[RD] Discovering Taiwan

[warpus]

Chin Chih Yuan Restaurant
Crispy Pork Chop & Sha Cha Beef

This restaurant is definitely worth a mention! First of all, the food was simply delicious.

Chin Chih Yuan have had a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation every year since 2020. These designations are given to eateries that are supposed to have cheap food that's also outstanding in some way. So far in Taiwan I was 4 for 4 for restaurants with this designation. For context, this meal in particular cost the equivalent of about $12.50 USD.

I ordered two iconic dishes that came recommended.

The first dish is a marinated deep fried spare rib pork chop that's these days quite iconic in Taichung and is very much associated with the city. It was served with a bowl of perhaps equally iconic grass bag rice, which had a unique smell to it, and which this place is also semi-famous for. The "grass bag" is a reference to the way lunches used to be packed in pouches. There is a bit of nostalgia and local pride that comes along with this tasty crispy pork dish, which is also served with a bowl of miso.

The second dish is Sha Cha Beef, a spicy gravy-like sauce with tender pieces of meat and fresh greens, a local take on a dish with origins in southern mainland China. It went very well with the grass bag rice.

This was a huge improvement over the previous night's dinner @ McDonald's.

 

[warpus]

Shin Sei Green Waterway After Dark

A return to the waterway, this time all lit up. According to my research there was supposed to be a lit up waterfall somewhere along the way, but I never found it.

 

[warpus]

Day Seven Reflections
Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Total Distance Walked This Day - 13.3 km

By the end of the day I thought it was clear I had made the right decision to stay in this older part of the city. The alternative was to take the high speed train from Taipei to the Taichung HSR station, which connects right up to the Taichung MRT metro line. That is the newer more planned part of the city, with a business district, shops, restaurants, and so on. Unfortunately the only MRT metro line in Taichung curves around the old rail station and old part of town and never reaches anywhere near it; the closest station is at least 5 km away. This means you have to essentially decide if you're staying in the old part of town or the new. I went with the old and did not end up regretting it.

I wouldn't have minded seeing the more modern part of Taichung, but this older centre of town had more than enough charm and that right amount of grittiness. Some of the night markets are closer to the other side of town, but I had a lot more points of interest in this part of Taichung, which is what ultimately convinced me to stay here. The one downside was less restaurants open after dark, but that only affected me the first night.

A 25km long MRT metro line running cross-town, connecting the old rail station to the other MRT line and the newer part of town is in the plans, but construction isn't due to begin until the mid 2030s.

 

[warpus]

Day 8

Day Trip to Lukang (鹿港)
Wednesday, November 13, 2024

These days Lukang is a relatively small town of about 85,000, but during Qing rule in Taiwan it used to be the most important port and the second largest city on the island. The name of the city literally translates to "Deer Port", a reference to the deer skins that the Dutch East India Company began exporting here in the 1600s to markets in China and Japan. A cool fact I uncovered is that the Samurai prized armour made from Taiwanese deer skin due to its reputation for being flexible yet tough.

By the early 1700s the deer in the area had been almost wiped out and the local economy had to pivot to exports like rice, sugar, and cloth. The city and port remained one of the most important on the island until the mid 1800s; silt buildup over the years had led to a situation where large boats just couldn't dock there anymore. Tainan, and eventually Keelung and Kaohsiung took over as Taiwan's major ports.

There was local resistance here to modernization during Japanese colonial rule, and even opposition to urban planning during the late Qing era. This lead to a further decline of importance of Lukang, as the rail lines being built in Taiwan by the Japanese completely bypassed the city. There was also very little investment here in industrial infrastructure at the time, when most of the rest of Taiwan was undergoing an industrial upgrade.

As a result of all this Lukang is one of the few cities in Taiwan that has not lost its historic core, while other cities tore them down and modernized. This contributed heavily to my decision to spend a day here, so I could explore the place on foot.

To get to Lukang I ended up taking a public bus ride that took about an hour and a half and cost me the equivalent of $2.90 USD. I had to find the bus stop location on the street, identified by the sort of public bus route marker you'd expect, more or less. These things were not always at the exact google maps location, and it was common to find multiple bus stop markers spaced out over a distance. It was also your job to flag the bus down if you were the only one there and wanted to get on that bus. The getting on was the easy part, all I had to do was tap my EasyCard and hear that welcoming beep, and of course tap it again when getting off.

The preserved red brick buildings, narrow alleys, wooden doorways, and curved rooftops from the Qing Dynasty and early Japanese rule have remained here to this day.

 

[warpus]

Lukang Ai Gate (鹿港隘門)

This gate was constructed in 1839 during the Qing dynasty rule of the island, as part of a network of gates that secured the town. This particular gate is considered to be the best preserved. The original design only had pedestrians, small carts, and carriages in mind.

