Dad’s birthday began in Hualien. We were visiting Taroko Gorge. We were invited to Stacy’s parents’ house in Tainan, so we had to travel from Hualien to Tainan. Here’s the route that we had to take:
Why couldn’t we just go straight down, instead of up and then down? Because of the central mountain range in Taiwan. The mountains are so high, and so geologically unstable, that it’s impossible to make a highway across the mountains.
Here’s what Taiwan looks like from space. All that green in the middle is mountains.
We took a train up to Taipei, then took the high-speed rail down to Tainan. By the way, the second leg took less time than the first leg, because of the speed of the HSR.
Dad also likes the train system in Taiwan. The trains are well-run, cheap, and comfortable.
It was great seeing the parents together for the first time in 13 years.
Stacy’s sister Dingmei 定梅 arranged a special birthday dinner for Dad. So many dishes!
We ate until we almost exploded. Then, to take us over the edge, we went back to the parents’ house for birthday cake and a special Chinese birthday “longevity peach” 壽桃, which is really a steamed bun 包å formed in the shape of a peach.
The next day we were still stuffed and wiped out, at least the men folk were…
We visited the National Center for the Traditional Arts 傳è—ä¸å¿ƒ. It’s a showcase for traditional Chinese handcrafts, set up like an old Chinese city.
Walking around the shops was tiring. Ian and my Dad rested on seats carved in the Aboriginal style.
There’s a lot of hands-on stuff to do there, including traditional toys. Stacy and Evan liked the two-person shoes:
Ian showed off his skills at throwing a top:
In addition to crafts, the performing arts are also featured at the Center. We saw an opera dramatization of the Journey to the West 西éŠè¨˜:
Also at the Center is a house belonging to a scholar who lived during the Qing dynasty.
Every time I visit a place in Taiwan, I’m reminded about how much I don’t know about Chinese culture and history. I always learn a lot, but there’s just so much to learn. For example, there used to be a separate number writing system for business accounting. Who knew? (in my defense, Stacy didn’t know this either. But still..)
We walked a LOT that day. And were very tired at the end of the day. But it was great.
I’ll tell you what’s worse: an academic conference that is held at a beautiful oceanside resort, which you can’t enjoy because you’re sitting in a conference room listening to people talk about their research on meditation and the intersection of Western and Chinese philosophy, that’s what’s worse.
Yes, it does snow in Taiwan, but only high up in the mountains. We’re experiencing another cold snap here in Taiwan this week. Although in Yilan we only have lows in the 40s, on Jade Mountain 玉山, the highest mountain in Taiwan, it got cold enough for snow. Beautiful, isn’t it?
Photo from the China Times, 1-14-2010.
http://camera.chinatimes.com/PhotoView.aspx?fid=8386&pid=101804
I guess every religion needs to proselytize, but Buddhism isn’t the first religion to spring to mind when one pictures evangelicalism. I’ve been surprised to see it in Taiwan. There are billboards promoting the teachings of particular Buddhist monks. In Yilan’s train station, there is a television mounted on the wall, showing propaganda against meat. The program that runs constantly seems to be promoting vegetarianism. It shows the cruelty of keeping food animals in confinement, and links eating meat to the destruction of the environment.  The argument is that raising food animals requires resources like water and grain, and thus meat has a much higher environmental impact than raising vegetables. There’s probably some truth to that, but the program is over the top. Linking a hamburger to typhoon Morakot stretches credulity.
There is also a Buddhist television station here. Most of the programming is harmless, but the news programs are slanted towards the impact on local policy that Buddhism has, and promoting the Buddhist agenda. Generally, the Buddhist agenda is harmless on the surface. I have a great deal of respect for Buddhism, especially for the charity work that they do. These news reports aren’t objective, though, and the agenda is easily visible to the observer.
What really bothers me about the evangelicalism is the propaganda trucks. This morning I was assaulted by a pickup truck with a megaphone mounted on the top, shouting out the evils of meat and the glories of vegetarianism. In fact, I like to eat vegetarian food when it’s available, and I agree that eating less meat is healthier and probably easier on the environment. Again, I have little objection to the agenda. It’s the proselytizing that rubs me the wrong way. I think that if eating vegetarian food is really as good as that, that people will do it on their own.
Religion should not be promoted as if it were a soft drink or a cell phone.
You know how at carnivals you can get all kinds of food on a stick? Did you ever think that you could get potato chips on a stick? Well, the Taiwanese have figured out how to do it.
Last weekend, we went to the tourist town on the north coast, called Tamshui (æ·¡æ°´), for a field trip. While we were there, we found some fun food, including spiral potato chips. Tasty!
