The First Day, Aug 17 Of Ghost Month

     August 17 is the first day of ghost month which is in lunar July. What does it mean? Taiwanese believes it is the day that the hell opens its gates and let all ghosts out of hell to have one month summer vacation on the earth. The ghosts will go back to hell on the last day of lunar July.   

This was a ritual ceremony before the deity patrols a
village to get rid of bad spirits. They were the deity's
generals who performed their duty to warn off the devils. 

Tropic Storm Kai-Tak

8/15 Update:

TCWB predicted that Typhoon Kai-Tak won't make landfall in Taiwan. However, it will cause heavy rainfall in the south and southeast parts of Taiwan.  

8.14

Taiwan Central Weather Bureau might announce a sea warning in the afternoon and issue a land warning tonight or tomorrow morning. The entire island will rain tomorrow. 

The commuter boat schedules to Green Island will be canceled on Aug. 15. 

The Views Along The Historical Mountain Railroad

      After posting a preview article on the CK124 steam engine that will run again in August, I have to force myself to write this article which was in my draft box for 10 months already. The scenic along this mountain side railroad is one of my favor travel places. It is historical and a place with simplicity and spirits of the Taiwan people. 

Brief History of the Taiwan Railroad

     In 1884 Taiwan defeated the French during the Sino-French War, Taiwan became one of Qing Dynasty's provinces in 1885. The first governor of Taiwan, Liu Ming Chuan, took the railroad tracks which were being used to build their railroad system in China, but were being destroyed by the Chinese people because of superstitious reasons to Taiwan for defensive and economic developments. In 1887, he hired engineers of British H. C. Matheson and German John Bireh to construct the first railroad, 28.6 km long from Taipei to Keelung. The first running train was in 1891 with a speed of 20 km per hour. In 1888, the railroad extent from Taipei to Sinchu a total of 78 km.

     After the first Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was given to Japan in 1895. The Japanese government in Taiwan was aggressive in rebuilding and construct new railway systems for transporting natural resources and also setting up a colonial model for its colonized counties in Southeast Asia. In 1908 it finished the most difficult segment of the railway system from Sanyi to Taian with an elevation topping of at 402.326 meter. Taiwan west railway system from Keelung to Kaohsiung was completed.

This map covering the entire mountain
railroad segment was a self guide system in
Chinese only. Click
Photo Source:
http://lib.mlc.gov.tw/webmlr/Remembrance2.asp

Weather Warning

8/6 11:30
TCWB has issued a north sea warning of Typhoon Haikui. People should avoid water activities on the north, northeast, east coast, Green Island and Orchid Island.

Torrential Rain warning is also issued.

Want to Take CK124 Steam Engine at the Historical Mountain Railroad from Sanyi to Taian in August ?

     While I was searching for road closures information updates for my blog after Typhoon Soala hit Taiwan, I came across article stating that Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) will run its CK124 steam engine on the historical mountain mountain railroad from Sanyi station to Taina station in Aug. The old railroad was closed in 1998 and started operating only for the summer of 2010. It had attracted a lot of railway's fans, anticipating this event and a lot of people lost their opportunity for attending due to limit seats.
     Also, this event has increased Maoli County's travel revenue and improved its economic aspects. The government asked TRA to continue its effort to schedule the event in 2011 and 2012. Below is the information which I found on TRA cruise-style train website.
     The schedule will be on Aug 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 and 31. Booking date varies, please check the schedule below. If you need more information, please check its website or call the agent directly.

Highway Condition Update After Typhoon Soala

Highway 9 : Suhua Highway from Suao to Hualien is closed and would be expected to open on Aug 10. 

Photo Source : on 蘇花公路即時路況 Facebook page.
Photographer:傅立祥 Upload by Dona
This photo was taken on the Guanyin Section of the
Highway 9.

Typhoon Saola Warning

                  Holy Cow! No body was injured.

 When the news correspondence vehicle got hit by this giant falling rock, the correspondent was conducting news and the driver got out for smoking. This picture was posted on 呂國寶's FB who is also a news correspondent for a TV

station. Updated by Mr.呂國寶 on his FB page that the driver was in the van when it happened. Fortunately, he wasn't injured by the falling rock but he was stunned by the rock.   

THSR will run its schedule at every 00/20/40 and stops at every station. For tomorrow schedule will be announced before 7 PM.  

Typhoon Soala made its first landfall in Hualien County at 3:30 am. After making a circle, it entered the Pacific Ocean again. TCWB predicts it might make another landfall. 

                   This picture of Xindian River was taken and posted on FB of Professor Khîn-huānn Lí around 8:30 am. The bad news is the high tide will be at 10:30 am and 23 pm which means the rivers will be overflown in Taipei. So it is extremely dangerous for people to close to river areas.