Taiwan Episode 2

In this episode of The Travel Bug I’m continuing my journey through Taiwan. Leaving Taipei it was a 90 minute bullet train ride south, along the western coast to the city of Chiayi, home of Taiwan’s biggest lantern festival.

Chiayi has origins lying back several hundred years. To the east is the mountain range that divides Taiwan in two, and not far to the west is the Taiwan Straight that separates the country from China. Now, This is a really densely populated city, with close to 300,00 people squashed into about 60 square kilometres. As far as tourist attractions go, you can think of Chiayi as a gateway city, although the night markets are great, as is the shopping. But the majority of visitors here use it as an access point to the scenic mountain area of Alishan.

Luckily for me I had a sleep on the train trip here, because on this occasion the city was playing host to one of the biggest events in Chinese New Year celebrations, the annual lantern festival. It’s one of the most popular events in Taiwan and different cities play host to it each year, and this time around it was Chiayi’s time to shine!

This is a huge event, like New Years in Times Square, and attracts millions of visitors from Taiwan and abroad. The best thing about it is you don’t need to be a local to enjoy or understand the occasion, because it’s all about the spectacular colours and designs of the lanterns, and of course, as is the case with any celebration in this country, the fireworks!

Next stop in Yenshui was a church unlike any other. The unique thing about this church is the Taiwanese influence in the style of the building. All the images of the last supper, Christ and the many scenes from the bible were vastly different to what you would find in a western church. The characters were all of Chinese appearance, including Jesus, which was a little unusual to see. Then there was the building itself. It looked like a Buddhist temple, full of colour and ornate oriental designs.

Speaking of things unconventional, the whole time I was at the church, in the background I could hear the constant hissing and explosions of fireworks. Now, the reason for this is that on this day, what╒s normally a peaceful town becomes home to one of the biggest festivals in the world. One celebrated with millions of fireworks. The Beehive Rocket Festival isn’t just about parades and pretty lights in the sky, at this event you put on fireproof clothing, a helmet and gloves, then get in amongst the massive crowd as rockets and fireworks are exploding all around you. It’s one of the craziest and most adrenalin pumping things I’ve ever done.

After the insanity of the rocket festival it was time to head further south, to the historical port city of Tainan. This place has a rather complex history, punctuated with several comebacks and renewals that have inspired the nickname  ’City of the Phoenix’. It’s one of the prettier cities in Taiwan and is considered to be one of the countries major cultural centres.

Next on the agenda was the beautiful Tainan Grand Matsu Temple. Apart from the religious significance, it was also the residence of King Ningjing, the last descendant of the Ming Royal Family. It’s one of the largest and oldest temples in Taiwan, being built in the mid 1400’s, and today it’s cultural importance makes it an historical landmark.

Tens of thousands of people come here every year to pray to the gods and make wishes for prosperity, safety or health. Others, like me, come just to admire the spectacular architecture and the historical statues, and also to try and understand a little more about the Taiwanese people.

While in the area I visited another historical site, only this one was from a different period of Tainan’s complex history. The place was called the Tait and Co Merchant House. It’s actually in the old part of Tainan in a place called Anping. The story of the settlement of Tainan is told in the various displays within the exhibition hall. But while I do like a little bit of a history lesson, I was here to check out another interesting landmark next door – An overgrown and deteriorating building called Anping Treehouse. It was built back in the 1800’s and in the years since has gradually become overrun by trees.

Nowadays it’s taken on the appearance of an ancient ruin, giving it a look well beyond its age. The sprawling branches and hanging roots of Banyan figs are reclaiming the site, creating an amazing effect that’s great for photography.

Not far from Anping Treehouse is yet another historical site, this one dating back to the 1620’s when the Dutch colonized Taiwan. It’s known as Fort Zeelandia and took a decade to build, using bricks shipped in from Indonesia. The fortress stood firm throughout the 38 years of Dutch occupation of Western Taiwan. It wasn’t until February 1662, after a 10 month siege that saw 400 warships and 25,000 Chinese soldiers doing battle against 2,000 Dutch defenders, that the fortress was surrendered.

Leaving Tainan I made my way inland, through the mountains to the beautiful Sun Moon Lake. This is Taiwan’s biggest lake and the area is both rich in natural scenery and cultural heritage. Because it’s practically in the centre of Taiwan, it’s often referred to as the heart of the country. Here I went on a bike ride around the lake with the most energetic 62-year-old I’ve ever met.

A good way to get some elevated views of Sun Moon Lake is to take a ride on the ropeway. It departs from the lakeside and takes you into the surrounding mountains. The ropeway also takes you inland to a huge theme park. It’s kind of like a miniature Disney Land, so it’s great for the kids. Now, even though I like to think of myself as a big kid, I was more interested in checking out the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. It’s a combination of exhibitions that explore the indigenous culture, arts and traditions of Taiwan’s Aboriginal people.

Leaving Sun Moon Lake I headed to the famed scenic mountain area of Alishan. Up here, at 1,200 meters of altitude, they say it’s the perfect place to grow tea. The product that comes from this region is the highest quality in the country. Throughout the drive to Alishan there are plenty of places to stop and take in the fantastic views. It’s one of the few parts of Taiwan where the air is clean and clear, free of the city pollution and most importantly, the noise of scooters.

The Alishan Forest Recreation Area covers 1,400 hectares of dense forest and high mountain peaks. Today they’re peaceful and quiet, although once the echoes of falling trees and saws filled the air. It was the abundance of Cypress trees that brought the settlers here, with Japanese timber workers spending many years harvesting the valuable wood for shipping back to Japan. Once they Japanese left Taiwan, the area was allowed to return to some semblance of its former glory.

Apart from the forests, the mountains of Alishan are famed for another thing, the magic sunrises. It’s well worth rising early and enduring the freezing cold to take in the glorious colours and feeling of solitude created by watching the dawn of a new day.