Taiwan Day 4 (Part 6) – Taroko Gorge’s Eternal Spring Shrine

16 December 2011

The ChangChun Shrine (or Eternal Spring Shrine) commemorates the 226 personnel (military veterans) who died during the construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway (1956~1960). The spring water flows all year round, hence the name.  

It is best viewed from a lookout point by the car park along the highway. Hordes of tourist from tour buses congregates here. Photos of one self drinking water from the shrine was what Tiffany suggested.

No we did not have to hike all the way there to do that. Just some photo “magic”.

This was the last stop we made in Taroko Gorge. Tiffany wanted to make a stop at the East entrance to the National Park for us to take some pictures but we told her to go straight to Qingshui Cliff as it was getting a bit late.

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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.

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Taiwan Day 5 (Part 1) – Hua Lien, East Coast Highway 11, Farglory Hotel, Visitor Center, Henan Temple

17 December 2011.

I had booked a taxi through Tiffany to bring us on a day trip to explore the sights round Hua Lien. There were several options:

1. East Rift Valley tour
Hualien city → Liyutan( Carp Lake ) → Lintianshan Forestry Culture and History Center → Hualien Sugar Factory → Mataian Wetlands → Rueisuei Hot Spring → Rueisuei Pasture → Go back Hualien city

2. East Coast tour
a.) Hualien City → Hualien Visitor Center → Nioushan Beach → Baci View Platform → Shihtiping → Yuedong → Changhong Bridge → Tropic of Cancer Landmark → Go back Hualien city

b.) Hualien City → Hualien Visitor Center → Nioushan Beach - Baci View Platform → Shihtiping → Yuedong → Changhong Bridge → Tropic of Cancer Landmark → Basiandong → Shihyusan → Sansiantai → Go back Hualien city

3. East Rift Valley + Rueigang Hwy ( pass through Coast Mountains )+ East Coast

We had chosen option 2b that would take us along the famous scenic Highway 11 that link Hua Lien to Taitung along the beautiful east coast of Taiwan.

Mr Lim, a taxi driver working with Tiffany, picked us up at 9 AM from the Oceanbnb minsu after we had a simple breakfast of burger (that tasted like Ramly burger found in West Malaysia) and fresh fruits. He made a detour to bring us to the Hua Lien train station to us to collect our train tickets that I had booked via the Internet. Along the way, I noticed that the side walks of Hua Lien is mostly paved with marble! Marble is an expensive building material but this place has plenty of it. In fact, the whole mountain!

After collecting our tickets, we drove past the site that was the Hua Lien Nanbin night market before entering Highway 11. First stop was the Farglory Hotel, located high up on the Coastal Mountain. There is a lookout point just outside the hotel lobby where we could view the East Rift Valley below and the Taiwan Central Mountain further inland.

Outlook point outside Farglory Hotel overlooking East Rift Valley.

Mr Lim then brought us through the hotel lobby to where we could view the Pacific Ocean, on the other side of the Coastal Mountain. Farglory is a luxury hotel and the rate for a room for two with the ocean view could buy 3 nights stay for 4 persons at our minsu. In the lobby, there is a large carving of a flower, with dolphins below, and is carved from a single piece of huge marble.

 Marble sculpture in Farglory Hotel. Carved from a single piece of huge marble.

This hotel sort of reminded me of the Lotte Hotel in Jeju island. The Farglory Ocean Park is located below the hotel. Also next to the hotel, on the mountain top, is a military base, with air defence systems. This is a perfect place to locate air defence weapon systems with the 360 degree all round coverage. 

Mr Lim then drove us to the Hua Lien Visitor Center which is located close to the Ocean Park. At the car park of the visitor center, there is an pavilion where we can view Hualien city in the distant and uninterrupted view of the vast Pacific Ocean. 

View of HuaLien and Pacific Ocean from Visitor Center.

From there, it was a short drive to the Hualien Henan Temple. There is a golden statue of Guanyin in the back of the temple. It was made by the famous sculptor, Yang Ying-feng. Students would come to touch the feet of the GuanYin to get blessings for them to do well in examinations. So, we made a small donation at the temple and have the only student in our group to touch the Guanyin’s feet.

Mr Lim is a good guide and provided us with a lot of interesting information related to Hua Lien. Here, he told us about the Shan-Su (山蘇) vegetable, the Special Mountain Vegetable that we ate yesterday for lunch and dinner. The surprise – this vegetable is actually the Bird Nest Fern! A fern commonly found in South East Asia and grows wild on tree tops. Only the very young shoots are eaten and they must be cooked shortly after harvesting. Hence they are also called fei ji (Aeroplane) vegetable since they are air-flown into Taipei to be served in speciality restaurants.

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Taiwan Day 5 (Part 2) – No. 18 Bridge and Baqi Viewing Platform

17 December 2011

From Henan Temple, we continued on Highway 11 heading South. We made a stop at a small bridge, known as the No. 18 Bridge, that spans a small gorge below. There is a story behind the gorge below.

On No 18 Bridge.

