Chiang Kai-shek's church at Sun Moon Lake

It's difficult to get a good photo of the Chapel of Christ at Sun Moon Lake because it's surrounded by trees atop a hillock. This detail - which surely made assassination from a distance less likely - was perhaps a plus-factor for the man who ordered the church's construction: Chiang Kai-shek, Taiwan's dictatorial ruler until his death in 1975. This Romanesque-style place of worship was finished in 1971, and is now used for mass weddings organized by Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area Administration. 

When Chiang was in the area, he stayed in a two-storey guesthouse which was wrecked by 1999's 921 Earthquake, then cleared away to make space for the ostentatious Wen Wan Resort (the curving 'mast' on the hotel's exterior is coated with 15kg of gold leaf). The barracks where his security detail stayed has also disappeared; that plot is now occupied by the equally up-market Lalu. In 1971, Taiwan was still far from being the prosperous society it is today. Yet its ruler saw nothing wrong with enjoying approximately 20 residences and villas in different parts of the country, and ordering or permitting official funds to be used to build a private church he'd enter just a few times each year. 

The art of photographing gods - a Taiwan Temples podcast

Two friends and occasional collaborators, Robert Kelly and Rich J. Matheson, are working on a project called Taiwan Temples. Believing Taiwan's Buddhist/Taoist/folk shrines are worthy of UNESCO World Heritage status and worldwide acclaim - but haven't received any such recognition because of the island's political isolation - the two are assembling pictures, videos, audio- and mini-essays about what they describe as an "outstanding branch of southern Chinese architecture, and the dynamic folk culture that surrounds it."

They recently released their first podcast. It's about Wu Tai-pu, a wedding photographer who in his spare time takes portraits of god statues in temples across Taiwan. For this podcast he was interviewed in Mandarin by Rich J. Matheson, and I was pleased to help out by doing the English-language voice-over. To listen to this in-depth discussion, which ranges from getting permission to take photos to spirit writing and supernatural possession, go here.

The image above shows the roof of Fongtian Temple in Chiayi County's Xingang Township. These days, it's best known as the southernmost point on the annual Mazu pilgrimage which sets out from Dajia's Jenn Lann Temple each spring. 

Taiwan through the lens of Josh Ellis, Part 2

This is Part 2 of an interview with Josh Ellis, a Canadian photographer living in north Taiwan. (Part 1 is here.)

Do you do commercial photography?

Yes. I have to travel around the country getting shots for clients, which requires a bit of flexibility. Most of the people I do work for are overseas and probably don't understand the amount of travel involved in doing what I do for them. When I originally arrived in Taiwan, I started working for an English school and I'm still there part-time. They’re quite flexible with me and treat me quite well; they’re willing to accept that my workload will be considerably less than most of their other employees. I teach a few days per week for them and also help with training new employees. Teaching was always a means to an end, particularly when I needed a work permit. I'm now a permanent resident, so I can do pretty much whatever I want, work-wise. My friends often ask why I still bother to teach, but I like the flexibility my company gives me. Also, the income it brings stabilizes my fluctuating photography income.

Have you had any weird or unpleasant experiences when taking photos?

Generally speaking, Taiwan is a very photo-friendly country. Over the past five or so years DSLR cameras have become pretty common. A lot of people are trying their hand at photography and I find that the accessibility of so-called professional-level cameras tends to skew the line between amateur and professional; this is part of the reason why I don't like to use the terms very often. The amount of images floating around the internet really creates a lot of competition for working photographers, so you have to do your best to stand out from the crowd and only post your best work. That being said, Taiwanese people are generally pretty great when it comes to photography. When you do street photography it is all about the momentary relationship you create with a person. Sometimes you’ll find someone who doesn't want their photo taken but most of the time it is fine and people don't mind. 

