipei January 8, 2009. As Taiwan ex-president Chen Shui-bian waits behind bars for a graft trial after losing an appeal for release, a film about his controversial election eve shooting will debut on the island this week. The Hong Kong action movie "Ballistic" uses a fictional plot to revisit March 19, 2004, when incumbent Chen and his running mate Annette Lu were shot and slightly injured during a campaign rally in southern Taiwan. They won the race a day later.

We took my parents and brother on a day trip to Sun Moon Lake a few days before the wedding.  We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day: it was sunny, reasonably warm, and crowd-free thanks to it being a non-holiday weekday.

Sun Moon Lake is located in Yuchih Township, in Nantou County, close to the geographic center of Taiwan.
After a brief walk along part of the shoreline, we got back in the car and stopped at Wenwu Temple [文武廟].  The last time I visited this temple there were over a dozen tour buses parked in front, today was comparably quiet as there were only three.

The temple has great views and a lot of color, making it a wonderful place to photograph.

The giant lions in front were a donation from the late chairman of the Shin Kong Insurance Company:

We ate lunch at The Richforest Resort [儷山林哲園名流會館] which has a lovely view of the lake [I've heard mixed reviews regarding the rooms].  I was apprehensive whether or not my parents would like the Pineapple Shrimp [鳳梨蝦球] on account of it being smothered in Japanese mayonnaise, but it turns out they loved it so much they wanted to know where to pick up such mayonnaise in the States:

My dad liked this lightly fried fish dish best, I forgot what it was called, but it was delicious:

if I recall correctly I ate about half the Mountain Boar with the rest split between six other people:

The resort had a lovely dock with outdoor seating.  From this picture you can see the gondola being built in the background which will connect Sun Moon Lake with the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village [九族文化村].  I can only hope this cable car system isn’t plagued with problems like the Maokong Gondola has since its first day of operation.

Our next stop was Syuentzang Temple [(玄奘寺], which was built in the Tang Dynasty style.


The lake’s Lalu Island [拉魯島] is sacred ground of the Thao aboriginal tribe.

That’s all for this post!  I’m actually going back to Sun Moon Lake tomorrow morning for an end of the year company trip.  I don’t think I’ll be taking too many photos with such a tight schedule of mandatory team-building activities.

The 2008 Nantou Flower Festival [2008 南投花卉嘉年華] started on December 6, 2008 and runs through today.  Held on Puli’s Dapingding [大坪頂], we went to the event on a weekday so there were no crowds at all.  This is the twelfth year this event has been held and is its largest yet.

Even on a busy day it probably wouldn’t seem too crowded given the size of the area [30+ hectares].  The event has a wide variety of flowers so there are plenty of colors to feast your eyes on.

My sincere apologies to any readers who did not hear of the event until now but were hoping to visit.  You still have until January 18th to visit the Taipei Flower Show at Da-an Park.

I woke up early on Saturday with the intent of cycling out to Zhongliao’s [中寮] Dragon and Phoenix Waterfalls [龍鳳瀑布]. The weather was cool, but quite tolerable once I hit the road. Regular readers will recognize the temple pictured above from the conclusion of my previous biking trip.

View the large.

My first stop was Shuangwen Elementary School [爽文國小], which is one of several schools rebuilt after the destructive 7.3 magnitude 921 Earthquake. After hitting the road again, I found the Longan Forest Bike Path [龍眼林自行車道]:

This is for drying Longan Fruit:

The deserted path had charming distance markers:

The path follows the Zhangping River [樟平溪], which was more or less followed all the way to the waterfalls:

I headed up a side route to Yuetaoxiang Farm [月桃香農場] thinking there was something interesting up ahead, but little did I know that all that was there were a couple cabins for vacationers, oh well, the workout was nice.

