Videos

In this video you will see us visiting a sake winery in Wufeng and the Farmer's Association Winery in Puli. Was interesting, not super exciting (I am more interested in the outdoors...). But anyway, always good to check out new places. 🙂

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Twelli (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

The second of four wineries we visited in Central Taiwan recently. The winery of Da'an Farmer's Association produces fine wines and spirits, using taro and sweet potato among other local produce.

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Twelli (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Travel in Taiwan 11/12, 2019

Daan Wineland
The Daan District is west of Waipu, in Taichung’s northwest corner, the Taiwan Strait on its west, Daan River on its north, Dajia River on its south. All around Daan Wineland, operated by the Daan Farmers’ Association, are farm fields thick with the distinctive large leaves of taro plants, forming mini-seas of waving green. Its signature creations, winners of numerous Taiwan local awards, are Japanese-style shochu made with taro and brandy made with Black Queen grapes. The master distiller acquired his expertise through systematic overseas studies. Other selections include wines made with plums and with Golden Muscat grapes, shochu made with both taro and sweet potato, and traditional Chinese-style rice wines.
The winery team has a number of special points of pride. Taro and sweet potato are two quintessentially Taiwanese farm products, and their use creates unique shochu “of Japanese origin with true local Taiwan character.” Daan is one of Taiwan’s key areas for taro cultivation. These are the only spirits of their kind in Taiwan.
Fastidious employment of classical French technique is followed in the production of its grape wines and brandies, and premium-quality winemaking equipment from France is used. An elite-grade copper pot imported from Italy is used for distilling, and the wines and brandies crafted are stored in barrels of top-grade American oak made by the eminent World Cooperage company of Napa, California.
The winery has also taken the association’s bestselling line of pork-sausage products and created two new selections that have proven extremely popular: one infused with a Golden Muscat wine that has a light flavor and smooth texture, the other with a Black Queen brandy that has a deep, rich flavor and chewy texture.

Daan Wineland (大安農會酒廠)
Add: No. 6, Zhongsong Rd., Neighborhood 3, Zhongzhuang Borough, Daan District, Taichung City
(台中市大安區中庄里３鄰中松路６號)
Tel: (04) 2671-0909
Website: www.annofood.com/wine.php

The Gaomei Wetland, nearby on the coast, measures 3,000 hectares in area. Its boardwalk-topped seawall stretches 3.5km, and another long, meandering railing-less boardwalk shoots far out right into the wetland. At low tide head out past this boardwalk’s edge, on soft-yet-firm ground in the intertidal zone, for closer inspection of the teeming community of wetland residents, notably the countless fiddler crabs, mudskippers, and birds, both endemic and migratory. Taichung’s human denizens flock here each evening to take in the glowing sunsets over the Taiwan Strait, with the long line of eateries behind the seawall, serving grilled seafood, fried chicken, ice cream, fresh-made fruit juices, and other tasties, satisfying their other sensory demands before and/or afterward.

The first of four wineries we visited in Central Taiwan recently. Shu-Sheug Leisure Domaine is a small operation producing excellent wine. It's located close to the Lihpao Theme Park.

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Twelli (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Travel in Taiwan 11/12, 2019

