15 June 2004
The entire day was filled by sightseeing in the outskirts of Taipei. My sister's parents-in-law had booked an entire mini-bus. We set off rather early, and took the expressway out of Taipei City. The following are some highlights from the sightseeing:
"Betel Nut Beauties"
Along the way to the outskirts of Taipei, we passed by several stands selling betel nuts. These were manned by young girls in skimpy attire. I saw about two, and both were in lingerie only, with gauze-like scarves covering the top and bottom. As we were on the bus, we caught only fleeting glimpses of them, which I thought was a pity because I would have loved to stop and take a photo with them.
A few years ago, these "Betel Nut Beauties" (or Bin Lang Xi Shi) had caused quite a furore in Taiwan, as they started wearing less and less in a bid to up their competitive advantage in the betel nut peddling business. To my knowledge, their primary customers are long-distance truck drivers who drive from one end of Taiwan to the other. Apparently, chewing betel nuts keeps these drivers awake. As more people hopped onto the bandwagon of selling 'bin lang' (betel nuts), the scene had grown more and more competitive. The government started 'cleaning up' the scene though, and soon, Bin Lang Xi Shis had become a rare sight. For example, Bin Lang Xi Shis are now rarely, if not never, sighted within Taipei City itself, even though some still remain in the suburbs, or in other parts of Taiwan.
Nine Portions of everything
We visited a little township called "Jiu Fen," or literally "Nine Portions" in English. According to my sister's father-in-law--our unofficial tour guide--this township was so named because of the demographics of the village in the past. Then, for some reason or other, each family had nine members. Every time they went downhill (this township was built into the hills and mountains, of which Taiwan has numerous) to replenish their stocks of groceries, etc., the villagers would buy nine portions of the essential items. That was how this place earned its name, Jiu Fen.
In the past (when Taiwan was still a Japanese colony), Jiu Fen was (literally) a gold mine, so the people living there were probably gold mine workers. Apparently, in a bid to take home some of this gold being extracted from the ground, and to avoid detection by the ever-vigilant Japanese guards, some of these workers would swallow the gold pieces, only to recover the gold when they pass it out. Selling this gold would then fetch them quite a tidy sum. Haha, so maybe Jiu Fen got its name from other sources! Think: "fen" also sounds like the Chinese term for....? *wink* =)
Now, the township is a collection of quaint little restaurants, teahouses, cafes, eating places and a long, winding shopping street selling Taiwanese mochi, preserved plums, snacks, sweets, trinkets, etc. Because of the rustic, nostalgic feel of the village, it is also often the site of movie shootings, the most famous of which was "Bei Qing Cheng Shi" (loosely translated as "The City of Sadness"). There are old, run-down remains of what used to be the cinema that screened these famous movies.
We had lunch that afternoon at one of the teahouses in Jiu Fen. This teahouse was literally carved into the mountains; the entrance had a little natural mountain spring running down on one side. The top floor of the teahouse (which had two upper floors, and one basement level) also offered an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean.
Crown Prince Chalet
It was a pity that some major renovation and preservation works were being carried out at the Crown Prince Chalet, which was located nearby to Jiu Fen at Kee Lung. (We didn't get to see anything there as a result of the works.) Apparently, the then Crown Prince Akihito (the current Japanese Emperor) had gone to Taiwan for an official tour. At every location where he was going to stop for a visit, they built a chalet or a villa in his honour, probably so that he would have a proper place to rest. A tad extravagant, if you ask me, since he reportedly didn't spend more than a few minutes in some of these chalets specially built for him.
Hai Men Tian Xian
This was basically the ruins of a little fort that was built to defend Taiwan from the attacks of the British during the Ching dynasty. (Think: Sentosa Fort Siloso.) Apparently, the British had been trying unsuccessfully to break down the defence at Hai Men Tian Xian (literally "Ocean's Gate and Heaven's Danger") for many years. I'm not too sure about the whole historical significance of this place though, so if I do find anything else to add, I'd surely fill everyone in.
Anyway, at this same place, we also saw two ancient graves, apparently of Chinese soldiers who had been sent to be stationed at Hai Men Tian Xian, but died merely days after arrival. The graves were so old, the engravings on their tombstones had become discoloured. After paying our silent respects to them, we continued with our walk around the ruins of the fort, by now slippery from the green moss that was flourishing on the stone structures. Particularly dangerous were the long flight of stone stairs (I'm talking nearly 45 degrees steep) that led to the stone gate with the words "Hai Men Tian Xian" engraved on it. The area on which Hai Men Tian Xian was built offered a wonderful view of the ocean, which was probably why it was picked as the spot to build a fort of defence against enemies coming by sea.
Lover's Lake
In Kee Lung, there is also a Lover's Lake, which is surrounded by lush greenery and foliage. The lake looked like a dead lake, but we were speculating that it probably has its sources from upstream moutain springs. Around the lake were tall wooden "look-out" structures that offered breathtaking views of the surrounding oceans of Taiwan. Each structure, owing to its old age, could only take three persons at a time. Snakes were apparently common visitors to these structures. My eldest sister, brother and I went up one of these rickety structures just to check things out. Well, it's a good thing we only found out about the hazards later. hehe, ignorance may be a bliss sometimes...
The Yin-yang
Further down the mountains was a disused copper factory. There were these huge pipes built onto the sides of the mountains that used to channel the polluted air upwards into the atmosphere. I do not dare imagine the amount of air pollution there was then. As a stark reminder of those dark days of yore, areas of the ocean closer to the coast where the factory used to sit have also been dyed a metallic, sandy brown, thus earning it the nickname Yin-yang Sea (Yin-yang Hai). The dichotomy between the blue and brown parts of the ocean was striking and remains so till this day. No prizes for guessing why the coastal regions of the ocean had become that colour.
Nearby to the disused copper factory was a waterfall that runs from further up the mountains. The path the waterfall took had also been coloured brown, and there was a strong smell of sour metal emanating from the water. Again, no prizes for guessing why the water smelled so weird.
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Yeps, those were the highlights of the sightseeing trip. It was probably the most enjoyable part of the trip, besides my sister's wedding (that part of the story would be told later), even though a small incident nearly marred my enjoyment of it (I shall not elaborate; if you really want to know, let's just say it involves a slippery piece of pork rib and a housecat).
After having dinner at a restaurant in a little Kee Lung township (a seafood restaurant, no less, with rude waitresses and what looked suspiciously looked like cockcroach droppings on its table cloths), we headed back to Taipei City. The girls, after resting for a while, then made their way to Ximen Ding, the famous shopping district for young people.
Ximen Ding was a mind-boggling experience. There were so many shops selling so many different things, I never thought I'd get so tired of shopping. There was a central space, from which four main streets, and many small street alleys spread in four different directions. That place was bustling with teenagers of all shapes and sizes. It reminded me of Far East, or Bugis Village, but it had a much more vibrant character of its own. I tried imagining what Stephanie Sun felt like when she held one of her first outdoor mini-concerts at Ximen Ding, and I thought, what an overwhelming experience it must have been.
Anyway, it was shopping, shopping and more shopping at Ximen Ding. What can I say? There really is nothing else to do there except indulge in unshameful consumer materialism.
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Stay tuned for more stories and updates on my Taiwan experience! =)
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