Summer of 2022 (Taiwan), page 2

My favorite vegetarian restaurant in Hualien happens to be very close to the campus of Tzu-Chi University Humanities and Social Sciences campus. This is the view looking out the door toward Jian-Guo Road from the restaurant. The restaurant is 拾穂屋蔬食料理 茶餐廳, and I cannot find it marked on maps from Apple or Google, but it’s on the same side as the 7-11 and PXmart, across from the barber shop (髮塢髮型工作室).

A delicious bowl of noodles from 拾穂屋蔬食料理 茶餐廳, and it was extremely good.

The sign for my favorite restaurant in Hualien: 拾穂屋蔬食料理 茶餐廳. The chef, 韓竹珍 has an interesting family history, and a remarkable background. Her family is from the province of Shanxi, and her grandfather got his family out of China when her father was a small boy, escaping from the Cultural Revolution when the family was going to be massacred because they were intellectuals.

Here is 韓竹珍, the owner and chef at the 拾穂屋蔬食料理 茶餐廳. She’s pointing to the sign for the dish I had for that meal (tomato and egg soup with egg noodles). She is fond of classic blues music, but has eclectic musical taste.

Another delicious dish at 拾穂屋蔬食料理 茶餐廳. The chef is interested in aboriginal food culture, and sometimes incorporates cuisine ideas from the local indigenous people.

One day I brought a few of the other international students (some from Ukraine, and some from Zimbabwe) to a dinner at 拾穂屋蔬食料理 茶餐廳, and after the meal, the chef (韓竹珍) brought us all some ice cream from a shop a couple places up the street from her restaurant. The ice cream was excellent, and so I started regularly going there for ice cream after finishing meals at her restaurant.

Night at the Tzu-Chi campus. I was trying to get a shot of the stars, but I think the light from the full moon of July 13th made it hard to capture how clear the sky was.

The campus under a full moon in mid July.

Looking out toward the mountains late at night, from the Tzu-Chi University campus. If you click on the larger image, you can see more of the stars. It was a very clear night.

A lizard at the campus. This is a common lizard in Taiwan, a Swinhoe’s Lizard (Diploderma swinhonis). It as recently entered Japan as an invasive species, but is otherwise endemic to Taiwan and some of its offshore islands. It is easy to see these if you go hiking (unless you are up at high elevations), and they are also pretty easy to spot in parks and places like school campuses.

A view looking from the dormitory side of campus toward the classroom and academic department side of campus, with the mountains shrouded in clouds behind. During breaks between classes I enjoy watching the clouds drift around the closest mountain (沙婆礑山).

A pedestrian pathway in front of the Hualien Train Station.

The Hualien Train Station (front side of the station)

I had a weekend in Taipei, and went to an exhibit of Pulitzer Prize winning photographs with our friend Ching-Wen. Another exhibit that I did not get a chance to see was the one advertised with this sign, a “Be Cute” exhibit. The Japanese Kawaii culture of cute is central to Taiwanese culture, and some scholars suggest this cuteness culture relates also to sajiao aspect of Taiwanese culture (citified femininity).

This is an example of cuteness in Taiwan; the public safety announcements on metro subway cars in Taipei feature cute Japanese Shiba Inu dogs. These are the same sort of dogs used by the North Atlantic Fellas Organization in their cyber war against Russian disinformation propaganda.

Taipei Main Station main hall.

OMN!PORK vegetarian pork is on the menu at Vegan Amore, the restaurant in the Q Mall next to the main Taipei Station where I had lunch with friends, Huanyui and his girlfriend and Ching-Wen.

BBQ Baby Corn with Corn Paste and Miso, and appetizer from the Vegan Amore restaurant in Taipei.

Potato Croquette with Apple Mustard Mayonnaise, an incredible delicious appetizer at Vegan Amore.

Orecchiette pasta with mushrooms and pesto sauce at Vegan Amore

Amazingly good hot pepper pickle fettuccine with zucchini at Vegan Amore

Spaghetti with truffle, mushroom, and cream sauce.