Shu-Sheug Leisure Domaine
A winery complex with a café/restaurant Shu-Sheug Leisure Domaine is spread out along the north-facing slope of a low ridge that runs east-west through the Waipu District, in Taichung’s rural northwest section. The large winery building is at the base of the slope, surrounded by vines hanging from trellises. Behind it is the old homestead of the family that runs the enterprise, with two traditional three-sided courtyard-style residences standing side by side, one over a century old. The rustic café/restaurant sits atop the slope, with views both southward toward the city center and northward toward greenery-covered high hills across the wide, deeply fertile Daan River plain. It does double-duty as the winery’s retail shop, with a dedicated tasting counter.
“Shu-Sheug” was the given name of the owner’s grandfather, who in the 1950s was among the first wave of local farmers to take part in a grape-growing experimental venture launched by the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau. In the late 1990s government-buying contracts were ended, and with government assistance most local farmers tore out their plants. Not willing to destroy his grandfather’s legacy, the owner here decided to open his own winery, honoring his grandfather by using his name when it happened in 2002. With the help of the National Kaohsiung University of Tourism and Hospitality, two grape varieties resistant to the location’s high heat and humidity were chosen – Golden Muscat and Black Queen. Black Queen, widely used in Japan, was developed by Kawakami Zenbei, known as Japan’s grandfather of wines, in 1920. The wines are stored in barrels made of French oak by Burgundy’s Chassin Père & Fils. Shu-Sheug Leisure Domaine was bestowed with its most recent of many international awards in March this year, its Vino Formosa Rosso, made with Black Queen grapes, winning gold at the Vinalies Internationales Competition in Paris.
Note that group tours of the winery are offered, in Chinese, with advance notice. While taste-testing at the café/restaurant, be sure as well to sample the eatery’s popular “red wine cuisine” dishes. Most popular is the red-wine beef noodles, redolent of, for obvious reasons, beef bourguignon.
Shu-Sheug Leisure Domaine (樹生休閒酒莊)
Add: No. 88, Shuitou 2nd Rd., Liufen Borough, Waipu District, Taichung City
(台中市外埔區六分里水頭二路8號)
Tel: (04) 2683-3298
Website: http://www.shu-sheug.com.tw (Chinese)

We went on a three-day trip to Taitung in southeastern Taiwan, visiting some great places along the coast and checked out the Taiwan East Coast Arts Festival. That was great fun! Taitung is one of the best regions in Taiwan to visit!

Taiwan East Coast Land Arts Festival (台灣東海岸大地藝術節)
https://www.teclandart.tw

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Twelli (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Went on a short tea plantation experience trip in Pinglin, New Taipei City. The scenery of Pinglin is great, the farmer was very friendly. We also visited Pinglin Old Street and Feicui Reservoir (Crocodile Island).

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Twelli (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

We drove down to southern Yilan to check out a few places. Since the opening of the new alternative highway (No. 9) the old coastal route has almost no traffic on weekdays. Awesome!

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Fifth and last part of our railway trip from Taichung to Taitung and back. Our last stop was Fangliao, the original plan was to go to the arts street there, but I went to the fishing harbor instead. I like fishing harbors. 🙂

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Fourth part of our railway trip from Taichung to Taitung and back. On the second day we checked out the Zhiben Forest Recreation Area. They have awesome trees there. 🙂

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Travel in Taiwan (2019-06-21)
A short distance further inland from the hot-spring area, the valley deepens dramatically and the valley road ends. The 110ha Zhiben Forest Recreation Area (https://recreation.forest.gov.tw), our Day 2 morning entertainment, was reached across a brilliant-red bridge that soars across the chasm. We perused the visitor center first, home to displays on the local geology and flora/fauna, then explored the trail-web that brings you to and fro, high and low, across the mountain slope. The steep Brave Man’s Slope Trail is the star (792 steps!), leading you past magnificent white-bark banyan trees born centuries ago.

Third part of our recent railway trip from Taichung to Taitung and back. After visiting the art museum in Kaohsiung, we continued south, made a briefs stop at the Fangye Signal Station, went to Taimali Beach, and interviewed the friendly guys at the Xuanwu Temple in Taitung City.

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Travel in Taiwan 2019-06-21

Down the Coast from Kaohsiung, Across the Mountains, and Up the Coast to Zhiben
South of Kaohsiung, as the train moved through more luxuriant farmland the central mountains and sparkling Taiwan Strait started to close in on one another. Not far south of Fangliao town, a Day 2 stop to be introduced later, they met. The train jumped from the plain to hug mountainside above the rocky coast. The panorama was striking, large Little Liuqiu island out in the strait, Kaohsiung’s skyscraper cluster looking like a miniature model-set to the north. After a few minutes came a turn inward for the cross-mountain run.
The many tunnels mean this region’s sparsely populated low mountains are conquered quickly. A special scenic stop was made at Fangye, a traffic-control signal station not visited by regular trains. Westbound trains burst from the mountain-base tunnel beside the station, the South Link Line’s highest, making for thrill-inducing head-on photos.
After our train popped out on the east coast it trundled along for some time, northward bound, high above the pounding Pacific breakers. The most exquisitely “tropical Eden-esque” of the between-tunnel sections is just south of pretty Duoliang Railway Station; on the Day 2 return the train sauntered along here at just 25kph, maximizing viewing time and pleasure.
The steep cliffsides give way to farm-decorated sloping mountainside around Taimali, a Paiwan tribe village. Everyone disembarked and boarded the coaches that then road-cruised us to all destinations until the Day 2 train return. First up was the Millennium Dawn Memorial Park, on the section of a wide, kilometers-long, coconut palm-fringed beach fronting the village. The name commemorates Year 2000 first-sunrise celebrations held here.