In my decade of shooting here I’ve only been told not to take a photo of something twice. I remember each experience vividly because of the rarity of being told not to take a shot and the strangeness of the situations. The first time was a year or so ago on Shenkeng Old Street. I came across a store that had a bunch of cool-looking traditional hats and oddities on the storefront. What struck me about the place was how adamant the boss was about not wanting pictures to be taken. He had at least 10 different signs saying “No photos,” which I thought was quite extreme. I decided to take a photo out of spite since the boss was standing in front of me. The resulting photo [below] features a guy with an angry face, and it made an excellent street shot with what was happening in the background. 

More recently while I was shooting Zhinan Temple, near Maokong in Taipei. A temple volunteer took exception to me shooting a religious ceremony taking place and indicated quite rudely that I shouldn't be taking photos. She then proceeded to follow me around until I felt so uncomfortable I left. As a photographer you have to be considerate of people and know when something is okay and when it isn't. I do my best to be respectful and considerate of people in all aspects of life, so photography is just an extension of that. If anyone ever objects to what I do, then I will delete the shot and apologize. I think that is probably a general rule among most people who are fans of street photography – but for the most part Taiwanese people are very welcoming and don't mind having their pictures taken.

You live in Zhongli, which has something of bad reputation.

Before coming to Taiwan I didn't do much research. I had heard how beautiful Taiwan was when I was in China. The people there had talked about the country as a sort of Shangri-La they all wanted to visit but couldn't because of the political situation at the time. I thought that nowhere could be as bad as Beijing when it comes to pollution and weather, so when I decided to accept a position as a teacher I didn't really bother to check where it was. I noted that I'd be living close to the airport and a short bus or train ride to Taipei, but would also be close to the mountains and Hsinchu. 

After living in Zhongli [pictured below] for ten years, I can't say I have any complaints or that in my ignorance I made a terrible mistake. I have a love affair with the city, even though I know it has a bad reputation among expats. I think most of those opinions are unfounded. The way I see it is that I live in a city full of Hakka people, culture and food. I have a great respect for that culture and I think you'll see through my work that I've done a lot to promote Hakka culture and different tourist spots related to their history on the island. Zhongli isn't perfect – like any industrial city it does have its gloom, especially during winter. 

Living here for ten years means I've seen the city change and develop into much nicer, cleaner and greener place. I like the direction the city is taking. When the MRT line is completed, it’ll be another satellite city of Taipei and will attract people sick of the cost of living in the capital. People often ask why I don't move to Taipei, but I don't see why I'd leave where I am. Most of my work is done outside of Taipei and moving there would just require more travelling. Also, most landlords in the capital aren’t big fans of tenants who have pets. I have a Shetland Sheepdog that was saved from a shelter near here. My ancestry is 100% Scottish and one of the ways we celebrate our heritage is to always have a sheltie. My parents have one, my sister has one and when I found the opportunity to get one, I got one too.

Taiwan through the lens of Josh Ellis, Part 1

Josh Ellis, who grew up next to the ocean on Canada’s east coast, has been photographing Taiwan since 2005. He describes his website as a “showcase for what I do, but also a way of promoting Taiwan and helping educate people around the world about how amazing this country is.” This is Part I of an interview conducted by email in October and November 2015. 

Is it true you ended up studying Chinese by accident?

Yeah, when I got to university, I found I had to take a second-language credit in order to graduate. I decided to try my hand at Japanese. The class was full of young guys much more invested in learning the language than I was, so on the first day of class, when the dean asked some of us if we would be willing to consider taking another language to free up space, I decided to take Mandarin instead. That decision pretty much shaped what’s happened since. I graduated with dual degrees in International Development and Asian Studies; before graduation I did an internship which brought me to China to further develop my language skills in an immersion program at Peking University, and to work on a Canadian government sponsored development project.

Why did you move to Taiwan? 

After graduation, I spent a few months checking out the job market in Canada, but felt the itch to come back to Asia to improve my language skills and continue travelling. I saw an ad about teaching English in Taiwan, so decided to give it a try. I arrived in Taiwan in the summer of 2005, and I noticed almost right away that Taiwan was a lot different to China. I noticed how clean it was and how the people seemed to be quite similar to Canadians in terms of how they treated others. Some of these similarities are among the reasons I’ve stayed for over a decade. I love that I can be in a modern city with a population bigger than most Canadian cities, but still be so close to nature. Taiwan has spoiled me over these years and I have a hard time thinking what life would be like back home without all the conveniences of this beautiful country.

