The Dogs of Taiwan

As a dog owner myself, dogs that I encountered during my trips will catch my attention. Taiwanese loves their dogs. They will bring them everywhere they go – in work, in play and even for a holiday cruise at Sun Moon Lake.

The photo above shows a cute dog belonging to a busker performing at Syuanguang Temple, Sun Moon Lake.

There were even dogs riding on prams and dressed in clothes.

Dog in pram alighting from boat cruise around Sun Moon Lake.

 

I saw one that even rode on a scooter with its owner. Scooters are a common mode of transport in Taiwan. Our taxi driver in Hua Lien told us he knew of an owner who would let his dog jump off his scooter when he stopped at a red light signal. The dog would know to get back up onto the scooter when the light turns green again. Not sure if he was pulling my leg, but I am inclined towards believing his story.

The pet dogs in Taiwan are generally well behaved, calm, submissive and respectful of humans. Even the stray dogs that we met at various locations around Taiwan.

Patient dog waiting for his meal at Shilin Night Market. Not sure if the dog belonged to this lady shopkeeper as it was wandering about before it was fed.

Another patient dog at Cingjing Plaza.

Some owners would also dressed up their small dogs in fanciful doggy clothes and shoes! Probably treating them as their “fur-kids”. Young couples prefer to raise their “fur-kids” rather than to have human babies, and contributing to a decline in human birth rates.

Dog wearing “police uniform” at Feng Chia Night Market.

Dog  at a store selling toy guns at Shilin Night Market.

You can see shops selling doggies clothes and accessories at the various night markets and Ximending.

Of course, pet shops selling puppies and kittens. These puppies were for sale at a shop near Shilin Night Market.

Not all dogs in Taiwan lead a good life. Despite Taiwanese’s love for dogs, stray dogs could still be found at most places of interest. The good thing is that they were calm and respectful, despite being strays. Maybe they were not strays but villager’s dogs without collars. None of them were aggressive and kept their distant even when we have food in our hands.

This black stray dog was wandering between buses and cars at a narrow road in Juifen. It was eyeing our sausage while we waited for our taxi to pick us up. It did not pounce on us or rob us of our food; else I would have an interesting story to tell for a long time….like the time we were robbed of our picnic food by a lone dingo at Fraser Island! And photographed by a group of excited Korean tourists who had just came down a tour bus and snapped pictures of our ordeal instead of coming to help us.

 

 This mother dog (above), without her pups, was loitering at the carpark in QiXingTan where we were buying our “Big Sausage Wrapped Small Sausage”. QiXingTan (Seven Star Lake) is actually a beach near Hualien. QiXingTan is a place with strong winds, waves and beautiful view of the East Coast of Taiwan and Pacific Ocean.

Another dog at QiXingTan, Seven Star Lake near Hualien.

We saw a few limping dogs along the highway while travelling in Taroko National Park. Mr Li, our taxi driver, bringing us from Cingjing to Hualien through Taroko Gorge, told us these dogs belong to villagers in the region. They were injured by traps used to trap wild boars.

Dog in Taroko National Park.

Compared to the dogs at other places of interest, these Taroko dogs were quite aggressive. One even charged at our taxi when we drove past.

Let Sleeping Dog lie –  Taken at Baisiandong, Cave of the Eight Immortals. Caves also served as temples.This dog (above) could have given up a life of aggression and seeks peace and solace at the cave temple in Basiandong near Hua Lien. Sounded like a typical story line in a old Chinese sword fighting movie.

French Bulldog belonging to Nita at Misty Villa Minsu.

And finally, the bulldog at Misty Villa, Cingjing. This friendly dog was there to greet us when we checked into the minsu. Unfortunately, we did not get to see it again, till the last morning when we were about to leave.

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Map of Cingjing with English, Chinese and Japanese text

While I was researching my  trip to Taiwan, I had difficulty getting a good Map of Cingjing from the internet.

Here are two that I collected and kept after my trip.

The above map of Cingjing’s walking trails with Chinese, English and Japanese text.

