Heading to Hua Lien
Not long ago, it was
the Qing Ming festival in Taiwan. To us
not in the know this is tomb sweeping day, where families clean the tombs and
pay respect to their loved ones. As, in
Taiwan I have no tombs to sweet and a free few days from work and school I
decided I would take a little trip, get out of the city, and get some (much
needed) fresh air. So I decided to visit
one of Taipei’s ample stores that contain post cards. I picked a card which looked pretty and worth
visiting; this time I decided on Hua Lian (Hualien). On a side note, when visiting a country with
little to no plan, this can be an excellent source of information and ideas of
what you’d like to see and where to go; after all postcards to like to show off
the best of a country.
At this point in time,
I’d like to introduce a new pseudonym, Yellow Sugar. Yellow Sugar is the perfect accompaniment for
Hot Tea, and as such we travel many places together.
You can get a one way
ticket to Hua Lian for around NT$200 (£4ish).
This includes a bus to Luo Dong, Yilan County, which takes around 90
minutes, and then a 2 hour train to Hua Lian.
Not the most direct route, but for NT$200, worth it. On the train to Hua Lian I even got the
pleasure to see some stereotypical Chinese tourists. Every time a mountain lowered down to show
some scenery or we popped out of a tunnel, BOOM! Like a rabbit on red bull, they
up like a shot to take photo of anything, as if they hadn’t seen the light in
years. Amusing if you were not the poor
man sitting next to them getting bumped and barged (and pretending to be
asleep).
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| Dong Shan River |
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| Dong Shan Dino |
I must admit when we
arrived at Luo Dong it was early and I was slightly cranky, but we made the
decision to spend a few hours there and see what it was like. We stopped for a bite of breakfast at a
classic Taiwanese breakfast shop, had some bacon to start the day and were on
our way. With the gusto of bacon behind us,
we (I) made a less than smart choice and decided to walk to Dong Shan River
Park. This took around an hour and it
was quite hot; it looked a lot closer on the map and the public transport
around the area is not the most convenient, although later I found there is
shuttle bus that goes not too far away from the area. After a delightful stroll by the roadside in
hot, humid conditions, we finally arrived at the park. The first thing we saw were diggers, and then
school children; a confusing combination to say the least. I’m still not sure why there were several
school trips visiting the park when it was under renovation; a mystery of
Taiwan. We then walked up a gentle slope
to see a paddling pool, but it was empty.
Away from the empty paddling pool we wandered on and found some swinging
benches, of the uncomfortable variety, and then a bizarre collection of
dinosaurs. I must say that this confused
me more than the multiple field trips.
Despite the being devoid of reason, these random dinosaurs brought a
smile to my face; why in the middle of a River Park would you have dinosaur
playing football? I for one have no
notion and I’m not sure if I want one.
From here we meandered down the river.
Looking out over the river you could have been anywhere in the world. Minus the vast swaths of bikers flying past, this
was a pleasant experience. At the end of
our jaunt we reached the National Center for Traditional Art, which from the
outside looking in appeared to be a nice activity. Unfortunately, we had spent too much time
elsewhere and decided we could not get our monies worth in the short time we
had, so we decided upon a free activity; a trip to beach. The beach at Luo Dong is black. I’m not a geologist, so I am unable to tell
you if it is magnetic placer black sand or black sand from lava, maybe it was
just very very dirty sand. The latter of
the options would not entirely surprise me, as the beach was covered in rubbish
and full of scooters and cars driving all about it. It’s safe to say I would not recommend the beach
for a picnic. From here we found a bus
back to the station (much better than walking, if not a little crowded) and
headed to Hua Lian.
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| The Black Beach of Luo Dong |
If you take the same
route as I have suggested, I would not recommend a stop in Luo Dong. Although, I have heard Yilan County is nice
and full of scenic beauty, Luo Dong is not.
The River Park is in a state of disrepair and very much needs a lick of
paint, even my beloved dinosaurs, and the beach does not make me want to be
beside the seaside. There is little to
do in the city, in terms of a day trip, and although I have heard good things
about the night market (I mean what city doesn’t brag about it’s night market)
I cannot imagine wanting to stay an entire day to sample it. My advice, get on the first train to Hua
Lian.
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| Geological or jut dirty? |
On to Hua Lian. We arrived late afternoon, early evening and
checked straight into our hotel. We
stayed within a stone’s throw of Zhiqiang night market. It is a 20-30 minute walk from the train
station, but I’ve seen much worse. After
a quick relax, we headed out for a spot tea at the night market. It may not be the most visually exciting
night market in Taiwan, but there are a myriad of food choices on offer. You distinguish the few ‘famous’
establishments by the insane queues stretched out or winding around the night
market. There are several decent steak
places to eat at and many places to try some local fish. We decided to avoid the long queues, as I was
eager to watch the Simpsons’ Movie in Chinese and chose a hot pot like dish, but
everything is already cooking in the water and you pick you want. On a side note, like many western movies in
Taiwan the Simpsons was edited/censored, but on an extraordinary scale and the
storyline barely made sense; a definite waste of 90 mins and of little to no
benefit of Chinese.
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| Zingy chilling at the beach |
The next day we
decided to rent a scooter and head to the beach. In front of the station there is a large
range of different rental shops to choose from.
So if you love to get a deal there’s much opportunity to shop around. We were behind schedule so just picked one so
we could head off to the beach. We
scooted off to Qi Xing Tan beach. It is
a pleasant pebble beach, not the most compacted of pebbles, but more than
acceptable for a nice little stroll down the beach; with the key advantage of
no sand in your shoes. Unfortunately,
the weather was fairly foggy and we were unable to see some (of what I can only
assume are) wonderful views. After a nice
stroll up and down the beach and our tummies rumbling we made the decision to
move on. We went in the direction of Tai
Lu Ge gorge (Taroko). After a little
food stop to satisfy our bellies, we headed into the mountains. Almost immediately we stumbled upon the
East-West Cross Island Highway Gateway.