Were you already a keen photographer when you arrived?

I was always into photography when I was young but wasn’t really able to do anything serious about it. After arriving, like a lot of travellers I took pictures documenting everything I was doing, and all the things that were new to me, to show friends and family back home. After about a month of living here I decided to upgrade and buy my first DSLR. Since then, everything I’ve done has been somewhat photography-related. Photography has been a very important facet of my experiences here.

I hope that when people see photos I’ve shot and how I frame them, they’re able to learn something not only from the photo, but from the information I provide with them. It’s great to hear from Taiwanese friends that I’ve shot something they didn’t even know existed, or that they’d never really imagined it would look as cool as it does in one of my photos. I think when you’re a foreign photographer in any country you tend to look at things differently to the locals, and see what they might miss or think isn’t special.

Many photographers adore Taiwan’s temple culture. Are you one of them?

Absolutely. I’ve spent a lot of time exploring temples all over the nation and trying to learn as much about them as I can. I love taking shots which not only show off the beautiful architecture, but also the amazing details you find inside. 

Taiwan also offers a lot of opportunity for taking beautiful landscape shots. I’m often lugging heavy camera gear up some of Taiwan’s highest mountains and taking shots of the coastline, rivers and waterfalls. Taiwan may be a small country, but there are countless locations available to photographers to show off the beauty of the country. 

Apart from temples and natural landscape, what else appeals to you?

I’m also a big fan of street photography, which involves walking around and getting candid shots of people going about their everyday lives. I think not living Taipei means I have better opportunities to explore and take photos that tell the story of Taiwan’s people and their lives.  

I do a lot of research about the places I visit, and I’m still trying to gauge what my audience is most interested in. My posts about the Qingshui Cliffs [pictured above] and Mukumugi Gorge in Hualien generated quite a lot of buzz, but then so did my post about the controversial Pigs of God ritual; this might the only post where I criticize Taiwan. I posted a quick article about a local restaurant that I thought would be nostalgic for some of my ex-coworkers who’ve since left Taiwan; it ended up going viral with hundreds of thousands of hits since I posted it, something I never would have imagined. Earlier this year I did a project where I visited several of Taiwan’s biggest night markets to shoot street-photography-style portraits of the people working there and explain a bit about what they do. This project has been quite popular. I’ve finished the shooting and hope to have the last four posts, about Miaokou Night Market in Keelung, posted before the end of the year.

I think I’m a very organized person, so I’ve a long list of places I need to get to over a certain period of time. I recently hiked up to a peak that isn’t very well known, Yuanzui Mountain in Daxueshan National Forest Recreation Area. From the peak there’s an amazing 360-degree view of Taiwan’s mountains. The location is perfect for the kind of work I do, but unfortunately as I was nearing the peak the weather took a turn for the worse. Everything disappeared in a cloud of mist, which means I need to make another trip in the near future. Apart from mountains, I’ll be shooting some upcoming temple festivals, Taiwanese opera performances, and I’m hoping to get to Kinmen and Matsu in the near future.

Part 2 of the interview can be read here.

International Spotlight: South Taiwan

The Taiwan Tourism Bureau's International Spotlight program is designed to inspire and attract 'slow travellers', the kind of people who prefer to take their time, and who feel no compulsion to see each and every attraction. In addition to covering parts of the north and central part of the island, the program introduces the scenic, culinary and shopping highlights of Greater Tainan. 

Located just south of the Tropic of Cancer, Tainan is a relic-packed city which served as the island’s political and administrative center between the arrival of the Dutch East India Company in 1624 and 1885. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Taiwan was a neglected backwater of China’s Qing Empire. The weather is reliably dry and comfortably sunny between October and March. For anyone who likes to be outdoors, whether in an urban setting or deep in the countryside, Tainan and wintertime go together perfectly.

