Asia,  Taiwan,  Travel

Chiayi, Alishan, Sun Moon Lake, Taichung

December 28, 2018 /

Last night when I arrived in Chiayi and just entered the youth hostel, I met a girl who asked if there was any garlic at the front desk (she couldn’t say “garlic”). I told her that there might be a stall selling sausage at the night market, so I put down my luggage and planned to take it with me. She went to the night market to look for it, and she said she was waiting for his brother to come and go together. After chatting, I found out that she and her friend came from California. His brother traveled in China for two months and came to Alishan today to find her. Both of them are from Guangdong. They immigrated to California when they were six or seven years old. After graduating next year, she will go to work in the city where I lived before. After learning that I used to teach Chinese in Southern California, they asked me a bunch of questions about how to improve my Chinese, so I became a Chinese teacher again.

The girl and her friend had already gone to Alishan yesterday, so this morning, she and her brother went to the train station to take the earliest 6 o'clock bus to Alishan, planning to leave the big backpack at the train station. When I arrived, I found that it was too early, and the depository didn't open until eight o'clock. I looked for the self-service locker and found that the banknotes couldn't be inserted. Not wanting to miss the train at six o'clock, I hurried to the station with a big backpack on my back, thinking that there must be a place to store bags on Alishan. Just as I was about to board the bus, a taxi driver asked me if I wanted to take a taxi. He was going up the mountain to pick up people anyway, so the fare he charged us was cheaper than the bus ticket, and it would be much faster, so we took him car.

After learning that I was from Beijing, the first thing the master said was: Are you Gege from Beijing? Really humorous. He also said that he also lived in Haidian, Beijing for a long time, teaching coffee making latte art and so on. Hearing that I plan to go to Sun Moon Lake in the future, my teacher strongly suggested that I take the last bus at 2 o’clock to go directly to Sun Moon Lake, instead of going back to Chiayi, taking the train to Taichung, and then going to Sun Moon Lake, which would be costly and time consuming. Fortunately, I listened to the master's suggestion. Alishan feels super big in my impression, but in fact the scenic spot is really small. I didn't take the small train. It is estimated that I can see all the main attractions in less than two hours. In order to stay away from various tour groups, the rest It's time to go to the sparsely populated hiking trails. I heard two Beijing men talking from a long distance on the hiking trail, and it was very cordial to say hello and chat. Now that I think about it, it’s a good thing that the luggage depository at the railway station was not open in the morning, and I didn’t store in the automatic locker. Otherwise, I would have to go back to Chiayi to pick up my luggage and then take the train to the bus to Sun Moon Lake. It proved once again that the plan can't keep up with the changes, and everything happens for a reason.

This year's Christmas did not expect to catch up with Sun Moon Lake, and the youth hostel was particularly deserted. In Taiwan, I stayed twice in a youth hostel on Monday and I was the only one in the whole room. In the lobby, I finally met two other girls, one from Korea and one from Australia. It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone with such a disagreement, and we couldn’t get together, especially the Korean girl, who asked me a question every time. , I don’t know if it’s because my memory is so bad, or if I didn’t listen to it, I will ask again in a minute. Hey, I won't post a group photo. For dinner, I ate bamboo rice, sweet potato pancakes and dessert. After all, Sun Moon Lake is basically full of tourists, and there are no locals celebrating Christmas. This is the only Christmas feeling on the street. Merry Christmas to everyone!

The next morning, I got up at 5 o'clock in the morning and walked for almost an hour to the top of Maolu Mountain to watch the sunrise of Sun Moon Lake. I was the only one who was so good that I just caught up with the sunrise and the rainbow. It was so beautiful. After sitting on it for a long time, a group of big brothers and uncles came from Taichung. It seems that I always meet people there at the next stop! Asked a bunch of information about where to go and where to eat. On the way down the mountain, we chatted about their views on the relationship between Taiwan and mainland China and Falun Gong.

Why do I like self-torture so much, I have never considered the concept of cycling 33 kilometers around the lake, and more than half of them are mountain roads. The biggest mistake was climbing the mountain in the morning to watch the sunrise. I was afraid of the cold and wore a sweater that I hadn’t worn for a month and a half. I was too lazy to change it, so I rented a bicycle and went around the lake. The 20-degree heat killed me! Fortunately, the rented bicycle has variable speed, otherwise I would not be able to circle the lake.

When I rode halfway to the Xuanzang Hall on the mountain, I saw the two people looked familiar in the distance, but when I got a closer look, it turned out that they were two fellow Beijingers who met twice in Alishan yesterday! One of them is also from Haidian, so kind! There are only three things, you must add WeChat! They were shocked to learn that I had come up by bicycle. In fact, the Xuanzang Hall was just half way around the lake, and I wanted to give up after walking a lot of mountain roads, sweating all over my body, so I started to ask if I could bring a bicycle on a boat and go back to the starting point. After inquiring, it seemed to be ok, so I just sat there to dry off my sweat. At this time, a German girl in a little red dress came over and asked me to take a picture of her. We chatted and found that she came from another direction around the island, and shared with me the traffic information there. She said that she came here a lot. Uphill, super tiring, great, that means I ride more downhill! So I decided to stick to cycling around the lake. Although it was almost empty when I got back to the rental car office, it was worth it. Personally, I feel that Sun Moon Lake is much more beautiful than Alishan, which may be due to the weather. And along the way, there are really birds and flowers, and rare butterflies and various vegetation can often be seen. Around the lake, we passed Shuishe Wharf, Xiangshan Visitor Center, Qinglongshan Park, where we rested and ate Grandma’s tea egg mushrooms, Xuanzang Temple, Ita Thao Tribe and Wenwu Temple.