The gorge below is called the Forest of Braves. Whoever that can vault across the gorge using a bamboo staff would be the next chief of the local tribe. According to legend, many tried and failed; and the bamboo that they used were stuck in the valley below, grew roots and grown to form bamboo clumps. 

The width of the gorge is 45 meters and it is 70 meters deep.  Crazy! Should be called Forest of Fools. Maybe the gorge was much narrower back in the old days.

Legend of Forest of Braves at No 18 Bridge.

View of the gorge at Forest of Braves from the No. 18 Bridge.

Photo of Eurelia Reeds against the Coastal Mountain in the back.

A short distance away, we made a stop at a rest-point (called the Baqi Viewing Platform) for nice views of the Coastal Mountain and ocean.

Baqi Viewing Platform.

View of East Coast and Coastal Mountain Range.

Then it was off to a small coastal fishing town for a seafood lunch. It was drizzling slightly, so it was best time to stop for a meal.

The sashimi in Taiwan came in large chunks and thickly sliced!

The restaurant owner recommended us to try the whitish roe of some sea creature or fish (photo above) that she said is a local delicacy and only available in winter. So we went for it.

The boys liked the sashimi, buttered crab, steamed prawns, fish and fish soup. But, not this roe dish. So I had more than my fair share of it.

By the time we finished our lunch, it was still drizzling. Hopefully it would stop by the time we get to Shihtiping.

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Taiwan Day 5 (Part 3) – Shihtiping

17 December 2011

“Shih-ti” is translated as “stone steps or stairs” in Chinese and there used to be giant stone steps between the rocky coast and the mountain, now covered up by developments. The coast itself is an attraction on its own merits. It was formed by volcanic activities long long ago.

It was still drizzling when we arrived at Shitiping. Mr Lim drove us along a small access coastal road leading to the visitor center where he explained the name behind the place.

Picture at Visitor Center showing the giant stones steps that gives Shihtiping its name.

We were surprised when Mr Lim went to the taxi and fetch us some umbrella and started to lead us into the rain, towards the rocky coast. I had thought that we would wait for the rain to stop before venturing out to the coast. Apparently, he knew better. A moment later, the sky cleared and we were able to explore the beautiful rocky coast without worrying about the weather.

We followed Mr Lim up a slope which brought us lead to a high point on this part of the coast. The rocks was thankfully not slippery despite being wet. Hurrah for lava rocks!

Climbing up lava rocks to a vantage point at Shihtiping.

Vantage point at Shihtiping where we could see the waves crashing on the rocks below.

Shihtiping rocky coast.

Shihtiping lava rock.

The rock patterns on the ground was quite fascinating. Caused by erosion on the lava rocks.

Panorama of the rocky coast where we had just explored.  

We then drove back down the access road to where many tour buses were parked. This part of Shihtiping was crowded with tourists!

There are small potholes here, probably due to volcanic activities in the past. The waves and wind was quite strong so we had to stay clear of the edges.

Mother nature created this.

Some guys went really close to the water edge, just for a photo.  The waves were quite strong and it is foolhardy to go too close to the edge.

Too close to waves at Shihtiping. Dangerous!

Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Shihtiping for its dramatic coastline, beautiful natural scenery, lava rocks formation and photo opportunities. A place not to miss while travelling along the eastern coast of Taiwan.

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Taiwan Day 5 (Part 4) – Sansiantai

17 December 2011.

From Shihtiping, we continued south along the coastal highway 11 towards Sansiantai. Situated at the 111-kilometer mark on the coastal highway, Sanxiantai consists of a headland facing a small island in the sea. The island's most prominent feature are three huge rocks. Local legends claimed that three of China's Eight Immortals once landed there. This gave rise to the name of the island, which means "terrace of the three immortals." 

An eight arch foot bridge that looked like a dragon now connects the island to the mainland. This scenic place is a good place to visit when exploring the east coast of Taiwan.

While travelling to Sansiantai, Mr Lim suddenly pulled over and stopped by the roadside. He wanted to show us what these 2 elderly woman from the indigenous Amis tribe were doing.

They were collecting something that looked like algae or some kind of fungus from the wet ground. Mr Lim told us these are found only during the wet season and is a food consumed by these people.

This looked like algae on the wet ground.

Is this edible?

We reached Sansiantai slightly before 4 PM. Sansiantai  is an island with three large rocks. Previously, the only access to the island was during low tide. Now an eight-arch bridge connects the island to the mainland. Access to the bridge is either via the beach or via a concrete footpath.

Sansiantai beach

We walked to the bridge via the footpath and return via the beach.

The Sansiantai Bridge did looked like a dragon.

Strong winds on Sansiantai bridge.

The wind was especially strong on the arch bridge. We went almost to the end of the bridge and decided to turn back after taking some photos of the coast and rocks below.

It was quite challenging to take long exposure shots of the waves crashing on the rocks below the bridge. Need to keep the camera still for a few seconds, using just whatever support I could get from the structure of the bridge and with the strong wind blowing against me.

Took this shot while walking back via the beach.

Leaving Sansiantai, we headed back towards Hualien. There were still a couple of places to visit on our way back.

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