The Emotional Geography of an Accidental State

That tiny gray plaque in front of the Men's Tailor on the right marks the place where the 228 Incident began. Across the lane on the left, the colonial-era black buildings are the site of the Tianma teahouse, where the vendor who was beaten was "illegally" selling cigarettes. On the far left at the top you can see the sign for Tianma Teahouse (it's the white rectangle above the windows if you can't read the Chinese). 

Last summer, a student of mine asked me if, instead of regular class, we could walk around Dadaocheng as she'd never actually been. She's aware I go there often and know the area well. I met her at the Jiancheng traffic circle - this was before that glass circle building was torn down - and was genuinely surprised to learn that she didn't know three things:

- That the area was a swamp until Qing times

- That the circle itself had been a pond/reservoir as well as a bomb shelter, with the water from the pond used to put out fires from air raids, and after that was a popular culinary destination for local street food

- That the 228 Massacre began nearby, just to the west as one approaches the Nanjing-Yanping intersection.

After a quick backgrounder on Jiancheng Circle - which, again, I was truly surprised to be giving - we spent quite a bit of time ruminating at the plaque that marked where 228 began. It felt weird and slightly inappropriate to be a foreigner giving this information to a local, but here we were.

"Of course I know 228," she said. "But I didn't know where it happened. I guess I never thought about exactly where in the city it started."

We fell quiet.

See that barely-noticeable granite plaque on the left? You'd miss it if you weren't looking for it.

"I already know this history," she repeated. "But maybe now I feel more connection to it, because I actually went to the spot."

This is not to say she does not know her own country's history. By her own words, she does - quite probably as well as I know my American history. This will not be a hectoring "Taiwanese don't know their history!" post. I will never write such a post. If I ever approach that topic, it will be in a more realistic and nuanced way.

However, as we wandered around various other Dadaocheng landmarks - the old riverside mansions of major trading families, the municipal brothel, the old Yongle Market, Wang's Tea and more - she kept commenting, and I could feel, a deeper connection to her city being formed. We finished the day with her exclaiming again that she was genuinely surprised and regretful that she'd never taken the time to explore that neighborhood before. She seemed the most affected by the simple 228 commemorative plaque on that unexceptional stretch of sidewalk on Nanjing West Road.

I've come back to this story because, as 228 approaches and as I plan to visit Nylon Cheng's office (the Cheng Nan-jung Liberty Museum) on that day (some people who want to go in our group are not free on the more appropriate date of April 7th), I have found it helpful to reflect on the importance of attaching knowledge of historical events to the more visceral feeling of visiting the places where they happened. Knowing the historical and emotional geography of your city, and even your country. Taiwan is an accidental state (as the shiny-brand-new book of the same name points out), and also accidentally in its current state. Knowing not just the facts and dates but also visiting the places where these things happened imparts an emotional connection to that history that reading a book or memorizing a list of dates can never do.

It is more fruitful, then, to reflect on how the 228 Massacre continues to affect Taiwan by connecting it to a real geographical point, a historical locus from which to better understand the city and country. This, not "history", is the connection I have noticed some acquaintances of mine lack. It's a problem not limited to Taiwan, but feels especially jarring here, where the Taiwanese identity movement is so closely tied to associations with history - many social activists think of themselves as carrying the torch of civil society from their predecessors - and the land itself. Cycling around Taiwan and climbing Jade Mountain are seen, if subconsciously, as activities that bring one closer to the land and identification with it, so it is confounding that so many loci of political and social history are unknown or forgotten. How many other Taipei residents know about 228 but haven't a clue where it happened?

Again, this is not to say nobody knows. I know many socially and politically active people who can and do visit these places regularly. I'm describing a trend I see among some friends and students; it is not meant to be an indictment of an entire society.

Of course, 228 is not the only site of historical interest that make up Taiwan's emotional geography. I could do a sweeping survey of the country and list many - from the (likely) beach in Manzhou where the events of the Mudan Incident began to the Wushe battlefield to Baguashan in Changhua to Guningtou Beach in Kinmen. Instead I'll just name a few that resonate with me in Taipei:

Qingshan Temple, which has an interesting backstory that very weirdly mirrors some of the stories told about shrines in In An Antique Land about an entirely different part of the world and, while not a great historical turning point, is a story that brings to life the temple culture of the waves of Hoklo immigration from China.

Students and friends: "Where is Qingshan Temple? I didn't know that story about Qingshan Wang!"

