The recycled monument on Hutoushan

When it comes to trash, Taiwan boasts an impressive recycling rate. What few visitors appreciate is the country also has a record of recycling monuments, in much the same way Hagia Sophia in Istanbul initially reflected Christian dominance but later became a mosque. After World War II, landmarks erected during Japan’s 1895-1945 colonial occupation of Taiwan were either demolished, or turned into memorials which promoted the KMT (Chinese Nationalist) version of history.

One of these repurposed monuments (pictured top) is in Hutoushan Park (虎頭山公園) in Miaoli County’s Tongxiao Township (苗栗縣通霄鎮). Hutoushan means ‘tiger’s head mountain’, and the toponym comes from the shape of this modest ridge, the highest part of which is just 93.4m above sea level. If tigers did once roam here - which is possible - it was long before humans began settling on Taiwan.

Some people visit Hutoushan Park for the views that can be enjoyed up and down the coast (spoiled somewhat by a power station) and far inland (lower photo). Others want to see the well-preserved but locked-up Shinto shrine (for a short write-up, go here). Not everyone bothers to go to the very top, where a concrete gun-barrel points skyward. The seven Chinese characters on it mean ‘Taiwan Retrocession Tablet.’

This memorial was built just after the 1904-5 Russo-Japanese War. Famously, the Japanese defeated Russia’s Pacific Fleet early in the war, then nervously awaited the arrival of the enemy’s Baltic Fleet. Japanese observers on duty here spotted Russian vessels moving through the Taiwan Strait and alerted the Imperial Japanese Navy. Able to position themselves ideally, the Japanese decimated the Russian flotilla at the Battle of Tsushima on 27-8 May 1905.

Getting to Hutoushan Park is straightforward. If you're not driving, take a TRA train to Tongxiao on the Coastal Railroad (trains stopping in Miaoli and Taichung don't travel on this line, but instead on the Mountain Railroad). Turn left as soon as you leave the station, then walk uphill past the junior high school. It takes less than 15 minutes to get to the memorial from the station.

If you're visiting Penghu County, you can find a memorial of similar dimensions in the eastern part of the main island. It was erected by the Japanese to mark the spot where their soldiers first landed in 1895, but now celebrates Taiwan's return to Chinese control fifty years later.

Taipei 543

Not purely a travel website, and not nearly as Taipei-centric as its name suggests (check out this photo-heavy article about the Penghu islands), Taipei 543 is a good resource for those planning a trip to Taiwan's capital. Many of the articles are sponsored but no less useful for it.

One recent piece describes five brunch spots in Taipei. Another, titled Top 5 Taiwanese Films of 2013, outlines three documentaries - including the must-see Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above - a romantic comedy, and a mainstream drama. 

Taiwan's lighthouses

Taiwan has around 1,600km of coast and well over 100 minor islands. In the 19th century, shipwrecks were frequent and they sometimes led to international incidents, so it's no surprise the government operates 34 lighthouses to ensure maritime safety. For the past 140 years, these lighthouses have been managed by the Directorate General of Customs, a body founded back in the Qing Dynasty and headed for 48 years by Sir Robert Hart, an Ulsterman. 

At the end of this year, however, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications will take over responsibilities for lighthouses, and to celebrate the handover, 12 lighthouses will be open to the public on June 30. The 12 were built between 1872 and 1983, and six are opening their doors to the public for the very first time. Several other lighthouses are open to the public year round, among them the one that stands on Qijin Island and overlooks the mouth of Kaohsiung Port. Judging by this photo, Suao Lighthouse has a spectacular location, but it isn't open to casual visitors. 

I visited the lighthouse pictured here (Creative Commons photo by Shih-Pei Chang) while researching the Penghu County section of my guidebook; the grounds are open to visitors, but the building is off-limits. Or so it seems.

Taiwan's newest national park

Taijiang National Park, the newest of Taiwan's eight national parks, has finally got its own website, almost a year after it was established.

The park is an odd shape. In addition to segments of dry land, river estuaries and wetlands northwest of Tainan's city centre, it includes a large rectangular section of the Taiwan Strait that goes as far west as the southeastern tip of Penghu County.

The beaches around here aren't Taiwan's best. Nonetheless, the park draws at least two kinds of tourist: birdwatchers (many of whom come especially to see the black-faced spoonbill); and folk who want to visit sites associated with Koxinga or the now-defunct salt industry.

The windows of Penghu

Mixed signals

Everyone agrees that Taiwan's government agencies need to do a little more (or a lot more) to make the country really tourist-friendly. Here's an example from Penghu. At the entrance to Yuwengdao Lighthouse (漁翁島燈塔, pictured here) in the Penghu Islands there are various signs. One says, in English and Chinese, 'No Entry'. Another, just below, states 'Welcome (Admission Free)'.

So, is this lighthouse open to the public or not? It seems to be. No one stopped us, or the Taiwanese sightseers there at the same time, from wandering around the grounds.

Lost wallet

Yesterday afternoon, after checking in and passing through security at Magong Airport in the Penghu Islands, I realised I'd mislaid my wallet. When we arrived in Tainan my wife called the Penghu police and asked if they could stop by the coffeeshop where I thought I might have left it. Within an hour they'd done so and called back, saying they'd recovered the wallet (the workers were holding on to it, expecting I'd come back and ask for it) and all the contents.

Well done Penghu police for your efficiency, and thank you coffeeshop employees for your honesty.

450-plus reasons to go birding in Taiwan

Taiwan's geographical diversity, together with its position on the East Asia and West Pacific flyways, gives the island a fantastic concentration of bird species. More than 450 avian species (some say more than 480) use Taiwan as a temporary or permanent home.

The International Ornithological Congress updated the world bird list in February 2008, crediting Taiwan with having 23 endemic avian species, birds seen nowhere else on Earth. BirdLife International has designated 53 places as important bird areas that cover more than 18 percent of Taiwan's total land area. The IBAs vary in size from the 36-hectare Cat Islet Seabird Refuge in Penghu County to Nengdan, a 134,000-hectare swath of central Taiwan's mountains.

For excellent photos of Taiwan's birds, take a look at this flickr photostream.