Asia

[Visited: February 2024]

After a visit to the southern Taiwanese cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, we feel it is time for something completely different. After a visit to the surprising Lotus Pond in the Zuoying suburb of Kaohsiung, we head east. It is a grey day, and it takes a while before we see contours of the mountains that define the spine of Taiwan. It is also noticeably quiet in the streets. Even though it is a working day, we see most shops closed. When we arrive at our first destination Meinong, we drive straight through town towards the Hakka Cultural Museum. I have visited Hakka communities in southern China - in fact, more or less the same latitude as we are right now. The museum explains the migration of the Hakka people to Taiwan, their ways to dress and work the land, their traditions and food. It is a good introduction to our visit to the region that is so different from other parts of Taiwan.
We drive back to Meinong village, and head straight to the East Gate, or Dongmen. It is the only gate still standing. The first migrants arrived here in 1736, and parts of Meinong are still remnants of those early days. The city gate is an impressive building standing over the road. Fortunately, it is a side road, so we can safely approach the gate from all sides, and have a closer looj at the building that is higher up. Colourful columns and eave roofs make for a distinctive city gate. From here, we continue our exploration mostly by following Yong'an, the old street of the Hakka city. It turns out to be a leisurely walk, without spectacular highlights. We find joy in the small things it has to offer. A house with flowers in front, a house with yellow curtains and decorations, a house with wall paintings.
We see a small pool with three people sitting in the water, sorting out vegetables. Unfortunately, we don't speak a common language and we can only guess at what they are doing. It seems rather unpleasant to sit for a long time immersed in water, but they have proper clothing to protect themselves. We divert from the oldest street of the city to find an open restaurant on the main street. We have a delicious traditional meal, which fills us for the rest of the day. The lady of the restaurant tells us that most places are still closed because of the end of the Dragon Year celebrations. We walk further west, see rice fields right in the city, and reach the Oblation Furnace. Here, people used to dispose of written paper. The Hakka people have traditionally been a well educated people. From here, we walk towards the Meinong River, We see a group of young students in uniform, and more traditional houses. We are back on Yong'an Street. Not only this street is interesting, but also some alleys running from it. We walk back to the East Gate. The end of our exploration of Meinong, and the beginning of our venture into the mountains further east where we will see some of the butterflies for which Meinong is famous. We wanted change from the cities - we got it!

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Meinong (Taiwan)

Meinong > Taiwan > Asia

[Visited: February 2024]

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