Machangding Memorial Park, which gives me the heebiejeebies at night (though I wrote this post awhile ago, when I wasn't the writer or Taiwanophile that I am now, so please don't judge me too harshly for it)

Students and friends: "I've never been there - was it really an execution ground?" (Yes.)

Dihua Street - the old commercial center of Dadaocheng and subject of a well-known painting. Not for any major historical event but just the general sense of history (I'm particularly a fan of Xiahai temple and one house in particular, the one with the decorative ginseng around a high circular window. See if you can find it).

Students and friends: "What is there to do on Dihua Street?"

Ogon Shrine in Jinguashi (close enough to Taipei!) - simply because it's one of the easiest and only Japanese shrines that still has some existing structure that's within striking distance of Taipei. There is a much better-preserved temple in Taoyuan but the setting is not quite so evocative.

Students (not so much friends): There's a Japanese shrine ruin up there?

Yes, there is. 

The Chung Nan-jung Liberty Museum, which I will admit I have not yet been to, mostly because that sort of thing tends to make me emotional, and I think deep down I've been avoiding it. However, it is crucial to understanding Taipei's emotional geography to know where Nylon Cheng immolated himself in his burning office and why, and to see the spot for yourself.

Students and friends: That's downtown? It's right near the MRT? I had no idea it was so close!

Chen Tian-lai's mansion - there is quite a bit of history here that you can read about in the link, but honestly, I've been known to head down there and just look at the facade. I'm a huge fan of 1920s colonial architecture. Very close to Dihua Street (I also like the Koo Mansion a bit to the north, down a lane you would never think to walk down, occupied currently by a kindergarten).

Students (but not friends, most of whom know this place): There's a mansion here?

The Wen-meng municipal brothel - no survey of women's history sites in Taiwan is complete without a stop here, although chances are all you'll get to see is the exterior.

Students and friends: Prostitution used to be legal? There was a government-run brothel? What?

Qingdao and Jinan Roads around the Legislative Yuan - frankly, if you weren't down here some evenings during the Sunflower occupation, you missed a seminal moment in Taiwanese history. I spent quite a bit of time here around this time three years ago, and the two streets are now synonymous in my visual memory with social movements in Taiwan.

Wistaria Tea House - first the home of the Japanese governor-general, the setting of Eat Drink Man Woman, and also a gathering place for political dissidents in the Dangwai era. Also, great tea.

OK, everyone knows this.

These are just a few of the many possible choices, and I narrowed it down by choosing those that matter to me - the ones that have made the history of Taipei and of Taiwan come alive for me (and in one case, really come alive, as I was there in the crowd when things went down).

In any case, I encourage you to leave your homes this long weekend commemorating one of Taiwan's greatest tragedies and saddest cultural touchstones and go out and see some things for yourself. I promise, you'll connect with the city on a more physical level. Go!

Longdong Bay (and Bitou Cape...Not)

Further along the cliff you can see the swimming hole below, and peeking out beyond that is Bitou Cape

So, yesterday we took a day trip to Longdong (龍洞), an area with beautiful natural scenery, striking blue water, good hiking, diving and snorkeling (I'm not sure how good the diving really is, but it seems to be popular). Our plan had been to follow the route on page 112 of Taipei Day Trips 1, and hike along the coast from Longdong to Bitou Cape (鼻頭角), but we enjoyed lingering at the natural swimming hole at Longdong that we never did make it to Bitou.

If you want to do both in one day, you can, but leave super early, don't get off the bus at the Amazing Hall (the big ugly white building) as we did, get off at the stop before it, just after the tunnel. Otherwise you have to walk back up about 500 meters. It's easy, but the pavement is hot and the exhaust fumes from trucks barreling by are disgusting. Also, don't linger too long at Longdong. Consider driving if you are really hell bent on one day trip to see the entire northeast coast - buses are infrequent. Alternatively, you could turn this into two or more decent day trips. 

One thing I love about living in Taiwan that is markedly better than life in China is that there are more and better opportunities to swim in the ocean, or just to swim naturally (i.e., not in a pool). Although I am not terribly impressed by many of Taiwan's beaches (overcrowded, oversupervised, but hey, at least they're generally clean and safe), I do appreciate that the opportunity is there. I have been to beaches in China, and...well...no. Generally not my bag.

But from Taipei, you can catch a bus from Danshui or catch a train to Ruifang and be at any number of swimmable spots in a fairly short time. If you're not that interested in Taiwan's mostly lackluster sand beaches - at least the beaches on the main island (the outlying islands are another story: Penghu is fantastic and I am excited about going to Orchid Island next week!) - and you really just want a dip in the ocean and don't mind rocks, Longdong is a great alternative. 