Tainan is already well known to tourists on account of its fabulous temples, fascinating fortresses and delicious street food. The pace of life here is far more relaxing than in Taipei; a great many visitors are happy to do little more than wander at random, on foot or with a hired bicycle. But, of course, those who explore with the assistance of a guide, or read up before setting out, will come away with a far better understanding of this ancient city and its many treasures.

The International Spotlight Southern Region has its own trilingual website where anyone considering a trip to the south can find theme routes and descriptions of historic neighbourhoods. One such zone lies around Zhongzheng Road and Haian Road. A must-see hereabouts is Shennong Street, perhaps Taiwan’s most traditional thoroughfare. As recently as the 19th century, before human land-reclamation efforts and natural sedimentation pushed the coastline further west, this part of the city was a stone’s throw from the ocean. A few of the old two-storey houses, built by merchants to serve as both homes and warehouses, have been turned into shops or bars.

Far more modern yet still of considerable historic interest are landmarks which date from Japan’s 1895-1945 occupation of Taiwan. What's now Tainan Meteorological Observatory is said to be the oldest Japanese-era official building surviving in Taiwan. Locals have nicknamed this 1898 structure 'the pepper pot' on account of its circular shape. Among the items displayed inside are old seismographs.

The Old Union Hall (also known as the Former Tainan Meeting Hall, pictured below) and the adjacent Wu’s Garden is a superb spot for a picnic. The former is a 1911 French-influenced structure that hosts occasional exhibitions. The latter dates from the 1820s and is named for Wu Shang-xin, a salt tycoon who owned this land and commissioned the garden’s creation.

Tainan folk are hardly exaggerating when they quip their city 'has a small shrine every three steps, and a major temple every five steps'. The Confucius Temple offers a sense of eternal tranquility, while the Martial Rites Temple (also known as the Official God of War Temple) is equally gorgeous. The former is dedicated to the sage now regarded as China’s greatest philosopher, while the latter honours Guan Gong, a general who lived and fought in China more than 1,800 years ago.

To the delight of those who have several days to explore Tainan, nanspot.tw goes well beyond the usual tourist haunts. There are directions to Xihua Tang, an ancient Buddhist house of worship, the Great South Gate, a holdover from when Tainan was encircled by a protective wall, and the Temple of the Lord of the North Pole.

The majority of Tainan’s attractions are within 20 minutes’ walk of the TRA Station, which itself is linked to the high-speed railway by frequent shuttle trains. However, visitors should make at least one trip outside the downtown, ideally to Anping. This is where the Dutch established their trading colony in the early 17th century, and the bastion they called Fort Zeelandia is now a captivating ruin. This part of the city abuts the ocean, so it is no surprise that oysters and shrimps feature in the dishes enjoyed by many visitors.

Riding a bicycle from the Confucius Temple to Fort Zeelandia takes around 20 minutes. An alternative form of transport is city bus no. 2, which stops at Tainan TRA Station, the National Museum of Taiwan Literature and Confucius Temple en route to Anping. Having got that far, visitors may wish to explore the coast, parts of which have been incorporated into Taijiang National Park.

Taiwan's bike-friendly railway stations

At more and more train stations in Taiwan, I'm seeing ramps like these. Alongside the lifts installed mainly for the benefit of elderly, disabled and heavily encumbered passengers, these ramps make life much easier for commuters and tourists taking bicycles on trains. 

The rules limiting what kind of trains you can carry bikes onto, and whether you need to pay extra, are somewhat complex. Passengers with a folding bicycle in a bag needn't pay anything, unless they take one of the Puyuma Express services between Taipei and the east coast cities of Hualien and Taitung. Those with non-folding bikes must always pay, but never more than an adult does on the same route.  

International Spotlight: Central Taiwan

In many countries, the capital city has a lion’s share of traveller magnets. Yet it's also true that getting to know a nation means exploring well beyond the seat of government. Taiwan is no exception to this: Taipei has endless things to see and so, but to fly out having seen nothing of central, southern or eastern Taiwan would be to miss much of Taiwan’s loveliest scenery and most authentic culture. 

