Plum Blossom Season in Chungyuan Indeginouse Tribe

     The unusual weather pattern makes this winter more wet, cold and less sunshine in Taiwan; however, the cold weather is good for some plants to grow well like plum trees. In recently years, people are more appreciated what the natural world has given us like wonderful, gorgeous scenery like plum blossom season during mid December to mid January. The most famous place for appreciating the blossom is in Sinyin Township, Nantou County.  Because it was so popular and caused traffic jam in that area, we decided  to visit another less famous and less visitors new place on a precious sunny day with our motorcycle on the beginning of the four day new year holiday. 

This was the first time my husband took me for a ride after he had someone attach 3 boxes to his bike. Our main concerned was if this motorcycle could bear our weight plus the boxes? Another thing was that I should give my husband a compliment for finding places to remodel his bike without my help. He is really a true adventure to explore Taiwan on his own.

Update: Suhua Highway Condition!

Update on 12/28

***Suhua Highway will be opened for cars which weight is under 3.5 tons at 1 pm of Dec 28 to Jan 2 for the new year. It will be closed after Jan 3 till lunar new year. 
*** Wulin Farm is limited to 5000 visitors per day. Visitors who are planing to stay overnight at campsites or hotels need to grant permits from the hotels or the campsites. The overnight visitors are limited to 1800 people per day.
Individual visitors for one day visit are required to take public transportation. The number is 3200 people per day. Visitors can take Kuokuang Bus at Taipei station and Ilan station, Capital Bus at Taipei City Hall Station, and Fengyuan Bus at Lishan Station.  

Update on 12/24
***Suhua Highway is set to open on Dec 31 for the 4 day new year holiday with one lane traffic control .  Although it will be opened, the land and ground are  still saturated with water from the recent intermittent rains and occasionally with falling rocks. Your safety is your responsibility for driving on this highway. 
*** There were landslides or massive falling rocks on Highway 8 close Toroko National Park on 12/24 afternoon. There was no news posted in Taiwan newspapers or TV news. A photo which was posted on FB friend's page and the author didn't authorize me to share it here is scary. As the note in the Toroko National Park website states: Travelers should check the road condition before they travel to the national park because the constant rains cause the landslides and falling rocks.    
*** Snow chain is required when drives to Mt. Hohuan due to the icy road condition. 

     Recent rain (33 days rain) has caused massive landslides on Suhua Highway which is from Suao to Hualien in Taiwan. It is closed for repairing. It is expected to reopen on Jan 13 2013. If you plan to drive or ride through this section, you probably have to change your plan. 

Photo was taken from one of my FB friend'd page.
https://www.facebook.com/et112606

Happy Holiday Season To You All

Wish all our friends a wonderful holiday season, Merry Christmas, and Happy Hanukkah!

Recently we adapted this kitten which is now more than 2 months old. I share most of my time with it and ignore my blog. 

Ershuei-- The Town Of The Beginning Of Jiji Railroad Line

     Staying one night in the Songboling area which has only two B&B nearby, I drove to the town of Ershuei on a local farm road which is also a hiking and a bicycle trail with an extremely challenge grade for bicyclists. 

This is the farm road to Ershuei from Songboling with sharp turns. The difference in elevation is about 282 m (924 feet) within around 3.5 km long. 

Visiting A Historical Tunnel and Water Bridge on Nantou Hwy 131

     After a couple hours staying in Checheng, I decided to visit some forgotten historical sites which were built by the Japanese along the highway 131. 

Looking back at the Mingtan Reservoir from hwy 131 

Checheng Village at the End of the Jiji Railroad Line

     This night I escaped from my husband and home and arrived at this small remote village that I had visited more than 30 years ago. This was the first time I traveled alone in my entire life. It was a challenge for being independant and a mind testing for being a brave female traveler. Also I experienced the disadvantages of being a single female traveler in Taiwan.  

     Arriving at this small village after 8pm, there was no one walking on the streets. I was totally not oriented with this village. The image of this village was out of my memory. I tried to drive around this village to get my memory back, but it was difficult for searching the out of date database in my brain.  

     It was not easy to find a safe and reasonable hotel or bed & breakfast place to stay here. I was rejected because I was a single female who asked for a single room. I found there were only 3-4 bed & breakfast in this village. They charged for a standard 2 people room. Even if I was only one person, I still had to pay for a 2 people fee. So what choice would I have?

After visiting the police office and getting some information, I decided to take a walk on the trail along the lake. Sometimes there were some wood cutting and woodworking sounds from somewhere in this village. Other than that, it was a quiet night. 

Ten Drum Cultural Village-Tainan Metropolitan Park

     Our schedule for the day would be light and easy especally for my mom who is 70+ years old and still picking tea leaves or doing farm works. Traveling to her was of time and consumed money. She likes working on a farm all day and without complaining but traveling for some distances was unbearable. She complained that she could not walk too long because her knees were not good. Some of my sisters had a tendency to spoil her instead of encouraging her to take a walk as an exercise. The definition of enjoying life is totally different between me and my mother. 

     However, I understand her past and appreciate her working hard to raise 6  children. She grew up in a generation which women were less educated or received no education at all. They were also asked to work hard and sacrifice themselves for glory and to respect their husbands and their husbands' families without any questions. There was not gender equality in her time. Also when they get old, they have to embrace the change of the social norm and the society. The younger generations are not taught to work hard or have to sacrifice themselves to respect their husbands and husband's family. The young generations receive more education. There is more gender equality in the younger generations. So for my mom's generation, they have to learn and adjust their thinking to accept the ways of their daughters in laws' thinking at home. Also they lose their absolute authority as a mother-in-laws for governing their sons and sons' families.

The view of Tainan city in the early morning from our hotel room.