Tainan and Sun Moon Lake: Cultural Heartland of Taiwan

Tainan was the capital of Taiwan for over 200 years during the 17th-19th centuries, and it’s filled with history. This is Koxinga, a Chinese general who defeated the Dutch in 1664.



We visited a temple and museum dedicated to him which featured 12 steles (commemorative stone tablets) from the Emperor that lauded his accomplishment. The grounds were beautiful.

  

Pete is enjoying his new camera. Here he slowed down the shutter speed to capture more of the water sprays from the fountains.



We stayed in Anping, the old quarter, which was along this canal.



We rented bikes to make it easier to get around to all the sights, and enjoyed also riding out to the coast on a bike path that went through wetlands with a bird park.



This sign was posted along the canal, although we couldn’t imagine how anyone could ride their bike into it, as there were guardrails along the water.



Some of Tainan’s buildings are “protected” by lions with swords in their mouths. We spent time in the old quarter looking for these cool lions.

  

The temples throughout Taiwan include a combination of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

  

We saw several Kuan Yin statues, the Boddhisatva of Compassion, which were lovely.



While the city is rich in history, the temples still felt alive because we saw many worshippers there.

  

This is ancestral money and this woman is burning it so that her deceased relatives will have money to spend in the spirit world. We saw this being done in front of shops and homes and at temples.

  

Next we went to Sun Moon Lake, so named because the eastern side of the lake has a round shape like a sun, and the western side has a crescent moon shape. Pete took these photos early in the morning while Kristina slept in!

     

We rented bikes and cruised around the lake on the bikeway.



We saw another funny bike sign. The “tortuous” path was a gentle downhill section!



The Taiwanese love their dogs and bring them everywhere. We saw them walking on leashes, but it was more common to see the dogs riding on scooters (either at the front near the driver’s feet or held by a passenger) or sitting in strollers! It got so we would take a bet as we approached a stroller: would it have a baby or a dog in it?



These are Sun Moon Lake Eggs, the most popular snack food here according to our guidebook, which claims they sell 30,000/day during peak season. The eggs are cooked in a mushroom and tea broth for 24 hours. At 3 for $1, they are a tasty bargain! We ate them sprinkled with wasabi powder.



We also tried pidan, “hundred-year eggs”. The eggs are preserved in clay, ash, salt, quicklime and rice hulls for several months. As you can see in this half egg, the yolk changes from yellow to dark green/grey and the white becomes dark brown and translucent. They smell a bit like ammonia and have a fishy flavor. One taste was enough.



We visited two Xuanzang temples. Xuanzang was the Chinese monk who traveled on foot to India in the 7th century to study Buddhism. He is shown here with the Buddhist sutra scrolls on his back that he brought back to China and translated.



This enormous lion was protecting a magnificent Confucian temple called Wenwu.



This was the old path up to Wenwu from the lake. Before the road was built people had to take a boat to get to the temple. Each step of the path is numbered 1-366 and has the day of the year carved on it. The path walls are lined with wish bells from students who are hoping for good scores on exams.




We loved walking around the temples that were nestled into the beautiful natural setting at Sun Moon Lake.



We have enjoyed our three weeks in Taiwan. It’s an easy country to travel in, and the people we met were friendly and honest. Our favorite meal in Taiwan was this pork belly served with Chinese buns. The pork was so delicious and tender. We used the extra sauce on a dish of greens.



Next we fly to Bali, Indonesia where we’re looking forward to doing a 10 day meditation retreat through July 10th.

Taipei Revisited: Treats for the Eyes and Belly

We love returning to a city that we’ve previously enjoyed. We get to experience a sense of familiarity, revisit favorite places, and explore a bit deeper. All this made our second stay in Taipei a delight! We went to both the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Fine Arts Museum. Since there’s no photography allowed inside we’re including photos of the outside sculpture.





Our friends Lance and Laura lived in Taipei 22 years ago. We asked them what their favorite things were then, and they told us about Wisteria Tea House. Sure enough, it’s still here! We enjoyed an afternoon of tea looking out at the garden.



Lance’s favorite places to eat were the night markets. We checked out Shilin, which is the largest of the night markets in Taipei. It was packed!



These soft-shelled crabs were succulent.



The line for the deep fat fried chicken was long, so we were expecting it to be tasty; It was incredibly moist and tender, and an absolute bargain price at $2!





Lots of different types of sausages were available, so we sampled.





The night markets have a carnival atmosphere. Alas, Pete didn’t win a stuffed Tigger for Kristina.



We ended up going twice to Shilin, as there were dishes we still wanted to try but we didn’t have room in our bellies. The second visit included oyster omelets, these absolutely delicious snails and “stinky tofu”. 





Stinky tofu has been fermented in brine, then is served deep fried, drizzled with a sweetened soy sauce and topped with sour pickled cabbage. Obviously we are adventurous eaters, but the stinky tofu pushed us to our edge.





Laura suggested we go to the National Museum. It had an incredible collection of Chinese cultural artifacts, back to 7,000 BCE. We were enamored of the carved jade! Here’s the front gate with a look through to the museum building.



We learned that the Chinese Nationalist government had crated up the Imperial collection and carted it around China for 15 years, to protect it from Japanese invasion. When the Communists were about to take the city of Nanjing in 1949, the Nationalists shipped the collection across the Taiwan Strait. It sat in crates for another 15 years, as Chiang Kai-shek was expecting to conquer China and return with the collection; In 1965 the National Museum was built in Taipei. Here Pete is in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.



Inside is a museum about The Generalissimo. Here is a wax figure of Cash My-check, as he was called to denote the level of corruption in his government.



We enjoyed the hot springs in Beitou district. Here’s a photo of Plum Garden gate and house where scholar and calligrapher Yu Youren spent his summers. His calligraphy is on the gate.



And we had an amazing sushi dinner at Sushi Tour. It was “chef’s choice” style and we sat at the counter so we could watch them prepare each course.



We had 16 different dishes. Both the squid and salmon were lightly torched before serving. We loved it!