After our delicious lunch at Vegan Amore, the four of us went to the Taipei Fine Arts museum. This is one of the paintings I especially enjoyed: Clouds Floating over the Summer Forest / 夏木雲起 (1969) by Lee Yih-hong (b. 1941)

Taipei Fine Arts Museum Visiting a Friend / 訪友圖 (1969) by Lee Yih-hong (b. 1941)

Taipei Fine Arts Museum The Himalayas and the God of Wisdom / 喜馬拉雅山興智慧神 (1986) by Lee Yih-hong (b. 1941)

This was probably our favorite work by Lee Yih-hong, a massive and very tall canvas showing a lovely tree. The Erziping Trail, Yangminshan National Park / 陽明山二子坪 (1997)

We enjoyed a retrospective show featuring works by Hung Jui-Lin 洪瑞麟 (1912-1996), one of the early Taiwanese artists trained by the Japanese artist Ishikawa Kinichiro. I was not familiar with his work, and generally prefer the art of Chen Cheng-po (1895-1947), Lee Shih-Chiaou (1908-1995), Chen Houei-kuen (1907-2011), Kuo Hsueh-hu (1908-2012), and Chen Chin (1907-1998). Nevertheless, I was glad for this opportunity to get to know another early Taiwanese artist, and I found much to enjoy in the exhibition. This bright work is Nioubuzai Grassland / 牛埔仔 (1933) by Hung Jui-Lin.

White Mansion in Tamsui / 淡水白樓 by Hung Jui-Lin. Over his lifetime Hung returned to this subject, as he frequently painted scenes in Tamsui. The Tamsui Customs Officer’s Residence is white and looks similar to the mansion in this painting, but I think the former British Consulate’s residence (next to the old Spanish fort San Domingo) is the actual subject, although it is no longer white, and is today just red brick.

Scenery of Orchid Island / 蘭嶼即景 (1972) by Hung Jui-Lin.

A colorful evening sky painted in the 1980s, late in his career, by Hung Jui-Lin.

Colorful Clouds / 彩霞滿天 (1982) by Hung Jui-Lin.

Sunset / 夕陽 (1982) by Hung Jui-Lin.

A display of molded chocolate representing military hardware and equipment such as weapons.

The Taipei Fine Arts Museum had a room full of chocolate weapons and military hardware made of molded chocolate.

I am on the left, and I’m with my old friend Tseng Huan-yui. Our friendship goes back 30 years (as of 2022)

As we left the art museum, Ching-wen and I walked through a farmer’s market, and I bought some Shiro plums from Lishan. This is just an image showing a typical stall in the market.

Japanese-era architecture in the Dihua Street (迪化街) area of western central Taipei, the old part of the city near the Tamsui River.

Typical clothing boutique on Yanping North Street 延平北路 in the Dihua Street area, where most structures seem to date back to the Japanese era (1895-1945).

The Dihua shopping district in Taipei has many buildings dating back to the 1920s-1940s.

Pink clouds at sunset over Dadaocheng Pier Plaza on the Tamsui River in Taipei.

Here I am at the Tamsui river in Taipei, with the skyline of the Sanchong District behind me in the west.

Looking north down the Tamsui River from Dadaocheng Pier toward the Datunshan mountain and Qixingshan mountains of Yangmingshan, obscured by clouds.

Sunset over the Sanchong District and the Tamsui River.

The moon over the Dadaocheng dock area along the Tamsui river in Taipei.

Yellow, pink, blue, and gray colors in the western sky over Sanchong’s skyline along the Tamsui River in Taipei.

The moon over a street in the Dihua shopping district in the old part of Taipei.

Moon over temple roof ornaments in Taipei.

The moon rising over the old campus at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei.

Statue at National Taiwan Normal University.

An old house surrounded by modern apartment buildings in the neighborhood north of National Taiwan Normal University.

The original and first Din Tai Fung restaurant (the one on Xinyi Road in the Da’an district; the Xinyi branch rather than the Xinsheng Branch).

Dinner at Toasteria, a Middle Eastern restaurant on Xinyi Road. This is shakshuka classic, a Moroccan vegetarian dish.

The sign for the Baha’i Faith’s national headquarters in Taiwan, on Xinsheng Road just a little way north of Daan Park.

Xinyi Road north of Daan Park. That tall, skinny building with blue lights is #39 Xinyi Road (Section 3), and it seems to be an apartment building.