It's fairy nondescript and unassuming but carries with it an important amount of local history.

 

[warpus]

Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街)

Lukang Old Street refers to the whole Lukang historic district and not just one street, although there is one main walkway with shops (Putou St.). Technically all the narrow walkways that branch off Putou St. are also included, and they are definitely worth walking through.

No doubt some things have changed, but you can imagine yourself walking through these alleys during the late Qing era. Keeping in mind how important and busy Lukang would have been back then, none of these walkways would have been this empty.

In one of the shops I found a vendor selling an interesting looking snack. At first I didn't really know what it was..

Turns out these are dried egg sacs of mullet fish roe that have been salted and dried. This is a snack that is associated with Lukang due to its historical role as a major fishing and seafood processing hub.

I did not buy one. Instead I went to a nearby cafe and bought myself a coffee and a delicious looking pastry.

This cake is definitely worth writing about. You are looking at a Mille cake, also known as a Thousand Layer cake. It was invented by the French and perfected by the Japanese. These days when someone refers to Mille cake they will be probably talking about the Japanese version. In Taiwan this cake became very popular and was once again modified a bit and tailored to better fit local flavour and texture preferences.

I had no idea about this sort of cake and it intrigued me. I forget how many layers this was supposed to have, but research tells me that it's usually 20-30, but can go much higher. Each layer seemed super thin, cutting my fork through this thing felt so satisfying. It was so smooth and velvety, it was delicious, I was really glad I picked this over the mullet roe dried egg sacs. No doubt that is something I would one day try, but this was not that day.

The vibe was quite laid back and relaxed here in the historic district. A lot of the shops were open, but there weren't really that many people around, aside from the assorted shop owners and other locals. Nobody was hassling me to check out their store, people were just sort of lounging back, happy to help you if you were interested. The sky was blue, with not many clouds in sight, a very welcome change from the cloudy skies I experieced in Taipei.. The Mille cake and coffee sat very well, this was my kind of day.

The cat in the photo seemed like a regular, possibly part owner of this establishment. It seemed to be having an equally good day.

 

[Samson]

Turns out these are dried egg sacs of mullet roe fish that have been salted and dried. This is a snack that is associated with Lukang due to its historical role as a major fishing and seafood processing hub.

I think fish roe is an underrated and underutilised foodstuff. In many fishmongers it is thrown away, and it is frequently delicious, either cooked within or outside the fish.

 

[warpus]

I think fish roe is an underrated and underutilised foodstuff. In many fishmongers it is thrown away, and it is frequently delicious, either cooked within or outside the fish.

I definitely appreciate and applaud cooks trying to use as much of an animal as possible, and you never know how good something is until you try it.. One day I will try some fish roe!

 

[warpus]

Lukang Artist Village (鹿港藝術村)

This part of Lukang used to be a sandbar where mullet fish farmers worked, but during Japanese rule the river here was filled in and the area was redeveloped with roads and Japanese style housing. In 2009 it was once again redeveloped into the Lukang Artist Village, a cultural hub focusing on exhibitions, cultural events, and residency programs.

The coolest thing I found here was a handmade dragon mask workshop that was in part set up as an exhibition space.

 

[warpus]

Weiling Temple Joss Paper Furnace

What interested me most at this temple was the joss paper furnace across the street. This is a ceremonial structure in which joss paper is burned as an offering to deities or ancestors, the smoke symbolizing the transfer of offerings from the physical world to the spiritual realm.

These types of furnaces are usually associated with Taoist rituals and traditional Chinese ancestor worship.

 

[warpus]

Gentlemen Alley
aka Mo Ru Lane
aka Breast Touching Lane

This is one of the narrowest alleys in Lukang, owing its name to gentlemen waiting as women pass through first. The alternate name comes from the inevitable rubbing together of bodies when passing someone heading in the other direction.

On both sides of the alley you can see those iconic red brick structures from the late Qing dynasty..

I was lucky enough to brush up against someone on my way through. At first it didn't really look like there was going to be enough room, but the passageway is just barely wide enough for us to have fit through. A fun moment shared with some strangers

 

[warpus]

Lukang Lungshan Temple (鹿港龍山寺)

Built in 1738, this temple is dedicated to Guanyin, the Goddess of Compassion. It is considered to be one of the best preserved examples of traditional Taiwanese temple architecture.

The hand-carved dragons wrapped around some of the columns should have been more in my focus at the time. There are also hand-crafted dragons on some of the roofs and other hand-crafted elements throughout the temple grounds.