To get there, you can take a bus from Fulong that will take you all the way to Cape Bitou and beyond, but I recommend the route we took yesterday: the 9:35am train to Ruifang, breakfast in Ruifang and then the tourist bus to Longdong (exit the train station, turn left at the main road, and walk past the police station, almost to the elevated highway, to the bus stop. It gets crowded on weekends, you can't miss it). It'll take you over Jiufen and Jinguashi and down again before dropping you off at Longdong. Again, get off right after the tunnel, not at the big white building called "龍洞四季灣" (also labeled "Amazing Hall" in English - it's a chain). If you make it there, you've gone too far. This drops you at the trailhead to the coastal path over some stunning cliffs - if you just want to swim, you can skip this part and get off one stop early, in Longdong village.

The path starts just after the tunnel (on the left if you're coming from Ruifang), and bathrooms and vending machine drinks are available. Follow the clearly marked trail and do be sure to stop at the viewpoints - they're gorgeous. There is a trail leading down, and I suppose one could swim down there towards the start of the path, but we saw nobody doing so. There may be a current or it may be otherwise unsafe.

So inviting, but not sure if it's safe

From one of the vantage points (the top picture), you can see all the way to a safe swimming hole. A trail leading down will take you there via Longdong village. Exit the trail and turn right towards the ocean. Keep right, and enter the rocky area via a path that widens, then narrows before widening again and taking you to the coast.

Of course, by "rocky path" I mean, basically, a horizontal rock scramble. There is no real path. Taipei Day Trips 1 makes it sound easy: it is not. It is definitely possible and safe (although watch out for sprained ankles), but it's not a walk in the park. It's also hot - the rocks are hot and there's no shade. Wear sunscreen.

Taipei Day Trips 1 says there's some "supervised swimming". There is swimming, but it's not supervised. When you get there, there are several points at which you can jump safely into the water, and one spot where you can lower yourself in gently if you're afraid of jumping.

The water is crystal blue and clean, and tiny tropical fish swim around you as you swim or tread water.  Bring snorkeling gear if you'd like to get a closer look. You can swim to the far island (pictured below) and climb up via ropes - it's safe to jump from the top -  or beach yourself on a lower rock and enjoy the sun.

I stole this photo from my friend  - hope that's OK, Joseph!

Two things to watch out for: I did get stung by a jellyfish - painful but only temporarily so, and obviously I'm not dead - but be careful. There's also a current - it's not strong, and it's not fast, but it's there. If you're not a strong swimmer you may find yourself carried along a bit by the current.

It's safe to stand on the rocks in the shallow areas, but the rocks above water have barnacles on them, and generally speaking river tracing/snorkeling shoes would be a good thing to wear if you have them.

If you don't linger you can then hike around Bitou and catch a bus back to Keelung, Ruifang, Jinguashi or Jiufen. Heading up to Jiufen at sunset is a lovely ride, and you can eat or drink tea there. Alternately, you can head all the way to Keelung and go to the night market - the bus will drop you off nearby. If you have a car, there are several other great spots to stop and enjoy before the sun goes down. If not, be careful of time.

One final note - bus stops are spaced out weirdly: one bus stop doesn't necessarily cover all available buses. For example, the Keelung tourist bus stops a little further up the highway from Longdong than two other buses, and generally won't pick you up if you're at the wrong stop. This is idiotic, and the government really ought to do something about it. For now, though, check the times and wait at the appropriate stop to the best of your ability.

Keelung: Heping Island Day Trip

Brendan, Joseph and I went to Heping Island on Sunday, when all three of us felt a bit under the weather (Joseph got sick later that day, I came down with it yesterday and am off work today, and Brendan is still fine).

I'll probably blog a lot today because I have no voice, can't work if I can't talk, but am fine on energy!

Joseph has already covered the basics on how to get there and what to see, so I'll focus this post mostly on photos. Heping Island has two main things to see: a seaside area with cliffs and odd rock formations reminiscent of Yehliu.

Our initial impression was disappointing - the main entrance to the park is under construction and you have to walk through it to get to the seafront, which was cool and grey, and not particularly attractive. The walk to the construction site entrance is lined with murals which are spattered with graffiti:

Clearly this guy doesn't have much experience with 奶奶.

There were some snorkelers about. They were clearly insane.

Wandering a little farther along, being careful not to slip on increasingly treacherous rock, we came upon the Yehliu-esque area.

It was nice, and had some cool stuff going on, including lots of fishermen and snorkelers playing about the edges, but other than being quieter and less built-up than Yehliu, it was basically a smaller version of...well...Yehliu.