In the evening, I took a passenger bus from Sun Moon Lake to Taichung, and bought red heart guava before waiting for the bus. During the summer vacation two years ago, I held a foreign language teaching annual meeting in Nevada. A friend I met came to Taichung from Canada to work last year. At that time, I had long hair and she had short hair, but now it is reversed. As soon as I arrived at her house, she took me to her colleague's house for Christmas. Her colleague's house was decorated so Christmas atmosphere. The style of the house and the food everyone brought are very American, and many things are bought at Costco. Although I often eat desserts, they are not as sweet as American desserts. I haven’t eaten such a sweet cake for a long time. I feel like chewing sugar when I bite down. This Christmas party suddenly made me feel like I was back in the United States, and it was finally Christmas.

  • bamboo rice
  • Sweet Potato Cake
  • Tea Egg Mushroom
  • Red Heart Guava

The next morning, I went to the Fengyuan World Flower Expo in Taichung with my friends. The flowers are indeed beautiful, but the buildings are more distinctive and environmentally friendly. Some are made of bamboo, some are made of cork, and there is a sink inside. The water will flow directly into the ground. I just learned today that Taichung’s bus (less than 10 kilometers) is free for swiping the Easy Card. After one or two days in Taichung, I can finally relax without rushing the schedule. I haven't exercised in such a well-equipped gym for a month and a half, so tomorrow I'll just wait for my back to hurt, my arms and legs to hurt.

My friend took me to Fengyuan Miaodong Snack Street again, where I ate Jiguang fragrant chicken, fried taro, fried water chestnut, meatballs, clear water meatballs, crystal dumplings and a super sweet fruit. In the evening, I went to Zhongxiao Night Market and ate squid mouth meat noodle soup, moist cakes, and Yongdetang barley milk. The barley milk seller, Abo, was so arrogant. It is said that because of his tough service attitude, he is also a small Internet celebrity. Watch the video and you will know up.




  • Jiguang Fragrant Chicken
  • Fried taro, fried water chestnut
  • Crystal dumplings
  • Meatballs
  • Clear Water Meatballs
  • Squid Mouth Meat Soup Noodles
  • Moisturizer
  • barley milk

On the third day, I went to Qiuhong Valley first, and then went to Taichung National Opera House. The concept here is caves, and the flow-shaped buildings are very design. Just in time for the projection, accompanied by background music, super dreamy, and there is a sky garden on the roof.

The landmark building of Tunghai University, the first private Christian university in Taiwan, is Lu Siyi Church, which has a distinctive triangular appearance. There are many students taking graduation photos in front of the church, they are so young! Here I ate raw fried buns, ice-fired pineapple oil, large sausage buns, small sausages and fruits. In the evening, go to Fengjia Night Market first: taro sago dew, braised tofu.

When I had a high fever in Sapa, Vietnam a month ago, the Taiwanese uncle who saved my life just returned to Taichung the day before yesterday. Last night, he took me and my friends to eat the delicious roast chicken from Dakeng Chicken City. Leave Taiwan to practice. When I went to check out, the waiter in the restaurant didn’t give a damn about me, because the uncle was a regular customer, and the waiter said that if I took your money, he would beat me to death. I'm so sorry, I'll see you again.

  • Pan fried buns
  • Ice Fire Pineapple Oil
  • Small intestine wrapped in large intestine
  • Taro Sago Dew
  • Braised Tofu
  • Onkao Chicken
  • Purple Rice Balls

Flying from Taichung to Kinmen in the morning made me fearful all the way. With the tortuous experience of being photographed in Taiwan before, I figured out that there must be something wrong when I get out of Taiwan. When I entered the country, I had to buy air tickets and boat tickets to leave Taiwan, so I booked tickets from Taichung to Kinmen and Kinmen to Xiamen on the spot on Ctrip.

This morning when I was waiting for the plane, I wondered how to get the ferry tickets I ordered online, but I couldn’t find the receipts and deduction records anywhere on my mobile phone. I had to buy another one. Ctrip showed that the tickets for today and tomorrow were all sold out. At that time, I panicked, because if I didn’t leave Taiwan through Kinmen today, wouldn’t I be staying illegally? ! Even thinking about it is scary. I hurriedly called to ask if there were any remaining tickets or booked online. They said that the tickets for the day could only be bought on the spot one hour before the boat sailed. When I got off the plane, I took the car directly to the Golden Gate Pier. Fortunately, except for the last two tickets that were sold out, the rest of the tickets were not sold out. I just need to come to the site one hour in advance to buy them. Only then did I feel at ease, and went to Shuitou settlement not far away, which has both traditional southern Fujian settlements and exotic western-style buildings.

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