Taiwan Day 4 (Part 7) – Cingshui Cliff, 7 Star Lake(Qi Xing Tan), Hua Lien

16 December 2011

A signboard stated that Cingshui (or Qingshui) Cliff is known as one of Taiwan’s Eight Wonders. The cliffs run along a geographical fault line and the cliffs are made of marble, so they do not crumble easily. Hence the cliffs can rise steeply and almost vertically from the ocean floor.

The narrow route along the Cingshui Cliff is the only coastal road in Taroko National Park. It would be interesting to drive along this road, (steep mountain on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other) but we have to head back to Hua Lien as it was getting late.

Along the way, we made a stop at the Qi Xing Tan (translated as 7 Star Lake). It is actually a rocky beach and not a real lake. The name came from 7 lakes that used to be found nearby but had now been filled up.

This beach is covered with oval shaped rocks instead of fine sand. I believe the beach used to have more rocks that now. Imagine each tourist bringing a rock home as souvenir.

Rock at 7 star lake.

Besides the rocks, this place was fascinating for its mighty strong sea wind and waves. The power of the waves from the Pacific Ocean could be seen, heard and tasted. We could taste the saltiness in the air as the strong wind brought the spray of the crashing waves inland.

One of the many stray dogs that loitered around.

The 4 Chinese characters in red at the stall means “Big intestines wrap small intestines” – this is a local street food in Taiwan.

As we head back to the car park to meet Tiffany, she was queuing to buy some snacks for her grown-up daughter who had come to visit her.

Interesting street food made of BBQ wild boar sausage, wrapped in a glutinous rice bun. In Chinese, it is called “ Big Intestine Wrap Small Intestine”. She bought two extra portions for us to eat in her taxi as she drove us to our Minsu (Ocean BNB) in Hua Lien city.

We had booked a sea facing Quad room in the Oceanbnb Minsu. Our room was on the second floor. No lifts in the minsu. Tiffany had told us that “Minsu” in Taiwan is restricted to maximum 5 guest rooms and must not have a lift. Else, it would be classified as a Hotel.

And this was the first thing they did upon entering our room.

After an hour of rest, it was time for dinner and exploration of Hua Lien town. The minsu owner had given us a short brief on what are the recommended restaurants in Hua Lien city. She circled a few restaurants in a cuisine map of Hua Lien that included a Mr Goose noodle shop, Gong Zheng Bao stall selling steam buns, and marked out areas where we can shop and buy local specialities snacks like Muah Chee, pineapple tarts and Tai Yang biscuits. All were within walking distance from our Minsu (about 15 mins walk or 120 NT by taxi).

We walked to the Mr Goose Noodle shop, passing by the famous steam bun shop along the way. “I will be back” – like what the Terminator would say.

We ordered goose liver, sliced goose meat and “special mountain vegetable” dishes to go with bee hoon and noodle in soup. The friendly stall holder came to our table twice to say “eat the liver while it is still hot”. I normally don’t fancy goose liver back home, but the goose liver with the spicy chilli sauce was quite good, I must say. The vegetable dish was the same as the one we had for lunch in Taroko Gorge. It was some local mountain vegetable dish (more about this in later post) cooked with deep fried anchovy and garlic. The vegetable is crunchy, and tasted quite good. Hmmm , wonder what vegetable is this?

After dinner, we roamed about the streets and bought some milk tea as dessert. Nice cool weather in December, no wind and very comfortable for street combing. We bought some local snacks from Ah Mei Muah Chee shop plus other shops as we wandered about but we missed the famous steam buns shop on the way back to our Minsu. Never mind, still have one more day in Hua Lien.