Traveling in Taiwan: Nov 3-4, QingJingNongChang 清境农场 & TaiZhong city 台中市

 For three days (Nov 3-5), we (mom, my sister, her friend, and me) left Taipei city and spent our time in the TaiZhong area. For the first night, we stayed in QingJingNongChang, a recreational area in highlands of Central Taiwan.

At first I imagined our QingJingNongChang trip to be a 'farm-visit' trip since "NongChang" means "farm". Yet that wasn't the case. Although there were many farms in the area, the main tourism attractions were scenic spots overlooking mountains and valleys, and a meadow called QingQingCaoYuan青青草原where sheep graze.

And of course...we didn't even go into the QingQingCaoYuan part because mom and I didn't want to. Hahaha. It was already 30 minutes before they closed for the day, and so we decided to take the other trails, called GuanShan Trail 观山步道 and BuBuGaoSheng Trail 步步高升步道.

Along GuanShan Trail, there were meadows for sheep grazing but the sheep have retired for the day. There were also other spots for picture taking, including a blue windmill....

Mom and I weren't too interested in these, particularly since we interacted with alpacas in Portland, so we finished the trail relatively quickly. The only thing that garnered attention were the random piles of sheep dung (I think sheep) on the path :).

Wooden horses. I thought they looked kind of cute.

On the BuBuGaoSheng Trail:

Almost sunset. The mountainous trait of Taiwan is something that I haven't experienced before and something which I like very much. There are mountains after mountains, all shrouded in fog and clouds. I really like the different shades of blue on the mountains as they spread away.

499 steps. The trail is called BuBuGaoSheng, literally 'rising with every step'. Know why? =)

The best catch of the day for me, a whole horde of Nephila maculata spiders. Here's some info on them off the Internet . These spiders are found throughout Asia, though this is the first time I have seen one. Shame on me. According to the board next to the trail, these spiders are the largest found in Taiwan. The website linked above said that these spiders make very strong and sticky web that can even stop birds in mid-flight! Mom were brave enough to find more for me in the bushes, though we both had to move cautiously to avoid destroying the spiders' web.

 Look at them!


On the morning of Nov 4, we woke up around 4am to join a guided tour to Mt. HeHuan. The original itinerary included star-gazing, sunrise and various scenic spots between QingJingNongChang and Mt.HeHuan. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy with drizzling rain so we couldn't see the stars. Fortunately however, we drove all the way up to ~3200 meter above sea level, rose above the clouds and thus we were able to witness sunrise.

Mom was all wrapped up! The guide provided jackets for everyone, so mom had 3 layers of jacket on. Behind her you see the sign for Mt. HeHuan and the 3158 meters above sea level.

On the way down from Mt.HeHuan back to QingJingNongChang, we stopped at several scenic spots.

I forgot the name of this tree species, but it's some sort of pine. The guide said that these trees are older than 1600 years!

Here you see the mountains, the clouds, and the people.


We left QingJingNongChang around 10am and headed towards TaiZhong. On the way, we stopped at ZhongTaiChan Temple 中台禅寺。 I can only say it's HUGE. We spent most of our time there in the art exhibition that showcased Buddhism carvings and drawings. There was a special exhibition of Chinese calligraphy inscribed onto stone 石碑文。 I really liked the exhibition because the Buddhism art was very beautiful, and the calligraphy was just as awesome. Lots of history learned too.

Yeah, it's HUGE.


We reached TaiZhong sometime in the evening and stayed at a hotel just next to FengJia University and FengJia Night Market, apparently the largest in Taiwan.

The sign for the "Taiwan FengJia Night Market".

Night markets are certainly a major tourist attraction of Taiwan, and it is also a significant part of Taiwanese culture I think. Night markets are bustling with all sorts of commercial activities, with vendors selling everything from snacks to clothes to electronics to Chinese herbs. I was too full from dinner that night otherwise I would have bought some of those mouth-watering snacks too!