On my way back to Hualien from Taipei, I enjoyed views of the northern Taiwan countryside. This is the view south from the train near Fulong.

Looking out the train window toward Turtle Islet from the northeast coast of Taiwan near Shicheng Station and the Old Caoling Tunnel.

Looking west up the canyon of the Peace River (和平溪) as the train crosses from Yilan County into Hualien County.

The Taroko River and the Taroko Gorge in the National Park, seen from the train just as we start to approach Hualien City.

I went to the Chanchao Taipei Pets Show on a Sunday afternoon.

Dogs at the pet show.

Lovely dogs at the pet show.

Three dogs in a pet stroller at the pet show.

This dog seems pensive.

Taiwanese with their rabbit pets wait in line at the pet show.

Cuddly plush animals representing pests that plague pets, a tick and a flea.

I spent a few hours trying to help attract interest in the marble slabs that might be nice for pets to sleep upon in the summer. My wife’s cousin’s son was trying out the sale of various pet accessories made with marble.

Fantastic vegetarian noodle bowl I enjoyed for lunch in the CTBC Financial Park not far from the Nangang Exhibition Center where the pet show was being held.

This cute cat enjoyed the cool marble slabs in the booth.

The Taiwan Stray Bunny Protection Association logo at their booth at the pet show.

The daughter and son of Jeri’s older cousin from Hualien. They are a few years older than our sons.

This woman with delightful eyes had a pet blue-tongued skink that seemed to like me; the skink got comfortable on my arm and just seemed ready to take a long nap.

Yet another cute dog in a pet carrier at the pet show.

This woman has her pet flying squirrel clinging to her. The little creature jumped on me and starting climbing on me, which I found charming. Very cute.

I expected to encounter cute scenes at the pet show, and I was not disappointed.

This dog seems happy to come out of the Gogo Shower at the pet exhibition.

This small creature (a hamster, I guess) is being checked by a veterinarian at the pet exhibition.

Big cats with markings like wild forest cats at the pet exhibition.

I guess some people in Taiwan have meerkats as pets.

Back in Hualien, as the evening descends the lingering blue sky in the west gives the mountains a glowing background. Usually the western sky is cloudy at twilight in Hualien, but sometimes there are beautiful clear nights.

Early in the morning (between 6:00 and 7:00) I sometimes would head out from campus and go up the road to the mountains. This is the view.

Heading from campus to the mountains, the way to start is to go down Jici Road toward the 玄武宮 temple. Reaching Jianguo road, turn right and head straight up the road toward the SaPoDang aboriginal village.

This is the view as I would bike up toward the swimming holes in the early morning.

Going up to the swimming holes from the campus, you do not need to cross the river on any bridges. Just follow the sign to Shapodang.

Where the road ends there is not a deep swimming area, but the river flowing over the concrete barrier makes a delightful curtain of water.

To go up the river beyond this point you must set out on foot, as the road does not go up beyond this point. There are no settlements or roads or farms in this watershed above this area, so the water is usually quite clean.

Looking down at one of the many pools of water formed under the erosion-control concrete barriers in the river.
“Water cascades past cataracts, seeking the sea beneath.”

This is the higher (fourth) swimming holes. It is a nice one to sit under the water spilling over the erosion-control concrete wall to get a massage from the waterfall. The hole is mostly shallow, but there is a steep drop-off in a sort of trench between the base of the shelf and the rest of the pool, so it would be easy for someone to get in trouble there if they couldn’t swim. In one spot the water is deep enough to allow someone to jump from the top of the concrete wall, but rocks under the surface make such a jump extremely dangerous in any other spot. The water is clear, so it’s easy to see where the water is deeper.

One of the early morning swimmers brought along rubber ducks. There were some regular swimmers I saw often when I came to swim. Before 8:00, most swimmers were older than I, but by 9:00 younger people often showed up to swim or play in the water.

A view from the higher swimming hole.

Check out the goodies in the vending machine near the international student dormitory at Tzu-Chi University (Humanities and Social Sciences campus). I never bought anything from this machine.

A view from campus, heading toward the main gate from the cafeteria early in the morning.

In June and July, when I was there this summer, the only reasonable time to go out exercising was early the morning or late in the evening. Here is a jogger running along the river levee about an hour after dawn.

