A couple days before our wedding we brought my family and Cathy’s nephew up to Cingjing Farm [清境農場] for some great food and mountain scenery. The winding road going up still had a few sections of road missing from the previous typhoon [four months ago]. Luckily there were no delays as there was very little traffic going up or down from our destination because it was a weekday.
Our first stop after such a long drive was Yunwu [清境雲舞樓渡假花園] for some excellent Yunnan cuisine, no need for much description, I’ll let the pictures do the talking…
First on the menu: Pepper Herb Chicken [椒麻雞]:
Next: Spice Roasted Fish [香料烤黃魚]:
Followed by some Steamed Pork [橘皮扣肉]:
The following three dishes I didn’t catch the name of but were nothing short of delicious:
After a very satisfying lunch we headed to the Evergreen Grassland [青青草原] for a brief stroll and to see the sheep. Since it’s winter now, the grass is yellow, but in warmer months it blankets the area in a sea of green.
I filled a paper bag with food from the vending machine and began to feed the sheep. Quickly about half a dozen sheep surrounded me. Towards the end of the bag one bold sheep snatched the bag out of my hand and ate the paper bag and any remaining food that was inside of it.
My brother takes a moment to enjoy the view:
I really like this picture of Cathy’s nephew Henry [saved by using the onboard flash as fill light]:
Finally, I’ll wrap things up with a hastily shot panorama that turned out better than the other two I made [that I spent much more time shooting]:
View the large.
wow these look great!! love that last panorama. sometimes the ones i take all the time on turn out horribly, and the ones that i shoot as an afterthought are some of my favorites!!
can’t wait to see wedding pictures; congrats again!
Thanks Jessica!
BTW – The wedding photos are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/toddalperovitz/sets/72157611742685053/
I can’t believe I left comment on flickr and not here. Anyways I love all of these photos Todd especially third from bottom and the killer pano
CingJing is one of my most favorite place in Taiwan. Its quite close to Changhua so we usually find ourselves exploring in Nantou. My parents would also be visiting in Mar/Apr and I have already decided to take them to CingJing. In fact I would be doing all the places that you recently visited with your family such as Sun moon lake and Tainan.
Ashlin – Thanks a lot! I still have a couple posts I would like to make about their trip, I just haven’t had the chance yet.
OMG that was delicious… anyway, what’s the really meaning of Cingjing in chinese? thanks..
Lyantie – I think it would translate literally as “Clear Territory.”
hi there, i’m from Singapore and i stumbled upon your blog when i was researching on cingjing..will be heading to Taiwan in abt a week’s time. i’m planning to drive to cingjing from Hualien. Any idea how long the drive will take and are the roads easy to navigate?
thanks!
Hi Sue, navigating the roads shouldn’t be a problem. I’m unsure about the time it will take to drive over the Central Mountain Range, but drive carefully in case of low visibilty, rockfalls, ect. Also be careful as many people drive like maniacs on the Central Cross. If the weather is nice, you’ll probably find a lot of places along the way to stop and enjoy the view.
thanks so much!
Hi,
I am planning our trip to Taiwan next year. Qing JingFarm is one of the itinery. Our group is small and we can’t drive. Where can we hire a car and driver to bring us to Qing Jing Farm?
Due to recent Earthquake, Typhoon, we are wandering what type of risk factors we may face. Our trip is more likely to take place in Late November and early December, do you think it is the good time to visit?
Do you suggest we join the tour??( We are not very keen because it will rushing through and not relaxing.)
Will you be spending the night in Cingjing? If so, I would suggest asking the place you are staying if they can arrange transportation for you from the Taichung HSR Station.
Alternatively, there are bus services from the Taichung HSR Station: http://www.tranews.com/Show/Style200/News/c1_News.asp?SItemId=0271030&ProgramNo=A000203000001&SubjectNo=3233171
And from Taipei: http://taiwanbus.emmm.tw/?ptype=info
Currently, the road up is in great condition. Nov. and Dec. are fine times to visit, all the pictures from this post were taken in Dec ’08 and as you can see the weather was spectacular!
Hi there
Love the pics. Im thinking of going to Cingjing in early March next year but as I suffer from pretty bad travel sickness Im wondering if I should risk going.
Whats the drive like? Are the roads really winding?
Perhaps going in a car would be better for me than the bus.
Cheers
Hi Lyndall,
The roads are very winding and since you suffer from travel sickness I would strongly advise you to not take a bus.
-Todd
Hi,
I saw your blog when I was searching for more info on Cingjing. I was wondering if I can ask you a few questions.
I’m planning to go end of Nov and I will be traveling with my children. The youngest is 19 mths, so I’m wondering which part of Cingjing should I stay with the temperature most suitable for her?
I came across a map of Cingjing and it’s divided into 4 parts 松崗區‧畜牧區‧幼獅區‧霧社區. Can you advise?
Hello Lily,
I’ve never overnighted in Cingjing. It gets cold at night and from what I’ve heard from others is that most of the hotels are unheated. You should definitely contact a hotel that interests you to see if they can accommodate you with a heated room for your baby.
Hi Todd,
Thanks for the reply. Will definitely check out if the hotel provides heating facilities. Thanks for the advise.