We then hopped on an old cannister to scale the fence to the "closed off" trail around the cliff that everyone was still using. The view got better from here, looking down over an odd old cement pagoda and an expanse of striated rock.

Across the way we could see two caves - one of which was an actual cave and the other just a dark crevice. The cave had a man-made entrance plopped down in front:

...and is called the "Cave of Foreign Words" - inside is dated graffiti in a number of languages. Apparently there are old Dutch and Portuguese carvings in the rock, but the oldest dates we could see were from the 1870s.

Don't worry about the "Military Activity Site" warning - it's old and no longer enforced. You can go in. Bring a good flashlight.

Back across the rock are two shrines underneath the pagoda, one appreciably larger than the other. Both are built of and around natural rock formations for 石頭公 - rock spirits. One was decorated with Buddhist and folk Daoist icons with a red-painted rock, and plastic and paper cartoon rabbits adorned the sides, presumably in celebration of Year of the Rabbit.

A rock spirit.

The smaller of the two shrines.

The incense urn, cemented to the rock, of the larger shrine (the first rock spirit is above it).

The red rock in the shrine.

Outside the shrine we came across these faded words once painted in gold. "Xin" was the only one we could decipher.

We also discovered what appears to be coral - please correct me if I'm wrong on that. It sure looks like coral and is the right color, but aren't we too far north for that? Wouldn't the water be too cold? Maybe the snorkelers knew a thing or two after all...?

After exiting the park back through the construction and past a random karaoke bar, we stopped for lunch, which was good despite the fish-mash rabbit in my soup:

We passed one of the oldest preserved structures in northern Taiwan. Not far from the bridge to Heping Island is a well used by the Dutch in the 1600s that is still in use today:

...as you can see, despite its age and impressive history it's not that exciting to look at.

We then walked to a fort (I forget the name) built at the turn of the 20th century by the Japanese. To get there, you walk back towards Heping Bridge then hang a left at the seafood market. Keep going until you reach a little fallow area and then turn up the hill. Keep going and turn up another, steeper hill to the right, which leads through a very poor aboriginal area (I hesitate to say "slum" but that's what it is). Yes, there's a lot of poverty here and it shows a side of life in Taiwan that most foreigners never see, and don't care to see, but it is safe. People sitting outside chatting (not sure of the tribe and therefore the language, but my best guess would be Amis) greeted us warmly.

The first part of the fort is at the top of the village hill, and is not very impressive (really, it's just an old house structure without a roof). If you go a little further up, you reach some more stone fortifications, which are mildly more interesting and you can poke around inside.

Keep heading up, and it gets more interesting still: old brick and stone fortifications in a distinctively early 20th-century style with more extensive poking around (it's muddy and full of bugs, so if you, like a certain infamous Canadian woman, freak out about insects, you may not want to go inside).

Climbing the stairs to the top of this set of fortifications, you reach the top of the hill and get a gorgeous view. On one side, a stretch of ocean.

Ahead of you, Keelung Island.

To the right, a view of Jiufen, Jinguashi and Keelung Mountain and beyond that, the Bitou cliff peninsula.

We wrapped up as twilight was setting in and headed down to get coffee before going to the Miaokou Street night market - we weren't hungry enough to tackle it yet. As we chilled out in Cat's Cafe (right at the base of the road that heads up to the giant Guanyin and Ghost Month temple), which used to be a straight-up coffeeshop but is now turns into something of a small lounge bar at night.

Of course, the night market is always a blast. We got cream crabs:

...and among other things, tried some of these babies ("zhu ha", apparently) cooked up so they were a little more solid and a little less...err....snotty. (They were good).

Postcards from Jiufen

A few weeks ago, we took my kid sister to Jiufen - she's here for a year, studying at Zhengda's Chinese language learning center, and has never been to either Jiufen or Jinguashi. We only made it to Jiufen (though we had planned to visit both towns) because we ended up climbing Keelung Mountain and it took us well into twilight to do so.

Getting to Jiufen was an adventure in itself. We arrived at Taipei 's Main's railway platform at 10:42am, exactly two minutes after the local train to Ruifang had departed. The next one wasn't coming for an hour. Why did we get there so late? We all agreed that we wanted to sleep in a little and not drag ourselves out of bed at 7am. Rather than wait on the platform for an hour (b-o-r-i-n-g) and giving our day a sour start, we boarded the next train, which terminated at Qidu, figuring we'd find a way to Jiufen from there.