I stopped the admire the scene of the temple on the side of the mountain, and noticed there was a small group of cattle below the levee on the river floodplain enjoying their morning grazing.

At the 玄武宮 temple where Jici Road meets Jianguo Road the early morning sunlight allows us a good view of some of the carved rock scenes on the outside front temple wall.

This is the third swimming hole, the higher of the two middle pools. I think the biggest fish were in this place.

My wife’s cousin’s bike (the one I was using) is parked in the field in this scene, near the middle (second and third) swimming holes.

The upper swimming hole at Shapodang. In June and July the water is mostly in the sunlight by 8:00 in the morning.

The Hualien Port Church on Chung-Shan Road in downtown Hualien, it is a Presbyterian church founded in 1907, although the current church building was constructed in 1961.

When I lived in Taiwan or visited in the 1990s I used phones like this all the time. They are rare these days. Seeing one makes me feel nostalgic, as I remember using such phones to call my wife back when we were friends, before we were married.

Taiwan shaved ice with sweet goodies mixed in; this is a special desert that I thoroughly enjoy.

With friends, enjoying dessert.

I think this was someone’s first time to experience mango shaved ice, which is one of the best Taiwanese desserts in summer.

Sweet and cold, ice treats in Hualien. Students at the Mandarin Language Center like to go out together to eat in restaurants or have delicious desserts together every now and then.

At this table we had students from the USA, Malaysia, Ukraine, and Canada (originally from Columbia). A very international gathering.

In July Hualien City holds a live music festival at the night market. For the most part, I do not really appreciate popular Taiwanese music, as it often seems like kitsch to me (fake emotions and superficial music). There are however some exceptions that I like, and I’m actually quite fond of some of the alternative or independent music bands out of Taiwan. Even if I am not fond of the music, I can tolerate it, and it is fun to see how excited and enthusiastic the crowds can be at the live concerts outdoors at night under the full moon.

A wildflower up in the Shapodang area, near the hidden swimming area, which is too difficult to get to, and too shallow to be much fun anyway, but the approach to it allows for some nice views of these nettleleaf velvetberry (Stachytarpheta urticifolia) flowers. The plant is native to tropical Asia, but is found scattered all over the world in tropical forests, where it is sometimes considered an invasive weed. In temperate climates where it does not so easily spread some gardeners plant it as an ornamental.

Bougainvillea flowers near the middle swimming holes.

Hibiscus flower near the middle swimming hole.

This altruistic guy can be seen each morning in Shapodang collecting the garbage thoughtless people leave near the swimming holes and packing it down the road to somewhere else. He also tends a sort of garden of flowers and orchids and trees up around the upper and middle swimming holes. He just does it as a service to the community to keep the place beautiful. I don’t think most people notice him or are aware that all the beautification around the area is the work of one guy.

Butterfly in the Shapodang area. This is a 金環蛺蝶 (Pantoporia hordonia rihodona), called a common lascar in English. The Shapodang area is full of butterflies. Sometimes it seems like you are in a butterfly house, there are so many.

These butterflies in the Shapodang area are 淡紋青斑蝶, (Tirumala limniace limniace ), known in English as a Blue Tiger.

One of the Ukrainian students swimming in the lower (first) swimming hole in Shapodang.

Fish in the lower (first) Shapodang swimming hole. There are many Candidia pingtungensis fish in the pools at Shapodang. They have a lateral silver streak above a dark streak from their head to their caudal fin. These are endemic to Taiwan, and only thrive in clean water. They are normally found at higher elevations, but they seem to be doing fine in Shapodang. In Chinese I think they are called horse mouth fish (馬口魚).

Fish in Shapodang. Taiwan has about 150 freshwater fish species, including about 30 found only in Taiwan.

Fish in the third Shapodang swimming hole. The fish with the dark bars on its sides is Acrossocheilus paradoxus, a fish that has no common English name, but it is a “stone mouth” in Chinese (台灣石口). It is from Taiwan, but can be found in some rivers in Fujian and Zhejiang, where it has been introduced.

Looking down into the first swimming hole at Shapodang. Many fish. It is fun to swim in the pool, because you can watch the fish as you swim.

