Susan's Shanghai Blog - Week 72

We started our 4th day in Taiwan taking the metro to the last stop, Danshui, which takes us to the Tamsui District (it used to be called the Danshui district, hence the same). It is named after the Tamsui river and is a sea-side district on the North side of Taipei. It was a major fishing and trade port and by the mid 19th century, it was the largest port in Taiwan. By the 20th century, the river had accumulated enough sediments that the port operations were moved and it reverted back to being just a small fishing town. The metro opened the stop there in 1997 and it became a weekend get-away for people from Taipei.

As we got off the metro, we headed right over to the water and got a great view of the water and the mountains on the other side.

There was a market setup (well, setting up is a better statement) with various foods and things. We bypassed it when we got there, but stopped on our way back to the metro and bought a few things .. some cookies, frozen fruit bars.

First stop was at the Fuyou temple (yes, another temple). This is the oldest place of worship in the town, built in 1796 by the sea fishermen in the early days of the town. The temple is dedicated to Matsu, the goddess of the sea, which is logical with it being a fishing town.

In Sanchuan Hall there were embossed dragon octagonal columns dating from 1796.

On the doors are these really great paintings of guardians.

Then out to the water, where we caught a set of guys fishing. We were at the ferry pier and got some great views of the water and surrounding area.

The Lover’s Bridge is a single slanted tower cable stay pedestrian bridge, that is modeled after a sailing ship's mast and rigging which spans the harbor.

We were walking down the street towards our next sight, and happened to notice a pig (or boar) tied up outside of a little shop. So, I can see taking your pet puppy up the street, but your pet wild boar??

Danshui Martyr’s Shrine is located next to Fort Hobe and was built in 1939 (during the Japanese occupation) for Meiji Tenno, who was the 122nd emperor of Japan. Ironically, it was remodeled in 1968 in Chinese palace style to commemorate the brave martyrs who sacrified their lives fighting against the Japanese.

Fort Hobe was built in 1886 during the Qing dynasty and was the fort guarding Northern Taiwan. There is only one entrance, and that is through the Barrack Gate in the SouthEastern side.

Entering through the Barrack Gate, you enter into the central square. All around the square is a "hidden" building .. hidden because if ou look closely, it is basically built into the earth behind it. This "Earthen Wall" is 6.5 meters in height and provides shelter and defense, since from the outside, you think it is a hill and not a fort.

This is what they call a Barbette. It would have had a cannon in it and there were multiple barbettes on the outer walls. This is how the Fort would have defended itself from invaders from the river.

As we headed out, we stopped for lunch along the river. For those people who know Susan well .. you may want to sit down for this one ... Susan had a BEER! Mind you, it was an APPLE BEER, but a beer none the less.

Just down the street from lunch was Fort San Domingo, which has gone through several countries. It was built by the Spanish in 1628 but later seized by the Dutch. In the 19th century, the English rented the fort and setup a Consulate there. The first building is the actual Fort building, and it looks just like it. The flags along the front indicate the flags of each of the countries (or native groups) that had control of the fort at one point or another.

The more impressive building is that of the former British Consulate, which is built using typical British colonial architecture. Notice that the facade of the first floor corridor has arc-type arches while the second floor corridor is a semicircular arch type. And from the balcony, you can get a great view!

The interior is furnished with period furniture. I'm so glad I don't have to cook in that kitchen!

The Tamsui Presbyterian Church is one of Tamsui’s famous attractions and also an important backdrop for wedding pictures. The building's Gothic-style architecture is unique, with a prominent steeple, flower-inspired windows, pointed arches, and buttresses. The stained glass windows have images of Jesus Christ outside the church’s bell tower while the interior décor of the church is minimalistic, with dark wooden long benches. The church becomes even more serene when rays of sunlight spill across the inside. Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside.

Next door is the Hobe Mackay Hospital, a former hospital setup by Canadian medical doctor and missionary George Leslie Mackay, who arrived in Tamsui in 1872 and established Taiwan's first hospitals in Western medicine. Inside are some of his old medical equipment, hospital beds, medicine bottles, etc.

Further up the road is a statue of the the doctor, mostly refered to as Reverant Mackay. He remained in Tamsui from 1872 until his death in 1901. He established churches, schools, and a hospital and seems to be quite well regarded there.

On the way back to the market and metro station, we walked down the Tamsui Old Street, which was absolutely packed with people by the afternoon. It is lined with shops and food stalls on both sides of the roads and is a great place to try out the famous local snacks (fish ball soup, iron egg, fish dumplings). We only picked up a couple things, not wanting to spoil our dinner.

Then back through the market (bought some cookies) and then the metro back into the main New Taipei City. The next stop was the Xingtian Temple, also called Hsing Tian Kong. It is a relatively new temple, built in 1967. Inside there were people that seemed to be studying, dressed in blue. These blue-dressed people also seemed to be helping people with their prayers. It was VERY busy when we were there.

There are these little blocks that are also used that we were watching. You ask a question and drop the two parts of the block. Depending on the way they fall, it answers your question.

Dinner was at the Celestial Restaurant, which supposedly serves the best roast duck outside of Beijing. They only sell whole ducks which serves 3-4, so we passed. It was a really big restaurant and, as most restaurants, was pretty busy.

We were a little late in taking pictures so you get to see things 1/2 eaten (sorry!). We ordered Green Beans with Shredded Chicken (supposedly requires the entire staff to peel snow pea pods every morning), scallion pancakes, fried rice, and (of course) some steamed dumplings.

From there, we headed to the night markets. We went through two of them .. one a totally outside one and one that was covered. As you can see, also quite crowded. There seemed to be alot of odd street food there which just didn't really appeal to us (maybe because we had just finished dinner). For me, it also just wasn't that impressive, maybe because we've done night markets in Beijing and Hong Kong already.

We only had about a half day for our last day in Taiwan and so we started out walking through the park that was just across the street from our hotel, Daan Forest Park. The park was created in 1994 and was intended to be like Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London .. to be a green space where residents can remove themselves from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Near the park is a Flower Market,which is absolutely HUGE and takes up space below an elevated highway. They had absolutely everything, from small flowers in pots to cut flowers, to trees and bushes. There was also everythign you would ever need for a small garden ... pots, dirt, decorative rocks.

So I have to admit that I hreally have no clue what this says, but they had these little cute signs taped down to the sidewalk pointing to something which was "this way". I thought they were cute (so took the picture) and reminded me of signs that were painted on the sidewalks in Moscow to point to an ice cream shop.

The Taipei Grand Mosque, which just happened to be a couple blocks from our hotel, is the largest and most famous mosque in Taiwan.

And then lunch before we headed home back on Yongkang Street. This time we stoped by a little noodle place and, I really have to admit, these are the best noodles I have EVER had. They are all cooked in the front of the store by one person who sits in the middle of all this stuff. They were the same kind of Tanzai noodles that we had in Tainan but the broth for these was just amazing.