Wednesday December 19th 2024. Our previous walk had not been since 12 April 2024 and so, with an almost eight-month hiatus in our Walking Taiwan project, we were keen to get back on the road again! We had finished the previous walk at the historic city of Lukang (鹿港) in northwestern Changhua County. We decided to start the new walk from Fuxing Township (福興鄉), just south of Lukang, in the area of Fubao Wetlands (福寶生態區). As the wind was whipping down the island from the north we decided to walk southwards with the wind at our backs. Our final destination would be Pu Tian Temple in Fang Yuan, south-west Changhua County. It would be a walk of around 25 kilometers.
We all met at Taichung High Speed Rail station in great spirits, excited at the prospect of walking together again after so many months. To reach our starting point we would need to avail ourselves of a hackney carriage and so we made our way to the taxi rank below the HSR station. We were lucky enough to be allocated a nine-seater minivan and so began our trip in style. The driver was rather bemused by our choice of destination, as Fubao Wetlands cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered a hot tourist destination in Taiwan, and we surmised from his expression that visitors were few and far between.
Our thirty-minute journey to Fubao Wetlands was buoyed by boisterous banter which spanned topics as diverse as ear surgery, the most common types of scam currently operating in the UK, and recent advances in gear box technology. Elaine’s description of her childhood adventures driving an ex-army Jeep across the bare beaches of Wales left a particularly vivid impression.
Upon alighting at our destination, we were surprised at the ferocious strength of the wind. The taxi driver urged caution during our alighting, and appeared worried that the wind might “blow the bloody doors off”. After donning windbreakers, we took in the coastal scenery around us and felt comforted by the desolate landscapes we have come to embrace over time: the windswept bleakness of concrete coastal barriers and abandoned fish farms, set to the monotonous melody of wind turbines. It was great to be back!
After striding purposefully on our way, we saw two unusual things within the first hour. The first was a tiny yellow shrine with a red roof that looked more like a dog kennel. The second unusual thing (at least, unusual to us, but no doubt very usual to the fishermen who worked the beaches) were trays of creatures that resembled shrimps. On closer inspection we noticed that they looked more like tiny crayfish, with claws that resembled mantis claws. Not the most attractive of crustaceans to be honest. If they were to grow to a gigantic size as the result of catastrophic nuclear contamination, they would be quite terrifying. However, they are, apparently, delicious when deep fried. Upon enquiring the name of these tiny terrors, we learned that they were known as “Hsia Huo”. Subsequent research has revealed that these are classified as 螻蛄 “Hsia Gu” in Chinese but the local name is Shrimp Monkey – which is 蝦猴 “Hsia Hou” in Chinese (the fisherman’s Taiwanese accent made it sound like “Hsia Huo”).
We carried on walking through the seafront area of pisciculture pools, noting some of the ingeniously created pisciculture farm machinery, which looked as if it could have been invented by Professor Potts (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). As we wended our way along roads and elevated flood barriers our stomachs started growling. Stopping at a shaded seating area to feast on our collective store of fruit, nuts and cranberries, we were greeted in English by a friendly Thai construction worker on an adjacent building site. Elaine, of course, quickly responded with a cheery “Sawasdee”, which prompted a smile and a thumbs up.
With revived energy, all three male members of our group (that’s all of us except Elaine) ventured down and across a rocky beach area to empty our bladders. Much care was taken to ensure that all of us three gentlemen were spraying in harmony with the wind. Martyn was excited to spy the first of many discarded chairs which would jazz up our journey. The seats were positioned in such a way as to allow for a pleasant view of the beach, and Tim briefly availed himself of the spectacular vista afforded by this perishing pew.
Walking along the seafront we were now in the area of Han Bao district and crossed over the Han Bao Scenic Bridge (漢寶觀海橋) to enjoy more beautiful views across the wetlands. Elaine entertained us (or scared us!) with a story of how a moth had flown into her friend’s ear and tried to burrow its way into his brain. Tim felt a lot better about his comparatively minor hearing problems! As we walked along the raised seafront path, we noticed some cow motifs which had been constructed as a collage on the supporting walls. There was a consistent theme of cow motifs along the route, but strangely we did not see any cows. We also noticed a sign that advised the public to stay away from the immediate vicinity before high tide which was announced to be at 10:00 on that day. This was aimed at people looking to use an adjacent road which was used as a jetty.