The mountains in the Shapodang area.

A band of the Taroko People live in a village 水源村 (Shuiyuan Village) near Shapodang. It is interesting to ride back to campus through the village, as the decorative tastes and some other aspects of the village differ slightly from the typical Han or Hakka groups that are dominant in Taiwan.

Walls in Shuiyuan Village have tribal motifs and offer examples of the language.

Here I am with my main teacher, Lin Zhuo-Ru. She has outstanding pedagogical skills, and I enjoyed all the help she gave me in my Mandarin learning.

My fellow students threw a going-away party for me before I left. It was a surprise party.

Here is Second Uncle. My wife’s father’s younger brother. I enjoy visiting him and I like his children and grandchildren, my wife’s cousins. I have known him since I first met him in October of 1991.

The local busses in Hualien are not often crowded. This bus goes between the train station and Shuiyuan Village, so it can drop you off on Jianguo Road quite near the Tzu-Chi Humanities-Social Sciences campus, or pick you up near the New Fashion general store and carry you to the bus/train station. It is super cheap, but not very frequent, as there may only be five or six busses each day.

Here I am with Patrick, my neighbor across the hall. He is from Mozambique, and he is a very dedicated student.

Here I am with Augustino, also from Mozambique. He shared the room next to mine with Volodymyr.

In 2019 I brought a few students from UIS to Hualien, and they are remembered. Photographs from that summer are displayed on bulletin boards in the hall in the Language Center.

Here I am with Wang Jinyong, a social work professor at Tzu-Chi who has always been extremely helpful to me and my students.

This is an example of a traditional Bunun stone house located south of Yuli. Yuli was developed by Han-ethnicity (Chinese) settlers and was somewhat larger and more important than Hualien in the late 19th century, and then the Japanese also developed the town when they took over in 1895. Bunun and Ami people had villages in the area, and mixed or mingled with the Chinese and Japanese. The Japanese are gone now, but Yuli remains a multiethnic town.

The Zhuoxi Villagers Association building has art on the walls and building to indicate the fact that Zhuoxi Township is mostly aboriginal Formosan (Bunun, Truku, and Seediq people).

There are some relics of the Japanese era scattered throughout Taiwan. Here is the upper torii (gate) for Tamasato-sha, the Yuli Shinto shrine, which dates to 1928.

Looking down the pathway at the Yuli Shinto shrine. The stone lanterns are original and over 90 years old (probably date to 1928). If you look closely at the large image, you may discern the upper torii in the shade of the trees.

Looking up the trail near the site of the old Shinto shrine south of Yuli. At the top is a broken and barren area with concrete rubble where the haiden (hall of worship) was standing in the Japanese era.

Here is a door in the settlement at the Yuli Shinto shrine on Xibian Street not far from the Yuli train station (less than a kilometer west from the station).

The Nan-an area area southwest of Yuli, near the entry to Jade Mountain National Park on highway 30. The Bunun people call the river “Lakulaku” (meaning there are many barking deer there).

A map of the Batongguan trail, which links Yuli in Hualien County to Xinyi in Nantou County. People in peak fitness carrying food and gear can walk the route in five days, but most backpackers these days give themselves seven to eleven days for the journey.

A view near the start of the Batongguan Trail. The trail dates back to before the Japanese era, as Bunun people were using the route for many generations, but the route was improved into a major route under Japanese rule.

A view up into the interior mountains from Shanfeng suspension bridge number 1.

Formosan rock macaque on the rocks down below the first Shanfeng suspension bridge.

The Japanese-era sign on the Shangfeng suspension bridge, which is one of the only Japanese-era suspension bridges that is still original, and hasn’t had the cables replaced.

Looking down at the Lakulaku River from the Batongguan Trail.

As we were getting near the Jiaxin (佳心) station there were some views looking back down the Lakulaku River. The dark ridge in the furthest distance is actually the coastal range on the other side of the East Rift Valley.

Before entering one of the Bunun stone homes at Jiaxin we had to conduct a ceremony and show respect. The center of the floor near the door is also a grave for the elderly couple who lived in the home, as Bunun practiced burial under the floor of their homes, a custom that was fairly common and widespread around the world. The Mogollon people of the American Southwest, as well as the Pueblo people ancestors, sometimes practiced burial under the floors in their stone or mud adobe homes. So, anyway, we had to show respect and not step on the large central stone with the raised stones in the center of this home.