When we got to Qidu, all seemed lost - we were simply going to have to wait 40 minutes for that same local to Ruifang (the base from which to take a bus/taxi to Jiufen). The station master didn't know of any other way. Fortunately, at that moment, a nice girl who grew up in the area was heading through the station on the way to visit her mother. She told us that the place where she was planning to meet her siblings to head to their laojia (ancestral home) happened to have a bus stop where the bus to Jiufen came. Woohoo! We climbed in a taxi with her and her recently-rescued stray cat, Meimei, and headed for a 7-11 on the border of Taipei and Keelung Counties (what else would you expect to be there?). She met her siblings, all of whom had adorable pets in tow, and we gave her some cash for the taxi and boarded the bus to Jiufen, which came soon after. Success!

Below are some photos:


Clay masks along the 'stair street' at Jiufen...most people who've been there have passed this house. Someday I really will go inside.

Jiufen and Jinguashi are noted for having lots of old-style houses, most of which have been coverted into museums, teahouses, cafes and other tourist amenities. While I prefer authenticity to convenience, I guess it's a better fate than being torn down or cascading into ruin.

Brendan and I have been to Jiufen several times (I believe this was my fourth visit) but as Becca hadn't, and wanted to buy gifts, souvenirs etc. from Taiwan, we took her down the tourist street. While I'm not too fond of it (you can get the same stuff almost anywhere) I do like their fancypants soap store, which sells great facial soaps made from herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. I also got a new pair of beaded flipflops for summer and a travel accessory bag made of fake 'Chinese silk'.

The good thing about the market is that there are also lots of different foods on offer. We particularly liked the cup of squid and the deep fried chunks of giant mushroom.

Delicious pickled mango!

Gooey snacks - if you look at the colors, you can see that she's making taro and sweet potato goo-balls, which is a popular flavor combination in Taiwan. And, for some reason I've never figured out, Taiwanese people seem to love gooey snacks...the chewier the better.

The bad thing is that on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, it was packed to the point where even the Taiwanese people there thought it was too crowded (wow). There were times when you couldn't move at all. A good warning to try and visit on a weekday, if at all possible.

Crowds and crowds

Afterwards, hot and tired from the pushing crowd, but well-fed on squid and fried mushrooms, we headed to one of Jiufen's famous teahouses to relax in the sun and have a cold drink. We were the only ones out on the deck except for a couple lounging under the awning, far from the sun...another thing locals seem to hate is getting a tan. But after a winter of clouds and drizzle, we were basking in it.

Traditional buildings have mostly been converted into teahouses. Above is one with Keelung Mountain in the background.

Doesn't that iced green tea look great?

From our balcony perspective, we also got to enjoy Jiufen's famous views over the northeast coast (I actually prefer Jinguashi's views to an extent, but Jiufen's are lovely too).

Afterwards, as the afternoon waned, we decided that we had just enough time to make it to the top of Keelung Mountain and back before sunset. Keelung Mountain is shown in the background of one of the photos above, and it doesn't look all that difficult, does it?

Did we really think we'd have time to make it up and back this late in the day?

Well, it's not a tough climb, per se, but it is all stairs which meant that my knees were creaking as we ascended. It also took longer than we thought.

On the road to the trailhead

Along the way, you can see views of Jiufen on one side and Jinguashi on the other, with strategically placed pagodas from which to view them both. At ground level, the lower levels of the mountain are littered with tiny shrines. As you ascend, the view expands on either end to include Bitou Cape on one side and Keelung City on the other.

Jinguashi on one side...



...and Jiufen on the other

Me and Brendan with a view of Jinguashi's coastline

Tiny shrines dot the sides of Keelung Mountain

Pagodas on the way up give you a chance to rest and enjoy the view.

This may not look like much, but look in the wide valley on the righthand side. Do you see a little stick poking out? That's Taipei 101, as seen from the north coast of Taiwan!

Views of Jinguashi

The sun set on our way down.

As you can see, we didn't quite make it up and back before sunset. It got darker as we descended, and by the time we hit the final pagoda, night had fallen. We walked the rest of the way with barely any illumination, but with the lights of the northeast coast twinkling in front of us, and those of ships out to sea behind us. In the distance we could see the city of Keelung lit up brightly.

We took the bus to Keelung Night Market for dinner, though after all that snacking we weren't very hungry. But Keelung is a great night market spot, so we made room for some delicious, fresh seafood.

Lots of oranges!


Mmmm, sea urchin sashimi. My favorite!

We had sea urchins (visible above), cream crabs (crabs cooked in cream and butter with onions and other seasonings), clams, sweet potato leaves and beer. It was delicious!