Second part of our recent railway trip from Taichung to Taitung and back. We stopped briefly at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. There are some interesting art installations in the park surrounding the museum. 🙂

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Travel in Taiwan 2019-06-21
Taichung Launch & Kaohsiung Museum of Arts
Our cruise began with embarking on a dedicated train at Taichung’s Xinwuri Railway Station. Cruise-trippers could board at any TRA station between Taichung and Kaohsiung’s Xinzuoying Railway Station. South of Taichung the countryside opens up, our land-cruiser rolling through neat fields of paddy rice and colorful fruits and vegetables. In the background we could spot the jagged peaks of the central mountains, soaring ever higher toward the east.

The fun began in earnest on our Kaohsiung approach. The dedicated guide for our carriage formally introduced the trip, our group-travel rules, and our first sightseeing stop – the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA; ammpc.kmfa.gov.tw). At Kaohsiung’s Xinzuoying Railway Station the EZ Travel crew escorted us on a platform transfer and 3-stop ride by local commuter train to the Museum of Fine Arts Railway Station.
The KMFA is in 40ha Neiwipi Cultural Park, once the site of a large wetland and irrigation ponds. Among the park’s other attractions are the Children’s Art Museum, Sculpture Park, Ecology Park, and Austronesian Cultural Area. Walk the beautifully landscaped grounds, along the large, tranquil lake and pathways lined with Madagascar Almond trees, inspecting some of the 37 large-scale installation sculptures, which have English introductions.
The 4-story museum primarily celebrates contemporary works by Taiwanese artists, with a strong focus on creations by artists from the south, including indigenous artists. At the facility’s core is the Sculpture Hall, entered from the spacious first-floor lobby, which soars four stories high and is topped with a large skylight, draping the artworks in natural lighting.

First part of our recent railway trip from Taichung to Taitung and back. This was a two-day cruise-style train journey organized by the local travel agency ezTravel (https://www.eztravel.com.tw/). We had a lot of fun as usual. 🙂


WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Travel in Taiwan 2019-06-21
A few years ago the TRA commissioned EZ Travel to design its budget-friendly cruise-train itineraries and run the actual tours. Established in 2000, EZ Travel is today one of Taiwan’s leading travel agencies, both in quality and size, and the recognized leader in handling rail trips. It’s long been known for expertise in customized leisure and corporate trips, as well as for its round-island outings.

To give readers a full picture of what one of these cruises is like, a Travel in Taiwan team recently joined a 2-day weekend adventure showcasing the South Link Line, the southernmost section of Taiwan’s round-island railway loop, between the cities of Kaohsiung in the west and Taitung in the east.
The cruise served up scenic, cultural, hot-spring, and railway-related enjoyments. The keystones of the non-stop scenic attractions were the beautiful coastlines along the Taiwan Strait and Pacific Ocean, the rugged and nigh-empty southern mountains, and the Zhiben Forest Recreation Area. The key cultural foci were southern small-town life and the region’s artistic life, including the worldview of local indigenous artists. Taiwan’s beloved hot-spring culture was explored with time spent in the celebrated Zhiben Hot Springs resort area, with accommodation at its premier hotel. Rail buffs were especially enthralled with the bonus features exclusive to EZ Travel’s dedicated cruise trains, including a photo-opp stop at a mountain station not visited by regular trains, a long 25kph roll along an especially grand Pacific-side section of track, and special traditional-style railway biandang (boxed lunches).

