21 Jan 2018
Greetings from cold Shenyang! It’s -11C ( 8F) outside as I write this mid afternoon. To escape once more from the cold temps outside, I am finishing up the 2/2 entries for our holiday cruise. When we last left off we were leaving Vietnam en route to Taiwan, and so this entry is all about Taiwan and a little more of Hongkong. For more info and pictures of Taiwan from another trip there, see Oct 2013 entry.
Taiwan 2013
 |
| Roadside beauty in Taiwan! |
Taiwan General information
The Official language is mandarin, the Religion is Buddhist, Daoist. Christian. (3% Christian). The Average income in Taiwan is about 25k/USD/year for family. A university graduate salary is 1000 USD/ month. The current Exchange rate is 1 USD = 30 Taiwan dollars.
Taiwan Geography
Taiwan map looks like a sweet potato. From north to south is 420km, east to west is 120 km. Taiwan island land is 5 Million years old, compared to the earth age of 4.6 billion years old. Taiwan is very young. Split between 2 tectonic plates, (Philippine ocean plate and Eurasia plate), frequently on east side have earth quakes. The mountains grow .6cm each year and the river that runs through it erodes each year, creating a gorge that grows in both directions.
Taiwan History
The Portuguese were the first to actually “discover” Taiwan in the early 1600’s and they named it Formosa, but they never established a government there. The Dutch and Spanish were first to govern Taiwan from’1624 to 1662. In 1684 the Qing Dynasty (from Manchuria region of China, where Shenyang is) took over this island and called it Dong Ning. When the Qing people arrived on the island, The local people called the island Duawan (local language) so the Qing Dynasty called it Taiwan (sounded like Duawan to them). They ruled it until 1895 when Japan took it and controlled until the End of WWII, 1945 when Chiang Kai-shek founded the Republic Of China (ROC) after he fled from mainland China after losing the civil war against Mao Zedong. To most of the rest of the world the ROC is an independent country..to China it is a Province of the PRC. When we came to China we were told not to discuss the 3 T’s (Taiwan, Tibet and Tian an men square). The longer I live in China, the more wisdom I find in this guidance.
Taiwan population
23 million live in Taiwan, and 70% population of Taiwan From mainland China, 12% from Kuming ting (the side that lost in the China civil war after WWII). In Taiwan there are 16 different indigenous people, who moved there from other pacific islands and they settled there an estimated 700 years ago. There still exists .6 million people here, languages are similar to Hawaiian, Tahiti and other Polynesian languages. They had no written language, so no evidence of history. Currently in process of building some high speed trains and found some archeological finds of their history. Taiwan’s was first founded and mapped officially in 1544 by Portugal. They published a map in 1555, but they never governed Taiwan. The First written language was traditional Chinese ( still the language of Taiwan)
Education in Taiwan is not free, even elementary school must be paid. They have mandatory education until age 12 with free tuition for indigenous tribes with subsidies for room and board.
Back to touring Taiwan
On 2 Jan 2018 We Docked in Kaohsiung, population 2.8 Million. This city is on the east side of Taiwan and Has grown from
A fishing village to a major city. The area we saw was the Daoist temples and a fish market.
 |
| The two pagoda...enter through the Dragon and exit from the Tiger...or visa versa...can't remember! |
 |
| One of the lucky dragons..at the entry to the pagoda |
 |
| View from the top of one of the pagoda's in Kaohsuing, Taiwan |
 |
| The Daoist Temple in Kaohsuing, Taiwan |
 |
| More temples on the sea in Kaohsuing, Taiwan |
 |
| What's left of the fishing village in Kaohsuing , Taiwan |
 |
| The steps inside the pagoda |
On 3 Jan 2018, we Docked in Hualien. Hualien is largest city on east side of Taiwan, population is 150000. They have airport with F16’s from the US. In addition to this airport， they have another emergency airport with a runway and tunnel inside the mountain to hide the fighter aircraft. This was built by US.the east coast of Taiwan. From this city we traveled to the Toroko Gorge, deep in the central mountain range of the island. In this short range, there are 250 peeks over 3000 meters high and they grow an average of .6 cm each year. The Gorge is stunning! When Chiang Kai-shek came from China, he brought 2 Million people including 500000 soldiers. Then he put the soldiers to work and built a road over the mountain. No money to buy equipment, built by hand by the soldiers. The road was built between 1956- 1960, (4 Years) taking the lives of 226 people who died while building it. There is a shrine built to their memory (eternal springs shrine).
