I was off to an early start on Sunday morning. I met up with my riding partner at a nearby 7-11 for an adventure into Jhongliao Township [中寮鄉]. Jhongliao is located east of Nantou City [南投市] and north of Jiji Township [集集鎮]. Most of my rides in Jhongliao begin with a steep but manageable climb to Pingding [坪頂]. After wrapping up the climb, we stopped at the Pingding Sacred Tree; A massive camphor tree believed to be over 1,600 years old. It’s tranquil and quiet, making it my favorite spot to stop when traveling in this direction. The only sounds were those of our conversation with a ham radio enthusiast we met on the climb up and that of a nearby resident’s dustpan hitting an object. My riding partner had plans for the rest of the day, so he turned back down the hill from which we came while I traveled in the other direction towards northern Jhongliao.

The Pingding Sacred Tree [坪頂神木]

I kept both my front and rear lights on during the winding descent into northern Jhongliao. The fog was thicker than on the Caotun-side of things and it wasn’t clearing up with the passage of time. Once in town, I was riding quite conservatively as I was anticipating a challenge riding up the steep climb to the Dragon and Phoenix Waterfalls [龍鳳瀑布]. I hopped off my bike briefly, to take a picture of Neicheng Village right before the climb:

Neicheng Village [內城村]

The lack of other cyclists, the absence of motorists, and the dense fog made for an exceptionally lonely climb. Even the birds and insects seemed to be taking a break from their usual morning routines. I made it up to the Dragon and Phoenix Waterfalls parking lot in great time only to find that the stand selling refreshments hadn’t opened yet, which was unfortunate because I was really looking forward to buying a can of Mr. Brown Coffee. I didn’t hike over to the waterfalls, I’ve taken pictures of those several times before [photographs from the most recent visit]. After a quick stretch and swig of water I was back on the road. The climb isn’t so steep after the waterfalls.

Sakura

After about 150m of climbing, there’s a fork in the road. One road, which I took the last time I came here, is a bumpy descent into Hexing Village [和興村]. I chose the other road, which pointed to Wuxin Mountain [無心山] because the surface looked smoother. After riding for a few meters however the surface quickly deteriorates. It’s a short, bumpy climb followed by a long, bumpy descent to southern Jhongliao’s Pinglin River [平林溪].

The Mighty, Mighty Pinglin River

Once in downtown Jhongliao, I was able to satisfy a caffeine craving in the town’s Family Mart to power-up for the final stretch home. I chose a hilly route instead of the straight-shot into Nantou City. I was very proud of myself when I tackled one hill, the 投17-1 with complete ease compared to the first time I rode it on my road bike. I’ve been riding a lot of my favorite routes much faster and more confidently than six months ago.

Climbing on the 投17-1

The fog lifted and the temperature finally warmed up during the last twenty minutes or so of the ride. Definitely a route I’m looking forward to doing again in the future. I’ve neglected taking photographs while cycling recently but was quite happy that I brought my camera with me for this route. The whole Supersampler idea didn’t work out. After just six rolls of film the camera’s ripcord film advance mechanism decided to stop working. An interactive map of the route is available on Bikemap.net.

The Fog Lifts and the Sun Makes an Appearance

]]> http://thedailybubbletea.com/2012/02/03/jhongliaoloop/feed/ 0 dailybubbletea Cycling in Nantou Pingding Sacred Tree Cingshui Village Sakura South Jhongliao 投17-1 North Jhongliao http://thedailybubbletea.com/2012/01/25/2012-nantou-sand-sculpture-festival/ http://thedailybubbletea.com/2012/01/25/2012-nantou-sand-sculpture-festival/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:31:25 +0000 Todd Alperovitz http://thedailybubbletea.com/?p=2348 ]]>
This year’s Nantou Sand Sculpture Festival [南投市貓羅溪畔沙雕藝術節] runs through February 12. We went yesterday afternoon when the sun came out for the first time during the Lunar New Year holiday. This year’s theme is Taiwanese Cinema. There are sculptures inspired by recent Taiwanese movies such as Seediq Bale [賽德克‧巴萊], Cape No. 7 [海角七號], Monga [艋舺], Island Etude [練習曲], and others.

More Information:

Location on Google Maps

2012 Nantou Sand Sculpture Festival Website [Chinese]

Posts from the 2009, 2010, and 2011 festivals.

Too Early

A stone’s throw from Fengguidou [風櫃斗] is Xinyi Township’s Liujia Plum Farm [柳家梅園].  Liujia is home to a huge plum farm which covers a small hillside. You may recognize this area from China Airline’s 2008 Calendar featuring supermodel Lin Chi-ling.

Two Pair

In addition to the plum trees, the road from the parking lot to the farm is lined with venders selling fresh vegetables, various plum products, refreshments, and grilled mountain boar.

