Tammy
At Xiaoyoukeng 小油坑 we visited the sulfur fumaroles at the base of Qixing Mountain 七星山 (Seven Star Mountain), an extinct volcano reaching to 1109 meters is the highest peak in Yangmingshan 陽明山, the mountains at the northern tip of Taiwan island.
Shilin 士林, the northern district of Taipei facing the south side of the Tatun volcano 大屯火山群 and the north of the Taipei basin includes Qixing Mountain 七星山, the Dalun mountain ridge and the Dazhi 大直 hills. The south and west parts of Shilin consist of a strip of level ground located between the lower reaches of a small sulphur stream, the Keelung River 基隆河, and the Tamshui River 淡水河. Shilin is bordered on the east by Wanli 萬里 Village, Xizhi 汐止 Township, and on the west by the Tamshui River 淡水河. The mountain's geological composition is of sedimentary and igneous rock while the plains are composed of alluvium soil.
Yangmingshan National Park 陽明山國家公園 is one of the six national parks of Taiwan, located north of Taipei, between the capital and Taipei County. In 1950, Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石 named Yangmingshan 陽明山 in honor of Wang Yangming 王陽明, a Ming Dynasty 明朝 philosopher.
Juming Museum 朱銘美術館 is the exhibition grounds for works by Ju Ming 朱銘, one of Taiwan's most renowned modern artists. Born in 1938 in Tunghsiao 通霄 in Miaoli County 苗栗縣. Ju Ming left school to help his parents support their large family at the age of 12, and demonstrated his sculpture and carving talent in a furniture store at the age of 17. Four years later Ju Ming opened his first studio.
The museum also shows the works of international and domestic artists.
Some of Juming's Andy Warhol collection.
In 1976 at the age of 38 Ju Ming's artistic talent became known in Taiwan when he had the opportunity to exhibit his work at the National Museum of History 國立歷史博物館. The following year Ju Ming had his first international show in Tokyo Central Museum 東京セントラル美術館 in Japan. His major international showings include 1980's solo exhibition in Hong Kong, 1991's Taichi figure exhibits in London and 1997's exhibits in Place Vendome Paris. Two years after the exhibition in Paris, Ju Ming established the museum at Jinshan 金山, on the northern slope of the Yangmingshan Mountains 陽明山. Overlooking the Pacific coast, the museum has became the final exhibition site for most of his works since its opening in 1999.
Exhibit of hosted artist Laurent La Gamba, a French installation artist and photographer who cryptically places humans within consumer or everyday settings with a combined painting and photography technique.
Most of Ju Ming's sculptures are bronze made to look like stone.
Larger-than-life painted wood sculptures of existentially cut ordinary people. Some of these sets of many people appear to be cut from a few very large pieces of wood.
Murals in the Graffiti corridor by guest artists The museum also has a DIY center supplying materials and encouraging especially children to get creative.
The Kingbus company 國光客運 (Kuo-Kuang) runs buses from Taipei to Jinshan every 15 to 20 minutes from 6AM to 10:30PM on the Sun Yatsen Expressway 中山高速公路 via Keelung 基隆 leaving from and arriving at the Kuo-Kuang bus station 國光號巴士站 on Zhongzheng road 金山鄉中正路 across the street from the post office 郵局對面.
The Royalbus company 皇家客運 runs buses from Taipei to Jinshan every half hour from 6:30AM to 7:00PM over Yangmingshan on the Yang-Jin highway 陽金公路 from the Yuanshan 圓山 or Jiantan 劍潭 MRT stations 捷運站 and arriving at Jinshan 金山.
From the north coastal town of Jinshan 金山 take the free shuttle bus 免費接駁車 to Juming Museum 朱銘美術館 leaving from Jinshan 金山 at 10:30 and 14:00, and returning to Jinshan from the museum at 13:40 and 17:00 Tuesdays through Fridays 週二至週五; and an additional bus leaves from Jinshan at 12:30 and returns to Jinshan at 15:40.
