Sun Moon Lake & Nantou Hsien

Sheep, Rain, and a Lake

I started uploading photos for this blog a while ago, and unfortunately have been too swamped with work to write the words to go along with the photos. So as I come back to this, I noticed one very disturbing thing. I have become very Taiwanese in my romanization of "Hsien." Ahh!!! Where has my pinyin gone and how have I so easily fallen back into the random pinyin-ization of Taiwan?

In any case, that's not what this blog is about, so I shall move on. The McGills (Tim, the superintendent and his wife, Bonnie, the head of recruitment very kindly took us new teachers on a trip throughout central Taiwan. We started off going to Sun Moon Lake, which is one of those "must-see" places in Taiwan. It was one the hardest-hit places in Taiwan during the deadly 9/21 earthquake. I now notice that it was almost exactly 8 years ago to the day that this earthquake happened! We ended up going around to where I used to live in Nantou Hsien (Ren Ai Hsiang), including a visit to the sheep farm! It felt good to be back there - we had some amazing memories there, but it was also sad because so much has changed in that area. Not only has there been much more development, but kids have left the villages, people are getting older, and the vibe of the place is a lot less tranquil than it once was. But, that is life, and we must all keep on changing. Enjoy the photos!

Hiking through the drizzle for a view of the lake.


Sun Moon Lake - a beautiful man-made lake
that has now become a major tourist trap with
fancy resorts rising up all over the place.


The gang: Annie, Tim, Bonnie, Christina, Jenni, Me & Kris
The McGills treated us to a wonderful meal overlooking
Sun Moon Lake.


Stir-fried beef and fresh vegetables served in a bamboo container.


Mmm... this fish was really good. Maybe it was from the Lake?


Snacks along the side of the street - a big
wok of yummy goodness - fish balls, corn,
tofu, hot dogs - and all on a stick!


More yummy goodness - grilled squid. The options:
Large or small (I think this was the small one!)


I'm glad I didn't bring my bike.


It was quite vivid, despite the rain, but
I really couldn't find the circle.



Shopping in the "vivid business circle."
I met an aboriginal woman from the Thao tribe here. They
are originally from this area, but their numbers have dwindled
down to a population about the size of Elbow - 283 was
the count I heard.

A close-up shot of betel nuts in the making.
Betel nuts are the sort of the equivalent of
tobacco in Taiwan. They come from a tree that looks
much like the palm tree, then are split open, filled
with the red paste you see in the top right (which causes
people to spit red) and, at this stand, they also add this
green sliver you see at the top. They gave us some of that to try -
I think it was cactus, but we're not really sure. It crunched
ike an apple, but was spicy and tasted like black licorice,
and left an awful aftertaste. I'm still working up the courage
to try a full betel nut, but there's supposedly a mild narcotic,
which is why so many people chew it. More on the betel
nut in another segment.

Up on the hills in "Gao Shan"

Christina and the giant lion. As Kris tells me, apparently
we came here to this temple before with my family.
I have no recollection of it. I mean, how could you
possibly remember a place with two giant lions leaning
on giant white balls?

Ching Ching Nong Chang (or just Ching Ching Farm)
When I first came to this farm, there were few visitors
and admission was about 20 NT. We were able to run everywhere,
hang out with the Kiwi family that runs the place, and enjoy the
peace and quiet. I came back a few years later, and Des & Kris were
able to race each other till Des got sick. This time around, there
were hundreds of people and they've now built fences
within the farm to keep people off the grass. It's a sad state when
the sheep are more obedient than humans...

Annie being blown about by the winds and rains. But no
matter the storm, we wanted to see the sheep!

What Ching Ching Farm looked like pre-tourism!
Calm and peaceful and serene.

Annie trying on some traditional aboriginal garments
with David's mom. I believe they are Atayal,
but from the Hualien area. I worked with David one
summer at Bamboo camp, and have since stayed
with his parents several times in their village of "Chuen Yang."
I was thrilled to be able to go see her again!

My friend David's mom, showing us her traditional
weaving loom. She's making a cloth for a wedding.
This one takes about 1 hour to weave 10 cm!

This is the modern weaving loom which is easier on the body
than the traditional weaving loom is.

Despite the rain, I had a great time in the hills. I love Taiwan for all its neat little hidden spots, its amazing aboriginal culture, and even its ability to have a Starbucks in the middle of nowhere.