Three’s Company

Getting There:

Location on Google Maps.

Directions: Follow Provincial HWY 21 towards Xinyi Township. Between Xinyi Elementary School and Xinyi Junior High School is a small sign pointing the way to Fengguidou [Mingde Street (明德街)]. A short distance after crossing Aiguo Bridge [愛國大橋] follow the winding Xinhe Industrial Road [信和產業道路]. At about 5 kilometers passed Fengguidou, turn left at Niuchoukeng Forest Road [牛稠坑林道].

Lonely

Plum King

Tucked away in the mountains of Xinyi Township, Fengguidou [風櫃斗] is an amazing area for seeing Plum Blossoms [梅花] every winter. I visited Fengguidou on New Year’s  Day this year and some of the plum trees were just starting to bloom. Here’s a small collection of photographs from the trip.

It’s a very lovely area if you can get there early. While the Plum Blossoms are in bloom, the narrow road up turns into a giant parking lot. This was my second visit to the area; the first was four years ago.

Balance

The Plum Blossom was designated as the national flower on July 24, 1964. The triple grouping of stamens [one long and two short] represents Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People, while the five petals symbolize the five branches of the ROC government [Taiwan Government Information Office].

Orb

Getting There:

Location on Google Maps.

Directions: Follow Provincial HWY 21 towards Xinyi Township. Between Xinyi Elementary School and Xinyi Junior High School is a small sign pointing the way to Fengguidou [Mingde Street (明德街)]. A short distance after crossing Aiguo Bridge [愛國大橋] follow the winding Xinhe Industrial Road [信和產業道路] to Fengguidou. Depending on the weather, the blossoms usually last from the beginning of the year through the Lunar New Year.

Backpetaling

Completely Unrelated Photo

Predictably, blogging was light and sporadic in 2011. However, there were a few gems here and there. These are my favorite posts of 2011:

• Like trains and factories? Then you’ll probably enjoy Chiayi’s Suantou Sugar Refinery just as much as I did.
• Snapped a few shots on the Sun Moon Lake Ropeway.
• Most of my cycling these days is limited to a small rotation of workout routes I tackle every Sunday. Every now-and-then I venture out with a camera – The 147 and 131 was one of those routes.
• The Anti-Drooling Ceremony and Zhua Zhou Activity were two traditional rites of passage our daughter went through.
• Made a brief stop at the Jhongsing Village Lotus Ponds.
• The National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung is fun for children of all ages!
• Took a trip up to Taipei to attend the International Flora Expo during its final week.
• Participated in Taiwan’s very first Google+ Photowalk on Double Ten.
• Saw monsters in the mountains.
• Strolled through a recently revitalized military dependents’ village.

Have a Happy New Year!

Euploea mulciber [端紫斑蝶]

Despite passing Puli’s Muh Sheng Museum of Entomology more than a dozen times I’ve never had the opportunity to step in until recently. If you’re into insects than you ‘ll likely thoroughly enjoy the museum. Outside the museum is a butterfly greenhouse while inside hosts a few display cases of various insects from Taiwan and around the world [including a walking stick about as long as my forearm]. The museum’s second floor houses display cases filled with several thousands of preserved insects. The most notable of these is an extremely rare hermaphrodite butterfly [one-half of its body is colorful while the other-half is dark].

While in the greenhouse, I snapped a few photographs of some of the caterpillars that were chomping away. The first caterpillar featured is of a Purple Crow [Euploea mulciber (端紫斑蝶)]. This butterfly along with three other subspecies make an incredible migration every spring from southern Taiwan to northern Taiwan for the breeding season. In the fall, the fly back south to hibernate [Taiwan Today - Preserving Taiwan's purple butterflies].

Danaus chrysippus [樺斑蝶]

The second caterpillar featured is that of a Plain Tiger [Danaus chrysippus (樺斑蝶)]. This species is widespread in Africa and Asia and extremely common in Taiwan. If you see a bright orange butterfly with a thin black border on its hind wing enclosing a series of semicircular spots chances are good you’re looking at a Plain Tiger. In Taiwan, they can be found throughout the year at low-altitudes.

Ideopsis similis [琉球青斑蝶]

The black caterpillar with white speckles pictured above is of a Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger [Ideopsis similis (琉球青斑蝶)].  As a butterfly, it has dark brown wings with light cyan surface markings.  It’s often seen fluttering about at low-altitudes in Taiwan.

Papilio memnon heronus [大鳳蝶]

A Great Mormon [Papilio memnon heronus (大鳳蝶)] in its larvae stage is mimicry at its finest: it scares off potential predators with its snake-like appearance. Below is a photograph of the same pair one-step back to show their entire body lengths:

These two were very patient while I took pictures.  However, once they are butterflies, they very rarely stop.