The above map (given to me by Nita at Misty Villa) shows the walking trails, numbered with distances and timing. It is only in Chinese text but should be good enough to give an overview of the various trails. For example, Trail 1 is 2300 metres long and takes about 60 minutes to cover one way (except for Trail 5 and 6 which shows the timings for a round trip). It also shows a picture of what you can expect to see along the trails. Note that some trails are steep uphill or downhill. If your minsu or hotel provides transport to drop you off somewhere in Cingjing or if you are taking a taxi, it is better to start at the high point (right side of map) and walk downhill.

I took trails 7,4,8 leading from Green Green Grassland down to Misty Villa/Cingjing Plaza. See my post here for more pictures and description.

Safety Tip: Avoid walking on the Highway 14. It is narrow, winding, some parts with no pedestrain walkway and there are speeding cars and trucks!

Here is the link to another Cingjing map but it is with Chinese text only.

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Taiwan Day 2 (Part 3) – Puli Wine Brewery and 18 °C Chocolate factory

14 December 2011

From Sun Moon Lake’s Ita Thao, our taxi driver took the round-the-lake road northwards towards Puli. At the Peacock Garden, he left the road and took a shortcut through some narrow single track roads to Puli. We got to see some back-country roads and villages on the way. We left Ita Shao at about 3 PM and arrived at 18 °C chocolate factory in Puli, about 30 minutes later. Here we sampled and bought some handmade chocolates. We also had some delicious ice cream.

We made a stop at the Puli winery where we went through the visitor centre and took some pictures.

The wine is made from rice, fermented in the earthen urns for many years before bottling. We sampled both a 1 year old and a 20 year old wine which was yellowish in colour. The guy who offered us the wine must be quite disappointed by our reaction to the bitter and strange taste of his prized, 20-year old wine. 

After the winery, we went to Misty Villa Minsu (Bed and Breakfast) in Cingjing where our host Nita was waiting for us.

Cingjing is a small town high up in the Taiwan Central Mountain, about 1750 metres above sea level and along Taiwan’s Central Cross-Island Highway that connects the west of Taiwan to the east.  We planned to stay two nights here before another taxi would bring us across the Central Mountain (about 3700m above sea level), through the Taroko National Park to the seaside town of Hua Lien on the eastern coast of Taiwan.

Misty Villa Minsu provides both breakfast and dinner, in addition to the accommodation. Dinner was served after our check-in and I must say that the food (especially the vegetables) tasted better in the highlands, than in town.

After dinner, D and I went for a walk to check out the surroundings. Misty Villa is located near a plaza with a few restaurants, Starbuck, City Cafe and 7-11 and this is the reason why I choose to stay here, over other similar minsu. There was not much to do after dark in Cingjing, so it was family bonding time watching TV in our room and surfing the internet with our laptops.

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Taiwan Day 3 (Part 1) – Cingjing and Green Green Grassland

15 December 2011

Misty Villa Minsu (B&B) is located in Cingjing, about 1720m above sea level. I have booked a spacious Quad room with 2 King-sized beds for 2 nights. Our room, number 103, is located above the dining area, faces east and offers a nice view of the mountains.

I was the first person to wake up. The best time for take photos is in the early morning before the light gets too harsh. It was cloudy, so no brilliant sunrise that I had hoped to see.  In any case, it is not too big a disappointment as the view of the cloud-covered mountains was even better. 

Close – up shot of the cloud covered mountains taken at Misty Villa.

I set up the tripod to take a series of photos using my DSLR to create this panorama of the view from the room’s balcony.

View from room in Misty Villa.

Entrance to our room.

Our original plan for today was to go for walks at the Green Green Grassland to view the sheep, just enjoy the fresh mountain air, and maybe have tea at the Old England in the afternoon. Green Green Grassland (what a name!) is an area in Cingjing where sheep roam free over undulating grassland, and visitors can ride horses, watch sheep shearing show and other performances in the weekend.

Misty Villa provided free transfer to Green Green Grassland after breakfast and our host, Nita, also sells the entrance ticket at a discount. The clouds were rolling in and there was a slight drizzle but we decided to proceed anyway. Nita loan us 4 umbrellas. Fortunately, the drizzle stopped after some time and we were able to enjoy the rest of the day without needing the umbrellas.

It was quite nice to have the opportunity to shoot some photographs of the sheep and landscape with the mist rolling in. For a hobbyist photographer, this was more interesting than taking pictures of sheep and mountains on a clear sunny, blue sky day.