Back in March we had the chance to attend the pre-event banquet and the opening day of the Neimen Songjiang Battle Ritual event in Neimen Township, Kaohsiung City. This is a great cultural event. 🙂

This trip was made possible by MyTaiwanTour (https://www.mytaiwantour.com)

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Travel in Taiwan (2019/07-08)
Text: Rick Charette

Kaohsiung Neimen Song Jiang Battle Ritual
The Song Jiang Battle Array is a traditional type of performance art incorporating kung fu, drumming, rapid formation transitions, and mock fighting with ancient-style weaponry. The Kaohsiung Neimen Song Jiang Battle Ritual is an annual event that has an adrenaline-pumping grand competition of zhentou martial-arts troupes as its centerpiece. This is the highlight of cultural life in the city of Kaohsiung’s rural Neimen District, where a population of just 15,000 supports between 50 and 60 martial-arts performance troupes.
The 2019 edition ran from Saturday, March 16 to Sunday, April 7. The zhentou competition ran from Saturday, March 30, when the opening ceremony, opening round of the competition, and pulsatingly kaleidoscopic Water Dancing & Fireworks show were held, to the next Saturday, April 6, when the competition finals, awards ceremony, and closing Water Dancing & Fireworks show were held.
The formal name of the zhentou competition is the Creative Song Jiang Battle Array Contest. Competing teams are from schools around Taiwan, from elementary to university level. This year, for example, the youngest team was the Jingliao Elementary School Alliance Team, featuring elite performers from different elementary schools. Other troupes came from two high schools and five universities. Also interspersed throughout the full length of the festivities are performances by specially invited troupes, with perhaps the most notable such ensemble this year being the Xiamen Xiangan SongJiang Battle Array troupe from mainland China.

“Song Jiang” was the main character in the classical Chinese novel The Water Margin, who formed his men into intricate formations emphasizing quick transformation to different fighting techniques and positioning. Today’s battle-array performers wield old-style weapons, rattan shields, etc., and some dress as characters from the novel (108 in total). The Eight Generals are also a Song Jiang zhentou constant. Today, the typical troupe is composed of 36 members. The Taiwan battle-array tradition started in the 19th century with martial-arts teams, centered around temples, that served as militia. Then-isolated Neimen, for example, was under constant threat of attack from bandits and indigenous warriors.
The goal of the Kaohsiung City Government, which is the organizer, is to spark renewed interest in this old form of artistic expression. Recognizing that in today’s sophisticated world young people have many other recreation options vying for their attention, it encourages the freestyle introduction of creativity atop a faithful base of traditional martial-arts formation skills. You’ll thus see imaginative flourishes ranging from human-pyramid-building, spinning plates on sticks, and juggling to street dance and hip-hop, rap, and rock music.

Among the splendiferous array of other festival attractions this year was the Daily Gourmet Market, Neimen history and culture tours, the three-day Religious Carnival, and the Neimen Chefs and Tables event. The last was focused on bando, Taiwan’s unique outdoor banqueting culture; for generations, Neimen has been a key Taiwan font for bando crews (see our report on the bando phenomenon in our last Travel in Taiwan issue).

For more information on the Neimen festival, visit who-ha.com.tw. For more on Taiwan religion in general, visit the Tourism Bureau website at taiwan.net.tw.

English and Chinese
Eight Generals 八家將
Kaohsiung Neimen Song Jiang Battle Ritual 高雄內門宋江陣
Neimen District 內門區
Song Jiang 宋江
Song Jiang Battle Array 宋江陣
The Water Margin 水滸傳
zhentou 陣頭

We made a brief stops in the town of Qishan, well-known for its bananas, and the Tianliao Moonworld, on our recent trip to Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan.

This trip was made possible by MyTaiwanTour (https://www.mytaiwantour.com)

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

We made a brief stop at the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum on our recent trip to Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. This is a fine place to learn about Buddhism and enjoy the marvelous architecture.

This trip was made possible by MyTaiwanTour (https://www.mytaiwantour.com)

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes (友漢). I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

First stop of our recent two-day trip to Kaohsiung, the Hamasen Museum of Taiwan Railway in Kaohsiung (park area with locomotives and railway cars, a mini railway ride, and a railway miniature world). Great places to visit in Kaohsiung!