We passed a fishpond that was a strange shade of pinkish purple. For the first time that day, and not the last, we resolved to steer clear of the seafood at our restaurant later. Although I researched this and found out that void salmon can turn a pond purple, the color of this pond did not look remotely natural. It was as if some chemicals had been poured into it. Quite a bizarre colour!
We were now walking in the area of Han Bin and crossed the 8th West Han Bin Bridge (漢賓西8橋). We noticed quite a few oyster rafts and mounds of cockle shells by the side of the road. Then to our left we spotted a Black-winged Stilt – a tall wading bird with comically long and very skinny red legs. These birds feed on crustaceans and molluscs so it seems he had come to the right place. According to the “Birding in Taiwan” website: The Black-winged Stilt is a common winter visitor to Taiwan, especially in the south, and in summer some are found breeding in southern wetlands such as Ssutsao, Tainan.”
Leaving the Han Bin Wetlands behind us, we turned right onto the Xinbao Number Two Bridge (新寶二號橋) and proceeded along Highway 17 until we came to a very local convenience store. The lad minding the store was very keen to practice his English with us and left us with his parting comment: “Thanks for giving me this opportunity!” It was fair to assume that he really didn’t get that many opportunities to practice English.
Upon entering Shinbao Township we noticed a bright blue portable toilet next to the highway, secured by a rope and rock. It looked inviting but in the end we decided to hold on until the next 7-Eleven. We stopped for a short snack break at a very ornate roadside shrine before heading up the long, dusty highway and turning left on Yu Hsiang Road (漁祥路) and then Yu Ji Road (漁吉路). Nothing could have prepared us for the sights that lay ahead.
As we continued down the road a surprising and rather bizarre sight came into sharper focus. In the forefront was an abandoned building that had been half-demolished, with warning signs of “do not enter” written all over it with spray paint. Beyond this lay rows and rows of small wind turbines as far as the eye could see. This was the Wanggong Wind Power Station (王功風力發電站). It was actioned in 2010 and built by the German company Enercon as part of Taiwan Electric Power Company’s “Ten-year Wind Power Development Plan”. We were to see Enercon vans quite often along our walk, the technicians supposedly dealing with wind power maintenance issues. They did look rather strange though, like a front for spy operations.
As we left the Wangong Wind Power Station we once again walked along a seafront embankment and enjoyed the beautiful evening sunshine. We also enjoyed the sight of different kinds of cacti growing along the way. We soon arrived at a barrier which prevented us from continuing on the embankment. Being a very mischievous bunch, we duly ignored the barrier and continued on our way– getting a right royal soaking from the lawn sprinklers strategically placed along the way. Served us right for being so naughty! Luckily the wind and sunshine dried off our clothes in no time.
We then arrived at the area of Hai Liao and the Yuan Fang lighthouse. There was an information board that introduced the distinctive local features of “hailiao” and their importance to the local culture:
“Hailiao is a sea hut made of straw and bamboo built by early fishermen on an intertidal sandbank a few kilometers offshore. It is also an emergency shelter for fishermen working at sea. Anyone working nearby or in need can enter at will to rest and take refuge. We have transformed the seaside culture that was once important for fishermen into leisure facilities, replicating the industrial landscape and conveying the wisdom of our ancestors and the hardships of past maritime life.”
We then passed the Fang Yuan Lighthouse (芳苑燈塔) with its distinctive vertical black stripes. The lighthouse was built in 1983 and opened for viewing in May 2014. Constructed as an octagonal reinforced concrete building, the tower body is painted with black and white straight stripes to help fishing boats identify their position.