 

Besides the sheep, Cingjing offers excellent views of the mountains, fresh air and a “top of the world” feeling.

Boardwalks were constructed to allow easy access for visitors through the undulating landscapes and there are pavilions and rest points as well. The sheep are free ranging and would come up close for a feed. Or a photo.

We had to watch our steps as there were sheep droppings scattered all over. Surprisingly, there were no unpleasant smell.

We spotted a couple having their wedding photos taken with the sheep.

This place really gives you a feeling that you are in a European countryside and not in Taiwan. There was even a windmill. A bit out of place, I think.

As this was a weekday, there was no sheep shearing performance scheduled. Anyway, my boys were more interested in swinging their umbrellas like lightsabers than watching a sheep got stripped.

There were horses for those interested in horse riding. It was amazing they could stand still for hours waiting for the riders. On this day, there were few visitors.

Outside Green Green Grassland, there were stalls selling fruits and snacks. We had a simple lunch consisting of sweet corn, wild boar sausage and braised tofu with salted vegetables. Plus huge round pears which the fruit seller was happy to cut for us.

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Taiwan Day 3 (Part 2) – Cingjing walking trails

15 December 2011

After visiting Green Green Grassland and taken our lunch, we continued along the mountain trail leading down to the windmill we saw in the distance from Green Green Grassland.

Old England Manor at Cingjing.

This was a good place to get an bird’s eye view of the Cingjing town, the various minsu, terraced tea plantations and mountain ranges. The above is the picture of Old England Manor, one of the most beautiful and expensive accommodation in the region, taken with a 200mm telephoto lens. Maybe, I would stay at this hotel in my next visit to Cingjing.

From the high mountain pasture trail, we then took the forest trail. 

We rested at the place called the Natural Theatre where there were a few rabbits standing on tables with open cages. And glass tanks showcasing snakes, beetles and other creeping crawlies. The place was deserted, except for one person manning the stalls.

After the Natural Theatre, we then came to the start of the next trail. The 499 Steps trail.

The statue of Chiang Kai Shek could be seen peeping at us through the trees. This photo was taken just before the start of the 499-Steps trail leading down to Misty Villa. 

Somehow, the marking carved onto the top step of the stair way showed 487 instead of 499. 

 

Walking up 499 (or 487) steps would be no joke. Hence we were glad that we were walking down instead of up. Along the way, this sign was spotted describing the Cryptomeria trees that flanked the staircase. I wonder who did the the English translation. 

The above is a view of Swiss Garden and Misty Villa Minsu (greenish building with flat roof where we were staying in Cingjing). This was taken from a lookout point along the 499 steps trail.

Finally at the bottom of the 499 Steps trail, a voice called up to us and we met this bee keeper who was selling honey and bee pollen products at her stall. She assured us that the bees would be safe to view and not attack us after a few dose of smoke from a can.

We went in close to film this video flying around us and photograph her bees. The queen bee is the one with a red round spot on the thorax and is slightly larger than the normal honey bees.

She urged us to taste the honey and bee pollen and proceed to show us what good honey is supposed to be like, when mixed with water and how pollen is extracted from the bees using a gadget with small holes in it. The bees are supposed to fly through the holes and the pollen scraped off the bees in the process.

After the demonstration, I bought a bottle of honey drink from her, partly to reward her efforts to educate us on the bees and partly because we wanted a drink after the long walk from Green Green Grassland.

After the end of the trail, we went to Starbuck at Cingjing Plaza, next to Misty Villa for tea, coffee and snacks, instead of Old England Manor which was our original plan. This was because it was not easy to get a taxi up here in Cingjing and we had enough of walking for one day.

Then we went back to Misty Villa for a short nap before dinner at 7.30 PM. The dinner menu was almost the same as the previous night, except the dishes were cooked slightly differently.  Still it was a tasty and enjoyable dinner. Somehow, the steamed fresh-water carp tasted good, without the muddy taste that is typical of fresh water fish found in the lowlands. And the taste and texture of the poached, crispy fresh vegetables was unbeatable.

See also my post on the Map of Cingjing showing the walking trails.

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