The tour was made possible by MyTaiwanTour (https://www.mytaiwantour.com)

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes. I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

We went on a very short trip to the town of Guanxi in Hsinchu County to check out three places and eat self-made radish buns.

The tour was made possible by MyTaiwanTour (https://www.mytaiwantour.com)

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes. I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

This time we went camping (glamping) in Miaoli. The campsite is inside the old Shangrila Paradise Theme Park and is called CMP Village. Beside the camping in comfortable tents they also offer a range of side activities.

WHO WE ARE
We are a small publishing company (Vision) based in Taipei. We produce an English magazine (Travel in Taiwan) introducing readers to Taiwan as a travel destination.

WHO I AM
My name is Johannes. I love creating videos about places in Taiwan and I try to post a few videos every week (well, more like twice a month). Please let me know what you think about this channel and feel free to ask me any question. Thanks for your support!

Website: http://taiwaneverything.cc
Travel in Taiwan: https://issuu.com/travelintaiwan
App download: https://tosto.re/travelintaiwan (iOS & Android)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taiwantravelmag
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taiwaneverything.cc

Travel in Taiwan (2019-05-06)
By Rick Charette

"The 40ha Shangrila Camping Area (http://www.shangrila.com.tw; http://cmpvillage.tw; both Chinese only) is located in the hills of Miaoli County. When you camp here you camp on the grounds of the former Shangrila Paradise theme park, one of Taiwan’s original such parks. The campground for purchasers of the upscale camping package, called the CMP Village (勤美學), is located in a large, shallow basin in the center of the grounds.
The itinerary spans two days and one nigh. Packages are offered starting on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday (NT$5,000 per person; online registration necessary); student camping/education experiences are offered the other days, using adjacent campgrounds outside the basin.

On Day 1, CMP Village campers gather at the main entrance. This is the original Shangrila Paradise entrance, a large covered arcade with a big souvenir shop selling traditional-style Miaoli County foodstuffs and handicrafts and a restaurant serving quality Hakka-culture food. They are then taken on a guided tour, following a path that leads down into the basin and to CMP Village, a collection of 15 large canvas yurt-like tents that provide sumptuous comfort. Each accommodates four people, with either one or two large, comfy beds plus soft pillows and quilts, and has air-conditioning in summer and heating in winter. Outside each is a wooden platform with seats, perfect for late-night stargazing.

Before setting out on an excursion driven in golf-cart-style carts to the first DIY-experience location, in a large roundhouse made of dark-color netting set deep in the woods, the CMP Village facilities are introduced: your tents; a large roundhouse-style washroom/shower facility with washcloths, towels, and shower slippers supplied, which is open and staffed 24H; beside it, a kiosk selling beverages, snacks, and Miaoli specialty products; a recreation area for youngsters; and beside it a coffee/tea counter.

Both the Day 1 and Day 2 DIY experiences are changed seasonally, as is the Day 1 gourmet dinner. This reflects the changes in Miaoli produce availability, as well as the resulting changes to the daily lives of Miaoli’s Hakka folk. On our most recent visit, the Day 1 activity involved baked sweet potatoes, warmed orange juice given very different flavor personalities through the addition of dried roselle, ginger, or orange peels, and the making of old-time-style fragrance sachets containing mint, cinnamon, and other aromatic ingredients. The Day 2 activity, held on a slope-side wooden-platform area overlooking the basin, was centered on the making of suancai, made with leaf mustard. Campers also feasted on DIY guabao, a Taiwanese snack treat made with soy-stewed pork belly, suancai, peanut powder, and coriander in a steamed bun.
The communal gourmet dinner, featuring mood lighting provided by table lamps, overhead lines of hanging lightbulbs, and a roaring campfire, is usually taken under the stars in front of the tents (and the bamboo-woven dome introduced below). On this night it was raining lightly, however, so the repast was taken in a performance roundhouse outside the basin. The many-course feast is a hearty medley of dishes prepared with regional produce highlighted, the cooks performing true magic using nothing more than simple gas stoves and grills.
The Day 1 night ends with a night tour up through the tree area and back down into the basin. In days past, the basin was filled with the theme park’s European garden attractions. Today’s spacious shower facility is in what was formerly a beverage bar. The night tour ends with a walk through the visually monumental artwork at the basin center before the tents, a bamboo-woven dome reached through long bamboo-woven walkway tunnels that has large roof holes for stargazing. The artwork is beautifully lit up at night, lending an ethereal glow to the placid setting.

