Stirring Hope: Travels around Taiwan

Even though Taiwan is a small country, there certainly is a lot to see and do here. Just a little bigger than Vancouver Island, Taiwan boasts a population of over 23 million. Most of the people live in the bigger cities on the west coast, the east coast is dotted with rocky beaches and smaller cities, and mountains and aboriginal villages span the central area in between. Taiwan also has several smaller yet beautiful islands in the surrounding area.

Whether you like big metropolitan areas, quaint farming villages, fresh mountain air, or the sea breeze along sandy beaches, there is something for everyone to enjoy in Taiwan. I've been so blessed to have travelled to several different places throughout the country already but, as always with me, there are still so many other places that I would like to visit!

Hualien

Hualien is a city on the east coast of Taiwan, which I was able to visit in early February. My friend Jocelyn from Ray of Hope went to visit our other friend Isuz, who's grandmother passed away. We went to pay our respect and attend her memorial. It was a beautiful celebration of her life and although it's always sad to say goodbye to a loved one, all of her family were at peace, knowing that she is now in the wonderful presence of the Lord and also that they will see her in heaven again someday.

Isuz is an aboriginal Taiwanese, from the Bunun tribe so it was also interesting to learn more about aboriginal customs and culture.

Ruisui (pronounced ray-sway)
The aboriginal farming village where Isuz is from

Local aboriginal art adorns the village streets

View of the Pacific coast from the train

Pingtung

Pingtung is in south central Taiwan, towards the mountains. My friend Jessie and I came here to go hiking one day because we were both craving nature and itching to get out of the city. We hiked a relatively easy hike and ended up at a waterfall where other Taiwanese hikers took a refreshing dip in the pool of water to cool off from the heat. We took our time driving back, slowly making our way through the scenic mountain roads - just the drive alone is worth it!

Came across some waterfalls while hiking

One of many rice fields in the countryside

View of the mountains

Watching the sunset while having dinner

We loved Pingtung so much that we came back another day. We visited one of the most beautiful churches that I've seen in Taiwan, a small aboriginal church constructed with big, natural stones. It was wonderful to hear the people lifting up their songs of worship to God in their angelic voices and their local language. We ended the day with a stop at one of the local tea shops, famous for their pounded tea. We learned how to grind the ingredients by hand with a mortar and pestle and then relaxed for awhile, savouring every sip of this slightly sweet and nutty flavoured tea.

Wufei (pronounced oo-fay) aboriginal church

The service is preached in two languages - their aboriginal language and Taiwanese
The congregants all wear traditional clothing and the women wear crowns made of flowers

A beautiful variety of flowers grow in the wild

Learning how to make lei-cha, a special type of pounded tea

All dressed up in traditional Taiwanese clothing
The color and type of banding indicates your status in society

Meinong

Meinong is also in the south central part of Taiwan, full of lush scenery and mountains in the distance. Leah, a dear woman from the USA was volunteering with Ray of Hope for a month so while she was here I took her and one of the moms out for a day trip. We visited the Meinong Folk village where they make the traditional paper umbrellas, stopped off at the shop where they make traditional clothing, and then made sure that we stopped in for dinner consisting of local fare.

Miaoli

Miaoli is in the central mountainous area of Taiwan so it's great for camping! Being a nature girl at heart you can imagine my excitement to go camping. Taiwanese camping is a little less rustic compared to Canada. For example, our campsite had a pre-constructed wooden frame for your tent, complete with a wooden floor to keep you off the ground and a roof to keep the rain away. Each site is pretty much right beside each other so trees are pretty much non-existent, as is privacy. Our campsite was also complete with running water, flush toilets, and showers so it was almost like camping in luxury. The culture is the same, however, where having all of the right gear and bringing the best food for camping is of upmost importance. The one thing that was missing was a campfire pit - due to the high-risk of fire they are simply not permitted. Not to mention nobody wants to sit around a fire when it's already 32 degrees Celsius at night!

Our campsite, complete with gazebo and tent

The most important question when camping...
"What's for dinner?"

The Taiwanese know how to eat
12 course meals are not limited to banquets, they're also appropriate when camping

Old style Taiwanese house that we came across when hiking

Driving home always involves stopping off at every tourist spot along the way

Here we are at one of Taiwan's oldest railway hubs

Driving home also always involves stopping off at every city along the way
and eating whatever food that city is famous for

Tainan

Tainan is in the southwestern part of Taiwan and it's where I currently call home. People here always talk about the cultural difference between northern and southern Taiwan in that the southern Taiwanese are known to be more friendly, more helpful, and more easygoing. Now that I've lived here for 9 months I've really started to notice that in general it's true. Perhaps it has something to do with the weather, since for most days of the year you can find sunshine and blue skies in Tainan compared to the constant cloudy and rainy days of Taipei.

Tainan is one of the oldest cities in Taiwan and so the city is a mix of old, historic buildings as well as the new. It also boasts having over 500 temples within it's city limits, some of which are Buddhist but most are for the traditional Taiwanese religion.

Anping tree house
Formerly an abandoned warehouse, banyan tree roots started grow within and overtop of the building,
creating a unique effect

Hanging out in Anping with my classmates and teachers from the Chinese Language Center

Former British Tait and Co. Trading Post
Established in 1867

The gate of just one of the many temples in Taiwan

Lukang ancient artifacts museum

Trying out the traditional game of walking on stilts

Outside an traditional-style house in Lukang

Walking the narrow streets in Lukang,
wide enough only for one person to pass through

Chikan Lou aka Fort Provintia
Formerly an old Dutch fort, where Taiwan's hero Koxinga defeated the Dutch

Carp pond inside Chikan Lou

Penghu

Penghu is an island off the west coast of Taiwan. It's small enough that you can rent a scooter and drive around the island in a day, stopping off at all the scenic spots for pictures. It's a quaint place to visit and perfect for a weekend getaway.