Bitan 碧潭 after New Years. "Jade Lake" is a resort area in southern Taipei at the terminus of the Xindian subway line. The weather has warmed and rain has let up from the last few days. This is Cindy and her Mom's third full day in Taiwan. Cindy is rapidly recovering from a flu.
We take the Xindian line of the subway nearly from one end to the other, from north to south across Taipei to Guandu 關渡.
Built in 1661 for Matzu, goddess of the sea, Guandu Temple is carved into the hill above the mangrove swamps and dike along the Danshui River. The temple is busy with New Year's worshippers. An 80 meter tunnel lined with devas, cuts through the mountain from the cave to a temple to the thousand armed, thousand-eyed Guanyin, or goddess of Mercy overlooking the Danshui River.
The 50 hectare fresh and salt water mangrove Guandu Nature Park lies in the confluence of the Keelung and Danshui River just before they empty into the Taiwan Strait northwest of Taipei.
At home in Garden City 花園新城
Subway to Pristine
We start off on our trip south despite light rain. We drive southeast to Pinglin (坪林) and over the costal range to Ilan 宜蘭 on the Pacific coast, before driving south down the east coast of Taiwan.
We drive about a third of the way down the east coast of the island, nearly to the marble capital of Hualien 花蓮, before turning west on the central cross-island highway which start through Taroko 太魯閣 gorge. We spend the night at the Catholic hostel in Tienhsiang 天祥 near the top side of the gorge.
WenShan hot springs 文山溫泉 just north of TianHsiang 天祥
Brahmaea wallichii insulata Inoue - 枯球籮紋蛾. Every March 3rd of the Chinese lunar calendar, is the birthday of the deity Suan-tian-shang-di 玄天上帝. Around that day. the Brahmid moth 枯球籮紋蛾 visits the statue of Suan-tian-shang-di 玄天上帝 at Shou-zhen Temple 受鎮宮 on Ali Shan 阿里山 in central Taiwan for a few days. So the moth is also called 神蝶 or "sacred butterfly." Both males and females can reach wing spans of 128~152 mm. Taken in TienHsiang at the top of Taroko gorge in January in late morning.
Tien-Hsiang 天祥 - at the top of Taroko Gorge 太魯閣
We walk through the tunnel between TianHsiang 天祥 and Wenshan 文山 to the BaiYang Waterfall Trail 白楊瀑布 until we are turned back by rain, go back to TianHsiang 天祥 and continue our drive West over Taiwan.
Our drive west and over the mountains takes us from DaYuling 大禹嶺 to Hehuan Mountian 合歡山 at 3416m where the rain and fog are heavy then down towards the west through Wushe 霧社 t@ohen to Puli 埔里 where we walk around the rebuilt city near the epicenter of the 9/21 earthquake in 1999.
At the Aboriginals Cultural Village we catch performances and visit rebuilt traditional homes of different tribes.
We walk on a nature path overlooking Sun Moon Lake 日月潭 before driving down to the resort area for lunch.