My guide who brought me to these stone houses was the Bunun poet and activist Salian Takisvilainan, who is my friend Panay’s uncle. It was he who helped us show respect and observe the proper ceremony before entering the home.

A waterfall across the canyon on the other side of the Lakulaku River.

This house was created as a project by some Bunun people to maintain their skills in building traditional homes, and has not actually been used as a family home, although sometimes when Bunun people hike between Yuli and Xinyi they stop for the night in this house.

Salian Takisvilainan is wearing a turquoise shirt and standing next to me. The family hiking with us were very cool; the father is a documentary film maker. They were interested in the plants, animals, and cultural history of the area.

At one of the springs along the Batongguan Trail we saw a couple freshwater crabs. They look very much like the recently discovered Yuebeipotamon calciatile crabs from Yingde in northern Guangdong. I am not familiar with the freshwater crabs of Taiwan, so I have no idea what these were.

This is another one of the plentiful Swinhoe’s Lizards (Diploderma swinhonis) that were easy to see along the Batongguan Trail.

The Shanfeng waterfall near the old Japanese Shanfeng suspension bridge. A pleasant waterfall, but one must descend (and then ascend) a tremendous number of stairs to get to the viewpoint.

A viewing platform along the Batongguan Trail (also known as the Walami Trail).

The long Shanfeng Bridge Number One (which is actually newer than the old Shanfeng Bridge).

A dragon on the roof of a temple in Yuli.

A Bunun woman selling handicrafts at a market fair near the Taiwan Black Bear Education Center in Yuli.

The stage with a photographic mural of local residents in the little Bunun village (中興) in the mountains above Yuli.

I spent much of the day hanging out with Tana Panay and her Bunun friends in the tiny village of 中興. We began to discuss the Bunun worldview and the ethics and moral underpinnings of Bunun culture, and then someone showed me this diagram on their phone, showing that Bunun people have been working on conceptual frameworks for understanding their culture and the values and priorities within their culture.

This cute little baby was the youngest child at the center where we were spending the day. Some people were preparing barking deer hides, and others were creating a bag and a hat with their hides.

This young guy took me to the stream near the village （中平溪） where I was impressed by the natural beauty, but my companion explained that for him, the place seemed rather plain, as he is from a Bunun Village in the high mountains of Nantou, where the scenery is far more dramatic, and the rivers and streams are likewise experienced on a grander scale.

A damselfly at the Midst of Calm Stream （中平溪）.

My friend Tana Panay had a mother who was Bunun and a father who was Ami, so during my last afternoon in Yuli she took me to the Ami area of the valley, and showed me some places that were meaningful to her. In particular, we admired this incredible mosaic put up in August of 2021 by the artist (an Ami man who lives nearby) and a team of volunteers. This is the Matthew Lin Christian Church along Route 193 (Lede Road) in the community of 泰林.

We went to visit the artist who designed the mosaic at the Matthew Lin Church, but he wasn’t home. In front of his house there was a sort of miniature version of the mosaic at the church.

While waiting for my train to Tainan, Tana Panay and I had some sweet ice with mango.

Eric Hadley-Ives and Tana Panay in front of the Yuli train station.

Scenery in the East Rift Valley between Yuli and Taitung.

A hot air balloon soars over the East Rift Valley.

Tainan has a claim on being an artistic and food culture center for Taiwan. It was in Taiwan that the Dutch and Han Chinese first came in great numbers back in the 17th century. Today there are many cool little alleys and side streets with old temples and houses to explore in the old city. This wall decorated with some art inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s film Totoro is the sort of thing you can expect to see in Tainan.

Typical Tainan. I have lived in four different places in Taiwan (Chiayi, Taichung, Xindian in New Taipei City, and Hualien), but I have never lived in Tainan. I think I could enjoy living here.

This is the Confucian Temple in Tainan. It was first built in 1666, but was reconstructed in 1917.

This statue of someone gazing at a cell phone sitting on a bench suggests to me that some people who visit the Confucius Temple may not be so interested in architecture and historical artifacts. Is that what the artist intended to suggest?