 |
| The eternal springs shrine to the soldiers in Taiwan who died building the road |
This road goes across the island through the mountains beside the river. The river runs fast from the mountains to the sea, steep banks, no way for river to hold water, so prone to flooding.
 |
| The river cuts through the gorge |
 |
| Marble cliffs and evidence of strong movements over the years |
 |
| The gorge is lovely and deep |
 |
| Caves and crevices line the gorge cliffs |
 |
| Looking from many meters above the river down ...in Taroko gorge. |
 |
| Sarah "hiking" in the gorge..bump caps are necessary due to falling rocks...not sure the bump cap would really help if one of those big rocks let go! |
 |
| Looking through the cliffs in Taroko Gorge, Taiwan |
 |
| A river runs through it, carving away at the marble cliffs making it deeper and deeper |
 |
| Natural beauty in Taroko Gorge, Taiwan |
 |
| Sarah in one of the hand hewn tunnels on the road in Taroko gorge, Taiwan |
 |
| Marble cliffs and cliffside path in Taroko gorge |
 |
| Sarah at the entrance to Taroko gorge, Taiwan |
 |
| Marble cliffs and green water at Taroko Gorge, Taiwan |
After the gorge, we went into the city of Hualien and visited a Taoist temples where we learned about Taoist prayers. In this temple they worship female god 妈祖 Ma Zu god of fishermen, (harbor safety), In any Taoist temple, when you pray to the God , there is a way to know if your prayer will be granted. They have two pieces of wood shaped like a 1/2 moon. Depending on how they land when you drop them will tell you yes, no, or not enough information. I’m guessing you can only throw the blocks once!
 |
| Tao prayer blocks (After a prayer is said these prayer blocks are dropped and depending on how they land, the person knows if the prayer will be answered. I don't remember the logic of yes, no, not enough information...and I don't plan to use it, so if you need to practice this, you're on your own! |
 |
| Taoist shrine in Taiwan |
 |
| Huge Taoist shrine in Taiwan |
On 4 Jan 2018 we Docked in Keelung, Taiwan (north side of Taiwan) which is relative close to Taipei. Our friend Norman came to meet Rod at the boat and I went on a trip to the Yehliu Geopark National Park (a place that used to be on the bottom of the ocean, but due to earthquakes and volcanos is now on the surface). Here there were strange rocks and I’m sure this a geologist paradise!
 |
| A field of "mushrooms " in the distance at the Yehliu Geopark |
 |
| The "Tofu" rocks on the coast at the Yehliu Geopark |
 |
| "Mushroom" rocks at the Yehliu Geopark |
 |
| The coast at the Yehliu Geopark |
 |
| The strange rocks at the Yehliu Geopark |
 |
| The "candles" at the Yehliu Geopark |
 |
| Sarah beside the "Princess" rock at the Yehliu Geopark |
 |
| Seaside at the Yehliu Geopark |
 |
| Another strange rock at the Geopark |
 |
| More "mushrooms" at the Yehliu Geopark in Taiwan |
 |
| Sarah and a dog up close to one of the strange rocks in Yehlui Geopark |
After the geopark, we stopped at one more temple...for me the religious reasons for the temples do not hold special meaning...I respect their beliefs, but I do not share them. I do find the locations interestingly beautiful and certainly peaceful.
 |
| The budda statues at the Taoist temple in Keelung, Taiwan |
 |
| The taoist temple overlooking the harbor of Keelung, Taiwan |
 |
| The view of the city of Keelung, Taiwan and off in the distance our ship (with the big X on the side) |
On the 6th of January, we Docked back in Hongkong and had a day to explore the city. We have been here several times so we didn’t go to the typical tourists areas. When Rod was in the hospital there back in 2016, he walked around the area and found a small temple and park that was established literally on a mountain side in the city. He had told me about this park and his time there alone, meditating and praying and I wanted to go there to share this space and create a memory of us there together.
 |
| A step back in time in Hongkong to a small temple from the early 1800's. According to the history, this temple used to be at the seaside...now due to reclamation of the sea, it's quite far inland. This small temple will always be special to us..not for any religious meaning..but for it's position in the park that Rod used for his meditation in the journey with cancer here in China. |
 |
| Mountain side landscaping in Hongkong |
 |
| Meditation pagodas in the middle of Hongkong |
 |
| Landscaping on a mountain side in Hongkong |
 |
| Rodney in the Hongkong park |
So that about does it for our vacation cruise of 2017/2018. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we continue our journey and adventures in China. I leave you with one last peaceful butterfly from Formosa.
 |
| a butterfly in Formosa/Taiwan peacefully eating his meal |