After passing through the small community of Wang Gong, with its huge seafood restaurants, we crossed a bridge built in shining silver metal designed to resemble an eagle with outstretched wings. This led to an overgrown concrete bank and our final stretch of road. After putting up with Tim’s caffeine-fuelled quote list from The Long Good Friday it was probably a good thing that the walk was coming to an end soon. Rich popped in his earphones and spent the final furlong of the journey in a BCCT monthly board meeting. It was noted that there was an unusually large number of roadkill along that stretch of road – with a pair of rodents squashed next to each other, like a verminous Bonnie and Clyde.
Drawn by the silhouette of a majestic temple we rolled into the town of Fang Yuan (芳苑). On the road to the Pu Tian Temple (普天宮) Martyn pointed out several ox carts on the side of the road that were used for ox rides for children on the beach. He also spied more discarded chairs which raised the pulse for a while. On arrival at the temple Tim gave a time-honored kung fu display which also raised pulses (not). Thoughts then turned to dinner and how to get to the town of Er Lin (二林鎮) where we hoped we could dine on the finest wok-fried dishes known to humanity.
Alas, Tim’s worsening blisters prohibited him from the ten-minute walk to the nearest 7-11. As luck would have it, a group of complete strangers with two vans offered to take us into town. This is the kind of magical occurrence that happens frequently in Taiwan and makes life here so amazing. It also helped that we were probably the first Westerners in this place since the Dutch settlers left in 1668. Amazingly, it turned out that the driver of Tim’s van ran a tea shop in Tainan, just across the road from Tim’s house. Incredible, but true!
Rather disappointed that our planned destination of Lai Lai Restaurant was closed, we settled for a rather less salubrious eating establishment that was, nevertheless, cheap and cheerful with hearty fare and a fridge full of ice-cold Taiwan beer! The only other customers were a local family and we had a long chat with the father in Mandarin and Taiwanese, explaining where we had been walking. As he got up to leave, he asked us how long we were planning to stay in Taiwan; apparently, even though the whole conversation took place in fluent Mandarin and Taiwanese and we were in a tiny restaurant in the least likely tourist spot you could find, he seemed to think we were short-term visitors.
As the beer flowed the customers became more raucous and as we were now the only customers, it turned out we could be as raucous as we liked! It wasn’t long before we had cleaned out the beer in the fridge but luckily there was a Taiwan beer wholesaler next door who was more than happy to do a bit of retail business!
As conversation turned to music, we each volunteered the name of our all- time favourite rock bands. The results: Rich – The Clash, Tim – Black Sabbath, Martyn – The Stone Roses, and shock result, Elaine – Van Halen! This prompted Tim to deliver an acapella version of “Running with the Devil” complete with David Lee Roth screams. The manager looked pretty non-plussed considering this was probably the most unruly behaviour his restaurant had ever seen. Tim then surprised Elaine and Martyn with early Christmas presents. For Martyn – an impressionist art calendar, and for Elaine – a “Jocks in socks” calendar of Scottish male models wearing only their kilt and sporran set against highland scenery.
After a good three hours of merriment, it was time to head on back to Changhua High Speed Rail station. A cab was called, and we were promised a driver who was a local “character”. The driver was indeed a very friendly and eccentric chap, Mr Wu Ling-lang (吳玲郎) whose hobby was making self-massagers out of Hinoki wood and chewing industrial amounts of betel nut. He very kindly offered us various home-made massagers as a gift. Tim took one for his ear, which he hoped could improve his atrocious hearing.
Arriving at Changhua HSR station, it was time for more beers from the Family Mart and a chance to survey the surprisingly grand nature of the architecture of this rather provincial train station. Whoever designed the station had ambition in spades as the scale was epic with palm trees and soaring columns. It was the final surprise of a very surprising day. A day of delights from start to finish. We bid our farewells and Rich, Elaine and Martyn headed back to Taipei while Tim enjoyed a few beers on his trip back to Tainan.
Total Distance Walked Today 24.2km.
Distance Walked in Total 490.2km.
End of Day 25. By Tim Greenwood (aka DJ Timmy Tim).
Wow what a walk ! – you made the best out of a very bleak desolate landscape. Glad you got some great looking food and lots of beers at the end. Sounds like a fun after walk party