My friend Tim Niven treated me to a delicious lunch. In this photograph he is paying. Notice on the counter the cute nightlight figurine of little “Mei” and a small Totoro sitting on a bench. Such cute little decorative touches are popular in Taiwan.

In China and Taiwan, among the Han Chinese, the psychopathic bloodthirsty pirate Koxinga is considered a hero for defeating the European colonial power (the Dutch East India Company) and establishing Ming Dynasty rule on Taiwan (while on the mainland the Ming Dynasty was being wiped out by the new Qing Dynasty). Were I writing history books and helping Taiwanese understand their history, I would not portray Koxinga as a heroic figure (he was not one), but he certainly was important. Anyway, in Tainan there is a temple dedicated to this immoral monster. Here is the alter with the figure of Koxinga himself.

After my visit to Tainan, I headed up to Chiayi. During my second day based in Chiayi, I went on a trip north to Lukang and Xianxi in Changhua County, with a stop in Shetou (also in Changhua County) to have some food at my wife’s Third Sister’s restaurant. From there I continued on to Songboling to get some tea, and then returned to Chiayi in time to see a fantastic sunset with a double rainbow. This is the approach to the childhood home of our friend Shirley Lin. Here I met her father and enjoyed an ice cream bar.

After visiting Shirley’s brother, father, and sister in Xianxi, we went to the glass exhibition hall in Lukang. This is the Glass Temple outside the exhibition hall.

In the Lukang glass exhibition hall we went into a sort of house of mirrors, which was fun.

The day after my visit to Changhua County I returned to Tainan to see the national history museum. The exhibit in this photograph explained many of the roles and significant facts about various persons who participate in processions. During the birthday of a god/saint, or at certain festival times, the iconic representation of some god/angel/saint or personified archetype is brought out and carried around to visit various places. Over the years I’ve learned a bit about this sort of ceremonial ritual, but here in the museum everything was clearly explained with lifelike statues to represent each type of participant.

The museum had a significant amount of space and detail given to a description of the era of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan. From 1945 to the 1990s most Taiwanese histories or museums tended to skip over the Japanese era, giving it hardly enough attention, but this is being rectified in the newer museums and textbooks.

The roof of the Hayashi Department Store. There is a gift shop, and there I purchased a gift for my son, Arthur. It matched a gift he gave me in 2020 when he returned from his semester abroad in Taiwan. And so, when he saw it, he immediate guessed I had purchased it at the gift shop on the roof of the Hayashi Department Store. That Hayashi Department store is one of the oldest ones in Taiwan, and the elevator within it (which we used to go up), is supposedly the oldest elevator in Taiwan. The Hayashi Department Store was first opened in 1932.

These Kochi pottery figures (Cochin Ceramic sculptures) are found all over Taiwan, but they are especially good in the areas around Tainan and Chiayi. This one is on the Bao-An Temple at the corner of Hai’an Road and Bao’an Road in Tainan.

Inside the Bao-an Temple is a stone tortoise. This was one of ten stone tortoises sent to Tainan to celebrate the victory of the government over the Shuang-Wen Lin mass uprising (1787-1788). This one sank into a lagoon, and yet the head of the tortoise could be seen rising above the surface to receive the essence of the sun and moon. According to the signage at Bao-an Temple, the Goddess White Lotus is now connected with the stone tortoise, and so this stone tortoise will cure evil diseases and respond to requests.

I am pleased to see old buildings like these, (#136 and #134 on Yongfu Road Section Two in West Central District of Tainan) when they are painted to look interesting. I can’t tell the difference between urban commercial buildings from the 1920s-1940s (Japanese Era) and those constructed in the 1950s-1960s (KMT Dictatorship Era). Are these from the 30s? the 50s? The 70s? I don’t know.

This is one of the oldest structures in Tainan, and Taiwan. This is the Chikan Tower(赤嵌樓), which was first constructed as Fort Provintia (普羅民遮城) in 1652. It has been significantly changed over the centuries, and I doubt there are more than a few bricks original to the time of the Dutch when it was first constructed.

Link to other photo albums

The first page of summer 2022 photographs

The third page of summer photographs from 2022