Once again there was barely anybody here, making it feel like this was some sort of way off the beaten track abandoned temple. But nope, this is an important and well preserved historical landmark, just a 15 minute walk from Lukang Old Street.

 

[warpus]

Lukang Lungshan Temple Turtle Pond

There is a serene garden with a turtle pond at the east-most courtyard of the temple complex, an unexpected find for me at the time.

Turtles are one of the four spirit animals, a concept in Chinese mythology that exists in Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. They represent longevity and stability. If I had looked closer I would have also noticed hand-carved turtles on some of the pillars at the temple.

 

[warpus]

Taiwan Sugar Railway Locomotive

I was surprised to find an old small rusted locomotive on display on my walk around Lukang. I was sure that when the rail network was constructed on the island Lukang was completely bypassed.. So why would there be a small locomotive of some sort here?

Turns out that there used to be a thriving sugarcane industry in the region that required transport, and so a small gauge rail network was built to accommodate that, which was and still is operated by Taiwan Sugar Corporation. Parts of this small gauge network are still in operation on the island, but as far as I know not in Lukang.

This railway began operation in 1907, but it's tough to say how old this locomotive is.

 

[warpus]

Lukang Wenwu Temple (鹿港文武廟)

WenWu temples are fairly common in Taiwan, but the Lukang WenWu Temple is an especially well preserved example.

Originally constructed in 1812, the Wen part of this temple complex enshrines Wenchang Wang, the Taoist god of learning and scholarly success, while the Wu part enshrines Guan Yu and other military deities. WenWu temples' main purpose used to be Confucian learning and moral instruction, with at times a martial arts hall and related structures present. This particular temple is also known as the birthplace of Lukang poetry.

I should have probably taken more pictures here, but instead of wandering around the temple grounds as much as I usually do I used this time to take a bit of a break. There were nice large trees here with benches underneath, and multiple spots where you could sit down and rest in the shade. The sun had been out since morning, with not much cloud cover; this felt like the perfect quiet place for me to just sit back, cool down, and mentally recharge, before heading back out onto city streets.

As I sat there looking at the 200 year old red brick Qing era temple structures around me, it seemed easy to imagine yourself having travelled back in time to those days. It felt great to sit back and relax at a location designed for quiet contemplation where you felt like you stepped back in time a bit. Everyone I saw walking around the temple complex or sitting on a bench seemed to also enjoy the quiet and peaceful nature of the space. I really enjoyed my time spent here.

 

[warpus]

The World's Smallest Costco?

While there are 14 authentic Costco locations in Taiwan, this was not one of them.

A fun find while walking the streets of Lukang.

 

[warpus]

Lukang Library & Art Center Eggsibition

I was walking through the southern part of Lukang and ended up stumbling into the Lukang Library & Art Center in a non-descript looking building by the river. The only thing I found inside was an exhibition focusing on various kinds of eggs.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Thoseare real eggshells? I mean the sculpted ones.

Lukang Lungshan Temple Turtle Pond

There is a serene garden with a turtle pond at the east-most courtyard of the temple complex, an unexpected find for me at the time.

View attachment 730711

View attachment 730712

Turtles are one of the four spirit animals, a concept in Chinese mythology that exists in Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. They represent longevity and stability. If I had looked closer I would have also noticed hand-carved turtles on some of the pillars at the temple.

Atocha railway station in Madrid has a similar pond with turtles, but here turtles represent nothing.

 

[warpus]

Thoseare real eggshells? I mean the sculpted ones.

I could not find anything at all about this exhibition online, but other such egg displays seem to use real eggs that have been carefully hollowed out and carved. I would bet this was a mix of real and fake eggs, but that's a complete guess I am basing on only the memory that I seem to remember some of them looking too intricate and plastic-like to be real. Could have very well been all real, expertly carved to a degree that makes you question the authenticity.

 

[warpus]

Lukang Fude Temple (Southern Earth God of Lukang)

This is one of five Fude temples that were originally built in Lukang, each one strategically located at one of the five cardinal points of the city (north, south, east, west, centre), although I am not sure how many of these five temples still exist today. There is definitely at least one more Fuda temple in Lukang, the one that comes up when you google Lukang Fuda Temple. It had me a bit confused at first - All sources I found were telling me that this is Lukang Fude Temple, but when I looked at a map Lukang Fuda Temple seemed to be in a different part of the city. The "Southern" part of the translated name tipped me off that I needed to do a bit more digging.

My research tells me that this practice of building five temples honouring Tudi Gong (土地公), the Earth God, originates from Chinese folk beliefs that used to be especially popular in Taiwan. Tudi Gong is a local guardian spirit of a piece of land; Each temple is supposed to protect a different part of the city.

The main thing of note I found at this temple was a large statue of Tudi Gong that could be seen from a distance.