It is more than worthy of a quick photo opportunity. There is not a lot to do other than photo,
but it is nice to stretch your legs and stop for 5-10 mins.
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| Qi Xing Tan Beach |
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| East-West Cross Island Gateway |
Just beyond this photo
opportunity is the Taroko (Tai Lu Ge) visitor centre. This is an excellent place to begin several
walks in the national park or get key information on other walks and sites in
the area. Personally I got particularly
distracted by the contoured map; giving an insight in the peaks and troughs you
will encounter on the walks to decide to attempt. On this visit it was beginning to get a
little late, so we decided to hop back on the scooter and head back on the
road, along the mountain side to Qing Shui Duan Ya. I would highly recommend driving on the
mountain roads and the mountainside roads.
They are a magnificent blend between the natural and man-made, with the
roads flowing through the natural curves and movement of the mountains. The contrast between naturally formed marble
mountainside and the Pacific Ocean cut by the road is a particular
highlight. The weather was still
overcast and far from clear, taking the edge of some stunning views. I can only imagine the view with the added
sparkle of the sun on a clear day. We
once again stopped for a quick break and photo opportunity at Qing Shui Duan Ya. Similar to the Highway Gateway, it just a
place to stop stretch your legs and take a few photos. Rather than explore more of the mountain
roads, with numb bums, we headed back Hua Lian and steak night! Taiwan is full of places of steak for under
NT$150 and this was one of the better ones.
The steak was cooked well to about a medium, which fairly uncommon. I often find these steak places slightly
stressful to eat at, but the atmosphere hear was nice and relaxed. I even had a fan club of a small child who
gawked at me like I was celebrity, he didn’t take any pictures, but I still
felt special.
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| Qing Shui Duan Ya Mountainside |
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| The striking contrast of Ci Li Bai |
We had half a day left
in the area, so we decided to stay fairly close to the area and try some local
delicacies. First, after a quick look on
google maps (and seeing the word lighthouse), we headed to CiLaBi
lighthouse. I’ve read that in 2014 the
area will become a tourist attraction, but on our visit it was devoid of people
barring the odd photographer out for a picture.
At the top of the hill you see uninterrupted ocean and far enough to see
the curve of the earth, it is a peaceful place, which could be
magnificent. Unfortunately, I have to
say could be. The magnificent scenery
and serenity is contrasted by a landfill to the south and power plant behind us
to the west and that is not what depressed me most. The site could almost be described as a
rubbish dump its self. Everywhere you look
there are discarded pieces of rubbish, I even found half-buried shoes. I could not figure out where it all came
from. In the hour and bit we were there,
we only saw three people. It is sad to
see natural places of beauty destroyed by the carelessness and disregard of
man. I was initially so excited to find
a scenic spot almost untouched by human hand, where there was no need to fight
with pushy, and often inconsiderate, photo hunters; a place to relax and enjoy
the beauty at your own pace. I found
myself leaving disappointed and considering the benefits of turning little
slices of paradise into tourist traps.
(Dear Taiwanese Gov., All over Taiwan I see people cleaning leaves,
please can you send some of these people CiLaBi lighthouse; the need is
greater).
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| Ci Li Bai Lighthouse |
After the eye-catching
views and less satisfactory cleanliness, we were ravenous. Yellow Sugar had heard of several eateries
she wanted to try, so we decided to sample some of the Hua Lians finest. First, we headed to Gong Zhen Bao Zi for Xiao
Long Bao. As this place came recommended,
we had to queue for 20 or so minutes. We
decided not to eat-in and head to Zha Dan Cong You Bing and have some Cong You
Bing (often referred to Dan Bing, but very different) with our Xiao Bao. This shop does not open till 1pm, so we
arrived a little earlier only to be greeted with a ludicrously long line. At this point we decided to chow on our Xiao
Bao; they were tasty, don’t get me wrong, but did not set the world alight and
I am not sure if they can be classed as better than other Xiao Bao. Around the long queue we had found ourselves
in, there were an ample amount of shops to buy little treats and amuse
yourself. If you are not as stubborn as
mule or Taiwanese, this queue may not be for you; we queued for around 1 and a
half hours. We added a little spice to
our meal and this, for me, was surprisingly good. I did not expect egg and spicy to be a good
combination, but it was. This egg was
runny, which made me very happy, as very often these things come with hard
eggs. All in all it was pretty good, if
the queue was shorter, I’d recommend it, but what I will say this: have a look
and if the queue looks OK go for it, if not run for the hills (Tai Lu Ge).
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| Queue fo Zha Dan Cong You Bing |
With the little bit of
time left before we had to leave, we headed to Mei Luan Mountain Park for a
stroll. With the massive amount for
beautiful locations to ramble in nearby, I would not recommend Mei Luan. It in comparison is highly boring. Go to the beach, go to the mountains, or
maybe just go shopping. After seeing the
sights of Hua Lian, ending in the park was definitely an anti-climax, but it is
close to the station. We returned our
scooter, bought some local Mua Ji (strange, but gets better each time you try
it) and headed to train station.
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| The view from the lighthouse |
Overall, I would
recommend Hua Lian to those of you who like a good wander, exploring, seeing
some scenery, and/or like a good photo.
There is so much opportunity to get lost in beautiful scenery. You can drive/scoot on beautiful mountain
roads, you can hike through the mountains, or you meander on the beaches. For a mini break, you can keep yourself very
busy and be very sad to return home or move on to your next location.
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