The side route up to Xiashuiku Farm [下水堀農場] was a much more visually rewarding distraction:

I was invited by a couple doing some work on the temple below for tea, unfortunately I had to decline because I knew I would chat for hours if a pot of tea was in front of me:

Next door was the Xiashuiku Ecological Farm [下水堀生態農場], which is probably more interesting when it is open:

Not to say the side route wasn’t worth it, the scenery made it all worthwhile:


Next stop was Qingshui Elementary School, the second school I visited which had to be rebuilt after the 921 Earthquake:

The very colorful Xinfo Temple [心佛寺] is on the way to the waterfalls:

Before long I was at the parking lot for the waterfalls, a kind farmer at the entrance gave me a couple bananas:


There’s a lovely raised wooden walkway to the waterfall… until…

…visitors come across the large section that was wiped out from the previous typhoon. The waterfalls are still accessible by simply walking across the large stones in the riverbed up to the concrete section of the pathway.

First stop is the Phoenix Waterfall [鳳瀑布]:

Followed by a short walk to the Dragon Waterfall [龍瀑布]:

There’s a lot of great wildlife around the area, I’ll be posting most of them as Daily Photos, but here’s one:

The trip home was rather uneventful until I made the boneheaded decision to take a different route back which was fine and dandy until I saw this sign which wasn’t very fun after becoming tired and running out of water:

The farming community of Nanpu [南埔] on the lowlands while the unmistakable Ninety-Nine Peaks [九九峰] are visible in the center-right [View the large edition of the panorama].

Sunday morning’s weather was gray, cloudy, and drizzling. I headed in the direction of Nanpu because the skies over Baguashan [八卦山] looked a little more threatening. The climb up was the same as the previous visit. Instead of turning off the for the steep bike path down, I continued till my first rest stop – the Pingding Sacred Tree [坪頂神木].

Local governments all over Taiwan are feeding the cycling craze by adding paths and repaving roads like the one above to encourage physical fitness and rake in tourism dollars.

I shared tea and conversation with a group of cyclists resting there. One had recognized me from my morning commute from Jhongsing Village to Caotun.

I took a road that I figured would take me in the general direction of home. On the way, thanks to the weather, I was treated to a lovely view:

View the large.

A small community nestled in the hills:

Shortly after turning left here….

and taking a picture here…

I was passed by this pack of cyclists one last time [I don't know who was following who, they would pass me going uphill but you better believe they were no match for me downhill]:

After seeing this I knew exactly where I was:

You may remember it from this post on Michael Turton’s blog.

It’s trips like this I wish I worked a four-day week:

Soon I came across a sign pointing to Jhongsing Village, down this lovely one-lane mountain road:

There’s Sun Thing Happening here:

It was about 9:15, it’s too bad Sun Thing Happening [陽光的事] wasn’t open yet as this is the only cafe from here to my house [with the exception of a brand new one a block from my house that I've never seen any customers inside] and I was really craving a hot coffee. I don’t know if the coffee is any good, but the name is catchy.

Won’t be taking this road home:

This road had collapsed from heavy rains during a typhoon two months ago. Being outside of Taipei City I am sure this is a low-priority to be fixed.

On the way down a passable road, I stopped by Guanyin Temple [觀音寺]:

These Cherry Blossoms [櫻花] are either very early or very late:
More damage from the previous typhoon, this time on a two-lane road with the sections of road missing about the width of an automobile:

As you can see from the picture below, the damage is far more extensive than the first photo reveals. It will probably be fixed around the same time the next typhoon season begins:

Since my class of older students come from a handful of different schools for their afternoon English classes, I’m kept pretty up-to-date as to when owls are calling the trees of their school grounds homes. My students are also nice enough to draw maps to help me find the specific trees the owls are in so I don’t have to spend hours searching the branches of each tree during the weekend. With my map in hand, I was very delighted to find the tree that the two Collared Scops-Owls were resting in at a nearby elementary school [one pictured above and the other one in today's Daily Photo].

Info from Birding in Taiwan:

The Collared Scops-Owl is a small owl [24cm]… The Collared Scops-Owl hunts at night, waiting from a low perch for small vertebrates or large insects, which it then pounces upon… These small owls usually nest in a natural tree hollow or woodpecker hole, and will also use nesting boxes. In Taiwan the Collared Scops-Owl is fairly common in forested areas, including treed areas near towns.

I wouldn’t worry about the students terrorizing the owls in any form because next to the tree there is a sign posted with info about the owls and the severe punishments students would receive for harming them.