The Tourism Bureau’s International Spotlight campaign has two central Taiwan programs. Viewed as a whole, Taiwan's central region is incredibly diverse. It can be said that everything which can be found in Taiwan – scenery, ethnic groups and cuisines – can be experienced here. The coastal town of Lugang has a stupendous density of historic and cultural attractions, while Sun Moon Lake is famed for its pretty scenery and temperate climate. The region’s interior boasts several of Taiwan’s highest mountains as well as indigenous communities. 

One program focuses on Taichung, a thoroughly modern municipality with a population of 2.74 million, spread over 2,214 km2. The other introduces Chiayi, a much smaller city (271,000 people on 60km2).

The toponym Taichung literally means “central Taiwan,” just as Taipei means “north Taiwan,” Tainan is “south Taiwan” and Taitung is “east Taiwan”. It has an excellent range of restaurants (this city guide is useful if you want to find new places to eat), although many visitors prefer street food at the huge and often very crowded Feng Chia Night Market. 

Taichung (where I took the photo above, inside Wanhe Temple) is the home of Chun Shui Tang, a tea-house chain where pearl milk tea (also known as “bubble tea”) is said to have been invented. In case you don't know, pearl milk tea is a blend of black tea, chewy tapioca balls (the “pearls”), syrupy sweetener and cream that's usually drunk cold. It's one of Taiwan’s most successful culinary exports and is now enjoyed as far away as Singapore, London and Florida. 

One of Taichung’s newer tourist attractions is in fact a reconstruction of a pre-World War II building. What's now called the Natural Ways Six Arts Cultural Centre was once a dojo (a place where Japanese martial arts were studied) attached to a jail. It's a quintessentially Japanese structure which dates from Tokyo’s 1895-1945 colonization of Taiwan. The centre’s name alludes to the six disciplines ancient Chinese regarded as key to a gentleman’s education; rites, music, calligraphy, mathematics, charioteering and archery. However, the activities held here reflect the great interest many Taiwanese have in Japanese culture. There are classes in Japanese tea ceremony, ikebana (the art of flower arrangement), the martial art kendo, and the board game Go.

When the authorities decided to renovate and reopen the dojo, they no doubt hoped it would help draw tourists to the city. But the popularity of Rainbow Village – a place I've yet to visit – surely took them by surprise. 

Taichung City Government is responsible for an area totalling 2,214 km2. But instead of trying to cover the entire city, the International Spotlight encourages visitors to spend quality in the heart of the city. Over the course of a day, urban explorers can follow the Greenway to the National Museum of Natural Science and National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. Adjacent to the former is a spacious botanical garden – be sure to go into the beautiful greenhouse – while the latter has a permanent exhibition featuring 82 works by major Taiwanese artists. 

Chiayi City is 86km south of Taichung. The most efficient way to get from the latter to the former is by TRA train; expresses take as little as an hour and a quarter and cost NTD224 one way. (Buses are cheaper but slower). Much of Chiayi can be explored on foot, although you'll want to jump into a taxi if you're heading to Chiayi Arboretum. I took the photo below, which shows a former Shinto shrine now serving as a local museum, in the sprawling park next to the arboretum. 

A key destination in Chiayi is Cypress Forestry Life Village, a cluster of Japanese-style bungalows originally built for timber-industry executives and their families. Recently refurbished, the village contains several art spaces and is within walking distance of Alishan Forest Railway Garage Park and Chiayi Motive Power Wood Sculpture Museum. At the former, train fans can get a close look at some of the locomotives and cars that ply the famous narrow-gauge mountain railway between Chiayi and the mountain resort of Alishan. The latter, once a power station, now exhibits prize-winning wood carvings.

Getting to central Taiwan from overseas no longer involves a two or three-hour bus, train or car journey from the airports at Taoyuan and Kaohsiung. It's not even necessary to use the high-speed railway; Taichung Airport has flights to/from Hong Kong, Shanghai and several other cities on the Chinese mainland, as well as scheduled and charter services to/from Vietnam, Japan and South Korea.