A short visit to a greenhouse farm in Taichung's Shigang District. Yummy tomatos!


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Travel in Taiwan 2019/05-06 (Dana Ter)

"Walking away from the highway, we enter a wondrous world with thickets of wild hibiscus plants. Soon I spot the greenhouses of the farm to the right. Entering the grounds, we find the smiling owner, Chiu Shun-jun, brewing Oolong tea. He gets up to greet us, showing us to a wooden table from where you can peer into the first of the greenhouses. Vines droop from the transparent netting-roof of the greenhouse, forming a green arch from which clusters of brilliant yellow cherry tomatoes and stark-hue purple peppers dangle.
A retired military doctor from a Hakka family that lived in Dongshi, the district neighboring Shigang to the east, Chiu started helping friends using hydroponic systems to grow vegetables nearly 30 years ago, before opening his own farm. In the beginning he sold his produce to supermarkets in central Taiwan, but later he realized that operating a leisure farm was more profitable. “I also like to talk to people!” he chuckles.
Approximately 70 to 80 percent of You and Me’s earnings come from tourists. A cover fee of NT$100 is charged for fruit and vegetable picking, with additional charges for every 600 grams of produce picked.
We visit at the end of winter, during the tomato and pepper season, and are to be shown around by Hung Min-fang, a young woman who approaches us wearing a distinctive checkered apron and pushing a cart full of colorful peppers. Noticing our wide-eyed reactions, she explains that six varieties of peppers are grown on the farm: red, green, orange, yellow, purple, and white.
The farm has several greenhouses. Hung leads us into one of the houses, and shows us tomatoes and peppers that have been planted on raised beds, arranged in three tiers. Above the beds are thin black rods used for watering the plants according to a set timer.
“We’re always experimenting with different crops,” Hung tells us. She shows us some of their other winter crops, including corn from a small field behind one of the greenhouses, along with Taiwanese basil, figs, and blueberries, which are planted in pots. There are also apples, turnips, and – most amusing – giant-sized Taiwanese cabbage that are so big and heavy that I would definitely struggle to carry one by myself. Good thing, I think to myself, that I won’t be obliged to do any veggie hauling today as part of my farm experience.
Hung brings out a small red shopping basket, scissors, and a traditional-style Taiwanese conical straw hat. It’s time to pick cherry tomatoes! There are a number to choose from – yellow, red, light green, and dark purple. “The yellow and red ones are the sweetest,” Hung says. She describes how to tell ripe ones from ones that aren’t ready; basically, there shouldn’t be any dark-green coloring on the skin.
I put on the big hat and clutch the basket with one hand, feeling a little silly, like a farmhand depicted in an illustrated book. I’m not as deft with my fingers as Hung is, so I use the scissors to slowly and delicately snip red and yellow cherry tomatoes from their stems, choosing plump-looking ones and standing on my toes to reach tomatoes dangling below the roof.
Ten minutes into the picking, my fingers are a dusty shade of green. I think that maybe I’m not cut out for farm life. “Don’t worry – that’s normal!” Hung laughs reassuringly. We rinse the cherry tomatoes with water and sample a few. I prefer the yellow ones, as they are less acidic than their red counterparts and a pleasant sort of sweet.

The rest of the cherry tomatoes are packed neatly in a tiny, transparent plastic box for me to take home. Outside, a dark-grey cloud cover has settled in, and the tall palms and scraggly banana trees have become gnarly silhouettes. Like curtains coming down on an afternoon play, it’s the perfect end to our visit to Shigang, a place that’s both urban and rural, both tame and wild, and where the people are welcoming – and their tomatoes are lip-smacking good.

You and Me Fruits & Vegetables Tourist Farm
(優恩蜜溫室蔬果觀光果園)
Add: No. 391-10, Fengshi Rd., Shigang Dist., Taichung City
(台中市石岡區豐勢路391之10號)
Tel: (04) 2582-6058
Website: you-ame.myweb.hinet.net (Chinese)